Casino Welcome Bonus Offers

Picking the Best Welcome Bonus Casino for You

The Casino welcome bonus package provided by your preferred online casino is likely one of the main reasons why you decided to register. Once you have verified your account information, the process of searching for the best  Casino welcome bonus begins in earnest. Casinofy is right here, beside you to assist with all aspects of welcome bonus offers.

We will happily walk you through the process of registering at an online casino, selecting your preferred bonus package, and ensuring that you meet the eligibility requirements necessary to claim any winnings off your bonus.

The quest for the best welcome bonus is an ongoing one; that’s why it’s essential to partner with an industry-leading watchdog and educational authority, with a player-centric focus.

That’s where Casinofy comes into the picture. It is equally important to select a bonus that can be used with your preferred selection of online casino games. A welcome bonus tailored to slots players offers little benefit to blackjack players and vice versa.

The goal is to ensure congruence between the online casino welcome bonus and the player’s preferences.

The first step towards getting your bonus is applying for your bonus. Certain criteria must be met, such as ‘first-time player’, ‘player from a regulated jurisdiction’, ‘age verification requirements’, ‘ID verification, and so forth.

Once players have satisfied these requirements, it’s a simple matter of following the necessary steps to claim your bonus and start playing online casino games.  Finding the best welcome bonus is relatively easy; simply consult Casinofy’s list of approved online casinos and select a casino welcome bonus offer that best meets your needs.

Naturally, we categorize online casino bonuses according to a comprehensive set of criteria, including:

• Geographic restrictions
• Game contribution percentages
• Deposit or no deposit welcome bonus offers
• Different types of welcome casino bonus offers

Of all the casino welcome bonuses that we have reviewed over the years, the most generous options are the match deposit bonuses. These include offers like 100% bonus up to $500, or multi-deposit welcome bonuses on your first, second, and third deposits.

Sticky bonuses and phantom bonuses also come into the reckoning from time to time. A sticky bonus is for betting on casino games.

Once you’ve met the playthrough requirements, the winnings are yours to keep, but the bonus remains in your account until it has been used up. Non-sticky bonuses allow you to withdraw the entire bonus and your winnings once you’ve met the playthrough requirements.

Phantom bonuses by contrast are just for betting. Once you make a withdrawal, the Phantom bonus disappears, hence its name. Any winnings you generate from the Phantom bonus (subject to T&C) are yours to keep.

These are some of the benchmarks that we use to assess the viability, suitability, and utility value of welcome casino bonus offers for players.

WAGERING REQUIREMENTS OF ONLINE
CASINO WELCOME BONUS OFFERS
Perhaps the best way to explain the concept of wagering requirements is by way of an example. Let’s assume that you are offered a 100% welcome bonus up to $200 with a 25x wagering requirement associated with it.

If you deposit $100, the casino will match that $100 with another $100 on the house. If you deposit $200, The casino will match that $200 with another $200 on the house. This means you get to play with double your money all the way up to $200

Of course, we know that casinos don’t give away free money without any strings attached. The wagering requirements detail precisely how you must work towards ‘clearing the bonus’. This is an important concept with welcome bonuses, and it’s worth reiterating. When you have cleared your bonus, it means that you are eligible to cash out any winnings you have accumulated from that bonus.

In this particular example, you would have to bet a total of 25x the bonus ($100 received) before you can cash at any winnings from that bonus. The total that needs to be wagered is $2500. If you have received your bonus and used up the entire bonus, with no winnings resulting, you will not want to pay $2500 in total on casino games. However, if you win a sizeable jackpot with the bonus, it pays you to wager the required amount in order to cash out your winnings. This cost-benefit analysis is an important component of the wagering requirements that players should take into consideration with welcome casino bonuses.

Casinofy has identified an unfavourable wagering requirement that is subtle yet important. If you read the wagering terms and conditions and you see the following, 25x the deposit + bonus, you will have to wager substantially more money in order to clear your bonus. In the above example, you would have to wager 25x $100 (your bet) + 25x $100 (the bonus) in order to clear the bonus. This effectively doubles the amount of money that you have to gamble just to be able to cash out the winnings you received from your bonus. In this case, it is $5000.

