Ah, the bonus. Who doesn’t love a bonus really? A little extra something for that same bit of effort you might say. What’s not to love about that? And it comes in so many different forms. At work, a bonus is a much-coveted prize in reward for your hard work. In marketing, it could be added value, like getting a 10% bonus in your standard bag of potato chips. And at the casino, a bonus you might say literally gives you a bit more bang for your buck.

The discovery process

While more always seems to be a good thing (unless perhaps you’re on a diet in the chip example), there are certain types of bonuses we prefer. This is especially true when it comes to casino bonuses, and more specifically to online pokies play. Also, since we’re a portal dedicated to the Australian gaming experience, it’s important that we find bonuses that appeal to our readers. Hence the journey to discovering the most popular kinds of bonuses in Australian online pokies begins.

What is a casino bonus?

To help us determine the types of bonuses the most popular online pokies in Australia have, we need to first define our terms.

So let’s first clarify what a casino bonus is. A casino bonus is any instance in which an online casino offers you, as a player, something extra for the same investment. At most online casinos, this can happen in more ways than one in the form of free spin bonuses, match deposit bonuses, and other similar incentives. These rewards are generally offered by online casinos at various points in the player lifecycle such as the welcome bonus when you join and various promotions thereafter (we’ll get into the details a bit further down). Their purpose is to give you more opportunities to play the casino’s various games, and in turn, hopefully, win more money.

Of course, it is important to note that there is rarely such a thing as getting something for nothing. As such, almost every casino bonus you will encounter has terms and conditions tied to it.  These T&C will tell you what you need to do in order to claim the bonus. Plus, they will define what are called wagering requirements; that is, what actions you need to take in order to withdraw the bonus sum and any winnings associated with it. If that sounds complicated, rest assured it’s not really. Just make sure to read the fine print associated with any bonus you would like to collect, so you know what you are getting into, and how you are going to go about clearing that bonus.

What is a pokies bonus?

A pokies bonus is basically the exact same thing as any standard casino bonus. More specifically, since almost all casino bonuses can be played in full on the casino’s pokies machines, most bonuses you’ll come across are in essence pokies bonuses. To verify, just make sure to read the terms and conditions. What you want to see is that pokies count 100% towards the wagering requirement.

In addition, many online casinos will offer you pokies specific bonuses. These are bonus sums (like $10) that can be played either on one particular pokies game, or any of the pokies titles in the casino’s catalog.

More commonly, however, what you will come across is the free spin bonus offer. Here, instead of being communicated in the form of a dollar amount, you receive a free spin bonus amount such as 10 free spins. Unlike a cash bonus, this type of offer is usually limited to a specific pokies game that the casino is currently promoting.

If that’s not enough pokies bonus action, there’s another level to consider. The previous examples are external bonuses. That is, they are offered as an incentive by the online casino itself. In addition to this, there are also bonuses that can be activated within each of the pokies games you play. These are what we refer to as in-game bonuses (again more below), and are often for free spins, multipliers, or even extra cash.

Now that we’ve got that covered, let’s move on to identifying our favorite types, where you can find them, and how they can be played.

In-game bonuses that players love

There are three main types of bonuses within a pokies game that Australian players love. It is hard to say which is the absolute favorite amongst the lot, but it’s a pretty tight race as far as we can tell.

Generally speaking, these type of in-game bonuses found in Australians’ favorite pokies, are activated through some sort of bonus round. This bonus activation is usually achieved by landing certain symbols on certain reels on the game’s screen. Each bonus round is different from the other – at least graphically – and that “originality” is a huge part of each game’s appeal. Often these bonus games are the most interactive element in the game and offer the highest level of animation and intrigue as you collect on prizes like:

• Free spins – Many of Australia’s most popular online pokies give you the opportunity to win, in addition to cash prizes, free spins as you play. The possibility of garnering extra rounds, needless to say, has tremendous allure, and naturally helps increase a game’s popularity amongst players.

• Multipliers – A multiplier in a pokies game is exactly as the name implies. It multiplies your winnings by the set amount, as shown. So if you trigger a bonus with a 4X multiplier, you will collect 4X your winnings. Multipliers in regular play are a huge draw, and similarly, another much-coveted bonus feature for Australian players.

