| With land based casinos you can't expect to take your additional $200 casino
bonus from the cashier and say "I would like to cash that in thank you".
No way. Naturally online casinos won't let you do that either. All the casinos
have terms and conditions or wagering requirements that must be met before
cashing out any winnings including your bonuses.
Wagering Requirements.
The conditions that need to be met are traditionally called wagering
requirements. Let's use a real online casino example here from 7 Sultans whose
initial deposit bonus is buy $20 get %30 Free. This is an extract from their
terms and conditions for the bonus:
In order to cash-in the $30 bonus, players will need to wager the bonus
amount ($30), and the minimum purchase amount ($20) 5 times - a total of (5 X
$50) = $250 worth of wagering.
Easier to understand than some rules. You sign up, get your bonus and wager
bets totalling more than $250 before you may cash it in.
Excluded Games.
Another clause from those bonus rules:
Wagering on Craps or Roulette will not be counted as part of the requirements
for this sign-up offer.
It is another common rule to exclude certain games from counting towards the
wagering total. Be careful as Blackjack is often on the excluded list or may
have a higher wagering requirement. Blackjack is excluded as the house does not
has the worst odds for this game.
Cashable and Non Cashable Bonuses.
In the 7 Sultans example, any amount you have remaining after you have met the
wagering requirements is available for cashing out, including bonuses. However,
look at this rule from another online casino:
The bonus credits are for wagering purpose only, and you may not cash out the
bonus. You may only cash out your winnings. Only withdrawal of an amount
superior to the Play Bonus will be processed, and the Play bonus will be
deducted from your withdrawal request.
As you can see you can never cash out the bonus. These "sticky"
bonuses are useful for leverage in your betting but are not as attractive as
cashout amounts. Please check the rules.
You are often better off declining the bonus and just playing with your own
money.
Bonuse Abusers.
That's what the casinos call them anyway. To you and me it's someone who plays
the minimum amount to cash in the bonus and then hopefully make some cash. They
go from casino to casino doing the same thing. The online casinos don't like
them and have rules to try and stop them from abusing their bonuses systems. So
use some common sense. Don't just play the minimum, play a bit more or come back
and play a little bit again before attempting a cash out.
Cashing Out.
There is no doubt that the best way to deposit and withdraw money from the
online casinos is by one of the new payment methods such as FirePay, NETeller or
PatSafeCard. These methods are fast and free and also put an end to those credit
card denials. Credit cards will usually only allow cash ins up to the amount
originally deposited. Wire and bank transfers usually attract fees and are a lot
slower.
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