So- what is a bingo bonus and how do they work?

Bingo bonuses are one of a number of incentives used by bingo rooms online to entice you to play at their bingo sites. Online bingo is a competitive business, and so this is one way of companies attracting you to play at their sites.

Generally the offer will be advertised as free money, or free cash. While this is true up to a certain extent, there are restrictions as to what you can do with the free bonus of course. You can´t just claim the free money and immediately withdraw it again. (I know, a shame isn´t it).

In this article we run througt the types of bingo bonus that you are most likely going to see online. We discuss the merits of each type of offer and suggest what to look out for in the small print so that you can compare bonus offers on an equal footing and get beneath the marketing hype.

There are 2 main types online bingo bonus available at the moment, (we are talking about a bonus offer that is specifically targeted at new players visiting a site who do not yet have an account). The first is a bingo match deposit bonus and the second is a free no deposit bingo sign-up bonus.

Bingo Bonus: Deposit match.

The way this works is as follows: when you make your first deposit, the online bingo site matches your deposit with a percentage top up. For example, they could double any deposit you make (a 100% match bonus). 888 ladies , for example, will give you a 150% deposit on your first deposit. So deposit £10, and you will play with £25 (£15 extra). Or deposit £100, and play with £250 (extra £150).

But of course there are some restrictions on the use of this money.
Here are the rules for 888, but other bingo sites will be similar, so always studythe terms and conditions. A reputable site will make these easy to understand and not hide anything in legal mumbo jumbo:

1. You must make a minimum deposit of £10.
2. You must use the free bonus to buy bingo tickets at the site.
3. You can only claim the first player bonus once.
4. You can withdraw your money (deposited funds or winnings) as long as you make a deposit of £30 and make a cash out a minimum £30, and if you cash out any deposit before you have played bingo cards to the value of 2x the Deposit + Bonus, you will lose your Bonus earned on that deposit. So say you deposited £20- this would get you a £30 Bonus. You would need to buy and play double the total in bingo cards (ie £20+£30 x2 = £100).
 This is to stop people applying for the free money bonus and withdrawing it straight away.

Bingo Bonus. Free No Deposit Bonus.

The other type of bingo bonus that you are likely to see while surfing the net, is the No Deposit Bingo Bonus. Actually, many bingo sites will offer both of these types of bonus. For example, 888 Ladies offers £10 free at their site (no deposit required) as well as a 150% match. How does this work? Well, put simply, as soon as you sign up they load £10 free for free into your account so that you can immediately buy bingo cards and start playing- this is a great risk free way of testing the site.

So where´s the catch- I hear you ask? Well, again the terms and conditions vary from site to site, so always check the small print, but in the case of 888 Ladies, the restrictions are as follows (there will likely be similar types of restrictions on other no deposit bonus offers).

1.  To qualify for the free £10 you will need to enter valid credit/debit card details on registration -the card won´t be charged, only the details stored on a secure system so that when (they hope) that you make your first deposit, everything is all set up. Also, this is to stop you applying for the bonus more than once.
3. The free £10 cannot be cashed out- you must use it to buy bingo cards.
4. You will only get this offer once
5. The free £10 no deposit bingo bonus is only offered to new players at the bingo hall.
6. You can cash out winnings as long as they are at least £30 and you have made a deposit of at least £30.

So which type to go for? Well, as with everything in life, that depends. If you want to just check the site out risk free, go for the No Deposit Bingo Bonus. but bear in mind, that the amount of free money you are going to get will be alot lower, generally around the £10 mark at most bingo sites. Once you feel confident that the site ticks all of your boxes, then make use of the match bonus as the absolute amount of free money you will get will be higher- of course, it is a percentage match, so it is up to you to decide what sort of deposit you are comfortable with, whether it is £20 or £100. But remember, you can only claim once.