What is a welcome bonus?

Welcome bonuses are so widely spread across the entire online gambling world nowadays that they have basically become a mandatory ­element of each online casino. Welcome bonus is an amount of credits, equal to the defined percentage of your first, successful deposit in the casino, which is calculated and credited to your balance. This percent may vary, but the most frequent case is a welcome bonus of a 100% up to 100 credits on your first deposit.

However, it is often the case that players receive a number of free spins in addition to their first deposit welcome bonus. These free spins can either be used on specific slot games or all games that are offered by the casino. Another way for a casino to welcome new players is to offer them a free play bonus, that is, an amount of free credits, which must be used within a certain time frame.

As we have pointed out on many of our pages, make sure you pay attention whether your welcome bonus can be cashed out and what are its wagering requirements before claiming your welcome bonus.

Claiming Casino Welcome Bonus

In order to claim a casino bonus, you’ll need to figure out how the casino handles its promotions. If a casino uses “bonus codes”, that code will be listed next to the casino in the table. At most casinos, you have to enter the bonus code into the cashier section and system will redeem it. Some, however, require that you send the bonus code to the support team.

If the casino deposit bonus doesn’t have a code next to it, the casino will redeem it for you. Usually,­ this happens automatically, but some may be asked to contact the support after making your deposit to redeem the bonus.

In most ca­ses­, we­lcome bonuses, do not come with the bonus codes and the casino adds the bonus amount to your account automatically, right after you have placed your first deposit.  However, in order to become eligible for the bonus, it’s often not enough to just make a deposit, but you are rather required to make the minimum deposit that usually ranges from 10 to 25 credits. The value of the minimum deposits depends on the casino and their terms and conditions.

Therefore, before you snatch a bonus, just make sure you get familiar with all the terms and conditions that it comes with.

Casino First Deposit Bonus …What Is It?

Well it's simple really, like all other business that promote their special offers and discounts, all casinos will normally offer incentives and bonuses to attract new players to make a cash deposit to their casino. In return, these new first depositing players will receive various types of bonuses of which can be utilized within the casino they deposited to. 

The initial intention of a welcome bonus is to keep the player entertained for as long as possible and to keep him depositing money in the casino. This is typically achieved by offering a welcome bonus package which will continually give incentives to the player even when depositing for the 2nd and 3rd time, sometimes even until the 5th time. You might also get lucky and make a good win!

So, here are the fundamentals of deposit bonuses:

• A welcome bonus is an incentive used to attract players to make a deposit to an online casino.
• It is only associated with players who are depositing for the first time with an online casino.
• Welcome bonus and Sign-up bonus are the same thing.
• Casino will give you bonuses in return for your deposit.
• Welcome packages are normally offered to keep a player depositing for the 2nd, 3rd and many more times.

However, for all those players who do not wish to make any deposits, there are also the no deposit required casinos. This type of bonus gives the player the possibility to play at the casino with free cash or spins which where given to him by the casino for free with no deposit required.

Matching First Deposit Bonus

This is the most popular form of bonus amongst casinos online. This type of bonus will basically match the amount you deposit with the casino. In a practical example, let's say that the casino is currently offering a 100% up to $200. This would mean that if you deposit $100, the casino will match your deposit and will add an additional $100 to your account straight after you make the deposit. Most of the bonus offers will have a limit of how much the casino will match. In our case if you deposit $300, the casino will only add $200 in your account as that is the maximum match stated in the offer (up to $200).

You might also find some casinos that offer an unlimited amount of match deposit. This kind of bonus will give you the opportunity to deposit as much as you want while the casino will match the amount you deposit with no limits. So if you deposit $2,000 , the casino will give you an additional $2,000 into your account, totalling to $4,000. Make sure to read the bonus terms and conditions of these kind of bonuses as they tend to have higher wagering rates then normal bonuses.

Percentage First Deposit Bonus

Sometimes a casino would offer other percentage rather then 100% match deposit bonus. You can find casinos that offer 50% or even more then 100% like 150% or 300%. The 50% or any other percentage that is less then 100% is normally offered in the welcome bonus package. This means that you can get an additional 50% deposit match on the second deposit or any other consecutive deposit. So if you deposit $100 the casino will add an additional $50 to your bank account upon deposit. We will be discussing the welcome bonus packages later in more detail.

As for the other percentages which are more then 100%, the technique is the same. You basically deposit your preferred amount, let's say $100, and the casino will gave you a whooping $300 straight into your bank account.

Be careful with this however, some casinos will advert their welcome bonus as for example; 500% up to $10,000. Although some casinos will literally give you 500% of what you deposit, others might only give you 100% on your first deposit and the rest on consecutive deposits. So make sure to know exactly what you are getting on your first deposit.

Casino Welcome Bonus Package

Like bonuses, welcome bonus packages differ from casino to casino. each and every one of them configure their own strategy to give the player incentives so that he keeps on playing and depositing at their casino. For the sake of this explanation, let us assume that you just found out good looking casino with a good welcome bonus offer which states the following; 250% up to $1,600.

However as soon as you go into the terms and conditions of the bonus you realise that on your first deposit you will get 100% up to $250. You continue reading and soon you discover that the welcome bonus is split into 4 sections which are based on four deposits into the casino.

• 1st Deposit: 100% up to $250
• 2nd Deposit: 50% up to $250
• 3rd Deposit: 50% up to $500
• 4th Deposit 50% up to $600

If you add up all the numbers in the list, it would make exactly 250% up to $1600. Do not get us wrong here, there is really nothing wrong with this kind of welcome bonus, in fact it's a nice looking welcome bonus package. However, we wanted to point out that the actual first welcome deposit bonus is actually a normal match deposit bonus of up to $250.

How To Find The Best First Deposit Bonus Casinos?

Now that you have learnt what a welcome bonus is, its time for you to know how to actually find a good one! First off, you will have to find a casino that has your preferred type of games or game titles. So if you like playing tables games like blackjack or roulette or any other game like online slots, video poker, make sure that these types of games are available.

Check The Welcome Bonus Offer

Next up is to check the actual welcome bonus offer the casino has in store. Mainly have a look at the percentage match amount and the limit amount the casino has implied. However, do not just pick one up, check other casinos too because all the casinos now a days would probably have your preferred games and also a good welcome bonus offer. Besides, welcome bonus offers tend to change from time to time so it your responsibility to make sure you get the latest bonuses. Also we recommend you to check for the latest casino promotion offers too and make sure that the casino in question offers a good array of weekly or daily promotions for registered players.

Check The Terms & Conditions For Wagering Requirements & Other Terms

We can surely say that this is the most important step in the process. Make sure to read the bonus's terms and conditions and do not think that you can cash out winnings straight away if you make any. As explained previously, most of the welcome bonuses come with wagering requirements so its imperative to know exactly the amount of wagering that is required and what is the wagering contribution from your preferred game. All these details are always available within the T&C of each bonus, if not, have a chat with a support agent if available.

Make sure you check out our filtered best online casino welcome bonuses as these where hand picked just for you to give you the very best. Enjoy your play and good luck!

Welcome Deposit Bonuses List

All our welcome bonuses are listed below, so get up to date with the latest ones available. Don't waste a second more, and take advantage of the welcome bonuses we have handpicked for you! We are sure they will suit your taste and needs perfectly.