Naturally, the wagering requirements allocate you a specific time period. You may have a few days or 30 days within which to clear the bonus, so it’s important to pick the right online casino games that give you the most bang for your buck. By this, we mean the casino games that contribute 100% towards meeting the playthrough requirements. Below is an example of an online casino’s game contribution percentages associated with clearing an online casino bonus:

• Keno, Slot Machine Games, Scratch Card Games – 100
• Red Dog, Let Em Ride, Hold’em Poker, Caribbean Stud – 10%-50%
• Craps, European Roulette, French Roulette, Video Poker, Baccarat, Blackjack – 0% – 25%

TYPES OF WELCOME BONUSES

When the first online casinos came on the market in 1994, no welcome bonuses were available yet. As the competition grew, the existing online casinos started thinking about ways to keep players away from the competition.

That is why the welcome bonus was created to never disappear again. To this day it is still the most popular casino bonus for new players. But the form of this casino bonus as a welcome has taken on new forms over time. Let’s go through them one by one:

• Match Deposit Bonus

  The match deposit bonus is the oldest type of of welcome bonus among online casinos and also the type of welcome bonus that is offered by the most different online casinos. However, a few years ago, you would mostly just get a match deposit bonus on top of your first deposit. Nowadays, welcome bonuses last for multiple deposits as part of a welcome bonus package or come with extra free spins on top.

• Free Spins

  If you receive free spins as part of a welcome bonus package, this is usually in combination with a match deposit bonus. You will then receive not only bonus money but also a predetermined number of free spins immediately after making your first deposit. that you can use on specific or certain online slots.

• No Deposit Bonus

  A no-deposit bonus is a popular type of online casino bonus. Often the only condition is registration, but there may also be wagering conditions attached to the no-deposit bonus. Sometimes you are asked to register, or you receive the casino bonus without first depositing money because you have been playing at another online casino within the same casino group for a long time. It can also be no deposit-free spins, a popular variant.

  After registering at an online casino with a no-deposit bonus offer, you will receive your free bonus. You can use these bonuses immediately, but they often come with strict requirements. In the case of a no-deposit loyalty bonus, no pre-registration is required. You can then activate the bonus directly from your account. But here, too, it is essential to know in advance what is expected of you to convert the bonus money into cash.

• No Deposit Free Spins

  In the case of this type of welcome bonus, you receive free spins without a deposit in advance. Whether you receive them as a free spins registration bonus or a no deposit free spins bonus, no deposit is required in both cases. You receive the free spins in your account, after which you can often use them immediately. However, the winnings are not always instant cash. It is, therefore, important to read the terms and conditions beforehand so that you know whether there are any wagering requirements involved.

• Cashback Bonus

  If you receive a cashback bonus as a welcome bonus, you will receive a part of your initially lost balance back.
  For example, The cashback is 10%, and your balance is almost gone. So it’s time to request the cashback. Let’s assume that your deposit was €100, so you will receive 10% of the €100 back and therefore €10. After using the welcome bonus cashback, there will be €10 in your account again, often without any wagering requirements.

Welcome bonuses are always given to players right after making their first deposit and sometimes right after registering their account, in the case of no-deposit bonuses. Suppose you haven’t received your welcome bonus at an online casino for any reason and would like to make use of it. In that case, we recommend always contacting the casino’s customer support immediately, as they can often manually add the bonus to your account or balance.

If you’ve never claimed a welcome bonus at a casino or gambling site before, it can be quite daunting. However, it is a very easy process if you just follow the simple steps below.

Step – 1: Online casino registration

To be able to use a welcome bonus, registration with an online casino is almost always required (except at some cryptocurrency and Pay ‘n Play casinos).
Registering at an online casino is very easy and involves you entering your personal details. Most of the time it is very straightforward as it just boils down to clicking the ‘’Register’’ button at an online casino and following the on-screen instructions. If you can’t figure out how to register at a particular online casino, we recommend checking out the casino’s review on our website for a detailed explanation.

