SLOT BONUSES

Introduction

Online slots typically have high house edge of 3-6%. When you do not hit a big win, slots may quickly drain your bankroll. If you play without bonuses, you will almost certainly lose over time. However, with bonuses you can offset this large house edge and shift the odds in your favor.

Types of Bonuses

Wagering requirements and slots are a bad combination. The high house edge and high variance of slots makes it difficult to complete a wagering requirement with traditional strategy. Fortunately there are bonuses with low wagering requirements and without wagering requirements.

Cashable Bonuses -- Cashable bonuses almost always have a wagering requirement. Slot bonuses with a low wagering requirement can still be profitable, using the strategies described in the sections below. Wagering requirements may be lower for slots than for table games.

Sticky Bonuses -- Sticky bonuses usually have a wagering requirement. Like cashable bonuses, sticky slot bonuses with a low wagering requirement can still be profitable. A few casinos offer sticky bonuses with no wagering requirement. Real Time Gaming no-wagering stickies often have a maximum cashout. If you win a big jackpot, you won't be able to withdraw all of your winnings. If you do claim a Real Time Gaming bonus, be sure to read the conditions carefully.

Clearplay Bonuses & Free Play Bonuses -- Under traditional implementation of Microgaming Clearplay bonuses, you can withdraw your winnings at any time, whether you have met the wagering requirements on the bonus or not. This makes the bonus like a sticky with no playthrough when cashed out early. Unfortunately, most casino groups now use a modified form of the bonus with a required playthrough, especially for sign-up bonuses. Slot play usually contributes more towards total wageirng than play on table games.

Cashback Bonuses -- Cashback bonuses refund a percentage of net losses within a specified time period. The bonus only pays, if you have a net loss during this period. Cashback bonuses usually do not have a wagering requirement, so they can work well with slot play.

The Double Up Feature

After a slot spin is completed, some casino softwares give you the opportunity to double your win in a war-like game. The dealer and player both draw a card. If the player's card is higher, the win is doubled. If the dealer's card is higher, the player wins nothing. If the player and dealer tie, the original win is returned. You can double sequentially until reaching the maximum win. This is one of the only bets in the casino with no house edge. If doubling counts towards the wagering requirement and is not restricted in the T&C, the feature can be used to dramatically reduce the expected loss per unit wagered. If you double up each win 1x, then a house edge of 4% becomes a house edge per unit wagered of HE/(2-HE) =~ 2%. If you double up each win 2x, then a house edge of 4% becomes a house edge per unit wagered of HE/(3-2*HE) =~ 1.4%. Doubling wins increases variance, which is already quite high for slots. Doubling can be useful for increasing variance (when a higher variance is desired), as well as reducing expected loss over a wagering requirement. When trying to reach a target gain, you may prefer to double wins repeatedly instead of using a fixed number of doubles. Note that doubling does not count towards wagering requirements at most Microgaming casinos.

Bonuses without Wagering Requirements

The average gain for a Clearplay, sticky, or cashback bonus with no wagering requirement can be estimated with the formula below:

Average Gain = Bonus * Chance of Bust - Average Wagering * House Edge (per unit wagered)

This formula makes sense for cashback bonuses since the bonus only pays when you bust, but it may seem counterintuitive for sticky and Clearplay bonuses. One may expect gain to decrease as chance of busts increases, not increase. Recall that the bonus can be bet, but cannot be cashed out (without completing wagering). During the times that you bust, you wager both the bonus and deposit, but you lose only the deposit. Or another way of looking at it... when you wager the bonus, you get to keep your winnings, and you don't have to pay your losses. This increases the average return by chance of bust * bonus. See the sticky bonus page for some examples, which may make this more clear.

