When you sign up to an online casino for the first time and make your initial deposit, you can usually claim what most people refer to as a welcome bonus. Others call it a sign-up bonus. Both terms mean the same thing.
On this page, we will take a quick look at the different types of online casino bonuses you will likely come across at many of today’s most trusted sites. We will also reveal how you can maximise your welcome bonus by explaining things like wagering requirements in greater detail.
What are the main types of online casino bonuses?
There are thousands of online casino bonuses that are available to players, some of which are worth more than others. However, almost all of today’s online casino bonuses can be categorised as one of the following:
- Cashback bonus
- No deposit bonus
- Matching deposit bonus
Not only are online casino bonuses for new players. Registered members who play their favourite games frequently in the real money mode can often look forward to plenty of other promotional offers/casino bonus offers throughout the year.
All bonuses can be claimed on smartphones, desktops, laptops, and tablet devices, but you must be at least 18.
What are online casino bonus wagering requirements?
That’s a good question. Online casino bonus wagering requirements are attached to almost every online casino bonus in the world. However, you can also now find many no wagering bonuses, but what exactly are wagering requirements?
In simple terms, your bonus wagering requirement is the amount of money you have to wager before it’s possible to withdraw any of the winnings you have made from a casino bonus. Wagering requirements are attached to bonuses to protect the online casino operator.
They basically prevent players from simply withdrawing their bonus money back onto their credit or debit cards or digital wallets, for example, as soon as they receive it.
If an online casino operator gave each new player $/€/£100 (or equivalent currency value) in free money just for signing up to the casino, and then every player just withdrew that free $/€/£100, the online casino operator would quickly go out of business.
Nobody can afford to give away that kind of money. The wagering requirement amount is usually worth anywhere from 1x times the bonus amount (extremely low) up to usually no more than 200x times the bonus amount (extremely high).
Most of the time, you will find that online casino bonuses come with 30x to 70x wagering requirements attached. Let’s take a quick look at a couple of how this works.
Suppose you just received $/€/£10 bonus money, and the bonus comes with a 35x wagering requirement. In that case, it means you would need to wager your $/€/£10 bonus money 35x times before you could withdraw (therefore, you would need to wager $/€/£350 to complete the wagering requirements).
If you just received $/€/£100 bonus money, and the bonus comes with a 50x wagering requirement, it means you would need to wager your $/€/£10 bonus money 50x times before you could withdraw (therefore, you would need to wager $/€/£5,000 to complete the wagering requirements).
What is a matching deposit bonus?
A matching deposit bonus is when the casino operator matches your exact deposit up to a certain amount. Therefore, if the casino operator is giving each new player a 100% match bonus worth $/€/£200, it means they will match anything you deposit up to $/€/£200.
If you deposit just $/€/£20, they would give you $/€/£20 bonus money, and if you deposited $/€/£50, they would give you $/€/£50 bonus money, and so on.
What is a no deposit bonus?
A no deposit bonus could be a free cash gift or a certain amount of free spins to try out selected online slot machines, and the exciting thing about this bonus is that you don’t need to make a deposit to receive it, hence the name – no deposit bonus.
You may sign up to an online casino that’s giving all new players a free $/€/£10 no deposit bonus, or a 20 free spins no deposit bonus. Your winnings are likely to be capped at a certain amount, though.
What is a cashback bonus?
With cashback bonuses, you can generally claim cashback on your net losses over a certain period of time. For example, at some online casinos, you can get up to $/€/£100 in cashback on anything you lose in your first 24 hours as a new player.
Final note
Before claiming a matching deposit bonus, cashback bonus, no deposit bonus, free spins bonus, or any other online casino bonus, always take a few minutes to read the bonus terms and conditions.
They tell you everything you need to be aware of about the bonus, including important information about the wagering requirements, which games you can play to complete your wagering requirements, and exactly how much time you have to complete your wagering requirements.