Welcome to CasinoHipster’s ultimate and exhaustive guide of the world’s best online casino bonuses. This page is dedicated to my fellow gamers who doubt the establishment but are ever so slightly tempted into playing a bonus.
Good news, everyone! There is no risk – only gain when you take your advice from me. I will walk you through the seemingly intricate game that is hunting for a decent bonus. More than that, I will point you in the direction of the best no deposit free spins, help you pick the top bonus codes. Above all else, I will help you make your time spent gaming a real delight.
Welcome Bonus
The welcome bonus at an online casino is perhaps the most certain thing about the casino. Just like the Universe had its beginning – whether that was a Big Bang or a benevolent deity – so do casinos have their bonuses.
Call them clever ploys designed to lure you in to play if you will. The fact is welcome bonuses are a lot of fun. They double your play funds, extend your stay and help you have a whale of a time playing some delightful slot games!
I mean, why would I play with my measly €50 when I can start with €100 – no questions asked. A great bonus comes in many shapes and just as many forms. Today I will focus on the best casino offers, one of which is the welcome bonus.
What’s the Welcome Bonus?
A welcome bonus is the first ‘deposit’ offer you will ever accept from a casino. In exchange for a deposit, you will receive a bonus based on a percentage calculated off the amount you deposit. The rate is usually 100%. So for every €10 you deposit, you will get another €10, rounding up your playing funds to a neat €20.
Now, you are probably wondering – what’s the catch? Casino offers don’t have ‘catches.’ This is not a book by Joseph Heller; it’s the iGaming world, and what you have here is wagering requirements.
A wagering requirement will usually ask you to stake your deposit or bonus amount several times. This doesn’t apply just to the welcome bonus. It pretty much covers every form of promotion out there.
Oh, but aren’t the wagering requirements designed to cheat me?
Not at all. There is a simple reason why a casino would want you to wager the money before you can withdraw them. What would happen if people just made deposits and left? That’s right. The casino would probably have to close down very soon.
Yet, the wagering requirements can confuse you. That’s why through my work at CasinoHipster, I want to remind you that you should:
Always read the wagering conditions for each deposit. Know how many times you are supposed to wager the bonus. Find out whether this applies to both your deposit and bonus amount or just the deposit. Remember to check how many days you have to complete the conditions, which is usually 30.
All online casino offers can be pretty decent what you need to make them work in your favour. Why not focus on picking a great casino bonus first?
The Best Casino Bonus
What’s the best casino bonus? If you ask a bunch of people, you will get a bunch of answers. Yet, the majority will agree that there are elements of the bonus experience that remain the same across all offers out there. This mainly has to do with what a bonus’ terms & conditions are. You need to take a good look at several things first, including:
- The size of the bonus
- Wagering requirements
- Deadline for completion
- Gaming contributions
- Other conditions
There is no universal way of pinpointing the nature of a bonus. What makes some online casino offers excellent to some people might not entirely agree with others. After all, a high roller would be looking for the biggest cash sum and probably be a bit oblivious of the wagering requirements.
A budget player might feel a little more comfortable with a no deposit offer or some free spins. Therefore, picking a bonus that suits you is a matter of choosing a great casino. Look, I prefer to play with a lot of freebies.
There’s no need for me to go after €5,000 in welcome cash because I have a lot on my plate. This is a great point for you, too – how available are you? It’s not just about claiming the bonus. That’s easy. Can you, realistically, play through a €5,000 bonus and a deposit amount, say 35x times?
Experience has taught me that the best casino bonus you can get your hands on will probably offer a 30x wagering requirement for both the deposit and bonus amount. For a truly great bonus amount, the completion time shouldn’t be less than 30 days.
My maths could be shabby, but that’s €350,000 for you right there. In other words, you got to be able to play through that much money in 30 days. But I am not here to try and change my fellow high-rolling gamers’ minds.
Instead, I want to help you pick the best bonus, which will be a mix of great bonus conditions as well as the end sum. Some casinos tend only to ask you to wager the bonus amount, and that’s usually at a rate of 40x times. If you have to wager both the deposit and bonus amount, that’s between 20x and 35x in most cases.
It would help if you always minded the bonus conditions. Establishing an acceptable industry standard is not an easy task, but I would say that a 30x wagering requirement for the deposit and bonus amount is pretty decent. Consider your availability and don’t play unless you have at least 30 days to clear a big bonus.
