Finding the top casino welcome offers can be nothing short of daunting, even for seasoned online casino players. If you’re new to the industry, it can be doubly difficult as it is easy to miss the vital characteristics that indicate a good or even a bad offer. That’s where we can help. Our experienced team excels at researching, reviewing and rating the best casino sign up offers in the UK. We can guide you in finding the best available new player offers. Check out the best casino welcome offers of the year so far!
Before you start your search for the best casino sign up offers, it helps to know what they are. A sign up offer is a promotion exclusive to new customers who register at a casino. This promotion may be a new player welcome bonus, free spins, free play, cashback, or some other type of perk.
The purpose of the offer is to encourage new customers to become real money players. The majority of sign up offers require the player to make their first deposit in order to claim the reward. The bonus, free spins, etc. can be used as real money in the casino. These offers can be an excellent way to start your playing experience at a reputable UKGC-licensed site.
There is more than one type of welcome offer. This is why trying to figure out which ones are the best to pursue can be slightly intimidating at times. Here’s a look at the most common types of sign up promotions you’ll find offered by the most reputable UK online casinos.
💰Match Up Bonus Sign Up Offer – The most common of the bunch, A match up welcome bonus is often presented as a 100% match bonus, in which the casino will match your exact deposit up to a certain amount (e.g. 100% Match up Bonus to £200). For instance, if you deposit £50, you’ll get a £50 bonus, for a total bankroll of £100
💰Free Spins Welcome Bonus – A free spin welcome offer awards you a set number of free spins (e.g. 100) with a predetermined value (0. £10 per spin). These spins typically must be played on a designated game or games. Sometimes, wins from these free spins are even wager free and without win caps.
💰No Deposit Welcome Bonuses – Considered to be one of the best casino sign up bonus promotions available, this offer does not require a deposit for you to claim. Usually, it is a small amount of bonus money (e.g. £20) which can be played on all or select games and is awarded after you register an account. It often expires quickly (e.g. within 1 – 3 days after registration).
💰No Deposit Free Spins Welcome Offer – No deposit is necessary to claim this offer. Typically, it is awarded after you have completed registration and is a small number of spins (e.g. 10) that can be played only on select games. It usually expires within 1 – 3 days after registration.
💰Free Play Bonus – A typical free play bonus functions like a larger version of a welcome bonus with no deposit. You are given a big bonus bankroll to play with (e.g. £500 – £1,000+) and have only 30 – 60 minutes to use it. Once the time is up, you’ll lose any remaining bonus and will likely need to fulfil wagering requirements to withdraw any resulting winnings.
💰Cashback Welcome Offer – This offer basically works like a refund. You make your first deposit and the casino will pay back all or a percentage of losses that you may incur from playing their games. It’s kind of like a “free” trial for the player. You either keep your winnings or are refunded your losses in cash.
💰Live Casino Welcome Bonus – As the name implies, these bonuses apply just to games in the live casino. It’s usually a match bonus with your first deposit. This particular promotion is exciting because most welcome bonuses can be used only on slot games and exclude table and card games as well as live casino games.
*Bear in mind that all offers have terms and conditions (T&Cs) and most bonuses are attached to wagering requirements. We’ll explain these requirements in further detail later on.
Claiming casino welcome offers is a fairly straightforward process, regardless of the offer type. Here are the main steps to keep in mind when opting to claim a casino sign up bonus:
Just like online casinos, not all casino welcome offers are created equal. This means that the requirements to claim and clear one offer may not be the same for another. The reality is that things can go wrong if you choose to ignore or gloss over the terms and conditions. That’s why it’s always important to read the full T&Cs, or at the very least familiarise yourself with the rules that relate to activating the offer, what you will receive, and what you are agreeing to.
Understanding the following key aspects of T&Cs can make a difference when claiming your new player welcome offer:
➡️Minimum deposit – This term informs you the minimum amount you must deposit to qualify for the offer. If the minimum deposit is £10, for example, you will need to deposit at least £10 into your account to receive the offer. You cannot simply deposit £5 and expect to activate the bonus.
➡️Eligible payment methods – Find out if the payment method you’d like to use is eligible for the bonus. It is not uncommon for only debit cards to be valid for these offers. Credit cards are not an option for UK players and eWallets, such as PayPal, Skrill and Neteller, are typically excluded from welcome bonuses.
