With online casinos becoming more and more prevalent as time progresses, it’s important to understand one of the most important aspects of an online casino: the welcome offer. See some of our welcome bonuses below.
Best Casino Bonuses Casinos in 2024
Also referred to as a signup bonus or an online casino bonus code, the welcome offer is meant to be the lead bonus offer to entice new players to play. These are often associated with bonus funds that can go into the $1,000’s range.
However, as with anything, there are usually some important caveats linked to these offers in the fine print of the terms and conditions. Regardless of the type of welcome offer it’s always important to look at the finer details to make sure you are setting yourself up to take full advantage of the welcome offer.
By continuing to read, you’ll not only understand what a welcome offer is, but also learn how to navigate these offers so that you can get the most bang for your buck.
Online Casino Bonus Codes
For some online casinos, you will need to use a bonus code. There are plenty of online casinos that do not require a bonus code. Most of the time, the online casino will show in the details of the offer what bonus code to use, typically during the signup process.
There will be some welcome offers that do require a multi-step process.
Here’s an example.
STEP 1: Click this link. After this, use the bonus code TGDCASINO. After you sign up, you’ll receive $25 in free credits.
STEP 2: Use bonus code TGDCASINO on your first deposit and you’ll receive a 100 percent deposit match up to $1,000.
There are many different methods that you will need to follow to earn your welcome offer.
- The example above
- Receive it after signing up/depositing
- Wagering on certain types of games for risk-free offers
- Minimum deposits
How Do Online Casino Bonuses Work?
Online Casino bonuses are constructed in a way that is relatively simple to follow if you also make a concerted effort to read the terms and conditions. The goal of these offers is to attract new players.
Let’s use Golden Nugget Online Casino as an example. In particular, it’s online casino based out of New Jersey.
The welcome offer is advertised as a 100 percent deposit match up to $1,000 and also 200 free spins on the 88 Fortunes Megaways game.
First, the bonus you will receive isn’t straight-up cash. These are bonus funds for the site in particular. This is to negate players from getting the money, withdrawing and being done with the online casino, which makes sense.
Golden Nugget outlines the process as signing up, claiming the offer from its “Available Bonuses” page, and depositing $30 or more. After this, you’ll receive the bonus and the free spins.
While this is true, this is where the caveats that we mentioned earlier come in. Of course, players will want to know how they can withdraw the bonus funds, if at all. There are ways to do so, but the main hurdle to overcome is what are known as “wagering requirements”.
What Are Bonus Wagering Requirements?
Now that we have gotten a bit more familiar with the general concept of how a casino welcome bonus works, now we’re going to look at the underlying details. Wagering requirements are perhaps the most important element of a welcome offer and this is what can separate one 100 percent deposit match bonus from another.
A wagering requirement is the number of times in which a player will need to wager either the initial deposit and bonus combined or just the bonus funds received in order to then be able to withdraw the bonus funds received from the welcome offer. It is always in your best interest to choose online casinos with fast payout to make sure you have your winnings the fastest way possible in your account.
Using Golden Nugget from the above example, this offer is 10x the deposit and bonus received.
So, if you were to use this offer on a $100 deposit, you would have received an additional $100, making it $200 total.
Now, with that $200, you’d multiply it by 10. This equates to $2,000. This means that you would need to wager $2,000 before you can withdraw the $100 bonus.
With wagering requirements, there is typically a timeline by which you’d need to complete it, such as 30 days.
However, we must look even further. Not all casino games are treated equally when it comes to the $2,000. In fact, that $2,000 can balloon even further depending on the type of games you play.
At online casinos, this is referred to as “game contribution percentage”.
Game Contribution Percentage
While welcome offers can be incredibly appealing, all of these deeper details are important. We’ve covered the basics and wagering requirements, though we’ve learned that it’s not as easy as wagering $2,000 depending on the type of games you play. Visit our wagering requirement page for more in-depth details.
This part of a welcome offer’s terms and conditions exists at almost all online casinos.
The range goes anywhere from as low as 2 percent at some online casinos to 100 percent.
What does this mean?
The best way to think of this is in terms of $1. Once again, we’ll look at Golden Nugget.
This is the guideline:
- Slots: 100 percent
- Table Games: 25 percent
So, at 100 percent, $1 is $1 toward the wagering requirement, but it is different for table games. For every $1 spent on a table game, you’ll 25 percent of that $1 counts toward the welcome offer. In essence, it’s only $0.25.
So, if you are someone who only wanted to play table games, you would then need to wager $2,000 on the site, multiplied by four, equating to $8,000.
Online Casino No Deposit Bonus
So far in this review of online casino bonuses, we’ve talked a lot about deposit match offers. With that, we’ve also mentioned there are other types of welcome offers. One of those is a “no deposit” bonus.
A no deposit bonus is usually fairly small in terms of monetary value with a low wagering requirement.
These offers are usually based around signing up at a site and receiving something like $10-$25.
While it’s not a crazy amount of additional bonus funds for your virtual wallet, it’s always a nice kickstart.
Why Should I Look For No Deposit Bonuses?
- Low wagering requirements
- Process to acquire it is easy
- Playing with these funds still goes toward the casino’s VIP Program
- Explore new casino games
How To Claim A No Deposit Bonus
- Find an online casino that offers it
- Start the registration process
- Use the applicable bonus code (if necessary) during the signup process
- Verify your account (if necessary)
- Ensure the funds are in your account
- Get to betting!
