3-Card Poker Bonus

One of the biggest selling points or marketing tactics for online casinos is to push bonuses. A bonus is free money offered to players as an incentive to make a real money deposit.

Now when it comes to casino games such as tri card poker, you won’t make money with bonuses. That’s because of the house edge each game has. So the only thing that bonuses will be good for are giving your bankroll a cushion so that you can play longer. That’s not necessarily a bad thing though, since the longer you’re able to play, the more chances you have of hitting a big hand or jackpot.

Types of Casino Bonuses

Bonuses come in all shapes and sizes. Like I said above, they’re a marketing tactic to get you to open your wallet. So each bonus is created with a specific person or action in mind. Look at the most common bonuses below, and you’ll see exactly what I mean.

Welcome Bonus – The welcome bonus (also referred to as the first time player bonus) is reserved for players who are signing up and making a deposit for the first time. Bonus amounts vary, but will range from $25 on up to $2,000 or more. $1,000 deposit bonuses are very common.

No Deposit Bonus – As the name suggests, you don’t actually have to make a deposit to get this bonus. These are smaller bonuses though, like $5, $10 or $25. Most casinos deposit them right into your account when you signup. You’ll still need to complete the play through requirements in order to keep the money.

Reload Bonuses – These are bonuses for existing players as an incentive to keep them playing at the casino. These will vary from one casino to the next in terms of play through requirements and amounts. You might even have to be a certain level VIP member before you can take advantage of one.

Match Bonus – A match bonus is where the casino will match a percentage of your deposit. For example, many casinos do 100% match bonuses. So for every $1 you deposit, the casino matches you $1. Sometimes the entire bonus will be put into your account once you make your deposit, and other times you’ll need to unlock the bonus so many dollars at a time by playing. After so many points, hands or dollars, you’ll be sent a fraction of your bonus.

High Roll Bonus – A high roller bonus is for players who have lots of money to spend. These bonuses will usually be in excess of $2,500 (and up).

Refer-A-Friend – The refer-a-friend bonus is a small bonus given to you for every person that you refer to the casino that signs up and makes a real money deposit. Each casino will be different, but usually there will be requirements such as deposit amount and play through requirement. Refer-a-friend bonuses are small, too, like $25 or $50 per friend. Most casinos will not have a limit on how many friends you can refer.

Ok, so those are the most common bonuses you’ll come across online. There are uncommon bonuses too. For example, some casinos will offer bonuses that are only good for a specific game or day of the week. These can be solid casinos to play at because these bonuses are offered frequently, if not all the time.

Casino Bonus Requirements

Every casino bonus that you come across online will have terms and conditions. After all, the casino wants to make money, and what’s more, they want to prevent people from abusing the bonus system.

The following are the most important terms and conditions that you need to be aware of.

When Does the Bonus Expire?

Before you sign up at a site for the bonus, be sure to check for an expiration date. Not all sites/bonuses will have them. Those that do will require that you complete the bonus in 30, 60 or 90 days. Some shorter, some longer. Nearly all casinos will let you keep what you earn in that time frame, but you’ll forfeit the remainder of your bonus if you don’t complete it before the time is up.

What Are the Play Through Requirements?

Bonuses have what’s called a play through or wager requirement. A play through requirement is you wagering so much money before your eligible to keep any of your bonus money.

The exact requirements will vary from casino to casino. Sometimes you’ll have to play a multiplier of your total deposit plus bonus, such as 20x. Meaning, if you deposited $100 and was given $100 ($200 total), you might have to wager 20x $200 ($4,000) before you can keep your money.

Other casinos and poker sites do point systems or number of hands. You have to collect so many points or play so many hands, and once you do, you’re given a piece of your bonus. You keep doing this until time runs out or you collect the entire bonus, whichever comes first.

Games Allowed

This is an extremely important term to be familiar with, especially for casino games. Casinos have different types of clearing requirements for the different games they offer. One casino game (such as slots) will count 100% towards your play through requirements, while others (such as blackjack) will count only as a fraction, or not at all.

For example, you will find that many casinos don’t allow blackjack to be counted towards the completion of the bonus. However, other casinos will count it at a fraction, like 50%. So if the play through requirements for your $500 bonus is 20x, playing blackjack will only get you halfway there (like only playing 10x). You’ll need to wager 40x in order to complete the bonus.

Casinos don’t say why they do this. If I had to guess though, it’s because table games like craps, blackjack and various poker games have much smaller house edges. So the casino doesn’t make nearly as much money, if any at all. However, you won’t find one casino that disallows slots from being played for the bonus, since they have one of the highest house edges in the casino.

Summary

Well, that’s it. Don’t forget to check for and read these rules when scoping out online casinos to play at. If you’re not careful and break one of these terms, you can have your bonus taken away, as well as any winnings you may have won with it.