• Extra cash prizes – The purpose of playing pokies is first and foremost to have fun (we have to make this disclaimer to keep our intentions right). After that, the goal is certainly to win some cash. This can be done during regular gameplay as you spin the reels, or through special bonus rounds that offer additional cash prizes. For example, you may have seen a number of popular pokies games in which you need to choose between objects during the bonus round to reveal a bonus sum beneath and boost your account accordingly. That’s the type of cash bonus we mean.

The welcome bonus

As we already briefly mentioned at the beginning of this review, there are a number of different bonuses provided by the casino – as opposed to the pokies game itself – that are considered pokies bonuses and can be played on some of the most popular pokies games. The number one such bonus is the casino powerhouse better known as the welcome bonus. If you’ve ever played at an online casino, or simply gone searching for one, you know exactly what we mean here.

The welcome bonus is usually, by far, the biggest bonus the casino offers its players in one go. That’s because it is predominantly used as a marketing tactic by smart casinos that know smart players are shopping around, only joining up at the casinos putting something worthwhile on the table.

While the premise of the welcome bonus is always more or less the same, its composition can differ somewhat. Sometimes the welcome bonus is a massive single sum so that for example you could get a 200% bonus up to $500 on your first deposit. Other times it is compiled as a package that consists of a number of match deposit bonuses of the same or varying amounts and percentages, like 100% up to $100 on your first three deposits, or 100% on your first deposit, 50% on your second, and 75% on your third. You get the drift.  And in other cases, there are also free spins tacked on, either on your first deposit or for each deposit you make in tandem with your full package collection.

The reason that a welcome bonus counts as a bonus available on the most popular online pokies games are that in most cases, it can very well be played on your choice of pokies games. More than that, the welcome bonus will usually contribute 100% towards playthrough when played on pokies, making pokies play a good choice for these purposes. Plus, since the welcome bonus has strong promotional value to the casino, it will often use this opportunity to point you to its most popular pokies. And this is done by offering you the free spins included in the package to be played specifically on its most popular pokies games. In many ways you, therefore, might say, the welcome bonus is the ultimate bonus for Australians looking to play the most popular pokies.

Free spin bonuses

Again, expanding on what’s somewhat been covered above, we get to another bonus that’s present in many popular Australian pokies. And that is the free spin bonus. While we are already detailed how free spins are available during in-game bonus round play, free spin bonuses from a casino can also happen in a number of ways.

The most popular, though hardest to find, is the much-coveted absolutely free spin bonus. That is, free spins you receive simply for claiming them, with no other action required on your part. Most often these are registration gifts that an online casino gives players as an incentive to simply sign up. Since this is the casino’s moment to really grab you in, these absolutely free spins are generally available for play on Australia’s most popular online pokies.

More typically, however, free spins are given as part of a promotion to established players. Many times these kinds of offers can be found for new games, as a way to get you to try them – so that they too have a chance at becoming your next favorite. But just as often, you can expect to find free spin bonus offers on games that have already proven popular amongst players. These types of offers are often meant as a reward for your loyalty. Or similarly, they’re given to you as a way to keep you engaged. For example, over the holiday season when casino action is expected to be lower, you can expect extra offers. Similarly, many online casinos on what are known as slower days, have free spin bonuses – like Free Spin Mondays. Whichever way they come to you, the bottom line is, free spin bonuses are pretty much always well-received on any game.

Just remember, free spins, like any other type of casino bonus, have terms and conditions tied to them. So while playing them may be free, you will need to wager a certain amount of money a certain number of times in order to withdraw your winnings.

Reasons why players love pokies bonuses

If all this wasn’t obvious enough, we’ll tell you this. Players love pokies bonuses because they give you more opportunities to play. This is particularly true when the bonus is applicable to a popular online pokies game, especially one you would choose to be playing in any event.

But if was only about allowing you to keep spinning the reels, that alone would not suffice. After all, most online pokies already let you play for free in practice or fun mode. The real clutch here is the potential to generate prizes, or more importantly real cash wins, with all those extra chances.

If that’s not reason enough, there’s also the very basic psychological factor. And that is, that everyone loves getting something for nothing, or at least feeling like they did. In other words, a freebie makes a person feel special or lucky or any number of positive things. And we can all do with a little of that every now and then too.

Final thoughts on popular online pokies bonuses Australians love

In conclusion, it’s safe to say that there are many ways to go about collecting bonuses on pokies. And if you count all those ways, pretty much every online pokies machine has bonuses on offer. This prevalent opportunity to get more bang for your buck is yet another reason why pokies are so popular amongst locals. And it certainly adds to their appeal from our perspective as well.