Although casino bonuses may seem great, they are often used by casinos to make it difficult for players to receive a return on their initial deposit. There are three things to remember before you ever take a bonus at an online casino.

Play through Requirements – This is the riskiest way to get “free money” at a casino. You are usually required to wager the bonus amount at least once before you can withdraw it. You can wager your bonus amount up to 60 times, or 15x. For example, if you received a $100 bonus at 60x you would have to wager more than $6000 before you could get your original deposit back. If you play $5 blackjack, you will need to play 1200 hands to get the bonus. An average player can play between 100 and 200 hands per hour. This means that you will need to play for between 6 and 12 hours. If you sign up at a casino to receive a bonus, make sure it has a minimum playthrough requirement of 15-30 times.

Clearing Time – As we have seen, there are playthrough requirements for bonuses. However, sometimes casinos will give you a very limited window to clear the bonus. Clearing time can take anywhere from one week to several months. However, higher-quality casinos will give you a longer or indefinite window to clear your bonus. If you don’t play a lot and have only a week to clear the bonus, it can be difficult, if certainly impossible, to do so. Therefore, you should only play at casinos that offer a lengthy grace period for clearing your bonus.

Gaming Restrictions – Many rogue casinos will try to scam players by imposing these restrictions. They will tell you that bonuses cannot be claimed on games where the casino has an advantage. For example, if you get your bonus and decide to play blackjack, you may find that blackjack is not eligible for clearing the bonus. This could make it difficult to play other games than you would normally. You should read all the terms and conditions regarding which games you can play to get a bonus.

These are just a few of the ways casinos try to stop players from winning money at casinos. It is sometimes easier to save yourself the hassle and not enter any bonus code at all depending on your plans for the casino. Make sure you read all terms and conditions of any bonus casino offer to make sure you understand them. Also, do your research to verify that the casino is trustworthy. It may save you time and headaches by taking the extra five minutes to make your deposit.