Top Free Play Casino Bonus Offers and Bonus Terms

by Devon Chappell, Online Gambling News Contributor

November 17, 2009

See our top Casino Bonus Offers Here. Read further for some pertinent information on free play bonus terms and conditions, including an explanation of exactly what a "Play Bonus" means.

First off, it's important to clarify what a "free play casino bonus" is. For the sake of this article, we'll be referring to a free play casino bonus as one of two things. The more common reference is a promotion that online casinos offer to new players, in which a player is given a designated amount of money to gamble during a designated amount of time (usually 60 minutes), the winnings of which are for the player to keep.A good example, which is actually the best free play bonus available in our opinion, is Crazy Vegas Casino's $3000 in 60 minutes Free Play Bonus offer. Like the offer says, you get $3,000 credits to spend in 60 minutes. Plus, you get 50 Free spins on the Jonny Specter slot machine. See our Crazy Vegas Casino Review for more info.

Keep in mind, all free play bonus offers impose a limit on how much money you can actually convert into bonus cash. For the Crazy Vegas offer, it's 125 credits. And in order to receive these credits, you will have had to make at least 100 bets during the free play mode, and make a minimum deposit of $50. Then, the credits are transferred to a bonus account, in which normal wagering requirements must be met before a withdrawal can be made (30x play-through). At this point the "Free Play Bonus" becomes just a "Play Bonus".

A "Play Bonus", which is essentially all casino bonuses, is one in which only winnings earned from using the bonus can be cashed out - not the bonus money itself. In other words, think of the bonus money as that which can be "played". And winnings derived from said "play" are only eligible for cashing out - and then only if the wager requirement, aka play-through, has been met.

So, where do all the winnings from bonus play go if you still have not met the wager requirement? Into a separate bonus account. The way it works is that in order to claim a free play casino bonus, you will also have to make a real money deposit. The deposit goes into a Cash balance account, while the Bonus money goes into a bonus account. Pretty simple, right?

Here's where it gets a little confusing. All wagers will come from the Cash Account, and winnings earned from such wagers will go back into the Cash Account. The only time bonus money will be used to place wagers is when a player's cash account has reached 0 (zero). The amount of the bonus account will never exceed the amount of the original bonus. So, if bonus money is used to place a wager (that means there is no more money in the cash account), and winnings earned from such a wager will exceed the amount of the original bonus, the excess winnings will funnel back into the cash account. All further wagers will henceforth come from the cash account until if and when the cash account reaches zero again.

I know it sounds confusing, but the reason online casinos do this is so that there is no confusion at the time of cashing out. No money from the bonus account can be cashed out, for it's a "play bonus". Only funds in the cash account can be withdrawn. But remember, do not attempt to take a withdrawal before the play-through requirement is met. This is Bonus T&C 101. Before any money can be cashed out, the wager requirement must be met - the status of which will be shown in the Bonus Account. If you try to cash out early, the bonus and any winnings will be deemed void, only leaving you with your original deposit. In other words, just because you hit a big win and think it wise to quit while you are ahead, all those winnings won't be paid out if you don't first meet the wager requirement.

When all is said and done, a free play casino bonus may not really seem so free after all. But then again, do you honestly expect an online casino - or any business for that matter - to give away hundreds, even thousands of dollars to people and actually stay in business? The bottom line is that online casinos have to add some attached strings - some more than others. And this is one of the factors that should be weighed when claiming a free play casino bonus. Don't just look at the figures. Read the T&C's from top to bottom, and if you have ANY questions, email the casino's customer service department and get an answer in writing.