Step – 2: Choose the welcome bonus

Often there are several choices when it comes to your very first casino welcome bonus. Sometimes a welcome bonus is available per segment (sportsbook, casino, poker, and bingo). If you have a choice, choose now from the different bonuses or enter the bonus code if you have one that matches the type of welcome bonus you want to receive.
Also, know that it is not mandatory to accept a welcome bonus. Some players prefer not to use a welcome bonus so that they are not tied to its (often strict) terms and conditions. We will discuss not accepting a welcome bonus later in this guide.

Step – 3: Choose a payment method

After you choose your welcome bonus, it is time to make your first deposit. Navigate to the cashier area of the casino site and choose the preferred payment method with which you want to make your deposit. Note that some payment methods aren’t eligible for welcome bonuses at certain online casinos. Always read the bonus terms before selecting a payment method to be sure you’ll be getting your welcome bonus.

Step – 4: Enter the desired amount

Enter the amount you wish to deposit at the online casino website. Make sure you deposit the minimum amount required to activate the welcome bonus.

Step – 5: Follow the steps that follow
Follow the on-screen instructions to deposit funds with your preferred payment methods.

Your welcome bonus has been activated
If your payment is successful, then the welcome bonus of your choice will be activated immediately. In most cases, you’ll be notified of this, and if you haven’t received your welcome bonus for any reason, we recommend contacting the casino’s customer support immediately

REAL WORLD EXAMPLE for a Casino Welcome Bonus

Let’s assume that you play roulette and you have signed up for a 100% welcome bonus up to $200 with a 25X wagering requirement on the deposit + bonus. If you bet $100 and receive $100 in bonus cash, you are required to wager a total of 25x $200 = $5,000 to meet the wagering requirement. However, if roulette counts 25% of that wagering requirement, you would need to wager 4x as much on roulette games to get to the $5,000 figure. This means that you would have to bet a total of $20,000 to claim any winnings off your roulette bets.

That’s why it is so important to understand the inner mechanics of wagering requirements, game contributions, and cost/benefit analysis with welcome casino bonus offers. Slots players invariably benefit most from the welcome bonus offer since slots count 100% towards meeting the wagering garments. In other words, every $1 that you bet on a slot machine game (except for progressive slots) reduces the wagering requirement by an equivalent $1, making this the most effective way to clear your bankroll requirements.

Even this detailed explanation has omitted important information, notably the Return to Player (RTP). Every casino game has a built-in edge for the house. Some games are more favorable to players such as Blackjack and Video Poker, Baccarat, French Roulette, and Craps, than Slots, American Roulette, or European Roulette. There is an expected theoretical loss with every online casino game and this too must be factored into the equation to determine the cost/benefit of playing these casino games and satisfying wagering requirements.

Nowadays, many online casinos limit the contribution percentage of individual casino games towards meeting wagering requirements. Casinofy experts conduct tremendous work behind the scenes to bring you the most competitive game contribution percentages in the industry from our top-reviewed online casinos.

ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF ACCEPTING CASINO WELCOME BONUSES

As we mentioned above, most casinos welcome bonuses come with terms and conditions, even no deposit bonuses and free spins. Apart from having to adhere to these (often strict) rules, there are some other disadvantages associated with welcome casino bonuses. However, there are also quite some advantages, which often outweigh the disadvantages.

In this section of our casino welcome bonus guide, we will discuss the pros and cons of accepting welcome casino bonuses.

ADVANTAGES OF A CASINO WELCOME BONUS

• More play budget

  The biggest and most obvious advantage of a casino welcome bonus is that as a player you have a larger playing budget, resulting in more betting options. Maybe you can try out that new game that you otherwise didn’t have enough budget for. Or maybe you can increase your bet a bit to ultimately realize a larger payout. More budget always means more possibilities. Ultimately, you can also increase your account balance faster if you can place higher bets. Of course, more gaming budget does not immediately lead to more luck or higher chances.

