Online Casino Games You Can Use the Online Bonus On

Online Casinos have been around for almost 30 years now. That’s a long time for an industry to grow and change direction. As a result of constant adaptation, it’s now one of the mainstream forms of entertainment all over the world, including in Canada.

The strength of online casinos not only lies in the games but also in the online bonus they offer.

You might wonder which casino games offer bonuses in online casinos of canada in 2022, right?

 Don’t worry about them because we have a dedicated guide for the bonuses alone!

The thing with an online bonus in an online casino is that you need games to use them. If you’re not familiar with the different types of online casino games, how can you expect to utilize them properly?

Hence, our approach is to get you up to date on all kinds of online casino games and how they work in Canada. We’re going to take an in-depth look at how these games work and how the online bonus you get blends with them. Let’s go!

Are Online Casino Games Legal in Canada?

Before you jump in and start playing the games, you need to be sure of the legality of whatever it is you’re doing. Thankfully, Canada has a very friendly gambling environment with proper regulations.

The market is actually very similar to the US in the sense that the provincial governments regulate gambling instead of the federal government.

The BC Lottery Corporation, Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation, Alberta Gaming and Liquor Commission, Manitoba Lotteries Corporation, Nova Scotia Alcohol and Gaming Authority, etc. are just some examples of the provincial organizations.

If an online casino is based within Canada, it must be licensed by the regulatory body closest to it. As in the province it's based in. If the brand is not based in Canada aka an offshore brand, it must be licensed by one of the global licensing bodies.

The bottom line is that gambling is legal and regulated in Canada but unlicensed gambling operators are illegal. So, always look for the casino license before you start playing the games.

Online Casino Games vs Land-Based Games: The Difference

A lot of you might think that casino games are casino games, what is to differentiate there? Well, you’re right to a certain extent but there’s more than what meets the eye. The games in a land-based casino and an online casino might have the same outcome but the underlying technology behind them is very different.

For starters, the slot machines have mechanical reels inside a physical machine. A lot of modern machines have shifted to microchips to make them more efficient. It means there’s a full-on computer that takes care of the randomness of the games.

Instead of confusing you with both types at once, let’s break the paradigm down to the 2 known types of casinos and give you an idea of what exactly goes on in the background.

Land-Based Casino Games

The main purpose of both mechanical and microchip-based slot machines is to generate random numbers. So, technically, they use RNG technology too. The symbols you see on the screen are actually the result of thousands of random combinations of numbers.

Based on whatever the game is, the results are calculated and converted. The whole process is automated so there’s no way to know exactly what sequence of numbers is creating your results. For the very same reason, even if you ask the manufacturer of the machine, they wouldn’t be able to tell what the next number is going to be.

One of the main reasons you get a hold of what might happen in the next round is that the RNG is working 24/7, even when no one’s playing the game.

For table games, however, it’s not the same. Table games are exactly what they sound like. You need a “table” to play them. As these are machines, there is always a human dealer present on the table. Whether you’re playing Roulette, Blackjack, Baccarat, or Craps, you’re playing against the dealer.

Poker is the only game in a land-based casino where you’re not playing against the dealer. Rather, you’re playing with the other players on the table with you. This might be one of the reasons why you see so many players gather around the poker tables. Even if they’re not playing, they enjoy watching other players win or lose.

Apart from slots and table games, there’s not much you can do at a land-based casino. But if it’s a hotel or resort, you may spend the weekend there as part of the package. They usually have a very high standard of service for the guests.

Online Casino Games

In 1994, gambling how we knew it changed forever. Microgaming, a company based in the Isle of Man introduced the concept of online gambling. The first online casino came to life within a year! In the initial days, it was just the slots adapted from classic themes.

As more and more software providers started popping up all over the world and started developing new games, the industry started to shape itself in a direction that the consumers wanted. Some of the pioneering game developers at that time were NetEnt, Playtech, and Play’n Go.

Interestingly, all of these brands, including Microgaming are still operating to this day and they’re considered the elite bunch of software providers in the iGaming industry.

