In just a few decades the online casino sector has achieved truly stratospheric success. Today it’s estimated to be worth around $80 billion a year and is growing at a rate of around 12% a year. So by 2030 it is set to be worth almost $154 billion.
Some markets are growing faster than others and New Zealand is up there with the leaders. By 2029 it’s projected that around 700,000 adults will be playing online and the revenue raised will be $1.64 billion.
In such a vibrant market it’s unsurprising that there’s a great deal of competition among casino operators to acquire new players. There’s also often very little to distinguish among the casinos themselves. They tend to feature the same kinds of games and types of slots, often from the same game developers.
But the one point of difference that they can use to stand out is the range of incentives that they offer to new players. These are generally known as welcome bonuses and they can take various forms. Then, once a player has signed up for a particular casino, there are other promotions designed to keep them playing.
Types of bonuses and promotions
It’s fair to say that every single online casino offers some kind of bonus for new players with the main types listed here. There are others, such as special offers made on players’ birthdays and the chance to play types of Wheel of Fortune games on a daily basis. But these are the exception rather than the rule.
No Deposit Bonuses
These are undoubtedly the most sought-after types of bonus but are increasingly difficult to find. As the name suggests, these take the form of free stake money offered to new players. There’s no requirement for them to put down a single dollar of their own to start playing. But, as online casinos have increasingly found, once the free stake money has been exhausted the player often moves on to another casino to claim another bonus.
Deposit Match Bonus
As a hedge against the no deposit bonus costing them profit, casinos started to introduce the deposit match bonus. In this a player does need to put down some stake money of their own but the casino will match it up to a maximum agreed level. These can be quite generous bonuses offering players the chance to gain hundreds of dollars in what are effectively free bets.
Free spins
Those players looking for something for nothing from their new casino will find there are plenty of options for no deposit free spins in NZ if they visit a site like Casino Guru. It’s by no means unusual to find online casinos offering up to 300 free spins on selected slots games with no need for an initial deposit. Sometimes the free spins incentive is combined with a deposit match bonus offering double the incentive to sign up and play.
Reload bonus
Casinos are all too aware that players are fickle and, once the free stake money runs out, they may start looking around again. This is where the reload bonus comes in. This usually takes the form of a secondary deposit match bonus and offers just enough incentive to carry on playing. It is also often accompanied by a set number of free spins on selected slots games or sometimes the chance to enter into a free prize draw.
VIP and Loyalty Bonuses
Once a player is well-established and is spending plenty of money in an online casino they are often invited to enjoy a loyalty scheme. This tends to have different, ascending levels and the more a player spends the higher they can rise until they reach VIP status. Incentives can include free stake money, gifts and even the chance to attend top sporting events as guests of the casino in question.
Watch out for the wagering requirement
We’ve all heard the expression that there’s no such thing as a free lunch – and there’s no such thing as a free casino bonus either. That’s because all have certain terms, conditions and restrictions to them.
The main one of these is something called a wagering requirement. This is an amount that a player needs to have wagered before they can start to claim any of the winnings they have achieved with their bonuses. It’s expressed as a multiple of the bonus amount, so a 10x wagering requirements would mean that a player who had received a $100 bonus would need to bet a total of $1,000 before claiming any winnings. The nature of free spins means that a wagering requirement does not apply.
Despite the wagering requirement, bonuses are undoubtedly useful for anyone wanting to start playing any game from poker to roulette on a small budget. And the more you search around, the better the bonuses you’re going to find.
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