Sign up bonuses are one of the most popular methods used by online casinos to entice new players to 'sign up' or register and make an initial deposit. They are 'up front comps' designed to reward you before you spin your first set of reels, roll you first pair of dice or get dealt your first hand.Ryan's Thoughts"A sign up bonus is an opportunity for you to boost your initial deposit with free casino cash. This allows you to extend both your playing time and your ‘win window.’"
Because the online casino industry is so competitive, most top online casinos pull out all the stops when it comes to their respective sign up bonuses. This is all by design to make it as hard as possible for you to turn them down.
In other words, online casinos will make their bonuses seem so appealing that they're difficult to turn down. Take, for example, the famous sign up bonus of 21 Casino, where you can literally double your deposited funds up to any amount you want.
Yes, you read the last sentence correctly - any amount you want.
This premier online casino will match any sum you desire to deposit. For instance, if you decide to deposit £/$/€ 1,000,000, they will match your deposit and give you £/$/€ 2,000,000 in real money playing funds.
Whilst, admittedly, few people have a spare million laying around, no matter how big or small your chip stack (total playing funds), you will always find an online casino willing to accommodate you by matching your deposit, whatever that may be.
Types of Casino Sign Up Bonuses
Strictly speaking, a sign up bonus is any online or mobile casino bonus you claim when you sign up for a new casino account. The main types of sign up bonus offers include:
No deposit bonus
A 100% free bonus that only requires you to sign up for a new casino account to unlock. Being free, this type of bonus is usually much smaller than a matching or welcome bonus.
Free spins bonus
A 100% free bonus whereby, once you register for a new casino, you're awarded a number of free spins to use on one or more specified slot games - no deposit necessary.
Free play bonus
A 100% free bonus that allows you to play a slot game pre-determined by the casino. You will receive a specified amount of real money credits for 1 hour to win as much as you can - no deposit needed.
Welcome / Matching bonus
A percentage-based sign up bonus that requires you to make an initial deposit before you can claim it. This is the most common and generous type of sign up bonus.
Exclusive bonus
This is a bonus offer that has been specially negotiated on your behalf by HeadlineCasinos and the online casinos we feature, to give you even more bang for your buck.
High roller bonus
This is a percentage-based online casino bonus aimed at newly signed up players with larger than average playing funds. With these the biggest deposits garner the biggest bonuses.
Many sign up bonuses can only be unlocked with special bonus codes or coupons. In most cases, however, you’ll find these bonus coupons or codes listed in the casino’s bonus or promotions page. All you have to do is copy and paste the code into the appropriate section when you register.
Why Choose Casino Sign Up bonuses?
Most people love the idea of getting something for nothing, and few industries in the world understand this more than the global casino industry. Whether you use the world's most glamorous land casinos, or seek the convenience and discretion of 24/7 virtual casinos, you'll find generous rewards.
We recommed that you take full advantage of these benefits. Not only do you get the reward itself, but any 100% free online no deposit, free spins or free bonus offer allows you to 'try' an online casino before you commit to it.
Sign Up Bonus Involve Real Money for Free
Many online casinos allow you to access their games in demo mode if you'd like to try out their content. But why do that when you can take advantage of a free sign-up bonus, use real money, and potentially keep some (if not all) of your winnings?
Online casinos allow for this using a section in their bonus terms and conditions known as wagering requirements. This is the pre-determined number of times you must play through (wager) your bonus credits before you can convert your winnings to bonus cash (in the case of no deposit bonuses), or cash out your winnings (in the case of welcome or matching bonuses).
Where else other than online casinos can you claim free bonus cash and convert it into real, withdrawable cash?
Sign Up Bonus Terms and Conditions
As mentioned above, every online casino bonus (sign up or otherwise) that you’ll encounter has terms and conditions attached - without exception. This is to protect the casino and you, the player, from any misunderstandings, disputes or nasty surprises down the line.
This is why we recommend you always read and understand the terms and conditions of any sign up bonus you’re interested in claiming, before you claim it. Do that and you’ll know exactly what to do (and what not to do) if your objective is to bank / cash out bonus winnings.
Here are the most common and important bonus terms and conditions you must adhere to if you want to give yourself the greatest chance of banking your winnings (that is, of course, assuming Lady Luck is generous enough to yield you some good fortune):
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Wagering requirements | This is the number of times you’re required by a casino to bet or play-through your bonus before you can bank it or cash it out. For instance, in the case of a £200 sign up bonus with a 20x wagering requirement, you would have to play through the bonus (make bets worth) no less than £4,000 (£200 x 20). Wagering requirements fluctuate from bonus to bonus and casino to casino. This is why it’s a good idea to compare them before you sign up. Online casinos with too-stringent wagering requirements on their bonuses should be avoided. If a casino isn’t generous with its bonuses, it may be even less so with its pay-outs. |
| Minimum and maximum deposit | In the case of deposit sign up bonus offers, the bonus terms and conditions always specify the minimum and maximum deposit amounts. The player must meet these requirements to receive the bonus. |
| Game exclusions | Not all casino games contribute the same percentage to your wagering requirements, which is why they are highlighted in the bonus terms and conditions. This is to let you know which games you can play to help you meet your bonus wagering requirements. For example, most online casinos slots and Keno contribute 100% to the overall bonus wagering requirement. Baccarat, however, only contributes 25%, while Craps and Roulette contribute 20%, and most variants of Blackjack contribute 10%. Right at the bottom is video poker which only contributes 5%. |
| Country exclusions | Online casinos are free to accept (and block) players from any countries they choose. And they are also free to bar players from particular countries from being able to claim their new player bonus offers. In this case, the excluded countries will be listed on the sign up bonus terms and conditions. |
| Bonus time limit |
Every online casino bonus has a time limit. This is typically 30 days after your initial deposit, or 30 days after you unlocked the bonus, as in the case of a no deposit bonus. Once the 30 days are up, your bonus will automatically be cancelled and you will forfeit any winnings you may have accrued in your bonus balance. |
| One bonus at a time | Even if you come across online casinos with multiple bonus offers, when you check the T&Cs you’ll see that you’re only permitted to claim and use one bonus at a time. Only after the bonus has been played in full and/or has expired are you allowed to select another bonus or promotional offer. |
| Early withdrawal forfeiture | If you try to transfer or cash out any funds from your real money account before you’ve met the bonus wagering requirements, your bonus will be automatically cancelled and any bonus winnings you may have accrued will be forfeited. |
| Bonus expiry | Most online casino bonuses have an expiry date which is highlighted in the bonus T&Cs. As such, make sure you read these so you don’t sign up for a new bonus offer that is due to expire before you’ve had a chance to make the most of it. |