Unlike land-based casinos, there’s no “physical” existence of online casinos. It automatically means that there is no physical existence of online casino games too. Everything is executed on servers, even the games.

You’d be glad to know that the very RNG you know is the backbone of online casino games as well. It’s the same concept, executed in a different way. Instead of a physical microchip, it’s an algorithm that runs in the background of the casino software. MD5 is a famous RNG in the iGaming industry.

Just like the RNG in land-based casinos, online casino RNGs also keep generating the sequence of numbers consistently. So, the fairness of the games in both scenarios is pretty much the same.

As for table games, there are 2 additional subsections when it comes to online casinos. You get the “online” table games which are RNG-driven and the “live dealer” table games where you play against a human dealer.

We have a section upcoming explaining the details for all of them so stay tuned for that part.

Online Bonus & Casino Games: How They Blend

Now, we started this guide as a promise that we’re going to explain how an online bonus blends with the casino games in Canada. We believe it’s time to reflect on that promise and give you exactly what you came here for.

You may already know everything there is about the online bonus at casinos because we have a complete page dedicated to that. In fact, our homepage also takes a unique approach to these online bonus types as a whole.

So, here goes the types of bonuses and how they fit the online casino games.

• Free Spins: You might already know from our guide that free spins are one of the most popular types of casino online bonus in Canada as well as in the rest of the world. You can only use these games for online slots as no other games have “spins” in them. Once you get free spins, you’ll also get the instructions on what games you can play. Just open any of the designated games and the free spins will show up automatically.
• Free Cash: This is probably the vaguest kind of online bonus out there. You get cash equivalent in bonuses, whether from a deposit bonus or a no deposit bonus. The good thing about these is that you can use them on pretty much all the games. Sure, the weight of the game might vary from type to type but there’s no restriction on what you can actually do with the bonus.
• Free Chips: If a bonus specifically mentions “chips”, chances are these are for live dealer games. Or, RNG table games from time to time. Whatever the case is, they’re quite rare when compared to the rest of the game types. We’ve seen only a few operators offering “chips” for the games. When you do get them, don’t miss out on playing them for as long as you can.

Types of Online Casino Games

Finally, we’ve reached the meat of this page. You might be thinking if this is the meat, why didn’t we cover it before? Well, the things we’ve covered so far are the basics behind casino games and without them, you wouldn’t be able to grasp the idea.

Online Slots

Online slots, or slots in general, are the biggest area of casino games. These games are abundant and they take up the majority of any online casino’s game library. If you’re a Canadian player looking for easier games to start your adventure with, it doesn’t get any better than slots.

These games are very similar to the slot machines you may have played at a land-based casino. You have a few reels on your screen where symbols land. Based on the combination of the symbols, you get your payout.

Back in the day, you could only find 3-reel classic slots in online casinos. But as the software providers became more proficient, they started expanding their libraries. As a result, we now have 5-reel video slots, 6-reel Megaways slots, and even Clusterpays slots with 7, 8, or more reels.

The reason online slots are considered the most user-friendly is that you don’t need to learn any strategies or tricks to master the game. In fact, there’s nothing to “master”. These are pure games of chance where you can only select how much you want to spend for each spin.

And if the game has adjustable paylines, you can change the number of active paylines as well. If you’re not sure how paylines work, you’ll have to read our slots guide.

Table Games/ Board games

Right after online slots, the other type of game that gets the most traction is table games. These are your favorite games like Roulette, Baccarat, Blackjack, Poker, Craps, etc. but run by an RNG. It simply means there are no dealers in the game. Instead, the computer software plays the role of the dealer.

The benefit of table games over live dealer versions is that you don’t have to wait for a lobby to populate. As real humans are involved in live dealer games, it’s not possible to find an available lobby all the time.

But when it comes to an RNG game, you don’t need to depend on anybody to show up on time. You just keep playing the games whenever you want and however you want.

If you’re worried about your options, don’t be. There are more than enough versions for each of the games we mentioned. All you have to do is pick the version you think you’ll enjoy the most. For example, European Roulette has a lower house edge when compared to American Roulette. Similarly, there are some differences between American and European Blackjack.

