What is a casino welcome bonus?
A casino welcome bonus is a gift that casinos give to new players as a thank-you for signing up with them. In most cases, you will get extra money to play with after you make a deposit. However, a welcome bonus has many different types so exactly what you get and how much depends on each offer. This means it’s important to understand what is available so that you can choose the best welcome bonus casino for you.
While bonus percentage and the amount are important to check out, they aren’t the only numbers to keep an eye on. Bonus money isn’t given without conditions as there are certain terms you need to follow when claiming the welcome bonus. Such as wagering requirements for one.
Welcome bonus can be given on your first deposit or it can be a package that consists of several bonuses given out each time you make a deposit with real money.
Claiming a welcome bonus at a casino
Welcome bonuses can be extremely lucrative, as it’s the casino’s chance to tempt you to play at their site so they will often try to offer something particularly generous or different. You can claim a welcome bonus in the following way:
- Go to your chosen casino
- Create a new account
- Make a deposit
- Receive the welcome bonus
Some casinos need you to choose a welcome offer manually. For example, you may need to select it from a drop-down list or input a promo code when making a payment. These things completely depend on each site but they should be clearly signposted so that you don’t miss out. If you’re ever in doubt then you can contact the casino’s support team who will walk you through it.
You should be up and running in a matter of minutes. View all deposit bonuses available at Casino Professor.
How do casino welcome bonuses work?
You need to keep in mind that the small print often defines what the best online casino welcome bonus is or isn’t.
How do I know what I’ll get?
Most casino welcome bonuses work by giving you more money to play with on top of what you deposit. Exactly how much extra money you get depends on three things – how much you deposit, how much the casino is willing to match your deposit, and what the maximum bonus amount is. It might sound complicated at first but bear with us and it’ll soon be simple.
Example: a very common welcome offer is 100% up to £100. The 100% part means that the casino is willing to match your payment in full – so if you gave £50 then the casino would give you £50 extra money. However, there is a limit.
The £100 part tells you the maximum amount of extra money the casino is willing to give. So if you were to deposit £150 then they would only give £100 extra.
All that extra money you’re given? Unfortunately, the casinos don’t just let you take that out. Instead, you need to wager it.
Wagering the welcome bonus
Pretty much all casino welcome bonuses will have what’s called wagering requirements attached. This means you need to use your bonus to bet over and over until you’ve reached a certain number. Wagering will be stated as something like “x20”. This means you’ll often need to multiply what you get as extra money by 20 to know how much you need to bet. Again, it sounds complicated but it’s best explained in an example.
Example: 100% up to £100 with x20 wagering on the bonus. You deposit £100 and get £100 as extra bonus money. As the wagering is on the extra money only, this means you need to multiply £100 * 20 = £2,000. So, before you can withdraw your extra money and any winnings, you need to use it to bet a total of £2,000. Unfortunately, casinos often enforce a maximum bet policy of £5 per spin/round so you can’t just race through it quickly..
Forfeitable welcome bonuses
What do you play with first, the extra money or your own deposit?
It might sound odd – and this does actually depend on your preference – but you may want to play with your own money first. If you do and the bonus is forfeitable, this is how it works:
- Play with your own money first
- If you win: withdraw the winnings by giving up the extra money
- If you lose: use the extra money as a second chance of winning
Essentially, a forfeitable bonus gives you a second bite of the apple. However, sometimes you might not want to use your own money first, like when you’re trying out a new game for the first time. You just want to test it out without placing any real money bets to see if it’s good or not. In this case, you might decide to go for a non-forfeitable offer instead.
Cashable welcome bonus
Treading along a similar path – is the offer a cashable welcome bonus?
What we mean by this is whether you get to keep the actual bonus part or just the winnings. Example: You get £100 as extra money, you manage to complete the wagering and finish with £200 overall:
- Cashable welcome bonus = keep the full £200.
- Non-cashable welcome bonus = remove the initial extra money from the total winnings (£200 – £100 = £100).
A casino should explain in the offer’s terms and conditions whether you get to keep everything in full or not. You may also hear of cashable being a non-sticky bonus and non-cashable as a sticky bonus. However, no matter the terminology, they mean the same thing.
Welcome bonus FAQ