Online Casino First Deposit Bonus
The first deposit match is perhaps the most popular welcome offer for new players. The concept here is that you provide a deposit to the online casino, and in return they give you some bonus site credit as well. It’s not uncommon to find this offer with a 100 percent match rate.
The magic number for these offers is $1,000, but there have been some that are more than that. This offer usually requires a minimum deposit and this varies from online casino to online casino.
Why Should I Look For First Deposit Bonuses?
- Site credits at a large scale
- More funds to utilize
- Make larger wagers that you may have otherwise
- These offers may have other benefits associated with it such as free spins
- Explore new games
Deposit Match Bonuses
Online casino deposit match bonuses give you extra free money to play with when you add money to your casino account. If you’re a new player, you will usually be in for a bigger deposit match than an existing player.
For example, many US casinos offer a first deposit bonus with a 100 percent match. However, for reload bonuses for existing players, you normally see a 20 to 50 percent match. On a 50% match, you get half the amount you deposited for free. These offers will also have their own set of wagering requirements or game contribution percentages.
Free Spins
Free spins are always the icing on the cake for bonus offers. These are usually found as an additional perk with a welcome offer, or a short-term bonus to perhaps advertise a new slot game that an online casino has introduced.
With a first deposit match, players will receive these free slot spins at the same time a player has made a qualifying deposit.
When you receive these free spins, they can either be for a particular game or for a certain list of titles.
Sometimes, players can keep the winnings from any free spins, or there will be a wagering requirement associated with the winnings from free spins. These wagering requirements are usually fairly small like 1x.
Free spins are always an exciting added bonus because it could be for a game you already enjoy, or could potentially be the gateway to your new favorite game!
Welcome bonuses
- Deposit Match: Players will receive a match from the online casino at whatever rate and up to whatever amount of money the online casino determines. A common offer for this is a 100 percent rate up to $1,000.
- No Deposit Offer: Players will not need to deposit to receive this bonus. This offer is usually lower amounts of money and retrieved after signing up for an account.
- Risk-Free Play: Some online casinos will let players play risk-free for an allotted amount of time after creating an account. This is typically 24 hours and anywhere from a couple hundred dollars to $1,000. After this period, the online casino will refund whatever losses you incurred in your first 24 hours of play and you will receive those funds back as site credits. There are usually some terms and conditions surrounding the types of games in which you are able to play for this offer.
- Free Spins: Earn free spins on particular slot titles, a list of slot titles, or certain types of slots.
Do casinos give out a 200% casino bonus?
Sure! We only keep mentioning 100 percent because this is the most common. Online casinos can offer whatever they’d like.
Monthly Bonuses
While most online casinos will have a welcome offer, it’s important to look at what other offers there are. A welcome offer is obviously the headline offer, but the more bonus offers the better! Some online casinos can have large promo sections. These can be daily, weekly, monthly, or even longer.
Here are some other bonuses you may find.
- Free spins
- Smaller deposit matches
- Sweepstakes
- Weekly Drawings
- Contests
- Bonus funds on certain game types
- Risk-free play on certain game types
There could be other offers, too. What makes a great online casino is also the ability to innovate and separate itself from the rest. A great catalyst for that are these bonuses and additional daily, weekly, or monthly bonuses.
A good example of an excellent casino that provides amazing bonuses are the monthly Borgata casino bonuses.
Game-Specific Bonus
Game-specific bonuses are often associated with free spins or some other bonus offers that include things such as bonus funds for playing a certain type of game.
With free spins, you’ll often find it is for a particular slot game, such as 88 Fortunes Megaways. However, free spins can also be for a list of different titles or maybe even more broad such as “progressive slots”.
This also applies to other offers that aren’t free spins. It’s not uncommon to also see offers that are like “wager $10 on blackjack and get $10 in bonus funds”, or something similar.
What online casinos have the best bonuses in 2024?
It’s hard to say which online casinos have the best bonuses because every player is different. However, there are always general rules of thumb to look out for.
- The lower wagering requirements the better
- Larger game contribution percentages
- Ease of access
- Added bonuses to the welcome offer
As far as particular online casinos go, Golden Nugget, , , and are a few online casinos that have excellent offers.
With all of this said, once again, it all comes down to what kind of online casino player you are/aim to be.
Why do casinos have bonuses?
In a rapidly expanding market, online casinos need to develop new ways to differentiate themselves from the competition. A common way to do so is to offer better, more, or unique bonuses.
How do you get a bonus on Pokerstars for example?
PokerStars offers a massive welcome bundle. It includes $1,500 in deposit matches and up to $1,000 in slot bonuses.
This welcome offer is a three-step process.
- 100 percent deposit match up to $500. Use promo code “WELCOME1”. Minimum deposit of $25.
- 100 percent deposit match up to $500. Use promo code “WELCOME2”. You’ll also receive a mystery chest that contains up to $500 in slot bonuses. You must make this deposit within 14 days of the previous deposit.
- Same as Step 2, but using promo code “WELCOME3”.
What Are The Advantages Of An Online Casino Signup Bonus?
- More Money: You will receive additional funds to use.
- Win More Money: You can use the bonus funds to increase wagers and make even more money.
- Help Pick An Online Casino: With so many online casinos, signup bonuses will help you make the decision easier.
- Risk-Free Wagering
- Additional bonuses tied to the signup bonus: You can sometimes also receive free spins or a no deposit bonus.