Understanding Bingo Bonuses

Online Bingo Bonuses are available from nearly every single Bingo vendor and are often a great opportunity to make you bankroll look really impressive, but are they really as good as they look ?

Nobody gives away free cash for nothing and there is always some kind of catch when you accept a bonus, normally this is in the form of what’s known as a play-through or a wagering requirement. These will differ massively for each Bingo Room and its worth getting a proper understanding of what the wagering requirements might be before accepting your bonus.

As an illustration to how this works, let’s look at an example from a Bingo Hall that has a 5x Play-Through before any money can be cashed out.
In this example £100 is deposited using Neteller and £100 is added to your account as the 100% match bonus.

• If you buy £100 worth of bingo cards and win £400, your new balance is now £500 (£400 winnings and your £100 bonus) You are not yet entitled to cash in any money as you have not yet gambled 5x your initial deposit, you have only actually gambled 1x your initial deposit (The £100 worth of cards you purchased)

• If you buy £200 worth of cards and win £300, then spend all of your £300 balance on more cards, anything you win is yours to keep, as you have gambled 5x your initial deposit and completed the wagering requirement to be able to cash out.

There are many other conditions that can appear in the terms and conditions and you should make sure you understand exactly what these are before you accept a bonus, here are a few more to look out for;

• Sometimes you will be required to gamble both your deposit and the bonus amount a certain number of times before being able to cashout, ie. Deposit £100 and get your 100% (£100) bonus, you will now be required to wager atleast 5x both your deposit and bonus amount (£1000) before you can cash out.

• Wagering requirements range from 1x to 50x your initial deposit (and sometimes the bonus as well) so it’s worth making sure you understand these before you proceed.

• Sometimes you are not allowed to cash out your bonus, only cash that you have won playing with your initial bonus.

Now I have made these bonuses sound quite scary and almost predatory, I should go on to explain the benefits of a bonus.

• Your bankroll is made to look considerably healthier!

• You can play many more games than you would be able to normally with the same amount of cash

• Smaller wagering requirements are reached surprisingly easily

• Hitting a jackpot with your bonus will make it easy to meet the wagering requirements and accepting the bonus gives you more chances to hit the jackpot.

Some Bingo Halls will make it very easy for you to understand exactly where you are with your bonus by displaying the cash amounts and bonus amounts separately and as you meet the wagering requirements for the bonus it is moved into your cash balance which is yours to withdrawal at any time.