Welcome Bonus

What You Need To Know About Welcome Bonuses / Sign Up Bonuses

One of the first things you can notice when you play at an online casino is that there are several types of bonuses offered. Bonuses have been around for a long time, and it’s an online casino’s means of attracting players, old and new, to play their games. Basically, there are several types of bonuses that are offered by an online casino, but in this article we are going to talk about the most common bonus which is the online casino welcome bonus.

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What is the Welcome Bonus?

A welcome bonus, likewise known as sign up bonus, first deposit bonus, or new player bonus, grants you bonus upon your first deposit. This is a type of bonus often used by online casinos in order to attract new players to sign up on their site. Basically, a welcome bonus comes in the form of a match up to the amount you deposit. This only means that upon depositing $100, you will get an additional $100 as the bonus.

Usually, the matchup is 100% of the initial deposit, but it could vary from one casino to another. In some cases, casinos will try to go further by providing a 200% sign up bonus for your first deposit. But it is also possible for certain casinos to go up high as 300%, 400%, or even 500%!

For a 500% match up bonus on a $300 you can expect to get a $1500 welcome bonus, which is without a doubt a very huge amount for a bonus! This is why you'll often see the casinos offer the Welcome Bonus as such: 300% Welcome Bonus up to $1,000! This means that the most they will give you is $1,000, so if you depost $300 you'll find $900 in your account, but if you deposit $400, you'll only see $1,000 in your account because this is the upper limit of the bonus offer.   

How To Claim Your Welcome Bonus

Once you've done your research and decided which online casino will suit you best, the next step is to check their welcome bonus offers. You can only claim a casino's signup bonus once, so make sure you read the terms and conditions carefully before you decide. 

So how can you claim your welcome bonus?

1. Sign up to register an account at the casino of your choice.
2. Go to the banking section of the casino and register your preferred payment method.
3. Read the Welcome Bonus terms and conditions. These vary from casino to casino. 
4. Make your first deposit.
5. Your Welcome Bonus will be automatically credited within minutes of making your first deposit.

In some cases, your Welcome Bonus only applies to your very first deposit and in others it can apply to the money you deposit over a number of transactions until your reach the bonus maximum amount. A Welcome Bonus could also be in a variety of forms, such as a large number of free spins, no deposit free spins, 100% bonus, 200% bonus, and a whole lot more. 

Understanding Wagering Requirements

The only condition you should be aware of when you sign up to an online casino and get your welcome bonus is that it comes with wagering requirements that must be met before you can withdraw your winnings. Hence, if you receive a 200% sign up bonus, you can’t withdraw your money, or your winnings, immediately or without playing a certain number of games first.

Welcome Bonuses are designed to encourage you to experiment and try as many of the casinos games as you like without incurring any extra expenses. The wagering requirements are basically the casino's way of making sure you give their services and games a fair go before you withdraw your winnings or move on to another casino. These requirements vary from one casino to another, but in most cases they range from 10 to 30 times. Some casinos, however, have very high wagering requirements reaching up to 70 times! These are usually the casinos that offer extremely high Welcome Bonuses, so be aware that a super huge Welcome Bonus will probably come with conditions. There are several casinos, however, that come with no wagering requirements on their welcome bonuses and you can usually pick these out because on the surface, the bonuses look much lower than what other casinos offer. This is why you should always read the Bonus' Terms and Conditions of your chosen casino before you accept any bonuses.

Wagering requirements refer to the terms which an online casino places on your ability to release your first deposit bonus. It only makes sense that the casino you’ve signed up in will want you to play the games in their site for a certain period of time before giving you the chance to withdraw your free money. While the Terms and Conditions vary from one casino to another, the premise behind them remains the same. You will have to place a certain number of bets, or spend a certain amount of money on bets, before you can consider the bonus funds as your own money. In some cases, the playthrough will be based on the bonus amount, but sometimes it will depend on your deposited amount plus the bonus amount.

For example, depositing $100 in an online casino offering 100% bonus for your initial deposit will give you a matching $100 bonus. In this example, your wagering requirement will be on the bonus amount only, and the requirement will be 20x your bonus amount. This only means that you will have to wager $2,000 on casino games in order to be able to withdraw the bonus money given to you.

Get answers to all your bonus type questions by reading our bonus FAQ's:

Great Sign Up Bonuses at These Top Casinos

Keep in mind that playing different casino games will count toward the wagering requirement, although each of them will contribute differently in fulfilling the requirement. Slots often contribute 100%, while games such as blackjack won’t contribute at all. Always make sure that you read the fine prints of an online casino regarding its sign up bonus to know exactly what you’ll be dealing with. Through this, you can avoid any disappointment later on, and give you the option of depositing an amount into your casino account that is just right for your budget. You can also take advantage of the top casino bonuses using our list of the best casino bonus codes. 

Check out our list of top casinos online where you can take advantage of their fantastic welcome bonuses.