Online Bingo sites offer bonuses, usually Free Bingo Money or chips, in order to attract and/or keep players. Online Bingo sites are competing for a player's attention by offering these freebies. It's the online Bingo site equivalent of a 'buy 2 for the price of 1' promotion.

The Choices
There are mainly two different types of bonuses in Online Bingo: 'Sign up bonuses' and 'Returning Player' bonuses.

Sign-up bonuses are the monies the Bingo site gives you to say "thanks for choosing us". You usually get them when you sign up at the site and make your first Bingo Deposit into a Real Money account. Often they will match your initial deposit at the website. The actual amount varies from the different sites available. Online Bingo sites also change their bonus structures, so be on the lookout for great bonus deals.

Returning Player bonuses are Bingo Freebies that the online Bingo site gives their loyal players. They're usually awarded on the first deposit of a given month, or a certain percentage of what a player deposits at the site over the course of the month. They are a way for the website to say "thanks for your continued support".

The Player's Responsibility
The player is expected to identify themselves truthfully, to not cheat, to follow the rules given in the site's "Terms & Conditions", and to respect the online Bingo site's terms for cashing out.

The implicit understanding is that if you go to Bingo site X and take one of their bonuses, then you'll stay at site X and play for awhile. The clause that keeps you at that site for a minimum amount of play is called "the play through requirement". It states how much money you must wager at the website in order to be able to cash in on the bonus. It's usually expressed as a multiple of your deposit at the online Bingo site, or the bonus you receive or the sum of the two. The details of the play-through are in the site's Terms & Conditions. If you do not agree with an online Bingo site's Terms & Conditions, then do not play at that site.

The Online Bingo Site's Responsibility
The player, of course, expects the Online Bingo Sites to offer fair games and to pay out in a reasonable and timely manner. That's obvious enough, but what might not be obvious is that games change over time and the payouts are almost certainly subject to the player's full compliance with the site's Terms & Conditions.

The site's Terms & Conditions represent their terms of service to the player. They are often tweaked and modified to reflect changes in the online Bingo site's bonus structure and play-through requirements. They are the rules of doing business with that site and any player who doesn't want rude surprises down the road is well advised to read them. The Terms & Conditions of the site dictate what is expected of the player and the site will always hold the player to the spirit & letter of those terms. If the player does not know the Terms & Conditions, that is no excuse. It's like the law: ignorance is no excuse when it comes to online Bingo sites.

Simon Wood

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