Another game that gets a lot of traction in the table games category is none other than video poker. This game is an excellent way of practicing your poker moves before you move on to live dealer games. And if you like it too much, you can keep playing these RNG machines.

Live Dealer Games

Players who are more comfortable in a live casino floor setting love these games. They’re exactly what they sound like. You play the games with a “live” dealer, as in a live human being. These dealers are certified casino croupiers so you can expect top of the line experience from these games.

At first glance, these games look like video streams. But the twist is that you can interact with it through the “console”. A console is the setup of buttons and options on your screen that you get to press to give your input.

On the other end of the console is the OCR (Optical Character Recognition). This is a fascinating technology that can take any real-life movement and convert it to digital results. That’s how you see the game results and your winnings on your screen in real-time.

Almost all of the games you can play on a casino floor are available in a live dealer casino. Many brands in Canada offer a dedicated live casino for the players while others go for integrated games in the main interface.

Whatever the case is, you can simply search for “live” in the casino’s search engine and get the list of available games.

Bingo

Bingo was never part of the “casino games” category. But with time, it has become an integral part of many online casinos all over the world. One of the reasons it happened is because Bingo has the element of “chance” just like casino games.

Back in the day, Bingo was mostly played at Bingo Halls. You might have seen these in movies or TV shows from the late 90s/early 2000s. A lot of people gather in a room with bingo cards while a caller draws numbers from a raffle machine and calls the numbers. The lucky person to cross all the numbers from their card calls out “Bingo”. And then, a new round starts.

The craze of Bingo is a little less prominent in Canada when compared to other iGaming jurisdictions like the UK. But there are lots of players who look for these games on online casinos. Interestingly, the online bonus you get as free cash, you can use that on Bingo too!

Just navigate to the Bingo tab if there’s one. If not, use the search bar to type in “bingo” and see what games are available on that particular casino site.

Scratch Card

In our opinion, scratch cards are the most underappreciated online casino games in the industry. Although many operators offer them in Canada, very few actually offer a good selection. Scratch cards can be a fantastic way for you to spend your free time. It gives the old-time vibes of scratching cards for prices.

In an online casino scratch card, however, you get combinations of lines, symbols, and numbers underneath the hidden parts. You use your mouse cursor or your finger if you’re on the phone to scratch off the section to reveal the combination.

Needless to say, if it’s a winning combination, you get paid immediately. The winnings will just get transferred to your real money account right away. From there, you can just buy more cards and keep playing. If you’re lucky to land on an online casino that includes scratch cards in the casino online bonus category, you can buy the cards with bonus money too!

Understanding RTP & House Edge

The whole idea of online casino games and their payouts are dependent on RTP and house edge. These are two of the most used terms in the industry but very few platforms explain what they are and how they work for the game. Let us help you with that.

Return to Player

If you read slot reviews or game guides on how to play slots, you may have seen the RTP rating. It’s denoted with a percentage. For example, an online slot has 96% RTP.

As you’ve already guessed from the header, RTP stands for return to player. It’s actually a theoretical rating of how much you can win back from a game. For the most part, it’s associated with online slots only. In reality, every single game has an RTP rating, whether the online casino discloses it or not.

So, a 96% RTP means you can win 96% of your bets back. So, if you’re spending $100 on a game, Book of Dead, for example, you can win up to $96 back over time. This “over time” bit is what confuses a lot of players about the RTP.

You need to understand that RTP is calculated over a long time and millions of spins or rounds of a game. So, it’s not like you can win 96% of your bets right away. You can keep losing or keep winning based on how lady luck has decided to bless you. But in the long run, the average winning rate should be around 96%.

This brings us to a very important tip when you’re playing the games. Always go for high RTP games if winning matters to you. High RTP games are generally safer because they pay out more frequently. Then again, there’s no “guarantee” that you’ll win the RTP amount.

House Edge

In the previous section, we discussed RTP and we used 96% as our example. What happened to the rest of the 4%?

Well, that’s your house edge. In this case, for that particular game. However, you’ll see that online casino brands rate a house edge for their entire platform. It’s essentially the average of the house edge percentages for all the games in the library.

