Running an online casino is a tough business. With the old land-based casinos, at least you had the comfort of knowing that people who lived within a certain radius of your venue were likely to be your regular customers. They had to support you because either the law prevented there being other casinos or the other casinos were too far away.

But with online casinos, there are literally thousands of options for people wanting to throw some virtual dice or play a few hands of Blackjack. The reality of the Internet is that every casino is as close to you as the next one is. If you don't like one, you can move on to the next – just like that.

As a the operator of an online casino, this presents the problem of how to keep players coming back month after month. The solution most of the better casinos have come up with is to hand out regular monthly bonuses.

For the industry it make sense – a regular player is an online casino's biggest asset. Why not reward them for their continued patronage?

As a player, it makes it all the more worthwhile to frequent a casino that you enjoy playing at and that treats you right. Because of course, monthly casino bonuses aren't handed out to all and sundry, they're given to the cherished select clientèle that have a proven record of supporting the establishment.

And for this reason, when a new player is trying to pick an online casino to try, it is just as important to find out what kind of monthly bonuses a casino is likely to be awarding you as what bonuses you might earn by signing up in the first place. It's all very well to get a fantastic signup bonus if the casino doesn't plan to look after you beyond that point. Below is a list of the monthly bonuses offered by casinos.

One of the more common kinds of rewards that online casinos like to bestow on their regular patrons is something called a match deposit bonuses. Basically it means that if you transfer some cash into your casino account to play with, the casino will match all or a portion of your deposit amount, usually up to a maximum limit. This gives you a much bigger bankroll to play with.

For example, suppose an online casino offers you a 50% match bonus up to $200. This means that if you deposit $400 in your casino account, they'll top it up with an extra 50%. In this case, it would mean you'd roll up to the tables with $600 in your belt – an attractive proposition.

Casinos will send out newsletters to their regular customers loaded with news, special offers, and most importantly – bonus codes. You use the bonus codes at the casino's cashier desk to claim your monthly bonuses. Remember that you have to actually play at the same casino regular to qualify for the monthly bonuses, so it's worth showing loyalty to a casino that's been good to you. Below is a list of casino bonuses offered weekly.