Bonus Hunting
What's the meaning of the term "bonus hunter"?
A bonus hunter is someone who is looking for an online bingo site that offers the best sign up and deposit bonuses, more or less irrespective of everything else.
In fact the operators’ intention of bonuses is to attract and capture new players by offering bonuses that are more appealing than their competitors.
Who are these bonus hunters?
Bonus hunters can be new players that are aware of the wide range of available bonuses for newly signing up players and are simply looking for the best deal to get started with.
They are also often seasoned players that have little loyalty to brands they are members with since the new player offers have been used and they are looking for the next new player offer at brands new to them.
Is bonus hunting big or clever?
Well, bonus hunting will definitely have you playing the most bingo for your money but it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s the right way to select a bingo site and signing up to new bingo sites every week to constantly take advantage of new player offers isn’t likely to have you quids in at first either.
The first thing is that not all bingo sites are the same (even though some do use the same software) and choosing a bingo site that doesn’t pay out well, has substandard software and bad customer support is not going to make you happy even if they do give you a 500% deposit bonus.
The other thing is that although online bingo sites do have great sign up bonuses there are often wagering or deposit requirements before a withdrawal can be made. Now consider the scenario that you had signed up at 5 bingo sites, deposited £10 at each one, got your sign up bonuses and made small wins at each one totalling £80. Then you go to withdraw and find out you have to wager 10x any winnings made with bonus money or deposit a minimum of £20 at each of these sites before you are allowed to withdraw winnings made from real cash deposits. Therefore in order to collect your £80 worth of winnings you would either have to make £100 in deposits or wager up to £1000. Of course a minimum £20 deposit and a 10x bonus wagering requirement is not the rule with all sites and a lot have no wagering requirements but a lot do so be aware that it’s not so easy to quickly cash in on the free bonus money. That free bonus money is better thought of as a means to test drive the site for free.
Do you recommend bonus hunting?
Yes, do hunt for the best bonuses but don’t make it the only deciding factor. Support, software, chat hosts, deposit methods, free bingo games, jackpots and loyalty programmes are just some of the other factors that should be considered when eyeing up the bingo site that you want to try.
I have found sites that offer free bonuses no deposit required, are they the best?
Absolutely great if you want to test out a site but don’t expect to make money like this. As mentioned before a lot of these sites will give you free bonus money to sign up and you can play with it but most will have a substantial bonus wagering requirement or a minimum deposit of some kind in order to make a withdrawal. This is the industry standard so that brands are not exploited by bonus abusers.
I want to hunt for bonuses where can I start?
Try our page that lists a selection of recommended deposit bonuses.Could I be considered a "Bonus Abuser"
This is a controversial subject that actually has earned the favour of the GRA (Gibraltar Regulatory Authority). According to the GRA the term 'bonus abuser' refers to players that are signing up to sites with the intention of withdrawing the bonus and not going on to becoming a regular customer.
This excerpt was taken from the Gibraltar licensing guidelines for operators:
These rules are designed to be fair to bona fide customers, but also to protect the operator from ‘Bonus Abusers’. A bonus abuser is a player who is playing only to try and take advantage of (withdraw) the bonus and, in the opinion of the operator, has no apparent intention of becoming an ongoing customer. Some bonus abusers are organised, deliberate and sophisticated; others may be naïve or simply have not read or understood the terms and conditions. The operator has the right to terminate bonus abusers’ accounts and may or may not refund deposits.
In a nutshell if any operator believes that a player has signed up with the intention of trying to withdraw a bonus offered by a site without the intention of becoming an ongoing customer then the operator has the legal right to terminate so called “bonus abusers” accounts and confiscate deposits.
Even though there are some unscrupulous people out there it is a thin line between operators protecting themselves from bonus abusers and naïve players that fall for misleading advertising. We believe this rule by the GRA to be too far in the favour of the operator and could easily be abused by any operator licensed in Gibraltar. The intention of bonuses is after all to get new players in based on a well advertised new player DEAL between the player and operator. Fortunately to get a license from the GRA is a mean feat and only the most reputable of organisations are able to do so, therefore Gibraltar licensed operators are usually the most trustworthy you can find.
If you are a bonus hunter this is nothing to worry about provided you are not trying to abuse the system. There is nothing wrong with hunting out the site that gives you the best bonus but as previously mentioned it should not be the only thing you look at.
