CASINO BONUS

Signup bonuses

Many online casinos offer signup bonuses to new players making their first deposit. These bonuses normally match a percentage of the player's deposit with a dollar maximum, and almost all online casino signup bonuses require a minimum amount of wagering before allowing a cash out. Gameplay at specific casino games might be excluded from the wagering requirement calculation.

A fictional signup bonus offer follows as an example:

* The online casino offers new players a deposit matching bonus of 100%, up to $100
* The player must wager 25 times the total amount of the deposit plus the bonus before withdrawing
* Wagers on baccarat, craps, roulette, and sic bo do not count towards meeting wagering requirements

For this particular example, this would mean that a player depositing $100 would start with $200 in his account. The player must make $5000 ($200 × 25) in wagers before being allowed to make a withdrawal.

Some bonuses require no deposit to claim them. Types of no deposit bonuses include[citation needed]:

* A no deposit in pure monetary form, for example $10.
* Free spins no deposit, this is where they allow free spins on particular games, and then allow you to keep the winnings.
* Play for a predetermine period of time with x amount of dollars.

Sticky bonuses

Non-cashable bonuses are often called "sticky bonuses", and are the most common type of online casino bonus. Sticky bonuses can be bet, but cannot be cashed out. When the player makes a withdrawal, the sticky bonus is typically removed from the withdrawal total. A player might receive a 100% match sticky bonus on a $100 deposit with a wagering requirement of $2000. While meeting the $2000 wagering requirement, the player could bet both the deposit and the sticky bonus. When cashing out, the $100 bonus would be removed from the balance. If the player cashed out $300, $100 would be subtracted out, leaving $200. The player is not allowed to cash out a balance of below $100 since no cash would remain after the bonus is removed.

The benefit of a sticky bonus can be explained as financial leverage: if the player deposits $100, receives a $100 (100%) match, and then earns 50% gambling, then cashes out, they have earned $100 on their initial deposit of $100, for a 100% gain: the sticky bonus has doubled or "levered up" their gain.

The average return of a sticky bonus is sometimes expressed in terms of a target gain. Average return = (chance of reaching target) * (target - bonus - deposit - wagering requirement * house edge) - (chance of not reaching target * deposit). With a target of 2x(bonus+deposit) and 50% chance of reaching the target, the equation reduces to 50% * (bonus - wagering requirement * house edge). Expressing in terms of chance of bust and "element of risk", the formula for return becomes bonus * chance of bust - average wagering * element of risk.

The sticky bonus described above that is removed after wagering is sometimes known as a "phantom bonus." There are other variations of a sticky bonus in which you do not need to exceed your original balance to make a withdrawal. Instead any win is immediately cashable.

Cashable bonuses

A rarer, but more valuable type of casino bonus is the cashable bonus. Cashable bonuses can be cashed out after completing a wagering requirement. A casino might offer a 100% match bonus up to $100 with a wagering requirement of $2000. After wagering $2000 in the casino, the player is able to cash out the $100 bonus.

Cashable bonuses often restrict play on certain games. Wagers made on roulette, baccarat, craps, and sic bo usually do not count towards the wagering requirement because these bets give the player the opportunity to simultaneously bet on winning and losing outcomes, greatly reducing variance. For example, betting on both red and black in roulette. Wagers on games with a low house edge, like blackjack and video poker, are also often excluded. Some casinos increase the wagering requirement above the default for low-house-edge games.

On games without raises or doubles, the expected loss while completing a wagering requirement is wagering requirement * house edge. This makes the expected gain of a cashable bonus equal to bonus - wagering requirement * house edge. House edge is defined in terms of initial bet, so the above equation does not apply to games with raises and doubles where the final bet size may be larger than the initial bet. The equation becomes bonus - wagering requirement * average loss per wager. WizardofOdds.com has proposed calling the latter average loss per wager variable "element of risk". For a more precise estimate, one must also consider the benefit from being able to bet the bonus prior to completing the wagering requirement. This effect becomes noticeable when making large bets, such as betting the full balance  in a single bet. After considering this benefit and "element of risk", the formula for return becomes bonus - average wagering * element of risk.If games without raises or doubles are played and the bonus is not given until completing wagering, then the formula can be simplified as bonus - wagering requirement * house edge.