• Chance of a bigger profit

  As we mentioned above, more playing budget does not offer a higher chance of winning. However, the chance that you will be able to grab a bigger profit increases. If you can bet more, the reward is logically higher. A deposit bonus or welcome bonus, therefore, gives you more options and the chance of a bigger profit.

• Try slots without obligation with free spins

  Free spins are interesting promotions for you as a player, because you can play free game rounds without having to place a bet. Free spins are often handed out by online casinos as a reward for loyal players, but nowadays also often part of casino welcome bonuses. In addition, free spins are also often used to promote new slot machines. For example, you can receive 10, 20, or more free spins on the latest title releases. Real cash can only be paid out if you meet the bonus conditions. These bonus terms and conditions are different for each casino and promotion.

DISADVANTAGES OF A CASINO BONUS

• Bonus must first be cleared before a withdrawal is possible

  Before a casino bonus can be paid out, you, as a player, must meet the bonus terms and conditions set by the online casino. These bonus conditions are designed to make it impossible to withdraw a welcome bonus immediately. This is of course, logical, otherwise, you could immediately make a profit by withdrawing the bonus immediately without even playing. We already discussed the wagering requirements of casino welcome bonuses before, but there are also other terms and conditions that must be met.

• Clearing a bonus must be done within a certain period

  In addition to the specific wagering conditions that you have to wager the casino bonus an x ​​number of times, you may also have to deal with a certain period in days. In the case of a fixed period, you must meet the wagering requirements within that period.

• Not every casino game can be played with bonus money

  At most online casinos, certain casino games are excluded from play as long as you have bonus funds. This doesn’t mean that they have a low wagering contribution for the bonus playthrough but that you cannot play them at all whilst having an active bonus. This has to do with the fact that with some casino games, such as roulette, you can constantly bet on red or black according to strategies such as the Martingale roulette strategy. These kinds of strategies make it much easier to meet casino welcome bonus conditions, which is why roulette usually only counts towards the bonus conditions to a limited extent, not at all, or isn’t even playable until the welcome bonus conditions are met. Sometimes slots with higher than 98% RTP, such as 1429 Uncharted Seas by Thunderkick, The Catfather by Pragmatic Play, and Ugga Bugga by Playtech, can’t be played as long as players have an active bonus either.

• Free spins cannot be used on every slot machine or video slot

  When free spins are handed out by an online casino, this is usually for a specific slot machine or video slot. So you usually do not have the choice to spend these free spins yourself on your favorite game. The reason for this is that free spins are often used to promote a certain slot machine or video slot. But also because the title fits well with a certain event or season. Online casinos always try to respond well to current events with free spins promotions.

MEETING CASINO WELCOME BONUS CONDITIONS CAN BE DIFFICULT WITHOUT ADDITIONAL DEPOSITS

Meeting bonus conditions can sometimes be difficult if you do not have a sufficient gaming budget. If your account balance does not allow it, you sometimes have to be very lucky to keep constantly winning so that you can keep your account balance on the right track.

A casino bonus is, therefore, not suitable for everyone. It is wise to think well in advance what you want to spend on an online casino. The situation is not ideal if you have to make an additional deposit to meet the bonus conditions.

If you set a budget for yourself in advance and stick to it, there is nothing to worry about. Afterward you will not regret that you have spent too much. If you have estimated in advance that you cannot meet the wagering requirements with your budget, it is wise not to choose a casino bonus.

At most online casinos, you can choose whether or not to receive a casino bonus when making a deposit. If you know what you want to spend and can realistically meet the bonus conditions, you will not be faced with unpleasant surprises afterward.

Below, we have summarized the top 5 best EU and UK casino welcome bonuses, of which we are sure you will most likely meet the bonus conditions, no matter how unlucky you might be!

