The Bingo Bonus Culture - Is There A Devil In The Detail?

One of the common confusions that can arise amongst newcomers to online Bingo games concerns the sign-up bonuses boldly trumpeted by competing online Bingo sites. The headline deals often tempt players with promises of ‘free money', either by way of a fixed sum or a multiple of the value of the first deposit a player makes into their new account. But is this money actually ‘free'? Well it's a case of ‘yes' and ‘no', as I'll explain.

The good news is that, providing you've chosen a reputable, licenced online Bingo site to play, such bonus money is a genuine gift with real monetary value. What must be understood, is that it does come with certain strings attached that means you will not be free to simply cash it out to spend elsewhere. Reputable sites will make it easy to access the terms and conditions they attach to their bonus promotions, and I urge you to read them if you want to be sure what you're agreeing to by claiming such a bonus.

With online Bingo bonuses there are typically two alternative terms you may encounter. The first is relatively simple to follow; this stipulates that any free bonus money paid can only be used to purchase Bingo tickets and sometimes credits for other game attractions at that site. The player can never cash the bonus money out. This rule usually doesn't apply to winnings accrued by using that bonus money, so it can be a source of profitable play.

The alternative mechanism commonly used to limit the use of Bingo bonuses is the more complex ‘wagering requirement'. In this case a player can cash out the money paid as a bonus, but only if they have spent a qualifying amount at that online Bingo site. The wagering requirement itself is traditionally a multiple of the value of the bonus paid or a multiple of the bonus added to the player's deposit that triggered its payment. For example, if the wagering requirement is expressed as 2 x Deposit + Bonus (a common term) and a player received a £20 Bingo bonus after depositing £20 themselves, they could only cash out that bonus once they had spent £80 at that site [2 x (£20+£20)].

Reputable online Bingo sites will allow players' money other than bonuses credited to their account to be cashed out at any time, however it is another common term that if that happens before a wagering requirement has been met any bonus money left in the account will be forfeited.

From reading the above you might feel disappointed that online Bingo bonuses are not the ‘free cash machine' you'd hoped for, but that is frankly a hugely unrealistic expectation to hold. Online Bingo sites are entertainment businesses and not charities. View online Bingo bonuses as a method of getting extra value for money from every pound / euro / dollar of your own money that you spend and you'll get the best out of these promotions - after all, the extra free Bingo fun these bonuses will gift you could garner a jackpot you might not have played for otherwise!

Nathan Howes has many years experience working in the online entertainment sector and as an editor for InternetBingo.co.uk has a keen eye on the free bingo and bingo bonus incentives used to attract new customers to the world of online Bingo gaming.