Casino Bonus
Online casino bonus is an amazing opportunity to keep you playing and winning again and again. Great (and frequent) bonuses are essential to keep you coming back for more and to keep the casino from losing you to a competitor.
The best casinos offer bonuses just for joining- these are called ‘welcome bonuses’ – they also offer so many others including no-deposit bonuses, VIP clubs, monthly re-load bonuses and so much more. The great news is that because the top casinos all want you playing with them, they all have incredible offers. We are here to break them down for you.
Online Casino Bonus Types
The Sign-up or ‘Welcome’ Bonus: No matter which Canadian online casino you join, they will almost always offer you a special something for signing up – this is usually a match bonus worth a few hundred dollars. The welcome bonus usually comes with a play- through requirement (you have to see your game through to the end) and there might be restrictions on immediate withdrawals, but this online casino bonus is a great way to familiarize yourself with the games and to build up confidence to start playing for the big money.
The Deposit Match Bonus: Some casinos offer bonuses by adding money to your account. Some even match the exact amount of your original deposit. We have seen some casinos match up to CA$3,000.
The No Deposit Casino Bonus: These bonuses are somewhat different to the welcome bonus explained above. They allow you to demo a new casino with zero investment on your first wager.
The Monthly Bonus: Casinos love to reward loyalty and it usually comes in the shape of a monthly bonus including free spins, match bonuses, loyalty points or even tangible prizes – we’ve witnessed players winning cruises for their monthly bonus.
The Refer-a-Friend Bonus: Online casinos love you so much that they want people exactly like you to join. They want their business so bad that they’ll pay you for it- mostly with some kind of a casino bonus – for example free spins or topping up your account for every friend that joins.
The Tournament Bonus: These bonuses exist to encourage you to play in tournaments. These games have incredible winning potential as they consist of a pool of players- all playing big to win big.
The Free-Spin Bonus: The free-spin bonus gives players increased chances to play for free by keeping their winnings with extra spins on slots, roulette or various card games. These bonuses are also used to try and get users to start playing new games.
The Free-Cash Bonus: There’s no such thing as free money, right? Wrong. Online Canadian casinos will often offer free cash bonuses as part of some kind of promotion or as a prize for a big win. This online casino bonus usually comes in the form of account credit.
The High Roller/VIP Bonus: This bonus is another way for the casino to reward the loyalty of their players. If you are a strong player and have invested a lot of time and money into a casino, they will put you into a more prestigious category- giving you access to come incredible bonuses and rewards.
Online Casino Bonus and Wagering Requirements
Bonus, or Wagering Requirements exist to make sure that the players are kept engaged and don’t withdraw their bonuses too soon. This requirement will tell you how many times the the original deposit or bonus amount must be invested before the player can cash in. To break it down: if you deposit CA$200, and you receive a bonus of the same amount (you now have CA$400) and the wagering requirement is times 20 (20x), you will have to hit CA$4000 (200 x 20) before you can cash in your winnings. It’s not really about losing, it’s more a case of keeping it in your account until you can take it out. These kind of numbers may seem hard to hit, but you’d be surprised on how many players achieve it. Once you’re in the hundreds, its only a small step further to hit the thousands.
The common wagering requirement is 30x, you might rarely see a 25x requirement, you may even see a 40x. It depends on the casino and their terms and conditions.
Finding The Best Online Casino Bonus
Always make sure that the casino works for you and not the other way around. There are so many operators with so many online casino bonus structures that you have quite a fair share to choose from. Also take note that the fine print is often just as important as winning- reading these terms and conditions is a wise move and in the long run can save you a whole lot of time, money and stress. You might have your eyes set on a big welcome bonus, but if you don’t have the time or the patience to stick with games right until the end then it’s not going to be for you and you may be more a no-deposit-bonus kind of player.
How do you choose the best casino deposit bonus? There are literally thousands of online casino sites, and all of them are working hard to gain you as a customer. This results in some great offers, as they all compete for your loyalty, but it can also be a headache as you try to figure out what bonuses best fit your bankroll and play style. We have noted some of the best casino deposit bonus offers for Canadian players on the chart below. We have also provided a good bit of information regarding things to consider when deciding what casino deposit bonus is best for you.
Deposit Percentage Match vs. Maximum Bonus
Casino deposit bonus matches and maximum bonuses vary a lot from site to site. Some sites offer huge matching percentages, as high as 500%. Other online casinos offer welcome packages that boast deposit bonuses of CA$2000 or CA$3000. Which one you choose depends on your bankroll.
If you have a lower bankroll, look for higher percentage matches. A 100% match doesn’t do you a ton of good if you are depositing CA$50. On the other hand, if you can find a 200% or 300% match, then your bonus jumps to 2 or 3 times what you are depositing.
