Posted on September 5, 2010 - by Admin

Bonuses for Casino Games

You always have to be wary about excepting some bonuses from online casinos. For the most part, there are several games that online casinos do not want you playing when you are using one of their bonuses. The four main casino games that come to mind are Roulette, Craps, Baccarat and Pai Gow Poker.

For the most part, casinos should be fine with you betting on these games; you just won’t earn any credit towards your bonus’ wagering requirement. But be careful because there are some casinos may specifically say that they can revoke your bonus and any winnings if you play a game that isn’t approved. Be sure to read the casinos bonus terms and conditions. Specifically look for any part that they tell you they will void the bonus and any winnings. This is most likely to happen if you try to cash out before you reach your wagering requirement.

The fact is that not many online casinos will allow you to play games like Roulette, Craps, or Baccarat in association with their casino bonus.

Very rarely will you find a bonus that includes European Roulette; the American version of Roulette is more likely to be allowed. This is because European Roulette has half the house advantage without the 00 on the board.

Also, I have not found an online casino yet that has a bonus with the dice game of Sic Bo. But if you like playing this game, or any casino game that isn’t allowed with a bonus, make sure that the casino will allow you to play without wagering the bonus money.

This is often how online casinos set up a player’s real account. You will see two separate totals: your real money and your bonus money. Good online casinos (or at least the ones that I like) will allow you to play other games not covered under the rules for the bonus. Instead, they will just take the money from your real money total and not credit you for any wagering towards the bonus.

What bonus should I take if I like to play Scratch Cards and/or Keno?

It is almost always the case that players at any online casino that offers casino games like Keno or virtual Scratch Cards will allow these games to be played with the casino’s slots bonus.

So why don’t online casinos offer bonuses for some casino games?

There are two basic answers for this: First, these games have odds that are very close to 50/50. Compare that to the slot machines which will typically pay out between 40% to 45%. This means that the casinos are trying to give players incentives to deposit money and come back when playing games that they are more likely to lose at.

The second reason that these games are not often allowed to be played, even when other games like blackjack and casino poker variants are allowed, is because of the ability of the player to abuse the wagering requirements.

In a lot of online casinos, a player can wager on both Red and Black in roulette. Several years ago, online players took advantage of this and were able to fulfill the wagering requirements and cash out the bonus by doing this. The likelihood of losing the bet by getting a 0 or 00 wasn’t very good.

The same holds true in craps, where a player could technically bet on Pass and Don’t Pass or Come and Don’t Come. This would credit the player for wagering money that could not be lost. Baccarat is very similar as the gambler could bet on Player and Bank. Online casinos caught on very early on in the process and chose to disallow these casino games rather than program the games to not allow dishonest players.

Pai Gow Poker is a little bit different. The reason this game often does not count towards casino bonus wagers is mainly because there is a high probability to Push with the Banker, thus making the process of wagering money a little bit less risky. It is also a game that is very close to 50/50 odds against the banker, if not for the 5% commission paid to the bank on wins.

Online Casinos that offer Bonuses for these Casino Games

If you are a fan of any of these games, you may think that it would be better for you not to accept a bonus and be able to play the casino games that you want without restriction.

I do have good news for you, though. There are several online casinos that offer a casino bonus of one kind or another while allowing you to play almost any game.

If you like playing these games and want to get a bonus, here is the online casino that I would suggest for you:

English Harbour: They have a bonus that is all purpose and almost all inclusive as far as playing different casino games goes. English Harbour’s welcome bonus is a series of bonuses for your first 4 deposits. Each deposit can receive a maximum of $200 on a deposit of the same value.

They have an interesting way of doing this bonus. For slots players, the wagering requirement is 20 times the total amount of the deposit and bonus combined. From there, English Harbour awards a percentage of the wager for other games. The only casino game that is not allowed is European Roulette.

For craps and baccarat wagers, you will receive 35% of your bet towards the wagering requirement. This is about the same as having a 50x requirement overall, which is better than you will find anywhere else.

For American Roulette and Pai Gow Poker – not so much, you will only receive 10% towards the requirement (or 200x overall – seriously that’s too much) which means you better like playing other games if you ever want to meet the requirements to cash out. That being said, at least you aren’t restricted from playing and no other places offer anything better.