How to Save Money at an Online Casino
Posted by Harry Kane on Friday, February 25, 2022
When wagering at an online casino, most inexperienced players become focused on the concept of winning money and placing successful wagers. However, it’s important to remember how the house edge is built into the odds and your probability of winning, while there’s no fool proof way of winning consistently through any iGaming vertical.
In fact, you’ll find that most successful and generative gamblers tend to prioritise minimising losses and optimising their chances of placing a successful wager, rather than seeking out guaranteed wins or over-sized returns. The question that remains, of course, is how can you save money at an online casino? Here are some strategies to keep in mind:
#1. Use Casino Bonuses to Your Advantage
As the iGaming market has become increasingly competitive in the UK, we’ve seen operators compete more aggressively through the provision of deposit-match bonuses and free spins. Not all bonuses are created equal, of course, but in general terms, such promotions can be leveraged to your advantage and afford you free capital with which to wager.
With a 100% deposit match up to the value of £100, for example, you may choose to meet the qualifying minimum deposit of £10. In this instance, the operator in question will match this and reward you with an additional £10, which is credited immediately to your account and free to use in accordance with the relevant T&Cs.
When it comes to free spins, you may be offered anywhere between 10 and 100 free spins on one or more slot game. These will be fixed at a finite value, while your winnings will be capped at a level proportionate to the value of the bonus.
In order the get the most out of your welcome offer and optimise the amount of free capital available, you’ll need to first determine value in relation to your bankroll and preferences. The best way to do this is to review the offer’s T&Cs in detail, before a hopefully informed decision.
One of the key considerations here is the wagering requirements. These will be expressed as a multiplier of the bonus value (usually between 10x and 50x) and create a total amount of money that you’ll have to play through before making a withdrawal.
Generally speaking, bonuses with lower wagering requirements are better from the perspective of savings, as you’ll minimise the total spend required to access your winnings. You should definitely avoid terms with high wagering requirements unless you have a large bankroll, as otherwise you may have to spend outside of your means to secure disproportionately small returns.
Keep your eyes peeled for any game weighting requirements too. These refer to the contributions that individual casino games will make towards your wagering requirements, with not all titles or verticals created equal in this respect. For example, slots often contribute 100% towards the fulfilment of your wagering requirements. However, some blackjack and roulette titles may contribute only 20%, forcing you to spend and wager more to unlock your bonus winnings.
#2. Set Daily Deposit Limits
As you can see, it’s imperative that you operate within your means when wagering online, and this requires the creation of a viable bankroll that can be comfortably sustained over time. More specifically, your bankroll should never exceed an amount that you can afford to lose, while it’s also important to create a betting strategy that enables you to manage this in practical terms.
The latter task can be challenging, but you’re fortunate that daily deposit limits can be used to help manage and cap your spending. All licensed casino brands are now required by the UKGC to offer deposit limits to their customers, who can impose restrictions each day, week or month depending on their activity and how frequently they wager.
For players who want to optimise savings and retain a relatively small bankroll, daily deposit limits probably offer the most value. This certainly makes it easier to budget accurately and really drill down into your spending, ensuring that you know how much you can afford to spend per individual gambling session.
#3. Improve Your Skills and Select Your Games Wisely
As we’ve already touched on, the impact of game weighting requirements may influence your choice of titles and verticals. After all, you’ll want to target games that contribute the most to your wagering requirements, or run the risk of spending considerably more over time.
There’s another benefit of being selective when choosing games too, as each title will offer its own unique return-to-player (RTP) rate to customers. This is expressed as a ratio and describes how much you can expect to recoup for every £1 wagered through a particular game, and operators are now required to publish this information by the regulator.
Clearly, prioritising games (such as slots) with high RTP rates in excess of 96% can help you to save money and recoup more of your bankroll over time. In the case of some blackjack iterations, you’ll find titles with an RTP rate in excess of 99%, meaning that you can recoup more than £0.99 on average when you wager £1.
By honing in on selected games of this type, you can also begin to develop an effective set of skills that increase your chances of winning and boosts the deployment of your bankroll. This is particularly effective in games of skill like blackjack, where numeracy skills and a strategic mind can afford players critical advantages.
Over time, you’ll naturally develop the requisite skills and become a more effective player, lowering the house edge and increasing the chances of your wager delivering at least some kind of return. In this respect, game selection and skill development are key to saving money, and creating a successful gambling strategy that can succeed over an extended period of time.