A popular promotion with online Bingo players, and one offered by pretty much every online Bingo site you care to mention, is the ‘match’ or ‘deposit bonus’. In simple terms, this is a gift of extra free bonus money credited to a player’s account when they make a deposit.
The most common example of these kinds of Bingo bonuses is the Welcome Bonus many online Bingo sites offer to new players in the event of their very first deposit. Some sites offer a fixed, one-off bonus on all first richdaddy deposits that exceed a certain minimum value (which is rarely more than £10 to trigger the bonus payment) whereas others pledge to match the first deposit by a certain percentage. These percentages vary between 100% and 250% meaning a player can receive between £1 and £2.50 of free bonus money for every pound they deposit themselves. Be aware that there is usually an upper limit to the total amount of bonus a particular online Bingo site will credit a player – somewhere between £100 to £150 is common – so do check the terms and conditions of the promotion to be clear how much you can claim.
Another reason to check the terms and conditions of an online Bingo sites bonus is to understand what you can do with that bonus money. To be clear, this is free money being given here, but you won’t be entitled to cash it straight out – online Bingo sites aren’t charities and wouldn’t stay in business long if they just handed out their profits like this! You’ll find that the bonus money can (a) only be used to play the games on the site or (b) be cashed out only once a certain wagering requirement has been met (of which more later). With either scenario, any winnings earned from spending the bonus money are free to be cashed out so you are effectively getting a fistful of free Bingo with these bonuses.
Where a wagering requirement is a condition of the bonus, this means that a player must have spent a certain amount of money on the site before they can cash out the bonus money.
Such wagering requirements are usually expressed as a multiple of either the bonus paid or the sum of the bonus paid and the deposit that was made by the player to trigger it. For instance, say new player deposits £20 at an online Bingo hall that credits a 150% matching bonus of £30. The wagering requirement for cashing in this site’s bonus is set at 2 x the sum of the bonus + the first deposit, which in this case would be 2 x (£20 +£30), giving a total of £100. This means the player must spend a minimum of £100 before they are entitled to cash out the £30 of free bonus money. Remember wagering requirements are conditions that only apply to cash out bonus money – the account holder is free to withdraw any other money credited to their account.
Some online Bingo sites also use match bonuses as a reward for loyalty, so you may find at a chosen club that other deposits beyond your first attract extra free money, although these match bonuses are more likely to be at reduced percentages, such as50%.
Deposit bonuses are a handy way to get yourself some extra free online Bingo so, if that appeals to you (and I have to say I can’t imagine many Bingo fans’d look this gift horse in the mouth) it’s well worth keeping an eye on current promotions using a comparative review site like InternetBingo.co.uk, and joining new clubs from time to time to extract the maximum value for money you can from your online Bingo betting!