For most new casino customers, triggering the casino sign-up bonus makes sense. After all, we’re promised free spins or bonus cash after making an initial deposit. But due to the sheer number of casino welcome bonuses, you need to know what you’re signing up for.
Here, I explain how to identify and activate the best casino sign-up offers. I also discuss wagering requirements, bonus limits, and other terms you should know before depositing at any of my recommended online casinos below.
100% bonus up to £100 & 50 free spins
on Diamonds of the Realm when you make your first deposit.
What is a casino sign-up bonus?
A casino sign-up bonus, or a welcome bonus, is a promotion that betting sites offer to all new customers.
When you visit a casino like the ones listed above for the first time, you’ll see details of the bonus on the homepage. Failing that, navigate to the offers or promotions tab and see it there.
Before recommending a casino to you, I always consider its welcome bonus and ongoing promotions. There are many types of casino welcome bonuses, and some are significantly better than others.
Usually, you need to deposit a minimum amount (£10 in the UK) to trigger some type of deal. This might be free spins for top slot machine titles, bonus cash, or cashback on your initial losses.
But to truly ascertain the value of a casino welcome bonus, you need to examine the terms and conditions to check for wagering requirements, timeframes, and other variables.
I’ve saved you a lot of time by doing this research for you. But read on for more details on how the best casino sign-up offers are structured and what you should look for if you read the T&Cs yourself.
The different types of casino sign-up bonus
I’ve watched prominent online casinos experiment with varying promotions over the years. I believe the best casino sign-up offers tend to be deposit matches with low wagering requirements. But, more on that shortly.
Here are the different types of casino welcome bonuses you can expect to see at top betting sites in the UK:
Deposit match
A deposit match promotion promises to match your initial payment at an online casino:
Example: 100% deposit match up to £100.
Here, you get up to £100 in bonus funds with your first deposit. Though less common, you may also see 50% or 200% deposit matches. I don’t understand why casinos market them like this. It would be easier for everyone if they just described the bonus as a 100% match up to the relevant amount to save messing around with a calculator.
No-deposit bonus
At first glance, a no-deposit bonus seems like free money:
Example: £10 no-deposit bonus or 10 free spins to use on Book of Dead when you create an account.
But nothing in the online casino world is free. While the casino may give you the cash or free spins up front, they will add wagering requirements you must meet before cashing out.
So, after betting your £10 or using your ten free spins, you might have to satisfy 50x wagering requirements before accessing any winnings from the bonus.
Free spins
A free spins casino welcome bonus is ideal for slot machine fans:
Example: 50 free spins on Starburst when you deposit and bet £10 or more.
At almost every casino I’ve reviewed in the UK, the free spins are set at the minimum amount (often £0.10). Moreover, there’s nearly always a win cap (ranges from £10 to £100), and you must satisfy wagering requirements (1x to 100x) before cashing out.
So, while the spins aren’t really free, they’re still a decent way to get started and enable you to try out some top slots.
Cashback
Cashback offers tend to be more common in the US than in the UK, but I’ve come across a few new online casinos that offer this type of promotion:
Example: 20% cashback on your initial losses in your first 24 hours of play.
Rather than giving you money upfront, the casino promises to refund some of your losses within a specific window of play (usually 24-48 hours). Some casinos issue the cashback as casino credits, which you must play through at least once before cashing out. Others give it as genuine cash, which you can withdraw with no wagering requirements attached.
Just be mindful that there’s always a limit to the cashback you can claim (often up to £100 or £200), and you can only play specific games to be eligible.
My expert tips for finding the best casino sign-up offers
Right, now that you know what to expect, I want to show you exactly how to find the best casino sign-up offers with the fairest terms and conditions.
This requires you to read the terms and conditions thoroughly. Alternatively, you can trust me to do the research for you. Either way, here’s what I look for when searching for the top casino welcome bonuses in the UK:
Always start with the wagering requirements
The wagering requirement is the most important condition of a casino sign-up bonus. Simply, it indicates how much you must wager before being able to cash out any winnings obtained from a bonus. The lower the requirement, the better the bonus is.
Here are two examples to illustrate how wagering requirements work:
- Bonus 1: £100 in bonus cash with 20x wagering. You would need to play through £100 x 20 = £2,000 before cashing out any winnings.
- Bonus 2: £100 in bonus cash with 5x wagering. You would need to play through £100 x 5 = £500 before cashing out any winnings.
Simon Says: “Bonus wagering requirements are frustrating, but they’re included in practically every casino promotion. This is what makes no-wagering bonuses so attractive. Though few and far between, these offers let you cash out your winnings without playing through the bonus funds first. If you can’t find a no-wagering bonus, I think anything under 50x is reasonable in the current landscape.”
Ascertain bonus value – look beyond the free spins & bonus cash
If you’re a casino newbie, I’d forgive you for being drawn to a £10,000 welcome bonus offering 1,000 free spins with wagering requirements of 100x. I’ve seen several of these “too good to be true offers”, as I like to call them, advertised by offshore casinos with little regard for player welfare.
