If you play at online casinos regularly, you will notice all of them offer you a bonus when you sign up – this article will determine what you should look for in a good welcome bonus.
Welcome bonuses are also referred to as first deposit bonuses or signup bonuses. When you see a welcome bonus offer, it will normally consist of a 100% match up to a certain amount. This means that if you have a 100% up to £200 offer and you deposit £200, you will receive £200 free (giving you £400 in total to play with).
In my opinion, there are 3 major factors you need to look at when taking up a welcome bonus offer – these are as follows:
1. Bonus Category
There are many bonus categories which determine whether you can cashout the bonus or not. The 3 main types are cashable, sticky type I or sticky type II. You should always look for a cashable bonus because they are available to be cashed out once you complete the wagering requirements.
If you take Jackpot Party Casino for example, they offer new players a 100% welcome bonus up to £200. Once you complete the wagering requirements (this is explained further down), you will be able to cashout the welcome bonus itself. If you were to deposit £200 and get £200 and then complete the wagering requirements, you would be able to cashout the £200 bonus without any problems.
2. Wagering Requirements
Wagering requirements are often referred to as play through requirements. Basically, wagering requirements are used to protect an online casino from bonus abuse. You will see that a bonus comes with 20 x wagering requirements or 30 x deposit plus bonus wagering requirements (examples) – it’s often abbreviated as WR.
This means the number of times you need to stake your deposit amount, bonus amount or deposit plus bonus amount so you can withdraw the bonus itself. If you take Jackpot Party Casino again, they offer a 100% bonus up to £200 with 20 times deposit wagering requirements. Therefore you need to wager the deposit amount only 20 times. With other casinos, you might need to wager the deposit plus bonus 20 times – this is in effect 40 times deposit wagering requirements.
3. Eligible Casino Games
This is one factor that is often overlooked and very important to a welcome bonus (or any other bonus for that matter). Basically, these are the casino games that are allowed when completing the wagering requirements for a bonus. If you take Jackpot Party Casino’s welcome bonus, only slot games are allowed. Other games like roulette and blackjack are not allowed.
So, in summary, if you have a welcome bonus that is cashable, has 20/30 times deposit wagering requirements and allows you to play on slots, you’ve got yourself a decent deal. If you’re a blackjack or roulette player, wagering requirements will be ridiculously high so I recommend not claiming the welcome bonus (if there is one on offer).
All in all, I highly recommend Jackpot Party Casino – their transparent and fair welcome bonus is as good as it gets in my opinion. They offer a no download casino with slots powered by WMS meaning you can play games like Zeus, Wizard of Oz Ruby Slippers and KISS Shout It Out Loud.
Get a 100% Cashable Welcome Bonus up to £200 at Jackpot Party Casino – 20 x deposit WR too!