We have all seen the adverts on TV, promising a lucrative UK casino bonus. If you often think it is too good to be true, that’s reasonable. Casino bonus offers always come with terms and conditions, and depending on what they are the offer may no longer look as good as it once did.
However, even though not all casino bonuses are as amazing as they might be portrayed, it is very, very rare that they are not in some way or another still worth your time. Even the worst UK bonus will always be better than no bonus.
Let’s take a quick look at why that is.
UK regulations make UK bonuses better
All casinos wishing to operate in the UK must get a license by the Gambling Commission (UKGC). This is not unusual. Many countries have their own licensing bodies. However, the UKGC has taken steps to ensure that no bonus will ever interfere with your real money balance.
That’s right. No UK licensed casino is allowed to apply wagering requirements to your real money deposit. This is part of their fair and transparent terms and practices, which focuses on treating depositing players fairly.
Applying a wagering requirement to real money deposits is actually still a relatively common practice in many non-UK licensed casinos. This is not a scam in itself. Many who sign up to “beat the wagering requirements” look for deals like this.
What this protection does is that no matter what bonus you, as a UK player, collect, it will not make your real money experience any different. You can win, lose and withdraw any winnings, no matter what. The wagering requirement will only be applied to your bonus and your bonus funds will usually only be made available once your real money deposit is lost.
Bonuses Give You the Opportunity to Win Even When You Have Lost
Imagine that you deposit 50 pounds of your own money into a casino, and also collect 50 pounds in bonus.
To be clear: this does not mean that you have 100 pounds to play for. Bonuses, as explained above, come with wagering requirements and are rarely made available before your real money deposit is lost.
However, if a terrible thing happens, you have a backup. If you did not collect the bonus everything would be done and you would either need to make a new deposit or stop playing. With a casino bonus, you will on the other hand be able to keep playing, and that also means that there is a chance of winning real money.
In most cases, to turn a casino bonus requires you to beat a wagering requirement. That is to play through the bonus amount a certain number of times. The odds of actually making this is often against you, but no matter how high the wagering requirement is, the chance is always there.
This is why any bonus is always better than no bonus. No matter how bad the offer is you get the chance to win something from nothing.
Bonuses Reduce the House Edge
While bonuses do give you the chance to win money even after your real money deposit is lost it is really important to remember that you should never chase your losses. This could actually lead to problematic gambling behaviours.
The silver lining is not so much that casino bonuses can help you win back your initial deposit, but that they can reduce your losses.
Over time this means that the casino has a theoretically lower house edge than they otherwise should, which in turn means that your odds of winning are higher.
In other words, bonuses come with no risks, can only help you win more than you otherwise would and even make your odds better.