Loyalty programs are fun – for you as a player. But for casinos? It's a way to keep you on the platform, to motivate you to come back and to play more. They are sophisticated and well-thought-out systems of incentives and rewards that casinos use to make sure you don't switch to the competition. But it's not all bad when the result of this effort is that the casino regularly rewards you, is it? Is it really that simple?
Online casinos are extremely popular these days and as a result, new platforms are emerging almost daily. And precisely because of this rapid growth of new casinos, individual platforms now operate in a highly competitive environment. After all, players have dozens, if not hundreds, of often very similar gambling platforms with identical game and bonus offerings at their fingertips.
Operators of individual casinos are therefore constantly coming up with new ideas on how to attract players to their platform (welcome bonuses), but above all, how to keep them on the platform.
The result of their efforts are sophisticated player loyalty systems designed not only to keep you in the casino long-term but also to create a sense that your activity has clear value. Casinos typically try to achieve this by rewarding you in various ways for (almost) every activity you do.
Loyalty programs, as their name suggests, are based on loyalty. On your commitment to a particular casino. And as we revealed above, casinos try to motivate you to this commitment in programs through various methods and rewards. What kind?
Most commonly, rewards include:
Loyalty programs most commonly work on the principle of collecting points. These points can have different forms from casino to casino. Some call them "game points" outright, others use "XP" and another casino has yet another original name. In essence, it's always the same thing: you engage in activity, play games, spin slots, place bets, deposit money, collect points through all this and progress further in the program.
How many such "points" you need to progress, as well as how you progress in the program, naturally differs from casino to casino. Typically, the platform offers you some overview of information, including information about how you're progressing. Most often this is in the form of a subpage focused specifically on loyalty program information or a short note in your profile. Often this "note" in your gaming profile has a graphical design that visualizes how far you still are from progressing to the next level or tier. The visual design is meant to help you better understand how many games/deposits/spins you still need and most importantly – to motivate you to keep playing. The visualization of how far or conversely, how close you are to progressing, can act as motivation to reach the next level with the next game, the next bet, or even later that day.
This visualization is supported by tiers that you gradually achieve. Each tier has its own name or designation and a specific number of points you need to collect or specific conditions you must meet to progress to that tier.
You often find that tiers are simply numbered, as is the case in casinos like National, Spinbara or Wild Robin. Sometimes, however, a casino names tiers to reflect the overall theme of the casino – see casino Legiano. Even more often, you'll encounter tier designations based on metals, alloys, and minerals – you can see such levels for example in casino Nine.
Regardless of the specific tier designation in a given casino, loyalty programs typically work such that the platform places you on the first (lowest) tier shortly after registration. It's like your stepping stone – to maintain this tier you usually don't have to do anything, meet no conditions or think much about it. Simply put, you "exist" on it. However, this doesn't work the same way on further tiers. Not only are you naturally supposed to try to move forward and reach further tiers, but most importantly – some tiers have their own durability. This means that some casinos update all players on their positions every month, quarter or year and sometimes, if certain conditions are not met, casinos may suspend some players. This means they can move you down a tier or even back to the beginning of the entire loyalty program. This typically happens if a player fails to meet something that was agreed upon (mentioned in the program's terms), usually in the form of activity or number of bets or deposits per month or some other specific period.
This approach is designed to motivate players again to play. However, beyond motivation, it's also about casino behavior that exerts a subtle pressure on players. This pressure is harmless for most players as long as you have firm boundaries set and respect them, but for individuals who struggle with setting healthy boundaries, it could be the final step leading to subsequent problems.
This seemingly rather inconspicuous pressure can be one of the risks of loyalty programs. You're wondering how such "motivation" could harm anyone?
Let's look together at the risks that may await you in the nooks and crannies of loyalty programs!
The casino also often promotes higher stakes in loyalty programs, which again can lead to you betting more than you originally planned, which may push you further in the program but can also drive you to the edge of an abyss that's hard to climb out of. Similarly, with its entire approach within these programs, the casino can give you a false sense of control, where players think they're in some collegial relationship with the casino thanks to their progression in the program. They then make riskier decisions and forget that the casino is always the one who makes the rules. And literally so.
This is, however, just a fraction of the risks that loyalty programs, and gambling in casinos in general, carry. It's therefore important that you always play thoughtfully and remember that the casino and the gambling industry is primarily a business, not a partner who shares a common goal with you or has any interest in your success.
The entire structure of loyalty programs is built to encourage your long-term activity and to constantly create a feeling in you that you're always just one step away from another reward, another tier, or another benefit that "is definitely worth getting."
But so we don't end this entire article so negatively and grimly, let's look together at a few advantages that online casino loyalty programs bring you.
Within the programs you'll also find additional rewards such as faster or higher withdrawals, a personal VIP manager, but also such a sense of uniqueness or collegiality that we described in the disadvantages above. If you can maintain your boundaries and continue to view the gambling environment only as entertainment and play, then even these feelings and perceptions can be an advantage that loyalty programs bring.
And how to end this entire article? Perhaps with an important thought – and that is nothing is black and white. And this applies in the gambling world too. Casino loyalty programs aren't just perfect and beneficial or just bad and dangerous. They can be both. In the world of gambling, above all, it depends on you – on the players and on how you have your relationship with gambling set up and managed.