Bonuses

U.S. Players

Online gambling has recently become difficult for U.S. Players. While not technically legal for players, recent laws have made it all but impossible for U.S. online gamblers to safely withdrawal money from offshore player accounts. While there are some gambling sites that still try to accept U.S. gamblers - see this list of the remaining U.S. friendly gambling sites - don't be surprised if you have to wait a very long time to get your money back, if you get it back at all. Be wary of sites that still vigorously promote online casinos and poker sites to U.S. players - they don't deserve your patronage.

The good news is that horse betting perfectly ok. So if you're in the U.S. and want to gamble online, it's pretty much horse betting or nothing. Betting on horse, though, is actually a lot of fun. You can read more about betting on the sport of kings at our Horse Betting Guide. Enjoy!

What is a Sticky Bonus?

A sticky bonus is a bonus that you can play with, but never withdrawal. It's "sticky" in the sense that it stays stuck in your player account and doesn't go into your bank account. For example, let's say you take part in a bonus offer of 100% match with a $200 max bonus. You deposit $200 and you get "matched" for another $200 so you now have $400 to play with in your account. Let's say you did well and ended up with $2,500 in your account. When you make a withdrawal (let's say you want to withdrawal it all), the casino will simply deduct the bonus amount (so $2,300 goes to you and $200 - the original match amount - stays behind). Now, let's look at another scenario where you lost $250 of the original $400 so your balance is $150. How much can you withdrawal? You guessed it... zip. That's how sticky bonuses work. Most bonuses are sticky bonuses. The trick to taking advantage of sticky bonuses is to wager BIG to take full advantage of all that free month. While you'll certainly bust more often, you'll also win BIG a lot as well and the difference is how you can make money with stickies. It's more of the art of money management than anything else. (Hint: the win, you need to take advantage of more than one bonus offer).

What is a No Deposit Bonus?

Well, it's just what the name says... you get a bonus and you don't have to deposit any money at all. Of course, this free money comes with strings attached such as play-through requirements (the number of times you need to wager the bonus) and game restrictions (which games you can count toward your play-through requirement), but even so, No Deposit Bonuses are a great deal. They have become less popular more recently as Bonus Hunters (professional online gamblers) sign up to take advantage with no intention of continuing play at the casino. No deposit bonuses are really a costly form of advertising for casino trying to build customer loyalty so don't be surprised to see all sorts of language in the terms and condition to dissuade players that come only for the bonuses. They look at bonus hunters the same way the owners of the Mexican restaurant I used to work at looks at folks who come in for the free chips and salsa then leave without ordering.

For example, there is the “sign-up bonus.” If you put $500 in your player account, the casino might add more money to it, say $100 in the case of poker, and $300 in the case of casino table games or slots. Sometimes you will have to play for a while (earn “play points” of some kind) to justify the bonus deposit. Frequent players and high-rollers often earn points and receive bonuses as they log on and gamble.

Similar to a “sign-up” bonus is a “re-load bonus,” which works in a similar way, except that it is triggered by adding a certain specified amount to an existing account.

Bonuses almost always require some sort of play in order to “vest” in terms of real money. For example, someone with $500 in real money and $100 in bonus money will not be able to withdraw $600 unless and until the $100 in bonus money was wagered a certain number of times. Then it becomes real winnings, and not just incentive credits.

Bonuses have expiration dates. That is, if the event that “vests” the bonus for the player does not take place for a certain amount of time (like 90 days), the bonus evaporates.

Bonuses will state whether the whole amount must be “earned” or “redeemed” at one time, or whether a player will receive increments of the bonus over time, in accordance with the amount of play that causes bonus dollars to “vest.”
Some bonuses are offers of special deals for trying out a new game or bringing in another referred customer. Such offers often have deadlines, meaning that people speaking up for the bonus must do whatever is required of them by a certain date, or otherwise the bonus money will not be credited.

Brick-and-Mortar casinos might sometimes offer special bonuses as promotions, especially with slot machines. The terms will be much less complicated than for online gambling websites.