Best Welcome bonuses of 2022

Welcome bonuses are a pretty big deal in the online casino world. Whether you’re a high roller or more of a casual player, a great bonus can often be the deciding factor when it comes to choosing between the best online casinos. Of course, every site works hard to draw you in over the competition, but how do you pick out the best casino welcome bonus for you?

Best Welcome bonuses of the Month

How to Claim Your Welcome Bonus

Compare Casinos

There’s no need to spend hours searching the web for the best casino welcome bonus – simply check out our hand picked list to find the top offers out there. Want to delve a bit deeper? 

Sign-Up

Once you’ve found a bonus that tickles your fancy it’s time to create your account. You’ll need to enter a few personal and contact details to sign up, and you may also be asked to verify your account by providing identity documents. Make sure to check if you need to enter a bonus promo code when signing up so that you don’t miss out on your freebie.

Make A Deposit

Unless you bag a no deposit offer, you’ll have to make a payment to claim your bonus. Our recommended UK casinos offer a range of banking options from e-wallets like PayPal to prepaid cards, so there’s plenty of choice. Simply head to the cashier page, select your preferred payment method and make your deposit. Simple!

Claim Your Bonus

Once you’ve made your deposit and satisfied the qualifying requirements your bonus will be funded to your account ready for use. Remember to read up on the terms and conditions so you’re all clued in on any restrictions.

Place Your Bets

Now for the fun part! Once you’ve got your bonus funds you can use them to place your bets and enjoy the titles that you find most appealing. Fancy your chances at slots? Want to spin the roulette wheel? 

Welcome bonuses are often a win-win: you get a freebie to use on your favourite games and potentially bag some winnings while the casino attracts a new player. But with so many enticing bonuses on the market, how do you work out which is best for you?

Welcome Bonus Terms and Conditions

Welcome bonuses are all the rage among casino players, but it’s important to know that they almost all come with strings attached. The terms and conditions can mean a bonus isn’t actually as attractive as it first seems, so let’s check out what you should look out for in the small print.

Wagering Requirements

Wagering requirements mean you’ll need to bet your bonus funds a certain number of times before you can withdraw anything you win with them. These make it harder to turn a profit and are in place to prevent casinos making big losses through their bonuses.

Let’s take a look at an example. Say you have a ‘100% up to £100’ matched deposit bonus, and you deposit £100 to get a £100 freebie. The wagering requirements are 35x, so you’ll need to bet £3,500 before you can cash in. Some sites include your initial deposit in this calculation, meaning in this instance £200 would be multiplied by 35, bringing the total to £7,000. It is vitally important to make sure you know how your online casino 

You may also come across bonuses where you have to wager your deposit and bonus separately. So once you’ve claimed your offer, you’ll have to wager your deposit a certain number of times before the bonus is actually credited to your account, and then you’ll have to wager the bonus as well.

With free spins, the wagering requirements apply to any winnings you get from using your spins. Imagine you claim 50 free spins and end up with £30 profit. If the wagering requirements are 40x, you’ll need to wager £1200 before you can cash in on your returns.

Time Limits

Even the best casino welcome bonus won’t be around forever, so make sure you use your freebie before it expires! The time limits are usually fairly generous, such as 30 days, but they may be shorter at some sites so make sure you don’t get caught out.

You’ll also have to complete the wagering requirements within the stated time period — be sure to factor the bonus’s duration into your decision when considering both the welcome bonus and its wagering requirements. Sometimes the time limits for free spins are lower than those for bonus cash, which is something to be mindful of, too. 

Welcome bonus

The first type of bonus you’ll come across in a casino is the welcome bonus. It’s usually a combination of a deposit bonus and free spins, but it can be one or the other or some other type of freebie.

Welcome bonuses are available to new players registering for the casino for the first time. Just like any other bonus, they need to be wagered a certain amount of times before withdrawal.

What are casino welcome bonuses?

Welcome bonuses (also called first deposit bonuses) are a type of promotion offered by online casinos. The main goal of welcome bonuses is to attract new players and help the casino grow, amongst the stiff competition of other online casinos.

The welcome bonus is usually the best deal you can get in an online casino. Loyal players often get bonuses as well, but these are almost never as generous as the welcome bonus. The reason for this is that welcome bonuses are usually so high that casinos don’t make any money on them. If casinos were offering such high bonuses all the time, they wouldn’t make any money at all. And that’s not good for any business.

Welcome bonuses usually come in the form of extra credit which you can use to play for real money. If you play for long enough, you can withdraw this credit.

How do casino bonuses work?

The basic principle of casino bonuses is that you can’t withdraw a bonus if you haven’t played long enough with it. Otherwise, everyone would just simply come to the casino, take the bonus and withdraw their money with a healthy profit, without even playing.

The conditions which force you to play for long enough with a bonus before a withdrawal are known as wagering requirements (WR), or rollover requirements. WR are expressed in terms of how many times you have to roll over the bonus (25x, 50x etc.) prior to withdrawal.

Welcome Bonus

Thumbs Up 

  • Provides bonus cash for wagering.
  • Bonus cash can be as high as $1,000 or more depending on the offer.
  • Some offers can be used multiple times.

Thumbs Down          

  • Offers are for new players so existing members of a site cannot take advantage.

No Deposit Bonus

Thumbs Up 

  • Provides free chip or free spins .
  • Play games for free without depositing.
  • Some bonuses are game-specific, allowing players to enjoy new titles.

Thumbs Down          

  • Higher wagering requirements.
  • Low maximum withdrawal amounts.