Welcome Bonus is the bonus most online casinos offer to newly registered customers who makes their first deposit. Welcome Bonus is a good opportunity to increase the chances of winning more than if wagering only the deposit. Find out the pros and cons of Welcome casino bonus with Casinos Hunter!
In 2021, finding a suitable bonus can be difficult. The market of online gambling is abundant, and in this abundance, some unfair or even fraudulent offers may sneak in. However, if you are here, Casinos Hunter has your back covered with the guide on choosing the most profitable Welcome Bonuses.
Welcome Bonus is usually the promotion offered to new casino customers who registers their account with the site for the first time. For the casino, the task of this promotion is to lure the potential customer in, by promising them additional cash for bets, Free Spins, and other perks. For gamblers, a Welcome Bonus shows how welcoming the site is, how much they are ready to give to their players, and how much additional cash one can get to increase their chances of winning.
It is important not only to tell a good offer from a bad one, but also to differentiate between offers, to avoid misleading.
One of the most widespread mistakes (that many not very honest platforms use) is fail to differentiate between Welcome Deposit bonus, and Sign Up No Deposit bonus. To avoid this extremely popular mistake, check out the table.
A Welcome Bonus is usually perceived as a lucrative gift that a gambling platform gives away to any new gambler who decided to register an account with the site. Most beginner punters think so, and end up leaving complaints about online casinos that did not give them their money. However, in the majority of cases, it is inability of the beginner gambler to read Terms and Conditions - rather than the casino’s ill intentions - that cause misuse of the offer and eventually, no payments for the player.
To avoid all this unpleasant stuff, you have to be aware that Welcome offers are not gift from above. These are marketing tools that casino sites use to attract visitors and make them register on the platform. And, as any tool, it has its advantages and disadvantages. Below, you will find generalized pros and cons of the Welcome offer as such. However, you will also need to learn to assess individual pros and cons of every separate offer you stumble across at every new site.
Pros:
Cons:
This is how it all works. When the new customer signs up for the online casino, they are offered a Welcome Bonus for their first deposit, or several deposits. To get the promotion, they need to provide all the real data about themselves. Then, they need to add a payment method they will use to deposit money. They should choose the method out of those available on the site; it is impossible to deposit using any random payment method of their preference. This is why it is important to check out available banking methods before one registers an account at all.
By the way, it makes sense to read the rules of the promotion, and also read Terms and Conditions of the site carefully, before salivating over the promotions advertised. Some international websites have limitations caused by local legislation, and can limit their Welcome offer (and other offers) only to players from certain jurisdictions. Such cases are not at all rare, so take time to explore what rules are applied on the platform.
After the customer chooses the banking method, they have to double-check what minimum deposit is eligible for the bonus, and what maximum amount qualifies for the match bonus. Then, they decide what deposit they can afford. When deciding upon this, the customer should also keep in mind the wagering requirements, because they will have to wager the bonus several times (usually no less than 30 times) before the withdrawal function will be unlocked for them. So, when the customer assesses what size of deposit they can afford, they should also take into account potential need to deposit a bit more, to meet the wagering requirements and be able to withdraw the winnings, if any.
When a customer merely makes a deposit of own money and bets with this money, their deposits should be wagered at least once before withdrawing the winnings. When a bonus is attached to the deposit, the withdrawal requirements are way higher. This is done to keep the player betting more, and also, to make the player leave more money on the site (let’s be honest here). There is a bunch of rules that are connected to meeting the wagering requirements, and you should read through them very carefully; if you fail to comply with all the rules, the bonus can be forfeited, and all your winnings can be voided.
These rules are usually as follows:
After these nasty wagering requirements are met at last, the customer is able to order withdrawal of their winnings.
This type is classic, because you will most likely find it on the majority of websites in the online gambling niche. This type is a match prize to the deposit. For example, it can be a 100% match up to $100, with the minimum deposit eligible $10, plus 25 Free Spins on a featured slots game. Wagering requirements are usually from x30 to x50. While such bonus may seem unimpressive - you will see way more lucrative match online casino bonuses out there - it is rather realistic and may signal that the website does not promise pie in the sky, and is actually ready to pay you.
