Top Bonuses at Australian Casinos

There’s hardly anything that online gamblers love more than bonuses. While Australian casino bonuses come in all forms and sizes depending on the casino’s imagination, most of the time they take the form of money prizes and free spins. How can bonuses level up your gambling experience? What are the most popular bonus types out there? What things should be considered when accepting a bonus? When should one pass on a bonus? In this quick guide, we’re going to answer there and other fundamental questions about bonuses at Australian casinos. Buckle up, it’s going to be quite a ride!

Types of casino bonuses

Australian casinos are incessantly coming up with new ways to encourage their clients and win their loyalty. After all, bonuses work like a charm when it comes to building up the player base and boosting the reputation. Some casinos have truly impressive bonus systems with cash gifts for literally any occasion that you can imagine, whether it’s your first deposit, birthday, registration anniversary, or national holiday.

In this chapter, we’re going to concentrate on the most widespread bonuses that you’re likely to find at Australian casinos:

• Welcome bonus. If you’re looking to raise some good cash, welcome bonuses are your best choice. Australian casinos give welcome bonuses to newly registered punters. However, at some casinos, registration alone is not enough. To get your hands on a welcome bonus, you may also need to make a deposit to your account. What really makes welcome bonuses special is that they tend to come in a package, i.e. they apply not a bunch of deposits, usually from 3 to as many as 10.
• Reload bonus. While welcome bonuses target new punters, reload bonuses aim to nurture and motivate the existing players. The name “reload” speaks for itself. Every time you reload, or fund your account, the Australian casino gives you a cash prize. Reload bonuses are a nice way to make gambles come back to the casino and cultivate a loyal player base.
• Cashback bonus. Some bonuses come in the form of a cashback on a player’s losses. Say, you’ve funded your account with 200 dollars and ended up losing everything. With a 5% cash back, you’ll get 10 dollars back. Along with other beneficial perks, cashback bonuses tend to make a part of VIP programs.
• Birthday bonus. On your birthday, you can expect a nice gift from the casino in the form of a cash prize or a bunch of free spins (see below). Most of the time, birthday bonuses are provided automatically. At some Australian casinos, however, you need to write to support and submit your ID scan to claim the bonus.
• High roller bonus. If your deposit amount exceeds a fixed threshold (for example, $1,000), the casino will give you a special bonus that usually ranges between 30% and 50%. Some Australian casinos provide their VIP players with no deposit cash gifts. It’s a smart strategy to encourage high rollers splurge even more.
• Free spins. Last but not least! Free spins are something you can’t imagine a Australian casino without. Unlike other types of rewards, free spins can be used exclusively on slot machines. In fact, pokie fans are the only ones who can actually benefit from this type of bonus. Free spins can come as an addition to welcome bonuses, or as a standalone gift.

Australian casino bonuses: Pros

Casino bonuses have their advantages as well as drawbacks. Luckily for players, bonuses still have more positive sides than negative ones. Since we’re generally in favor of using bonuses, it’s only logical that we start with the benefits that they can bring to casino enthusiasts.

• Bonuses are a great way to introduce rookies to online gambling. Imagine that you’re a wide-eyed beginner who doesn’t know where to start and what casino to choose. In this challenging situation, bonuses can act as a guiding light, helping the player to pick the best Australian casino to play at. (Be careful though because a bonus system is by far not the only thing you should consider when choosing a gambling site!) On top of that, cash gifts and other perks from a Australian casino make new punters feel welcome in the gambling world. Bonuses ensure an easier adaptation and take down stress that a newcomer may experience when immersed into a new environment. There’s no denying that it’s nice to get some extra cash that you can spend on bets!
• Bonuses give you a lot more opportunities to explore gambling games than if you had to rely solely on your own money. If Australian casinos had no bonuses, most players wouldn’t be able to afford gambling to the extent they’re used to. With bonuses, if you fund your account with, say, 100 dollars, you’ll get 30 to 100 dollars extra, depending on the type of the bonus. With more money at your fingertips, you’re free to take risks when it comes to betting levels, try out more games, and live your best life as a gambler!

