I don’t really get too excited about Christmas or holidays in general, but gambling sites can take the form of Santa for us grown-ups. Year after year, online casinos introduce better promotional campaigns, more festive releases, and unique free-to-enter giveaways.
If you are playing at a casino that doesn’t bother with seasonal promos and themed events, you should reconsider your selection and look elsewhere.
But since Christmas casino bonuses are only a part of winning big at the casino during the holidays, you should first read my full guide. Let’s start from the top, and rejoice this Christmas season.
1. Discover new casinos with advent calendar campaigns
Even though I recommend sticking with a few reputable online casinos to make the most of loyalty rewards, Christmas is a good time to try new operators. I urge you to visit our casino guides to find suitable platforms that rank highly among our bonus experts and settle for the ones offering the best deals in December.
Casino sites release advent calendar campaigns with daily freebies, reload promos, free wheel spins with random prizes, and no deposit bonuses for players signing in on Christmas Day and New Year’s. Most of these deals don’t require a deposit, so getting an account with several gambling sites makes sense around this period.
2. Scan casino sites for festive tournaments and Christmas races
Every popular casino game provider has a couple of Christmas slots under its belt, adding up to over 50 festive games on large gambling sites. For example, 888casino’s Christmas lobby packs 78 slot machines upon my last review, many of which are remakes of already popular slot machines like Pragmatic Play’s 1000 series.
In any case, casinos typically mesh these games with December-long tournaments or short-lived races. Playing enough money per spin qualifies you for leaderboard prizes that may include free spins, cash prizes, bonus money, and more. Christmas casino tournaments are excellent to introduce you to fun thematic slot machines that come with external prizes too.
3. Plan your deposits strategically around Christmas and New Year’s Day
Freebies are good and welcome, but casino no deposit bonuses are finite and typically insignificant. Any serious player knows this, and if that’s you then take this tip to heart.
From my experience as a gamer for over 10 years, I have come to learn that online casinos go all out on the 24th, 25th, 26th, and 31st of December while extending the festivities to New Year’s Day. These bonuses might include giveaways, tournaments, and free play offers as discussed above, but the best prizes are reserved for paying customers.
As such, you are better off keeping your money and making higher deposits on those dates to unlock reload bonuses, insurance deals, and free spins. With twice your original bankroll or more, there is a good chance Santa will come for you this Christmas.
4. Don’t let hefty Christmas casino bonuses get the better of you
Impressive Christmas bonuses shouldn’t divert your attention from the rest aspects that matter when gambling online. Safety, security, fast payments, premium games, and efficient customer service are the areas I look for when searching for a new casino to join. And you should never neglect to check these aspects either, no matter how big or frequent Christmas deals an operator provides.
The safest and quickest way to find good casino offers from licensed and trustworthy casinos is to sift through our charts. Alternatively, turn to your local iGaming authority and go through their list of approved and regulated operators. Then narrow down the pool of options based on their extra features, including Christmas offers.
It is important to keep in mind that illegal casinos can afford extremely large no deposit and match bonuses since they don’t have to pay licensing fees, and often skip paying winnings to players too.
5. Optimize your game search and stakes
I don’t typically play Christmas-themed casino games since I prioritize other areas when searching for the next title to play. And you shouldn’t blindly stick to the casino’s featured slots for Christmas either unless you’ve considered the following aspects first:
- Is the RTP equal to or higher than the 96% industry average?
- Does the volatility rating match your gaming style and expectations? Low rollers should stick with low-med volatility slots, while risk-seekers are better off playing med-high volatility titles.
- Can you afford to spin your selected title? For slots, anything over $0.10 per spin is considered a high stake since these games quickly eat through your bankroll. More so when playing in turbo mode.
- Do you have enough money to experience the bonus round? Most modern slot games take, on average, 50 – 500 spins to trigger the special features and experience the games’ most thrilling aspects, so calculate the likelihood of getting there beforehand.
If a Xmas slot fits the profile, then sure, take your chances with it. Some solid picks for risk-takers include Xmas Drop, Sweet Bonanza Xmas 1000, and Gates of Olympus Xmas 1000.
Summary
This article should benefit all types of players, and I would say more so pros. As gamers, we can easily get caught up in a bubble and keep playing, depositing, and withdrawing while sticking to the same old slots and reload bonuses without seeing what’s out there.
Christmas is an excellent time to do some research and exploit the best of the numerous bonus opportunities and new games released at online casinos. Even if you don’t end up winning, Christmas casino bonuses provide free play, free spins, and matched offers that extend your gaming experience and introduce you to fresh titles.
If you haven’t already, why not take casinos up on their Christmas deals?