The gambling industry is crowded with operators, and each is competing for the business of every potential gambler out there. No matter what type of game you like to play, sites are offering great rewards and VIP Programs designed to attract and retain your business. You should always be on the hunt for the next great offer, and this page is a primer on what you should be looking for when you are ready to choose a site.
Why Do Rewards Matter?
Rewards are essentially a way to enhance the value of your deposits, which in turn can affect your ROI as a gambler. While many rewards offer only pennies on the dollar spent, these can often mean the difference between being a winning or losing player at the end of your session. If you manage your bankroll properly and take advantage of the rewards being offered by sites, you can have a much larger balance in your account than if you choose not to take part in any of these programs.
Types of Rewards
There are lots of different types of rewards being given out by gambling sites, and if you look at the homepage of any one of them, you may be overwhelmed by all the numbers being thrown around. Let’s look at a couple of the main categories of rewards.
Free Bets
Free Bets or Free Spins are what they sound like – a chance to make a bet without your money. Now, some Free Bet offers come before you even make your initial deposit, rewarding you for simply creating an account with a site. There are typically lots of rules around these bets, especially when it comes to cashing out any money you make from them. The Terms and Conditions of each site will clearly outline how these Free Bets are to be handled, and while there can be a lot of hoops to jump through for players, the bottom line is that these bets don’t cost you any of your own money, so they are definitely worth searching out.
Deposit Bonuses
The main category of rewards being offered by gambling sites are deposit bonuses. These can take many forms, such as additional free spins, match bets or an amount of Bonus Dollars added into your account. The key to these bonuses is that you have to make a deposit to claim them. So, when you are ready to make a deposit, you want to be looking for the best bonuses, which means the ones that give you the best chance to earn extra cash.
Some deposit bonuses offer huge percentage in return for your cash, but when you dig into the Terms and Conditions, you find that it is almost impossible to maximize your return. You want o find sites with the lowest wagering requirements for converting bonus dollars into cash, as well as sites that do not limit the amount of converted money that can be withdrawn from the site. This does take a little bit of effort, but our site reviews also cover most of these details, so you don’t have to do all the research on your own.
Loyalty Programs
Many sites offer loyalty point to players who are wagering real money across any types of games. These points are a factor of the amount of money being gambled, and when the total reaches a benchmark number, they can usually be cashed in for real money into a player’s account. This is yet another way to squeeze a few more pennies out of every dollar you spend, which may not seem like a lot at the moment but can definitely add up. The main thing to remember with loyalty points is that tend to have expiration dates, so we always recommend you cash them in as soon as you reach the threshold where you can make a request to do so.
VIP Programs – Are they worth it?
The loyalty points that you accumulate can also trigger a VIP status for you at the gambling site. Many players don’t notice that they are close to making a jump in status, but we think it is something you should definitely be watching. Most VIP programs offer better bonuses and promotions to those whoa re the most loyal, so if you are planning to be a long-term player, then picking one site and sticking with it could be worth it for you. When you factor in the better redemption rates for loyalty points, higher bonus percentages and offers strictly for VIP members, the programs are definitely worth the effort needed to reach the different status levels.
It is obviously the goal of every gambler to end up in the win column. However, they don’t run these sites to give away money, and the odds are stacked against you no matter what game you are playing. One way to affect your bottom line is to take full advantage of all the rewards a site offers you to play with them. Between VIP programs, loyalty points and bonuses, you can slowly move the needle in your favor, and in the long run, having that extra cash in your account will at the very least extend your playing time without having to make a new deposit.