A very common offer type that can be classed as anywhere from low to high risk depending on the offer. With this type you will be given an amount of bonus funds to wager before it is turned to cash funds. They will come in 2 different varieties.
On the lower end of the casino risk scale is the type of bonus where you are asked to wager an amount of your own cash and are then given a bonus (eg. wager £20 get a £10 bonus). These are considered lower risk because unlike the proceeding type of cashable bonus, your entire deposit is not at risk.
Although the majority of casinos will not operate this way, it is wise to check the terms of each offer carefully to see if it uses cash or bonus funds first as you will need to compensate for this:
At this point you will be able to start wagering your bonus. If you manage to complete the offers wagering requirements, the bonus funds will be converted to cash and become withdrawable.
This type is higher risk than the previous because your entire deposit is at risk and as such is not recommended until you have gained some casino experience and are also comfortable with that potential loss. If you wouldn't be able to walk away after the offer accepting that loss then please don't touch this offer type.
As soon as you opt in to a buy in bonus, the cash will be taken from your balance and put into a new section (usually named buy in balance or similar) and your bonus will be credited to a bonus balance. When wagering, as long as you have a buy in balance it will be deducted from that. This means you will not be able to start using the bonus funds until buy in balance has been depleted.
While in your buy in balance you have have the opportunity to forfeit your bonus and turn it back into cash, effectively ending the offer prematurely. This is a great option should you hit a big win while in the buy in balance, especially if you have a lot of wagering remaining as you skip whatever wagering is left on the offer. It is also important to note that if the offer happens to have a maximum winnings cap, this will not apply should you still be in cash balance be it because you forfeited the bonus or you finish the required wagering.
In the world of low risk casino, this will probably be the most common type of offer you encounter and is very simple in its premise; you receive an amount of free spins at a certain value (eg. 10 x 20p spins). Load the slot, play the spins and you have your winnings.
In its most simple form that is it, your winnings are credited to your cash balance and you can withdraw the winnings immediately. Although in many cases you will have to wager your winnings before turning the winnings from bonus funds to cash. This will vary from offer to offer but wagering requirements anywhere from 10x to 30x your winnings is common.
Sometimes you will be given free spins with no strings attached but they will usually be awarded for wagering a certain amount of your own cash first.
Also, as with all casino offers, be wary of the terms. Some casinos will use cash first over your free spins winnings, in this case you should withdraw before starting the free spins.
This type of offer will give you 'cashback' on your staking and comes in a few different forms. From best to worst (in terms of EV) they are:
With this type of offer it is important to calculate a deposit amount (the balance you start the offer with) and profit target (a balance that if you reach you will stop the offer). You would wager until you either reach your target or your balance reaches 0.
This will vary from offer to offer but a general guide for 100% cashback offers would be deposit the maximum cashback amount and target balance would be 2x your deposit amount eg. if you are doing an offer that is 100% cashback on losses up to £25 then a £25 deposit with a £50 profit target would be a good start. This is a great use for the EVCalc simulator, play with the numbers and figure out the sweet spot.
Despite the name 'cashback', these offers are increasingly requiring wagering nowadays (although usually anywhere from 1x to 10x so relatively low) so make sure to take this into consideration.
Another high risk type of offer, they are very similar to cashable bonuses except you can't withdraw the bonus. Should you complete wagering then the bonus amount will be subtracted from your winnings.
These offers should be approached similarly to cashable bonuses with the exception of having a profit target as with cashback offers. This is because there is the potential to finish wagering with less than your deposit amount so in this case you would wager until you either bust out or hit this target. There is no hard and fast rule for this profit target but 2x the deposit amount is a good start.
One of the less common bonus types, Post wager bonuses can vary massively in risk level depending on the wagering required but will usually tend to be medium to high risk offers such as wager £5,000 get £200 bonus.
As the name suggests, they require you to wager an amount in your own cash before the bonus is credited. The bonus will usually be cash but can also have a small amount of wagering attached.