Australian casino bonuses: Cons

As you might already know, bonuses are not as rosy as they may seem to a naive gambler. Let’s take a look at the dangers that Australian casino bonuses bring with them and how to find a reasonable way to overcome these pitalls.

Figuratively speaking, a casino bonus is just the tip of an iceberg that you can see above the water surface. But the largest and most dangerous part of this iceberg that is lurking underwater is - as you’ve probably already guessed - the wagering requirements. Wagering requirements are a fee that a Australian casino charges a gambler for using a bonus. This is how wagering requirements work. If, say, you claimed a $100 bonus that comes with a x20 wager, you’ll have to spend $2,000 on the gambling site before you can withdraw your bonus and winnings.

And as if that was not enough, gambling games are not equally eligible for fulfilling the wagering requirements. For example, slot machines contribute 100% of the player’s bets to meeting the requirements. As for roulette, blackjack, and other table games, the percentage is smaller, ranging from 5% to 50%. Plus, you can’t take all the time in the world to release the bonuses. Most of the time, you’ll only have several days to do that. Sounds pretty harsh, huh?

On top of that, bonuses may act like a trap, especially when it comes to rookie gamblers. When seeing eye-grabbing bonus promos on a casino site, it’s really hard to fight the feeling to grab them all. If you claim one lavish welcome bonus after another, you’ll end up with a pretty big sum of money on your hands. This may give you an illusion of actually owning all this fortune. This is a misleading thought though. You need to remember that this money belongs to the casino until you’ve released all the bonuses that have been given to you.

How to beat wagering requirements

If all this hasn't yet killed your desire to use bonuses, here’s how you can manage. Allow us to give you a few tips on how you can avoid the trap of wagering requirements and make the most out of bonuses.

• When it comes to cash rewards and other bonuses, the most important thing that can make or break your gambling success is self-control. It’s important to keep your head cool. Be sure to fight the urge to rake in all those lucrative bonuses that you’re seeing on a gambling site. View a casino as a grocery store where each bonus is a product with a price tag. Be sure to read the Bonus Terms and Conditions to learn what the Australian casino expects you to do before you’re allowed to cash out your bonus winnings. If the wagering requirements seem too much to you, you should better pass on the bonus and rely on your own bankroll. Otherwise, instead of enjoying gambling, you’ll end up stressing over how to meet the impossible wagering requirements.
• If, after a careful consideration, you’ve decided to accept a bonus, the best way to beat the wagering requirements attached to it is by playing slots. At most Australian casinos, pokies contribute the biggest percentage of your bets to the wagering requirements, allowing you to release your bonus faster and with less effort.

FAQ on popular casino bonuses

- Do I have to accept bonuses from a Australian casino?

- No, you don’t. Whether to take or not to take a bonus is for the player to decide. There’s no way a casino can force you into accepting a bonus. Also, if you’re playing gambling games for free in demo mode, you don’t need bonuses at all. No headache about meeting the wagering requirements!

- Do all bonuses come with wagering requirements?

- It’s getting increasingly hard to find a bonus without any strings attached. But this doesn’t mean it’s impossible. Some Australian casinos do offer wager-free signup bonuses. Newly registered players can get a free bonus that they don’t need to release afterwards. The only drawback is that such bonuses are usually quite small in size and don't make a big difference when it comes to your bankroll. Plus, burgeoning gambling platforms also tend to lure in new players with wager-free bonuses. Be careful with no-name casinos though. Be sure to do a thorough check (license, player reviews, etc.) before you sign up with a new casino and claim a bonus from it.

- What will happen if I fail to meet wagering requirements? Will the casino suspend my account?

- No. This is not how wagering requirements work. If you fail to release your bonus within the specified time period, the casino will take back the bonus and winnings that you’ve earned with the help of this bonus.

- Do free spins come with wagering requirements too?

- Even though free spins are a non-cash bonus, they too come with wagering requirements. In this case, the multiplier applies to the winnings that you've won during the free spins.