The Best Online Casino Welcome Bonuses in 2023
Every gambler knows that starting a new online gaming journey begins with locating the best casino welcome bonus. What offer you're on the lookout for, though, will depend on what kind of player you are. Read on to get the low-down on all the options available!
The Top 10 Welcome Bonuses Offered by Online Casinos
- Large welcome bonuses on first four deposits
- Up to 15% cashback
- Frequent slots tournaments
- Tons of free spins on your first four deposits
- Multilingual platform
- Loyalty programme
- Huge BTC welcome package on your first four deposits
- Races & slot battles
- Weekly reload bonus
- Wagering req. of only 25x for welcome bonus
- Accepts multiple cryptocurrencies
- Mystery prizes
- Accessible 30x wagering req. on bonus funds
- Loyalty programme
- Live chat support
- Deposit match up to €400 on your first four top-ups
- Large progressive jackpots
- Mobile app for Android/iOS
What Is a Casino Welcome Bonus?
In short, a welcome bonus casino offer is a promotion offered to new players.
Welcome offers are a win-win for both parties involved – the player is rewarded just for signing up, and the casino gains a new customer!
The best casino welcome bonuses in the industry usually come in the form of additional bonus funds alongside your first deposit. These matched deposit offers effectively boost your bankroll, which means more fun all round!
Sign-up bonuses can also grant other rewards such as free spins, long-term cashbacks, and more. It can be any promo tool an operator has in its marketing arsenal whose incentive is attracting new gamblers to join by giving away rewards after they make their initial deposit.
Which Offer is Really Best?Many of the best online casinos boast that they offer the best online casino welcome bonus around. However, it is impossible to pinpoint the most lucrative registration deal in the online gambling sphere, as this sector is constantly evolving and competition is extremely fierce.
Types of Casino Welcome Bonuses
As mentioned above, a casino registration bonus does not have one singular form. There is no one promo type that all operators deliver upon account creation.
With this in mind, we explain the three most common and popular casino welcome offers below.
Matched Deposit Welcome Bonus
Matched deposit promotions involve the casino matching your initial deposit using a fixed percentage up to a specific max amount.
For a deposit match promo to rank among the best welcome bonus casino deals online, it should provide at least €500 in gaming cash. Nevertheless, it can yield less than this and still find itself in our top online casino bonuses standings if it has reasonable wagering terms.
Free Spins Welcome Bonus
Free spins are complimentary reel rotations, valid on specific slots. They can also be dispensed through reload bonus offers for existing players or as perks for loyal customers.
Bear in mind, though, that this bonus type does usually come with various stipulations, and are usually only available for high-variance slots. The latter games, while offering high rewards, rarely let anyone win. Thus, it is doubtful that you'll get lucky when taking advantage of these offers.
No Deposit Welcome Bonus
No deposit bonuses are consistently some of the most popular casino offers around, providing free-play cash or free spins with no deposit necessary. To claim these complimentary gambling opportunities, all you need to do is register with a top no-deposit casino or any other site offering such a promotion.
Always Keep in MindEven no deposit promos come with certain requirements, which in turn need to be satisfied before you will be able to withdraw your winnings. Always read the terms and conditions first to see what these prerequisites are!
Claiming Your Welcome Bonus
The steps involved in claiming welcome bonuses are usually identical across virtually all sites. They entail:
Choosing a Reputable Platform
Before you go ahead and claim any promotion online, first check that the site in question is legitimate and has a good reputation. This means not only checking for licences issued by trustworthy authorities (such as the Malta Gaming Authority or the UK Gambling Commission), but also reading online reviews from other customers to gauge what kind of experience they had with the operator.
Licensed and secure platforms will protect you as a player, and ensure that all your winnings and any prizes you are due via claimed promotions will be paid out or granted accordingly.
Creating an Account
This is quite straightforward – simply fill in the site's registration form by entering a username, password, your email address, and other personal information. Alternatively, some casinos allow gamblers to register in seconds using their social media credentials.
Account Confirmation & Identity Verification
After you've filled in the registration form, you'll get a confirmation link sent to your email. Clicking on this will activate your account.
Most casinos licensed by regulators like the UKGC also require players to verify their identity with their selected operator. This is usually done by submitting copies of a photo ID and utility bill.
Until you complete the verification process, you cannot play any games hosted on the platform or claim any bonuses.
Depositing Funds
While many sites are home to no deposit promos, as a rule of thumb, gambling operators will ask that players first fund their accounts before claiming any welcome bonuses (note that all casino promos have a minimum deposit requirement that we get into in more detail below).
Fulfilling Bonus Requirements
Unless you fulfil all terms and requirements laid out by the bonus in question, you'll be unable to enjoy the benefits this deal seeks to deliver or withdraw any winnings attained. Therefore, make sure you read the T&Cs carefully beforehand!
