Among all casino games based on luck, slots are the most popular with gamblers. More than 48 percent of people visiting casinos come there to play on slot machines. Although chances to hit three symbols in a row are minimal, about 0.001 percent, gamblers always try to figure out how to play successfully and make the house lose.
Because so many people flood to slots, the lion share of casinos’ revenue stems from these machines rather than from skill-based games where players compete against each other. On the Las Vegas Strip, the average slot earns $226 per day.
As there are 38,434 slot machines in operation at the Strip’s forty locations, together they bring to casino operators $269,530,000 per month. For the year, the average slot machine earns $79,960, which means that all slot machines located on the Las Vegas Strip annually earn more than $3 billion.
This year, the global casino industry’s revenue will be significantly smaller due to casinos’ inactivity during the coronavirus pandemic. Only in America, casinos are poised to lose about $21 billion in 2020. And yet, experts say that the casino industry is still doing comparatively better than other industries, thanks to digital casinos that have been mushrooming across the internet. Indeed, forbidden to visit brick-and-mortar casinos in the quarantine, gamblers had no choice but to wager online.
As a result, during the last free months, virtual betting casinos have been experiencing more traffic than in pre-quarantine days. In Finland, Veikkaus gambling website, which is visited by 700,000 players every week, has opened more than 3,000 accounts to newcomers willing to try their luck in games of chance while they are sitting shut in their houses. Even more Finnish gamblers have joined so-called fast casinos, or “pikakasinot” in Finnish, because registering with them takes just a few minutes.
To attract and retain their customers, online casino operators offer various bonuses to them that range from welcome bonuses to monthly bonuses. As its name makes clear, a welcome bonus is given when new customers sign up for the first time with a digital casino. Before players receive this bonus, they need to deposit an amount specified on the website.
Most online casinos give 100 percent or 200 percent of the welcome bonus on their new customers’ first deposit. The welcome bonus can be used for different online games, either for table games or slot machines. Players are advised to check what game exactly will bring them the welcome bonus before they accept it.
Unlike online gambling websites, land-based casinos promise no welcome bonuses to gamblers. When they enter Casino Helsinki, for example, Finns are not welcomed with any extra money before they start playing.
Another lucrative bonus offered by casino operators is a free spins bonus, known also as “welcome spins,” “cash spins,” “wager-free spins,” or “bonus spins.” When customers receive this bonus, they can spin for free as many times as their casino operator specifies. Most digital casinos dish out up to 100 free spins, which is highly convenient for newcomers.
Inexperienced gamblers can practice playing slot machines for some time without losing their money. What gamblers need to remember, however, is that some free spins have wagering requirements: they might need to play the bonus a few times before they can withdraw their money.
There is also a no deposit bonus that does not require gamblers to make any deposit in order to start betting. It allows players to wager free of charge, though there is no option to withdraw the given amount of money.
Gamblers also need to meet some wagering requirements before they can withdraw their winnings enabled by the no deposit bonus. Casino operators give a short time limit to play with the no deposit bonus, ranging from one hour to one day. Veikkaus, the Finnish state-owned gambling agency, offers a variety of no deposit bonuses, such as cash no deposit bonus, free spins no deposit bonus, and no deposit no wagering requirements bonus.
The last type of the no deposit bonuses can be found only in Finland since it is expensive for casino operators of smaller caliber than Veikkaus. But even Veikkaus gives the no deposit no wagering requirements bonus only during promotional periods.
Players can enjoy other bonuses as well when wagering online. Aiming to attract more customers, digital casino providers will continue presenting their clients with more generous bonuses and graphically more sophisticated games.
