Casino gaming is one of the most popular forms of recreation. From bingo to blackjack to slots, online casinos provide safe, convenient, and highly accessible options for remote players—plus, they also tend to offer plenty of bonuses. If you’ve ever dipped a toe into the world of iGaming, you’ve probably encountered quite a few reward offers.

 

At its most basic, a casino bonus is designed to onboard new players. Because the online casino space is so competitive, top brands offer up deals like free spins, deposit matches, and more in order to appeal to more iGaming fans. This bodes well for players, as there are dozens of quality and secure options to choose from.

 

But which casino bonus actually delivers the most value? And how can players start to take advantage of these deals?

 

Welcome Bonuses vs. Loyalty Bonuses

First, let’s quickly differentiate between two common types of casino bonuses. The most popular form is a welcome bonus. A welcome bonus is simply any type of reward that is offered to players to incentivize them to sign up with a new company. The most common types of welcome bonuses are free spins and deposit matches.

 

A loyalty or rewards bonus is one that is offered to a player who is already registered. Sometimes, casinos offer bonuses in order to incentivize players to use a new type of payment method or try a new type of game. Other times, these rewards are offered to players who have registered with a loyalty program and play at the casino regularly.

 

Free Spins

Free spins apply to slots. Slots are the world’s most popular casino game—which means this is one of the most common bonuses on offer. Free spin bonuses usually apply toward specific slot games, which means players can’t apply these however they want to. Additionally, you should keep a lookout for wagering requirements.

 

Wagering requirements are conditions tacked on to when and how a player can cash out winnings from free spins. Normally, casinos require players to ‘play through’ what they’ve won before they can cash out. This means that if a player wins $10 from a free spin offer, they would need to have staked that much while playing in order to cash that amount out. This is a common condition tacked on to this offer.

 

Deposit Match Bonus

A deposit match bonus is when a casino matches the very first deposit you make into your account after registering. A deposit match could mean a lot of things. For example, some casinos offer a multi-day deposit match program.

 

On the first day, they might match your deposit 100%, but over the next two days, that percentage might fall to as little as 20-50%. On the last day of the offer, however, it usually shoots back up to 100%. These multi-day bonuses are also quite popular for first-time players.

 

No-Deposit Bonus

A no-deposit bonus is usually considered the crème of the crop. That’s because, like the name hints, this bonus doesn’t require players to deposit any actual money into their account. Instead, a casino will provide you with money to play with or, in some cases, tokens to play with.

 

Keep in mind that a no-deposit bonus might have stringent wagering and cash-out rules. The very best offers on the market allow players to start playing with casino funds immediately, and then access their winnings without too many wagering or play-through requirements.

 

No-Wagering Bonus

No-wagering bonuses aren’t overwhelmingly common. However, since we’ve touched on the various requirements tacked on to casino bonuses, these are worth mentioning. If you see a no-wagering bonus, that means that the casino doesn’t require players to play through their bonus before cashing out. This makes it a very high-value offer.