To maximize gain, you want to increase the chance of busting and decrease the average wagering. You want to have a high risk of busting in a small amount of wagering. The solution is choosing a higher variance slot or increasing bet size. By "high variance", I mean that the return over the short term tends to deviate from the overall average return of the slot. These are slots that periodically have big hits, but go through your bankroll quickly when they do not hit. Examples of "high variance" slots include Isis, Thunderstruck, Mad Hatters, and Avalon. 5-reel video slots with high paying bonus rounds or free spins tend to be higher variance, while traditional 3-reel slots tend be lower variance. You can increase the variance of a slot by selecting fewer lines while maintaining the same overall bet size by increasing bet per line, or by doubling wins. In short, you maximize gain by going for a big win (or doubling until a small win becomes a big win) and cashing out after that big win. If the chance of busting is high enough with your usual play, and you do not want to increase it even further, you can also simply continue with your usual strategy. The bonus will only help you, as you can cash out at any point without completing a wagering requirement.

The house edge will be 4-5% for most Microgaming video slots. Chance of bust and average wagering vary with the particular slot and particular strategy. Hopefully, you have a feel for these values from previous experience. If not, you can test out the games in practice mode before playing for real money. Consider a $100 Clearplay with early withdrawal allowed. If you select a video slot with a 4% house edge, select a bet size such that chance of busting before reching target is ~80%, and repeatedly double wins until reaching a target gain, then the formula predicts: $100*0.8 - ~$200*0.04 = $72... nearly 3/4 the bonus. Note that $72 is the overall average gain. During the 20% of the times when you get a big win the average gain is much higher -- ~$760. The other 80% of the time, you lose your $100 deposit. So the overall average is 20% * $760 - 80% * $100 = $72. You must cash out after the big win to achieve this average gain. If you continue playing, you are expected to eventually lose your winnings.

Bonuses with Wagering Requirements

I recommend starting with the same strategy as with no-wagering bonuses -- leverage the bonus by choosing "high variance" slots and/or doubling wins. If non-slot games are allowed, but do not count towards wagering, then alternatively you can choose high variance bets on non-slot games with a lower house edge.

The difference in strategy occurs after a big win. If you keep making high variance bets throughout the wagering, EV will be very high, but you will almost never complete the wagering. So instead, I recommend decreasing variance and having a better chance of making a cashout. Switch to a lower variance slot, reduce bet size, and/or complete the wagering on a non-slot game (if allowed). The lower variance slots tend to be ones without high-paying bonus rounds where you can continue playing for long periods without busting. Examples include Bars & Stripes and most traditional three reel slots. Unfortunately the lowest variance games are often the less exciting ones because you aren't getting the rare huge wins. You can still complete wagering requirements on your favorite high variance video slots. But if you do so, I recommend a small bet size. With a standard bet size, you will likely bust and lose the big win before completing the wagering. Doubling wins can also be useful, as it can reduce the high house edge of slots to a reasonable house edge per unit wagered. However, doing so dramatically increases variance.

Continuing with the $100 cash balance, $100 bonus balance example... when playing video slots with an 80% bust rate, the expected gain from the no-wagering bonus was $72. If the Clearplay bonus had a 30x wagering requirement and an average of 28x wagering remained, then you are expected to lose 2800*0.04 = $112 while completing the requirement. You also gain an extra $100 from being able to cash out the bonus. So during the 20% of the time that you make a big win, the average decreases increases from $760 to $760 - $112 + $100 = $748. And the other 80% of the time, the loss is unchanged. This makes the overall average gain is 20% * $748 - 80% * $100 = ~$70. The extra wagering decreases the average gain from $72 to ~$70.

See the two-tier betting page for a more detailed discussion of this type of high-variance/low-variance strategy and the effect of variance & bet size on EV.

Timing Bonus Claims

Many Microgaming casinos require you to fill out a claim form to receive a bonus. If you wait until after losing your deposit before filling out the claim form, then your full balance will be bonus money. You can only win with this bonus money, you can not lose any more of your cash balance, as your cash balance is zero. Not risking any of your cash balance may make you more comfortable with playing high variance slots or using larger than normal bets to maximize your expected gain. So one strategy is to play through your deposit balance with your typical play. If you lose, then claim the bonus and go for a big win by either playing high variance slots or using larger bets.

Bonus Lists

Click on the wager column of the best bonus list or all bonus list to sort by minimum wager. The bonuses that allow you to cash out without wagering will be listed first.