From welcome bonuses to loyalty rewards: how online casinos attract roulette players — Retail Technology Innovation Hub

Welcome bonus explained

A welcome bonus is a “gift package” offered to new members and includes a boost so they can quickly start playing in the casino. These packages typically consist of:

●      A cash balance. The deposit(s) made by the player are matched with a certain percentage. For example, let’s say the match rate is 200%: this simply means that when you deposit 10 units, another 20 units will be added to your account. This bonus money can be used to play roulette (and other games).

●      A free spin deal. These are spins that can be used on popular slot machines. They cannot be used for roulette, but they will be useful if you want to play slots.

Let’s focus on the cash balance: if you play with your bonus money and win, the payout will be real. However, in order to withdraw your winnings, you will be required to fulfill a condition called wagering: we will explain what this is in more detail below.

Loyalty rewards explained

Welcome packs are exclusive to new players and are designed to be used only once. After that, you can join the loyalty programme and start unlocking new bonuses: these are constantly available offers unless stated otherwise, so you can benefit from them every week, for example.

Participation in loyalty programmes is usually automatic and members receive a reward called “complimentary point” (CP) for the bets they place. For example, for every ten units of bet you place, you earn one CP. Once you accumulate enough points, you advance to the next loyalty level and unlock new bonuses.

These promos include:

●      Reload Bonus: You earn bonus money with varying match rates for every deposit you make.

●      Cashback Bonus: You get a portion of the money you lost playing roulette (for example, 10%) back every week. Usually, does not require wagering.

●      Exchange Feature: You can convert your CPs into casino credits at different rates (for example, 100 CP = 1 credit) and use them to play roulette.

The further you progress in the programme, the greater the scope of your bonuses. For example, the match rate of the reload bonus may be 5% at level one, and 35% at level ten.

You will also be required to complete a wagering requirement for your winnings with these bonuses, so let’s take a closer look at this requirement.

Wagering requirements of casino bonuses

This means that you must play with your own money until you reach a certain total amount at that casino before you can withdraw your bonus money and/or bonus winnings.

For example, let’s say you play roulette using your welcome bonus and win 100 units, and the wagering rate is 10x. In this scenario, you cannot withdraw your 100 units of winnings without first spending 1,000 units on games at that casino (10 x 100).

The wagering rate will be different in each casino and the lower the better. The trick here is that every casino requires you to complete the wagering process with certain games (almost always slots).

That is, it will often not be possible to wager your bonus by playing roulette, you should focus on slots until this process is over.