➡️Playthrough requirements – Most offers, including even the best casino welcome bonus, are tied to playthrough requirements, also known as wagering requirements or turnover requirements. These requirements mean that the bonus (or in the case of a free spins bonus – any free spins winnings) must be staked a certain number of times on eligible games before you are able to withdraw any reaming bonus and bonus-related winnings. For instance, if you receive a £50 Bonus that has a wagering requirement of 40x, you must stake a total of £2,000 (40 x £50) before a withdrawal can be made.
➡️Game eligibility – Not all games offered by the casino will be eligible for the offer. There may be restrictions on both the games you can play with your bonus (e.g. free spins are valid only for certain slots) as well as restrictions on which games count toward fulfilling playthrough requirements. Some games will count 100% towards fulfilling bonus wagering requirements, others may count for less (e.g. 10% all roulette games), and some won’t count at all. Don’t expect to be able to play whatever game you wish to use or clear the bonus.
➡️Maximum bet amount – Usually you can only bet up to a certain amount when using your bonus (e.g. £5). This ensures you cannot simply make a single wager and claim you have fulfilled the wagering requirements.
➡️Maximum winnings – Some deposit bonus offers, no deposit offers, and free spins offers have win caps. This means that you can only withdraw up to a certain amount of the winnings that may result from these offers. For instance, if the win cap is £100, if you were to win $300 with your bonus, you’d only be able to withdraw £100 after fulfilling any applicable wagering requirements.
➡️Validity period – You only have a certain number of days to use your bonus and complete wagering requirements once it is active. For instance, most match deposit bonuses must be used within 7 days of activation before they expire, while many free spins bonuses expire within 24 hours of activation. As for wagering requirements, its common to have 30 days to fulfill requirements from the point of bonus activation. That being said, some validity periods are much shorter, with wagering requirements needing to be fulfilled within as little as 7 days.
➡️Withdrawing before clearing a bonus – Any legitimate UK casino will allow you to withdraw from your real money balance at any time. However, in most cases, doing so while a bonus is active, will forfeit the bonus and any bonus-related winnings.
Before deciding on a casino welcome offer, there are a few things to think about to ensure that you’re not only claiming the best offer, but that you’re also getting it from the best UK online casino.
✔️Credibility of the online casino site – Check to make sure the casino is licensed by the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC). UKGC licensed sites must comply with strict rules that ensure fairness, transparency, security, and player protection.
✔️Available payment options – Check to see if the online casino offers your preferred payment method and that this method is eligible for the online casino sign up bonus you wish to claim. Additionally, ensure that the casino has a prompt withdrawal policy.
✔️Wagering requirements – Check the wagering requirements of the offer. Whilst you will come across wager-free welcome offers every so often, those are rare so its best to look for low (35x or below) or mixed wagering requirement offers.
✔️Win caps – Check for win limits. Many online casinos don’t enforce win caps and those that do are typically fair about them. You’ll likely find that win caps are typically a part of no deposit offers (where the casino takes on most of the risk).
✔️Customer support – Check to ensure that customer support is reliable and can be easily accessed during the time of the day (or night) that you most enjoy playing and/or are intending to claim your bonus. If something goes wrong, you need to make sure issues can be resolved quickly.
✔️Platform availability – Check to make sure the casino you like is compatible with your preferred playing platform (desktop, mobile or both) and that the welcome offer you wish to claim is also available on this platform.
✔️Make sure the bonus is right for you – Check to make sure the best casino sign up offers that appeal to you are the most ideal for the type of iGaming experience you want to enjoy. For instance, if you love table games, you likely won’t get much satisfaction out of a bonus that can only be used on slots. Also, be sure check the validity period of the offer to make sure you’ll be able to clear the bonus in time to withdraw it.
There may be many types of online casino welcome bonus offers available, but discovering the ones that are the most ideal for you is simply a matter of knowing what you like, reading the applicable key T&Cs, and choosing a reputable casino.
Need more help finding the best casino sign up offers? Use our research to your advantage! Have a look at our reviews to learn more about the latest new player promotions from the top, most trusted UK online casinos, including the promos’ associated key terms and conditions.
They offer a sign up or welcome bonus to attract new players to their site. It’s an incentive designed to convert newly registered customers into real money players. For this reason, welcome offers tend to be among the best, most competitive, and most gratifying online casino bonuses.
The best type of welcome bonus is one that has transparent terms and conditions, including a low minimum qualifying deposit, no/or low wagering requirements, no/or reasonable win caps, and a 30-day validity period.
Yes. As long as the online casino is mobile-friendly – which means that it can be accessed via your mobile web browser, has a mobile app, or both – you can claim a welcome bonus on your smartphone or tablet if you’re an eligible, newly registered player.