Exclusive vs. Regular Bonuses Guide
Without a doubt, casino bonuses are great, no matter if we are talking about exclusive bonuses or regular promotions.
Since there is so much confusion around this subject, here on NonStopBonus, we will show you everything you need to know about exclusive bonuses, what makes them tick and what separates them from standard offers.
Read this article to find out more on the subject and learn how to pick the right one for you.
What are Exclusive Bonuses and Standard Bonuses
The online gambling market has grown a lot thanks to casino bonuses. Most players will favor casino games online instead of playing at a land-based establishment precisely for the offers and promotions they receive.
In a competitive market like the online gambling one, a business needs to come up with something extraordinary to attract new customers and keep the existing ones happy. That’s exactly what casino bonuses are.
Each gambling website operator will try to set itself apart by coming up with new and ingenious promotions to attract players and keep seasoned gamblers loyal.
You can see this as a two-way street because both parties benefit from exclusive and regular bonuses. The gambling website gets new customers and the players get extra money to gamble and have fun.
Regular bonuses and promotions are the most common ones and you can find them at every single online casino on the market in a wide variety.
The most popular ones are:
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Welcome Bonuses - Welcome bonuses are by far the most popular, sought after by all new players looking to register an account with a gambling website. These promotions are only available to new players when they register an account with a new online casino.
Welcome bonuses can be further separated into other categories and can represent free spins or no deposit bonuses or match-up welcome promotions.
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Match-Up Bonuses - Every single casino operator out there will offer a sort of a welcome match-up bonus which will be displayed as a percentage of your initial deposit. For example, the casino may offer 100% up to $50.
So, if you make a $50 initial deposit you will be granted another $50 to play with. Since these bonuses are so common, they are easy to find and consistent in value. What’s even better is that they can be offered as first deposit bonuses but also as recurrent offers for the second deposit, the third deposit, and so on.
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No Deposit Bonuses - Smaller in size compared to match-up offers, no deposit bonuses are harder to find on the market because they require no sort of upfront investment.
Most operators will, however, require you to register an account and confirm it before granting a no deposit bonus.
Please note
Even if they require no investment, no deposit promotions come with wagering requirements rules unless otherwise stated by the gambling operator.
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Free Spins Bonuses - Free Spins are a sort of promotion dedicated exclusively to slot players. They can be offered either as a stand-alone offer for a specific game or set of slots or, they can be offered alongside another match-up welcome promotion or no deposit bonus.
For slot spinners, free spins bonuses are great because they get to test new games or get extra chances to bag some nice wins on their favorite games. Just like in the case of no deposit bonuses, wagering conditions still apply.
Exclusive Bonuses, on the other hand, are a bit different even if they represent a similar thing.
What sets them apart from the regular promotions are the better conditions offered to the players, like longer timeframes, better wagering requirements, and smaller minimum deposit requirements.
These sorts of bonuses are rarely offered to new players and are generally intended as a retention program for seasoned players, veterans, and VIPs. They can be offered to new players through some affiliate programs through special codes, but this occurs rarely.
Since exclusive bonuses can be claimed through another party and not from the gambling website directly. They come with some great benefits, considering that they are specially designed for a certain category of players to better fit their needs.
Keep in mind
You need a certain bonus code offered by the third-party website to activate an exclusive bonus when you register an account with the gambling website.
Exclusive Bonuses vs Regular Bonuses - Full Comparison
Exclusive casino bonuses are amazing but that doesn’t mean that standard casino offers are not equally useful. At the end of the day, it all depends on your needs, tastes, and budget.
Because many players still wonder what are the main differences between standard promotions and exclusive bonuses, we have designed a table to let you decide for yourself which one is right for you.
