It used to be a hassle to sign up to a new casino site online. You’d have to download the software and then put down some cash before you could even play any games. Now, as there’s such a plethora of sites to choose from, players can benefit from free bonus cash whenever they join a new site. And, with instant play technology, you can sign up and be playing on a new site within minutes, no need to download files to your hard drive.

Many of the sites such as 32red, Gala and Mr Green have no-deposit bonuses. This is where you get free money to play with just for registering your payment card details on a new account – no need to actually put any cash in. This allows you to then try out the games for free and to decide whether a site is the right one for you or not. Of course, if you’re lucky with the games that you try out, you could build that no-deposit bonus into the beginnings of a bank roll.

Once you decide where to play, there are welcome bonuses to cash in on, too. The sign up bonus on 32Red will give anyone putting down an initial deposit an extra £32 for every £10 they put in themselves, allowing them to more than treble their money. So players are off to a winning start before they’ve even placed their first bet.

The key to making the most of a sign-up bonus is to make conservative bets when you first start to play. Choose the minimum bet for each game that you play, thereby getting the maximum in terms of entertainment value for every £1 you gamble.

Another way to increase the value of a welcome bonus is to first play games you haven’t tried before in demo mode. That way, you don’t waste any cash while you’re learning the rules of a new game. Of course, you can never guarantee whether you’ll win or lose – you may do well in demo mode, and then have a losing streak when you put real money bets down, but at least you won’t have wasted cash figuring out how the games work.

If you do have success at the blackjack table, or in a game of baccarat, don’t think you’re James Bond and let your win go to your head. Take the time to bank some of your profit before playing another game – don’t be rash and let all your winnings ride on the next bet. Gradually, as long as you keep squirrelling away some of your profits, you should be able to turn your welcome bonus into a healthy bankroll.

As well as playing wisely with your initial bonus, look out for further opportunities to get extra free money. Many sites have special bonuses on certain days of the month, or on a player’s birthday, so check out the most advantageous times to add some more of your own cash to your account.

Bonus money won’t last forever, of course, but the longer you can string it out in terms of entertainment time, the better. Have fun, but don’t ever forget the golden rule when it comes to gambling – only play with money you can afford to manage without.

Tags: sign-up bonus, welcome bonus

by BOCA