TOP 5 UK CASINO WELCOME BONUSES

20 Free Spins on Lucky Mr Green Up no deposit bonus at Mr Green Casino

Terms and Conditions apply. Opt in required. New customers only. 1x per customer. Min. £20 deposit. 1st deposit only. Selected games only. Max. Bonus £50, 35x wagering and 50 Free Spins at £0.10/spin on Lucky Mr Green 35x Wagering. Free Spins credited once deposit amount has been wagered. Bonus and Free Spins expire 7 days after issue. Game weighting, game, country, currency, player restrictions and terms apply.

Get £50 Welcome Bonus when you bet £10 at Ladbrokes

18+. New Casino players only. Deposit required. Bet 10+ on qualifying games. 40x wager reqs (bonus only) on selected games. Accept Bonus within 14 days. Bonus valid for 30 days. Certain deposit types excluded. Player restrictions and T&Cs apply.

100% up to £500 + 50 Free Spins at Casimba

18+. New players only. 1 bonus offer per player. Min. deposit £20. Max. bonus bet is £5. Bonus spins on selected games only and must be used within 72 hours. Winnings from Bonus spins credited as bonus funds and capped at £100. Bonus funds expire in 30 days, unused bonus funds will be removed. Welcome Offer is 100% match up to £500 + 50 bonus spins on your 1st deposit, 25% match up to £1000 + 50 bonus spins on your 2nd deposit, and 50% match up to £500 + 25 bonus spins on your 3rd deposit. Bonus funds are subject to 35x wagering the total bonus & cash. Only bonus funds count towards wagering contribution. Terms apply. Please gamble responsibly. BeGambleAware.org. Full terms in footer below.

100% up to £300 + 50 Free Spins at Miami Dice

18+. New players only. One bonus offer per player. Minimum deposit £20. Max bonus bet is £5. Bonus spins on selected games only and must be used within 72 hours. Winnings from Bonus spins credited as bonus funds and capped at £100. Bonus funds must be used within 30 days otherwise any unused bonus shall be removed. Bonus funds are 100% of your first deposit up to £300 plus 50 bonus spins on Starburst, 50% of your second deposit up to £500 plus 100 bonus spins on Gonzo’s Quest, and 75% of your third deposit up to £500 plus 50 bonus spins on Aloha Cluster Pays. Bonus funds are separate to Cash funds, and are subject to 35x wagering the total bonus & cash. Only bonus funds contribute towards any wagering requirements. Terms apply.

Bet £10 Get £50 at Coral

18+. New customers only. Min spend £10 on qualifying games. Certain deposit types excluded. £50 Bonus on selected games subject to 40x wager req. Must accept within 7 days, valid for 30 days. Player restrictions may apply.

TOP 5 EU CASINO WELCOME BONUSES

100% up to €100 at National Casino

All and any bonuses are available to players from any countries except for Sweden (SE). Players from Finland aren’t eligible for any deposit-based bonuses. 1f. To get any deposit bonus, the player needs to make a deposit of at least EUR 20, USD 20, 200 NOK, 25 CAD, 25 AUD, 25 NZD, 80 PLN, 500 CZK, 2,500 JPY, 125 BRL. 1g.To activate any deposit bonus, the player must use the bonus code provided in the bonus description (unless stated otherwise in the bonus description).

Up to €1,500 Bonus + 150 Free Spins at 888Starz

18+ Full T&C’s Apply. New players only

Up to €4,000 Bonus + 300 Free Spins at Let’s Lucky Casino

18+ Full T&C’s Apply. New players only

Up to €4,000 Bonus + 300 Free Spins at Lucky Dreams Casino

18+ Full T&C’s Apply. New players only. 40x wagering applies.

50 Free Spins No Deposit Bonus + €1,000 + 125 Free Spins on Deposit at Vulkan Vegas Casino

Minimum Deposit: €10 Wagering requirements: No Deposit x3, Bonus money x40, Free Spins x30 18+ New Players only. Gamble responsibly.