| Exclusive Bonuses | Regular Bonuses |
|---|---|
| Being designed specifically to meet the needs of a certain category of players, exclusive bonuses can fit your specific needs better than any other promotion out there. However, their main con is their rarity, not being available at all online casinos, and are usually harder to get. | Easier to come by than exclusive bonuses, standard offers can be found at any online casino on the market in all corners of the world. However, being designed for a wider range of players, they will not have the same great conditions as their exclusive counterparts. |
| Exclusive bonuses have more flexible wagering requirements compared to regular bonuses and may have longer timeframes, lower rollover conditions, fewer limitations, and so on. However, being designed generally for VIPs and high rollers, those conditions are still a bit rough for casual players and beginners. | Regular bonuses may not have such flexible wagering requirements but since they are offered to a wide range of customers to attract them, they may be more suited for beginners who are just testing the waters. With a bit of research, a beginner can find a regular bonus with achievable wagering requirements even for smaller pockets. |
| Some countries with harsh online gambling legislation may not allow you to claim an exclusive no deposit offer. It’s better to check the local laws in your country before rushing in to claim such an offer. | Standard bonuses have fewer restrictions and are available in most corners of the world where gambling is legal. They are so widely spread that they are even available at the casinos catering for grey markets. |
| Because they require bonus codes gained from third-party websites for activation, exclusive offers need a couple of extra steps and a bit of attention when creating an account. | Standard casino bonuses can be claimed right upon registration or straight from the gambling website without any need for extra steps or any hustle. |
As you can see, both types of offers are worth claiming as each of them comes with a couple of pros and cons being balanced in the end. Surely, the word “exclusive” will charm many players, leading them to think that “exclusive” is automatically “better” and that can be true but only up to a point.
At the end of the day, both standard bonuses and exclusive casino promotions are designed to fit a specific niche. The goal is to find out which one of them is right for you or worth the effort of claiming.
The Real Value of Casino Bonuses
Before you rush to get any sort of promotion whether is a standard bonus or an exclusive one, you need to check out a couple of things and make sure that the specific bonus you are trying to claim is worth it and that you can get the most out of your money.
Luckily, this can be done very easily with a couple of calculations and as we will show you below. Keep in mind that these calculations can be used for Free Spins bonuses since these sorts of bonuses are restricted to slots.
Let’s start with the basics which is the contribution of a casino game towards the completion of rollover requirements. A percentage of the total bets when playing the casino game will go towards the wagering requirements and these will vary from one game to another.
Games like online slots usually have the highest contribution at 100% while on the opposite side we find casino games that only count as 15% like Blackjack or Baccarat. As you can imagine a lower contribution means that you will need more game rounds to complete the wagering requirements.
The second thing you need to keep in mind is the house edge which will also vary from one casino game to another. The house edge is the casino’s way to make money and it’s present in absolutely all casino games in a higher or lower percentage.
Example
In some slots, the house edge can be 2% or even lower than 1% in some very rare games and can go over 15% or even 20% in some high risk/high reward games. Let’s say that the house edge is only 1% and you invest 100 credits. This means that can expect to lose 1 credit.
The final thing that you need to keep in mind and that sums up all the elements above are the wagering requirements also known as playthrough requirements. All the bonuses will have wagering requirements in place, no matter if they are exclusive or standard.
The only exception to this rule can be found at no-wagering casinos, but those are very rarely found on the market.
All the wins you will get from gambling the bonus will go into a separate balance and will only become available to you for withdrawal once the wagering requirements are completed.
Since you can’t avoid wagering requirements, your main goal is to find out whether or not the bonus you are trying to claim will offer enough benefits to outweigh the playthrough conditions.
Wagering example
The math goes like this: Let’s say you claim an exclusive bonus match-up of $200 and the casino has x20 playthrough requirements. This means that you will have to gamble $200 x 20 = $4000 to cash out your winnings.
Suppose that you play a slot with a 2% house edge. You will lose around $80 when you gamble the $4000. Now, the math is simple because you go back to the $200 bonus claimed and you deduct those $80 from it, leaving you with $120. This means that the bonus was definitely worth claiming.
Final Thoughts
Casino bonuses are great, no matter in what shape and size they come. They make the whole online gambling market so popular and clearly superior to the land-based market. These bonuses benefit both the casino and players alike, especially new ones who are on a tighter budget.
Exclusive bonuses can be considered somehow superior to their regular counterparts due to the better wagering requirements.
Even though you may consider wagering requirements as useless and unfair, they are actually a necessity. They stop players from abusing these bonuses and causing the whole market to go bankrupt.
Since you can’t avoid the playthrough requirements, the main goal as a player is to do some digging and find the best offer to suit your particular needs, no matter if it’s an exclusive bonus or a regular offer.
Surely, for high rollers and VIPs, wagering requirements don’t weigh all that much and exclusive bonuses fit them perfectly just like a glove. However, casual players and especially beginners may have a hard time finding an exclusive bonus with budget-friendly playthrough conditions.