Casino Bonus Hunting: Main Risks and How to Use Effectively
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You won’t make it as a successful casino bonus hunter if you don’t follow a smart casino bonus strategy. The risks that come with misusing casino bonuses cause you to lose funds, reduce your winning odds and could even get you banned from a casino. CasinoAlpha uncovers the best ways to use bonuses effectively & raise your payouts by as much as 50%.
- Bonus Hunting: How Risky Is It Really?
- Should You Hunt for Bonuses?
- Downsides and Dangers of Bonus Hunting
- Don’t Lose Control
- CasinoAlpha’s Strategies for Bonus Hunting
- Where to Seek Legit Casino Bonuses
- Safely Maximize Your Bonuses
Bonus Hunting: How Risky Is It Really?
Casino bonus hunting isn’t too risky if punters are playing by the rules at secure online casinos, use safe betting strategies and keep in mind their terms. The risk comes in when UK players do not mind the consequence of bonus abuse. If you’re not indulging in it and if you’re engaging obsessively with too many high-volatility games, you might get kicked out of some casinos.
As long as casino players in the United Kingdom claim secure offers, play the best online casino real money games at safe casino platforms, and monitor their budgets, they’ll likely have a successful approach. Getting a £10 deposit deals or looking into lower payment requirements as available for deposit £5 and deposit £1 offers helps minimize your investment.
Also, if any of the terms get confusing, make sure you discuss conditions with each casino’s customer support before you decide on your strategy.
Should You Hunt for Bonuses?
Online casino bonus hunting works better than playing just a single bonus as a casino bonus strategy because you get to experiment with different cash-out restrictions, offers with different first deposit requirements, even no deposit rewards, or bonuses with extra spins for slots.
However, bonus hunting sessions may become a risky way of using bonus funds because it may prevent you from properly keeping control of different bonus terms. CasinoAlpha makes sure every casino bonus listed is secure and provides the most convenient terms on the market so you can experience a safe online casino bonus hunting strategy on slots, live dealer games, or any other categories.
Downsides and Dangers of Bonus Hunting
The main downside of bonus hunting as a casino bonus strategy is that you’ve got to juggle multiple bonus terms at the same time and keep track of bonus money from different promotions. The danger of doing so is you can potentially lose track of part of the bonus terms or get confused by multiple wagering requirements and thus risk losing the whole bonus and any winnings.
To avoid the downsides and dangers of bonus hunting, our experts recommend getting familiar with the essential bonus terms you may otherwise skip through, so we’ve listed the trickiest ones with a brief explanation, to help you remember and spot them quickly.
Hidden Terms and Conditions
| Terms and Conditions You May Not Know | Explanation |
|---|---|
| Eligibility | Among the hidden terms, UK players will find eligibility criteria that show if you qualify for the bonus & include the country you’re from, your player status, the minimum deposit, etc. You’ll find it in the Promotions section of the casino site or specific bonus description. |
| Game wagering contribution | Certain games (individual titles) or even categories will contribute to a different percentage to meet the bonus playthrough. For instance, Slots from a specific developer have a 100% contribution, but titles from a different provider may contribute 20%, while live casino games are only worth 2% of your wagering. UK players can find this info in the general casino Bonus Terms or Terms & Conditions, as a table or list. |
| Excluded games | Excluded games are titles that you’re not supposed to play with your bonus funds. Should you break this rule. you risk any bonus funds added to the game & their winnings. This detail is specified in the specific terms of your bonus (the fine print on the page where you claim the bonus) or in the Promotional terms section. |
| Illegitimate strategies | In our article about how to read terms & conditions we explain different strategies and why they’re prohibited when using specific games. Strategies as such are considered bonus abuse and you’re likely to lose your offer entirely, plus any winnings, and even get banned if you use them during your bonus game. To find illegitimate strategies, look into the casino’s General Terms or in the casino’s Bonus Policy. |
| Withdrawal limits | Withdrawal limits are specific maximum amounts you get to withdraw when you’re playing a specific bonus. They usually apply to each transaction and you can find them in the terms that strictly apply to your bonus. Just go to the bonus page, select your bonus and opt to see more information. |
| Payout methods allowed | Some bonuses impose that UK players don’t withdraw winnings with specific methods, or your results may be seized by the casino. You’ll find such details in the Withdrawal Policy, Bonus Policy, or your bonus’ terms. |
| Deposit methods allowed | Restrictions on deposit methods work like payout methods restrictions. You’re only allowed to claim your bonus by paying with specific options, of which Neteller & Skrill are usually excluded (not always). Check this in the general Bonus Policy of the site. |
| KYC procedure requirements | To claim a bonus in the UK, punters must always complete the KYC procedure, for which certain bonuses require additional documentation. If that’s the case, you’ll find it in the Bonus Policy or under the Registration section. |
| Bonus validity | Find the bonus validity in the Bonus Terms section or in the terms of your specific promotion. The bonus validity period is the time you have between claiming the bonus and finishing your wagering. |
| Bonus claim window | The bonus claim window is also present in the general bonus terms of the site. It shows the timeframe in which you can claim the bonus after you’ve registered. |
Bonus Abuse Definition
Bonus abuse is a blanket term that covers all actions punters could take while having a promotion, which goes against casino site regulations. Examples of bonus abuse include bonus churning (getting your bonus and then withdrawing immediately without playing), using more accounts to get multiple promotions, or shunning wagering with illegitimate bet strategies (using larger bets than allowed or switching games to get your playthrough finished quicker).