The house edge is actually a mathematical advantage. It indicates that no matter what, the casino will make 4% of your bet as profit. When you lose, they make more. And when you win, they make less but no less than 4% of your total bet volume.

Before you start playing with a particular casino brand, it’s always recommended that you check the house edge of the casino. Because the higher the house edge, the more money you stand to lose to the mathematical advantage. You need to pick the right balance based on your bankroll.

How to Open an Account at an Online Casino

Playing at online casinos is a fairly simple trade. But before you can do any of that or even claim any of the online bonus, you need to sign up for an account. Now, online casinos are not “casual” accounts where you can use fake information to sign up. Rather, you’ll need to prove your identity as well as your age before you can withdraw any real money. So, keep that in mind when you’re signing up.

Here is a generalized step-by-step guide on how to sign up for an online casino account.

1. Visit the online casino site you like. It’s ideal that you read player reviews as well as our detailed review beforehand so that you have an idea of exactly what you’re getting into.
2. Locate the registration button. It might be labeled “Sign Up”, “Register”, “Join”, or something along the line. Click on the button to trigger the registration form.
3. If it’s a 1-step form, you’ll need to enter all of your information in one go. It generally includes your full name, address, phone number, email address, date of birth, gender, the currency you want to use, and so on. If it’s a multi-step process, you’ll enter the same data but in multiple phases.
4. Once your account data is registered, you can deposit real money using any of the online payment methods the brand is offering. It might be a credit card, a debit card, an e-wallet, prepaid vouchers, and so on.
5. Last but not least, verify your account with your government-issued ID, a copy of the utility bill to prove your address, and a copy of your credit card (front and back) to get your account ready for withdrawal. You can skip this step until you decide to withdraw but we highly recommend that you do it right after the registration. So, if there are any complications, you can sort them before you need to withdraw your own money.

Bankroll Management & Responsible Gambling

Responsible gambling is a major area of the iGaming industry. Its purpose is to spread awareness about problem gambling and ways to prevent it. And in case a problem develops, the responsible gambling page includes a lot of external organizations which players can seek help from.

Before you start using the tools integrated into a casino site, you should try bankroll management. It’s often confused as “betting strategies” that promise to help you win more. But the fundamentals of gambling don’t let you win consistently. If it was possible, it wouldn’t be gambling anymore.

The purpose of bankroll management is to prevent you from spending more than you intend in the first place. You break your total funds for gambling into smaller chunks and assign different portions for different games. That way, you don’t run the risk of burning all of your money on a bad bet.

FAQ

Are casino games legal in Canada?

Yes, they are. Online gambling has been legal in Canada for a while and the legislation is handled by provincial governments. Canada allows both local and offshore sites for the players. If it’s local, it must be licensed by the province it’s based in. And if it’s offshore, it must be licensed by a reputed authority like the Kahnawake Gambling Commission or the Malta Gaming Authority.

Can I win real money from casino games?

Yes, you can. All the casino games are real money games unless you’re playing in the demo mode. As long as you’re spending money, you can always win it back.

Is it possible to benefit from a casino online bonus?

If you play your cards right, you can give your bankroll a boost with a casino bonus. What we mean by “playing the cards right” is that you need to adhere to the terms and conditions of the bonus from the moment you try to open your account. From using bonus codes to complying with the minimum deposit requirement, everything counts.

What games are best for beginners?

If you’re a beginner and you want to try safe casino games, our recommendation is online slots. You don’t really need to understand what’s going on to play them but it’s always good if you do. Also, most slots have an average RTP of 95% which is very good for any real money game.

What casino game has the highest RTP?

There are plenty of online slots with over 99% RTP in Canada! Ugga Bugga or Mega Joker are excellent examples. Blackjack also has over 97% RTP. But the winner is actually video poker. Some of the variants offer over 100% RTP!

Which online casino is easiest to win from Canada ?

When it comes to the best online casino for Canadian players, Betfinal casino seems to be the best destination. The latter offers both a variety of online casino games in their highest quality accompanied with an appealing  plethora of casino bonuses.