Rather than focusing on the size of the bonus, get into the habit of ascertaining the actual value of a bonus. The way to do this is by calculating the wagering requirements and considering whether you have a reasonable chance of cashing out any winnings from the bonus.
I want to show you two bonus examples with different amounts and wagering requirements to illustrate this point:
- Bonus 1: £300 in bonus cash with 50x wagering requirements. If you maximise this bonus, you need to wager £15,000 to cash out all the winnings. Of course, while high, you’ll win some money along the way, so you won’t necessarily have to wave goodbye to £15,000!
- Bonus 2: £20 in bonus cash with 2x wagering requirements. If you maximise this bonus, you would need to spend £40 of your own money to cash out any winnings. So, while the bonus amount is significantly less than in bonus one, it’s a better value offer and much more attainable for most casino players.
Check the limits
Numerous limits will be attached to the casino sign-up bonus:
Deposit limits
The casino will indicate the minimum you must deposit to trigger the bonus. At most casinos I’ve reviewed in the UK, the minimum is £10, but it may be slightly higher in some cases.
Bet limits
This indicates how much you can bet using the bonus cash and free spins. For instance, it’s common to see a maximum bet amount of £1 or £5 applied to the bonus cash, while the free spins value is often set at £0.10 or £0.20 per spin.
Win limits
Most bonuses (though not all) in the UK attach a win limit. This is the maximum you can win when playing with the free spins or bonus cash, and it’s usually capped between £100 and £200. So, if you land a 10,000x max win when playing with bonus cash, you almost certainly won’t be able to cash it out. Sorry, that’s just the way the cookie crumbles.
Consider the timeframes
I understand why online betting sites attach a timeframe to their casino sign-up bonus. They want to motivate you to add funds to your account, ideally as soon as you sign up. But equally, it annoys me when casinos only give you 24 hours to sign up, deposit, and satisfy the wagering requirements. This isn’t always enough time to read the terms carefully and play through your winnings.
Also, there isn’t just one bonus timeframe to consider. You will find that each casino welcome bonus comes with various timeframes that you should be aware of, which I explain below:
How long do you have to make a deposit
Most online casinos I review in the UK stipulate how long you have to deposit after creating an account to trigger the bonus. This is often 24 hours, but some casinos give you up to one week. If you don’t deposit in the given window, you won’t be able to access the bonus funds or free spins.
How long before the bonus cash or free spins expire
The casino will also say how long the bonus cash or free spins will be active before they expire. This might be seven days, 21 days, or up to a month. The window for using your free spins is often shorter than using your bonus cash, so bear this in mind. You must use your spins or cash within the allotted timeframe, or they will magically disappear from your balance without warning.
How long do you have to satisfy the wagering requirements
Finally, the casino will indicate how long you have to satisfy the wagering requirements. This could be the same amount of time as you have to use the bonus cash or free spins. However, some casinos give you extra time to satisfy the wagering terms, perhaps up to one or two months. The more time you have to satisfy the wagering, the better the bonus is.
Check for game eligibility & game contributions
I encourage you to check for two things relating to the bonus games:
Game eligibility
This reveals which games you can play with your bonus cash or free spins. Some casinos limit you to one game, while others give you the choice of up to ten titles. Ninety-eight times out of 100, these games will be slots.
Game contributions
This indicates which games you can play to satisfy the wagering requirements attached to the bonus. This might sound confusing, but it’s so important to check. For instance, you might see something like this listed in the T&Cs:
- Slots = 100%
- Table games = 50%
- Video poker = 20%
- Live dealer games = 0%
What exactly does this mean? Well, let’s assume that the bonus wagering is 20x. If you play slots, every wager you make contributes 100% to the bonus wagering requirement.
However, if you play table games like blackjack, roulette, or craps, each wager you place would only contribute to 50% of the wagering requirements. Therefore, this would essentially double the requirement to 40x the bet.
In the above example, you can’t play live dealer games to satisfy the wagering requirements, which is something I often come across at online casinos.
Simon Says: “My advice here is simple: only play games that contribute 100% to the wagering requirements. The wagering requirement is difficult enough to satisfy at most online casinos without you inadvertently doubling or trebling it by choosing the wrong games to play.”
Are there any payment method exclusions?
While I regularly use an e-wallet to deposit at online casinos, I always check if any payment methods are excluded from the bonus. Often, due to money-laundering regulations, you’re ineligible for the casino sign-up bonus if you deposit via Neteller or Skrill.
So, if you want to use an e-wallet to gamble online, follow my lead and opt for PayPal. It works like Neteller and Skrill, offering instant, fee-free deposits and the fastest payouts around.
Ready to sign up for an online casino? Choose one of my top-rated sites above or find other UK casinos by reading my latest casino reviews.