All casinos whether land based or online offer some type of “comp” system to attract new players and to keep seasoned players excited about gambling at their establishment. In the online gambling world these comps are usually in the form of “<strong>casino bonus money</strong>” which is <!--more-->categorized in different styles and types. Land based casinos offer their players who are new to their gaming establishment freebies such as:
- Free hotel  stay
- Free dining
- Free shows

They offer these incentives as a way of keeping the player spending and coming back on a regular basis and the more you play the more freebies you will be entitled to. Online casinos have to go about their incentive offers in a different way because they can’t offer you a free hotel stay or dinner and a show so they go straight to the gamblers heart and offers “free casino money”!

There are many different types of offers that give the online gambler free cash or bonus money from their favorite online casino or from a new casino looking for new players. Below is a breakdown of different offers available and how they work. One very important piece of information that all online gamblers need to remember when taking an offer of free bonus money from an online casino is that they all come with “terms and conditions”. All offers will have some type of rules that you will need to abide by so always make sure to read the T&C’s of any casino bonus money offered to you by any online casino.

<em>Types of Casino Bonus Money offered:</em>

<strong>New Player offer</strong> – 99% of all online casinos will advertise a Welcome Bonus for new players who register a “real money” account at their casino. This usually includes a percentage bonus on your first deposit and sometimes includes a “free chip offer” as well. The free chip offers means you will receive a predetermined amount of free money to play on certain games [usually slots and video poker} in which you can win a set amount of money off of once you have met the wager requirements. [Wager requirements is the amount of times you need to wager the given free money before it becomes free to cash out on. If  a free chip of  $10 comes with a 20x wager requirement, this means you must wager that $10, 20 times or $200 worth before you can start to call your winnings yours}.

<strong>Deposit Bonus money</strong> – This money is called a deposit bonus and is offered on your first deposit at most online casinos, and you usually get offers on a regular basis to deposit and receive some type of bonus incentive on a weekly basis. These bonuses come with terms and conditions which are the same as the “free chip” offers.  You must wager your bonus money a predetermined number of times specified by each casino. If you deposit $100 and you receive a 100% match bonus on that deposit then you would receive another free $100 giving you $200 to gamble with. But that money will be subject to wager requirements which you must always remember to check on at each and every casino you frequent.

<strong>Contest or Tournament winnings</strong> – Some online casinos run contests for their players or  offer free  tournaments to enter both of  which will win you free casino money  is you win the contest or tournament. This type of casino bonus money is always credited to your casino account and is available to gamble with but is not available to cash out until you have met any wager requirements attached to the free winnings. And once you have met the wager requirement. You usually will have to make some type of minimal deposit before being able to cash out any winnings from it.

<strong>Free Play Bonus Money</strong> – One of the newest crazes to hit the online gaming community is the huge free play offers given by some casinos. This can range from $200 up to $5000 in free money for new players to receive and they are given a time limit [usually an hour] to gamble and win as much as they can any amount over and above the given bonus money. So if you receive $2000 in free cash, and you gamble the one hour given with this bonus money and you end up with a $2500 balance when time is up, your casino account will be credited $500! But, then you must meet wager requirements on this $500 before you can cash any of it out!

So as you can see, there are many great promotions out there for gamblers to take part of, but they all have some type of rules that need to be met and followed. Sometimes  the bonus is worth it and sometimes it’s not, so  always check the T&C’s of any Casino Bonus Money offered and decide if it’s worth your  time or money. Happy Gaming!
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