Consequences of bonus abuse leave UK players without winnings, bonus funds, and even without your casino account.
Don’t Lose Control
To lose control when you’re gaming with multiple bonuses means making large & impulsive stakes thinking you’re not using your actual money. This is folly because even a generous bonus comes with requirements and consequences on your funds. To maintain control when you gamble with multiple bonuses, keep track of terms, set spending limits, and use budgeting tools. It’s also helpful to focus on online casino bonus strategy and playing rationally, rather than getting emotional about losses.
Where to Seek Legit Casino Bonuses
- CasinoAlpha’s website and different online expert directories in the United Kingdom are the best places to look for legit casino offers. All bonuses on our site are vetted by our experts, checked by our Chief Editor and CEO Tudor Turiceanu, and approved by the UKGC.
- Seek casino reviews to get the best advice on a bonus without actually getting one. You can find these on our sites or in online communities.
- Another casino bonus strategy is to search for popular slots on the provider’s official websites – these may turn out to be suitable slots for bonuses that will lead you to offers.
- Look for recurring bonuses among casino offers – hogging more welcome bonuses from the same casino is considered bonus abuse and the casino will most likely close your account.
- Seek promotions announcements on social media platforms, but make sure you get the bonus through a safe link.
- When you’re bonus hunting, compare the amount and positive expected value, and pick the offer with the highest value, so you don’t lose money.
- Avoid shady-looking casinos with overly generous promotions. This type of casino is not reliable, especially if it’s not UKGC-licensed.
- Get a bonus with high availability so you can juggle more offers at once without too much time pressure. Lack of pressure is the staple of a successful casino bonus strategy.
CasinoAlpha’s Strategies for Bonus Hunting
The strategies selected by CasinoAlpha’s experts for hunting the best UK bonuses have an 82% rate of success confirmed by monthly tests over a period of 6 years. According to our Chief Editor & CEO Tudor Turiceanu, the strategy with consistent positive results is to research & compare the bonus terms, including the online casinos registered in the UK, which provide these promotions.
He noticed this casino bonus strategy works best when you also carefully select the best UK bonuses based on their eligible games.
After testing out over 300 bonuses with different game categories, our lead expert Adina Minculescu argues that limiting your risks & monitoring your budget are also effective strategies to help you pick the right promotions for your budget & gameplay.
Research and Comparison
Researching & comparing your bonuses is the most important online casino bonus strategy because it reveals all the details that affect your play and odds. To hunt the best bonuses, you need to look into the bonus value (it should be quite high), the payment options you’ve got to claim them & see if the payment limits accommodate your budget. You should pick low wagering options or even compare no wagering selections to ensure you can get your results quickly.
Game Selection & Contribution
Game selection is crucial for finding the right bonuses in the United Kingdom – helpful eligible games have a high RTP and are created by professional developers such as NetEnt & Playtech.
The good news is that many casinos offer designated bonuses for well-known providers like this, so you can play no deposit bonuses for Playtech games, or pick one of the NetEnt free spins promotions. If you want to play your favourite games, you should also look at their wagering contribution. Slots usually have a 100% contribution, so we recommend picking bonuses dedicated to slots or look into welcome bonuses at top online slots sites.
Limiting Risks
When playing online with bonus funds, the best online casino bonus strategy to limit risks is to pick promotions with low wagering conditions and low deposit limits. Playing slots or safe online casino games at a reputable casino is also an effective way to minimize risks. Online gambling is risky enough but adding bonus terms and conditions to the mix, so make sure you know how to avoid the 10 most common mistakes at online casinos with casino bonuses.
Managing Your Bankroll
As long as you effectively manage your bankroll, using casino promotions to play casino games will reduce risks and raise your odds considerably. We advise you to be aware of UK gambling taxes when calculating your budget, as well as any maximum bonus bets and deposit limits. To stay on the safe side, experts recommend as a casino bonus hunting strategy to get low deposit promotions in the UK and play them on low house edge online slot games.
Safely Maximize Your Bonuses
According to the recent CasinoAlpha guide on why you should start with a sign up bonus, welcome promotions maximise your winning chances the most because they build up your balance from scratch to buy you time to build up your account.
The next type of bonus you pick should apply to casino games with the highest odds, which our experts have recently researched.
Based on our guide, these are slots, so a slot bonus is a perfect way to maximise the bonus hunt. A useful tip to make the most out of free spins on slots is to explore new slots, to get a wider range of winning options, as we explain in our specialized guide. We advise going for high-value bonuses to optimize your play, like offers with a 200 bonus percentage or 100% match bonus collections.
We also put together a page to help you decide whether a no deposit or a no wagering bonus is better for you, where you’ll learn the pros & cons of each promotion type, and what their bonus features entail.