This type is a variation of classic, but it is used in a cascade manner to several consecutive deposits made by the newly registered customer. For example, you get 100% match up to $100 for your first deposit, 75% match up to $100 for second deposit, 50% match up to $100 for the third deposit, and so on, plus 100 Free Spins, given out 20 FS per day in five consecutive days.
The match percentage, the minimum deposits and maximum sums, and amount of free spins bonuses vary from site to site. Some platforms offer smaller bonuses with each next deposit, other, in contrast, increase the match percentage with every consecutive deposit to keep the customer interested. To get the most out of such packages, read the rules carefully.
As a rule, classic variations do not allow making bets on Live Dealer games. This is usually caused by internal technical specifications and processes on the website; some casinos do allow access to Live Dealer games with general Welcome bonus. Yet, if you are fan of the Live Dealer Games, you may want to find a specific Welcome Bonus for Live Dealer lobbies. These often resemble classic Welcome offers, but the bet size and the wagering requirements are usually higher. Also, in contrast to general Welcome bonus that can potentially be used in any game, the Live Dealer Games Welcome Bonus can only be wagered on Live Dealer games. Obviously.
Another rare variation is Welcome Bonus for customers who are willing to deposit in crypto coins, be it Bitcoin or other currencies. The concept of the offer is usually the same - a match percentage to the initial deposit. Here, the scope of games allowed is even smaller, because there are really few casino game software products that are suitable for betting with cryptocurrencies. In other aspects, the offer is pretty much the same.
Word or warning to customers depositing with digital currencies - before you even deposit, check if the site allows withdrawal of digital currency, not only depositing. Such situation is not rare, as some smart ass casinos accept crypto money, but pay the winnings out in fiat currencies, this way, accumulating crypto coins for themselves. Avoid this scheme and make sure you can send and withdraw in crypto.
Welcome Offer becomes available after making the first deposit, but it is never granted automatically, although the player becomes eligible automatically. This is done to enable players who wishes to avoid taking the offer, to do so without bothering the Customer Support.
So, if you are willing to avoid the offer, just do not claim it. If you want it - then click the button “get the bonus”, add promo code, or contact the Customer Support - depending on what the online casino instructions tell you to do.
After you see that the bonus was added to your bonus balance in casino account, you can start making bets. As a rule, first the deposited money is used for the bets, and only after the actual balance is empty, the player starts to use bonus money to bet. If the bonus is not sticky, all winnings will be added to the bonus balance. As soon as the wagering requirements are met, the bonus balance money will be moved to the actual balance, and the customer will be able to order a withdrawal of the funds.
The majority of modern online casino sites are mobile compatible, and many of them already have official mobile applications for different OS. As a result, the Welcome Bonuses are naturally available for customers on any platform, be it PC or mobile, regardless of the OS or device. Some sites take this even further and offer special Welcome promotions to punters who prefers access via mobile devices, to stimulate them play via the mobile more often. This is done to, firstly, make the punter bet more often since their mobile devices are always at hand, and secondly, to monitor the betting trends via various questionnaires and feedbacks send on mobile.
To cut the long story short - if a Welcome bonus is offered on the site, it is for sure available on the same site if you access via mobile devices.
The main drawback of the Welcome bonus, whatever huge and lucrative and promising it is, is the need to meet the wagering requirements. The main catch here is that the player can spend their deposit, their whole bonus, and everything they win by wagering those two sums, and still fail to meet the wagering requirements attached to the offer they have claimed.
Many players face the need to deposit additionally to the site, in order to make more real money bets, meet the requirements, and eventually unlock the withdrawal function. This is why the higher the wagering requirements, the worse it is for the player, and the more time and money the player is to waste by managing those. So, there are lots of cases when experienced punters avoid taking any bonuses at all, and prefer to manage their bets as they wish, without being bound by additional rules.
Reviewed by - Mike Hunter
Hi there hunter. I’m Mike, gambler and casino expert. Subscribe, grab your rifle, and let’s hunt down some juicy prizes!