If you are a high roller, on the other hand, then your biggest concern is biggest maximum match. It would be nice to find 300% up to CA$3000, but generally speaking, the large match bonuses are going to be in the 100% range. That being said, if you are depositing hundreds or thousands of dollars, then the 100% matches with the big maximum bonus cap, will generally be a better fit.
Casino Welcome Packages
Welcome packages are usually the online casinos largest dollar value promotion, and they flash this all over their home page as well as promotion pages. A welcome package usually combines deposit matches on a series of deposits. Example: 100% match on your first 10 deposits, up to CA$5000! – So the ad is screaming “CA$5000 free”, but the reality is, it’s a simple 100% match on your first deposit, and unless you are a loyal player there with a large bankroll, you will never complete the whole welcome package.
Small bankroll casino players might want to do a bit more searching to find a high deposit match percentage and not be swayed by the eye popping CA$5000 or CA$10,000 welcome package offers.
On the other hand, big bankroll players, and players who like to make one site their home and take advantage of the perks that loyalty can bring, might want to seriously consider welcome packages that reward multiple deposits, and being a longer term customer at that specific online casino.
Play Bonuses vs. Cashable Bonuses
The vast majority of Canadian online casino deposit bonuses, fall under the “play” category. They are used to extend your bankroll and give you a chance to win more money, but you can’t cash them out. For example, if you got a CA$100 bonus, and it was a ‘play’ bonus, then the CA$100 is deducted from your balance when you make your next cash out. Let’s say you deposit CA$100 and get a CA$100 bonus and run it up to a CA$500 balance with a few nice slots scores. When you are ready to cashout, it would be CA$500 balance, minus the CA$100 bonus dollars, comes to CA$400 that you get to bring home.
Cashable bonuses are rare. They are tempting though, because if you are able to meet the wager requirements, you get to cash out the entire balance. In the example above, that would have meant an additional CA$100 to bring home and spend.
So which is better? They are actually pretty even when you weigh pros and cons. The cashable bonuses are nice, but wager requirements tend to be higher and the bonus match percentage and total bonus tends to be lower. Play bonuses are usually much higher percentage matches and larger bonuses overall , and they can give you a seriously large bankroll to kick off your account. The big balance allows for larger wagers, and you can build a big stack of chips if you hit a hot streak. It just hurts when they deduct the bonus money at cash out.
Just make a point to know which bonus you have, so you can style your play accordingly.
Specific Game Bonuses
Most casinos will offer a variety of first deposit and reload bonuses that are based on a single type of game. Slot bonuses are very common and very popular. They feature some of the largest percentage matches and biggest maximum bonus values. The wager requirements are only met by playing those particular games, usually, so keep that in mind. If you are really in love with a particular casino game, especially the common ones like slots, blackjack or video poker, then dig around the casino’s site a bit and see what you can find in the promotions. You might be able to find a bonus that is given for your favorite game and be a good bit larger than the usual deposit and reload offers that hit your inbox.
Specific Deposit Method Bonuses
When you make a deposit to an online casino, it costs the casino money, in the form of fees that the casino pays to the money processor that you use. For that reason, many online casinos will offer an extra bonus on deposits made through specific methods like Moneybookers or another e-wallet. By doing so, they are reducing their processing fees, which is great for them, and at the same time giving you more money to wager, which is great for you.
These specific deposit method bonuses are almost always “stackable”, as in they are added to other deposit bonuses you are receiving. They usually will add 10% or more to your balance. Since ewallets like Moneybookers are very easy to setup and are almost universally accepted, not to mention giving you more control over your gaming bank roll, you should seriously consider setting up an account. It can mean hundreds of extra bonus dollars if you play a good bit.
Online Casino Reload Bonuses
With spam filters these days, many online casino emails go directly to your junk box. It would be to your benefit to make sure the online casinos you frequent, are on your accepted emails list. Practically every online casino worth its salt, offer regular promotions and reload bonuses. If you are missing your promotion emails, then you are missing out on a lot of free chips. The casinos will obviously want to hit you with reload emails if you bust out, but you will also get a number of offers, even when you have a good bit of cash in the account.
Reload bonuses come with the usual terms and conditions, play through requirements and specific game requirements, so look at the bonus a little closer to make sure it’s worth your time.
With all of the offers available, you should rarely, if ever, make a deposit to an online casino without getting a bonus on your deposit. If there are no offers showing, contact the VIP support, and see if they can make an offer specifically to your account.
VIP Rewards
Though the VIP program is not going reward small bankroll players as much as the high rollers, it’s always worth taking a look at. Most online casinos have their program setup so that you are earning comp points with each wager, and you can cash those comp points in for bonuses or other prizes. If you are a high roller or a very loyal month to month customer, then the VIP program should be one of the bigger factors in your decision to join a particular online casino, or not.
As noted previously, online casino brands compete furiously for the players’ business, so make sure the perks do not stop after the first deposit. A VIP contact and solid rewards program can add a lot of value to your online casino experience.