Reading the Terms and Conditions
As touched upon above, no casino promo comes with no stipulations attached. This applies to sign-up packages, VIP perks, and bonus offers for existing players. Nothing in life is truly free, and no operator is generous enough to distribute free-play cash like candy for all.
For many, the best promos are the ones that have reasonable and realistic terms for the player. These terms usually involve:
- Wagering Requirements
Also known under the terms rollover and turnover, a wagering requirement informs gamblers how much they must bet their deposited funds before they can withdraw any winnings associated with their utilisation of bonus money.
For example, if the wagering requirement is 20x, with a €10 deposit, you will have to wager €200 to clear this particular rollover.
An unwritten rule of the online gambling industry is that the more free-play cash an operator supplies through a promo, the higher its wagering requirement will be.
Watch out for any catches! A casino may state that it offers one of the best casinos welcome bonus promos around, delivering over €5,000 in gambling funds. But that deal will probably have a rollover above 40x, making it exceptionally hard to claim.
- Time Limits
A time limit connected to any welcome offer refers to the period allotted for gamblers to fulfill the listed wagering requirement. As a rule of thumb, the higher the turnover stipulation, the more time a casino user has to complete it. However, it is doubtful that there will be a situation where this time frame breaks through the 30-day barrier.
- Game Contributions
Gamblers are unlikely to get the chance to use their bonus funds on all the games housed at a casino site. Moreover, not all products will contribute equally to the wagering requirement. In general, though, slots do so with 100%, while RNG/live table games only contribute 10%. That means that for every €10 bet on reel-spinning products, all 10 euros count towards rollover fulfillment; for table games, this wagered cash will count as €1.
- Win Limits
Gambling operators won’t let players win a jackpot-like reward with complimentary betting cash. That is why they feature win/bet limits in their promos, including even the best welcome bonuses available. Remember that it is more common for casino promos to list a max bet cap than one on winnings, which is usually €5 or less. However, a max bet limit restricts the potential of a winning amount, so they are the same thing.
- Minimum Deposits
With the exception of no deposit bonuses, you'll need to make a deposit to your betting account before being able to take advantage of any welcome offers. Customarily, this amount will be €20 or more.
The only promotions that do not ask for a minimum deposit are loyalty bonuses, which are rewards allotted through a user's betting activity and are usually granted to members of the casino's VIP programme.
Bonus Codes
Looking to grab a new welcome bonus online? Keep an eye out for the best online bonus codes, which consist of a mixture of capital letters and numbers and are usually found on dedicated sites, gambling message boards, social media profiles, Discord/Telegram groups, or elsewhere.
These codes may even be available on casino's homepages or with the site's promo section.
Summary
Now that we’ve gone through all of the different welcome offers you might come across in your online casino journey, you’re armed with the knowledge to choose the ones that are right for you! Have a look at our recommendations above – we’re sure there's something there to get you started off the right way.
Casino Welcome Bonus FAQs
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A welcome bonus is a promotion found at online casino sites that can come in many forms, usually granting a deposit match or a number of free spins.
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You can do so by signing up with a gambling hub that seeks to reward those who complete its registration process. To do so, you must enter accurate personal information and click on a confirmation link sent to your email inbox.
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Welcome offers are a great way for casinos to increase their customer base, ideally leading to a sizeable user pool of frequent players that will stay on the platform for extended periods.
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Yes, if it has decent terms. Usually, casino promotions come with a set of conditions that need to be satisfied before you'll be able to withdraw any winnings. Ideally, the wagering requirement should be below 30x and allows two weeks or more to be completed. Usually, the game contribution rate is 100% on slots and at least one other gambling product genre.
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Not if they are granted by legitimate and licensed casinos. While they can be seen as somewhat of a marketing ploy, they still can yield lucrative prizes for players.
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Wagering requirements inform players how many times they must bet their deposited sum before they can withdraw their winnings. If you have found an offer with a 30x wagering requirement and a €20 minimum deposit, the lowest amount of funds you can part with is €600.
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That is subjective, and usually depends on your priorities. Normally, though, players tend to claim offers with the most reasonable terms and conditions. Be sure to check back here to find the best and most recent offers around!
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These are the funds placed in a gambler’s site account through a claimed bonus. They do not consist of your own deposited funds, but are the sum credited to a player by the operator as free-play cash. It should be said that players cannot withdraw their bonus funds – only the wins that originated from them.
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This is nothing more than another phrase for wagering requirement, i.e. the number of times you need to wager your bonus before you can make a withdrawal.
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This is a casino promotion with no wagering requirement, meaning you won't have to worry about completing any rollovers to withdraw your winnings. Commonly, no wagering bonuses are also no-deposit promos; though, often, these also come with, at the least, a 3x rollover.
Iggy Fenech
