New Player Bonuses

There's a dazzling selection of promotions awaiting new players to a casino. If you're unsure where to start, we've outlined the basics of the advantages, and drawbacks, of the various offers you can find.

Why New Player Promotions Exist

The casino business is competitive, with plenty of establishments vying for customers. Special promotions to attract new players from other casinos (or into gambling to start with) are one way that a casino can bolster its customer base. From a new player perspective, such deals can provide a risk-free way of gambling. It's worth noting there's a wide array of bonuses on offer, so be sure to browse and find the best one for you.

Types of New Player Bonuses

There are several types of promotions available for new players. Amongst the most common are small amounts (perhaps $20-40) of free spins, credits, or cash. The credits and spins are usually tied to one specific game or slots, whilst the cash tends to be more flexible.

Another promotion that may be offered is a time-limited cash bonus. With this type of promotion, a larger sum is provided, with a short time limit. After the time limit expires the free cash vanishes, but if the player has managed to finish ahead then they get to keep the winnings.

The above examples are no deposit deals. However, new players making a deposit can often benefit from deposit matching offers. These involve the casino matching deposits made by the new player, up to a certain threshold. Sometimes the matching rate can exceed 100%, so if you were to deposit $10 the casino might chip in $15.

Drawbacks and Restrictions

The wagering requirement is common to many special offers for new players. It's designed to stop someone just taking a cash bonus and withdrawing it, or getting an early lucky spin and cashing out right away. The wagering requirement can vary a bit, and is often around 20-50 times the value of a bonus (so a free cash sum of $40 might have a wagering requirement of $1,000). A player is only able to withdraw their cash once the wagering requirement has been met and that sum has been placed in bets.

Another very common restriction is the withdrawal cap. Promotions usually come with this sort of ceiling, which means that whilst winning is possible, it's difficult to win big.

Less onerous than the two previous examples, deposit matching sometimes comes with a special restriction. Some casinos only offer the match promotions for a specific type of payment option. Casinos typically accept a wide array of choices when it comes to banking, but deposit matching might not be on offer for all of them.

New players can benefit from numerous bonuses casinos offer to entice them in. It's advisable to browse the market to find the best possible deal.