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Australia’s Favourite Casino Bonus Types Ranked by Real Player Value
Public Group active 5 days, 3 hours agoEver since the first online casino was unleashed onto the world in 1994, bonuses have played a significant role in retaining and rewarding players. This is no different for VoltRush, an online operator licensed by the Tobique Gaming Commission. The platform contains a range of bonuses that accompany players along their gaming journey.
For players from Australia, New Zealand, and Canada on any licensed online casino, bonuses are usually introduced right from the registration stage and continue through to a range of scenarios and activation points. This includes deposits made, tournaments played, ordinary gameplay, and VIP clubs and programs.
Bonuses were designed to reward loyalty and for any player that regularly plays at an operator like VoltRush, or any other in the abovementioned markets, return visits can sometimes result in larger rewards. This is not always the case, but online operators worked out the value of bonuses at an early stage and have designed them within regulatory and commercial frameworks to encourage continued engagement.
This guide will explore the top three bonuses sought after by players at Australian online casinos to highlight the actual value of bonuses for players.
What Determines “Real Player Value?”
Firstly, it is important to determine what aspects of bonuses bring value to players. Primarily for new online casino players, a higher amount does not necessarily mean a better bonus. There are a few factors that can be taken into account to determine the true value of a bonus:
Bonus Evaluation Criteria
Wagering requirements
Expiry date of bonus
Withdrawal terms
Publicly accessible and available bonus terms and conditions
Instead of chasing the biggest advertised bonus, many players now focus on practical value metrics like those listed above. Once these parameters are known to a player, they can decide when and how to use a bonus, as opposed to being pressurised into using a bonus immediately.
It is perhaps worth unravelling further ‘wagering requirements.’ This is the number of times a deposit amount must be played before any withdrawal is possible. It is common to see multipliers into the 10’s, such as 45x or higher. This term is typically associated with free spins that can be used on popular online slots titles. However, the bonus terms and conditions are worth checking as some titles do not contribute to wagering requirements.
Cashback Bonus
With that all in mind, the bonus that provides the most real player value in Australia is cashback. Cashback is considered the most valuable bonus because it returns percentages of stakes and wagers back to players in a tangible form that can either be held, reused or withdrawn.
An example of cashback would be the following: A player receiving 10% weekly cashback on AU$500 in net losses would recover AU$50 regardless of wagering outcomes.
The CEO of Bojoko, Joonas Karhu, described the purpose of cashback rewards from an operator’s perspective in the following words when speaking with European Gaming:
“From a retention perspective, cashback offers create a more forgiving gaming environment. Players are more inclined to return, knowing that some of their losses will be reimbursed. This assurance can reduce churn rates and extend the customer’s lifetime value.”
Joonas Karhu, CEO of Bojoko
In recent months, cashback has been a slightly contentious subject, with iGaming Business reporting that Brazil introduced a new bill to ban cashback incentives to retain customers.
However, for players, the reimbursement to some degree of losses is a positive and suit all types of players, from low risk to high rollers. By receiving a proportion of a bet back, which are usually fixed percentages and over a set period, players are also effectively reducing the house edge slightly.
High Value Free Spins
As we touched on earlier, free spins are one of the most commonly awarded bonuses, not least because online slots make up the majority of an online casino’s game portfolio with an operator typically hosting 1000’s of titles from reputable game developers. According to research conducted by Statista, online slots are also Australia’s most popular game. But when it comes to free spins, we can separate them into two types, and one brings greater reward than the other.
When we talk about high value free spins, we are referring to some of the parameters laid out earlier. Free spins with high value for players are those that come with lower wagering requirements, if any at all, and can be used over a longer period. Therefore, there is no rush to use them and less spins are required to arrive at the point of any withdrawal.
For more experienced online casino players, they will already recognise that it is not the number of free spins available, but the terms and conditions attached to those spins that makes the difference. The following example shows this in practice:
For example, a player receiving 50 free spins with a 20x wagering requirement may need to wager significantly less than someone receiving 200 spins tied to a 60x requirement.
Loyalty and VIP Rewards
Finally, the third most valued bonus type in Australia is the good, old-fashioned VIP reward club. Since the beginnings of the online casino era, elite programs were commonly used by operators to incentivise repeat activity.
VIP programs differ from operator to operator but if we take VoltRush as an example, there are various tiers that can be reached through ordinary gameplay. A summary of the four main tier levels and their rewards can be found below:
VoltRush VIP Program: Four Main Tiers
VIP Level
Rewards
Starter
Instant cashback
Silver & Silver Premier
$50 level up reward, instant cashback, daily bonus, weekly cashback
Diamond
$750 level up, instant cashback, daily bonus, weekly cashback
Black
$5000 level up, instant cashback, daily bonus, weekly cashback, VIP host, exclusive event invites
The VoltRush model has sub tiers between the four levels outlined above, with Copper, Bronze, Gold, and Platinum also paving VIP slabs on the way to the top level, Black Ultimate. VIP programs remain widely used across the online casino industry and online casinos can be distinguished by the rewards offered in these loyalty programs.
Red Flags to Watch Out For
While bonuses are not designed to catch players out, there are certain aspects to look out for, such as wagering requirements. But in trying to determine what bonuses hold value, the following guidelines or red flags might help differentiate bonuses that are less valuable than others:
Wagering requirements more than 50x
Expiry date of only a few days from activation
Restricted withdrawal methods or amounts
Long list of games that do not contribute to wagering requirements
This short list can be considered a general guideline. However, bonuses will ultimately be defined by the bonus terms and conditions laid out by an operator.
Responsible Gambling Notice
When it comes to receiving or using bonuses, players can get excited. However, while bonuses are usually awarded to reward loyalty, they often come with stipulations. It is definitely worth checking these out on the bonus terms and conditions page. Otherwise, support chats can be consulted.
Players should not gamble purely to receive bonuses. Bonuses are exactly what it is, simply an extra feature to ordinary gameplay. Therefore, the same rules apply to using bonuses. Losses should never be chased, especially when playing with bonuses. Wagering and bonuses should not be relied upon to form income.
And as soon as the gaming experience becomes less fun, organisation such as Gamblers Anonymous can be contacted for free, professional help with gambling addiction or gambling related problems.
Conclusion
Besides from the bonuses outlined in this piece, there are other bonuses that hold value. Reload and no deposit rewards can be subject to varying wagering requirements or withdrawals could be capped at a certain amount. This does not make them less valuable. It just means there are different parameters to consider.
Reload bonuses could easily feature in the featured section such is the regularity that reloads are triggered. But they can generally be considered a broader term for individual bonuses such as free spins and cashback that are activated at a specific stage. For example, a percentage return of weekly losses, or for a second or third deposit.
The final word on Australia’s favourite bonuses is that certain individuals will have different preferences. Depending on what games are played, how regularly, and what bankroll a player is playing with, bonuses could hold different value and significance.
However, what every player can do is do their research on bonuses from literature provided by an online casino operator. Only by knowing how a bonus works can the real value be extracted.
Author
Daniel Harper
Author Bio
Daniel Harper is a digital gaming and iGaming industry writer with more than eight years of experience covering online casinos, payment technology, and gambling regulation in Australia and Europe. His work focuses on player safety, platform transparency, and emerging trends in online entertainment.