Huge Casino Bonus
Most new casino offers tend to be rather more substantial. Some say that it’s a cheap trick to get you to play. Well, there certainly are casinos that I wouldn’t recommend. They will throw the four-figure sums in front of you and invite you to play at some of the ‘best’ games out there. Yet, can they live up to closer scrutiny? Experience taught me that this is not always the case.
Look, I think that huge bonuses are fantastic. There are so many great casinos that offer these bonuses right now, but you will have to make sure they meet certain criteria. Since you are already familiar with the terms & conditions for most bonuses from the previous chapter, it’s time to talk about when huge bonuses are, in fact, a great pick.
Huge bonuses should come from respected casinos that have been licensed. Wondering if the bonus is worth the risk? Make sure that you are playing with an established operator. The main licenses are issued by national or international regulators, such as:
Yet, a license alone may not be enough to guarantee that the casino offers are what you need. Reputation plays a part as well, and in my experience, researching casinos beforehand helps. Yet, you are probably wondering – how do you get these big bonuses in the first place?
Shortcuts to Big Bonuses
Big bonuses are usually available in several ways. First, you can claim it right off the casino’s storefront – no questions asked. High roller bonuses are traditionally part of the VIP treatment. You see, the longer you stick around with a casino, the more they find out about you.
True, targeting you with promotions you will like sometimes begs whether the casino’s intentions are in the right place. Nevertheless, VIP programs exist, and they are designed to specifically take care of players who are happy to spend a little while longer with any specific casino.
And as they, or rather – you do, so are casinos becoming friendlier. VIP high roller bonuses are perhaps the ones that you can trust the most. You see, a casino that would accept huge bets from just about anyone is perhaps to be taken with a grain of salt. There are too many regulations out there, mainly to KYC and AML practices, which 
forbid to accept big deposits from just anyone.
Free Spins
Free spins are a fantastic way to start playing at any casino. As a huge fan of NetEnt, Play’n Go and a bunch of other studios’ games, I always welcome the opportunity to play with something extra.
These free credits are pretty much the same at any casino out there. You get around 10 or 20 free spins for free. Each free spin will be worth 0.10 credits. There will be a small wagering requirement applied to the free spins, usually 5x.
In some cases, you can get slightly bigger options, such as 50 free spins for a specific game, such as Book of Ra, Starburst or another popular slot title.
No Deposit Free Spins
Now, a quick update. Some casino offers require no deposit, and free spins are one of those – at least sometimes.
You see, a free spins offer can be part of a direct no deposit offer, but then again, it can be granted upon a deposit. Most welcome bonuses will now feature free spins as part of their offer – sometimes you get them for free, sometimes they are proportionate to how much you deposit. It’s really up to each casino to make up their minds.
Casino Bonus Codes
Bonus codes are a great way to keep track of ongoing promotions and help you cherry-pick your own bonuses. Not all online casino offers come with a bonus code. In fact, the code can sometimes be a part of an exclusive offer. In other words, you get the code from the casino as a sort of an exclusive promotion that only you and a handful of others are privy to. There’s no harm in using bonus codes. If anything, they seem quite fun!
No Deposit Bonus
No matter your opinion of casino bonuses, there are certain promotions you can’t turn a blind eye to. That’s precisely where the no deposit casino bonuses come in! Why? Because in my experience, they are the most delightful promos you can lay your hands on.
No deposits are easy to get. All you need to do is register and enrol yourself in the bonus. Most often, you don’t even have to do anything – the no deposit offer is just there and waiting for you. I know that it may sound a little intrusive at first, but there is absolutely nothing to lose when you get a no deposit bonus. The offer usually comes in the form of:
- Free play
- Freerolls
- No deposit money
- Free spins
Now, I am sure you are probably wondering what the difference is. Well, free play is the most innovative form of no deposit bonus. You are granted a sum to play with, and once you are done wagering that sum, you can withdraw the winnings. The downside here is that you will have a cap on how much you can win.
Next, on the list, I have the freerolls for you. Now, you are again wondering how that’s any different from the bonuses we’ve already mentioned. Well, it is. ‘Freerolls’ is a term used specifically for slots and slots tournaments. This type of bonus allows you to get a ticket and participate in one of the tournaments. The rules are straightforward – win the most and place first on the leaderboard.
A no deposit bonus is an offer that will usually grant you some small amount of money, around €10, that you can play with. After you are done with the wagering requirements, you can cash out both the bonus amount and any winnings you have accumulated.
Lastly, we have the free spins – we already established that this type of bonus could be part of both a no wager bonus and a deposit bonus. This about sums all online casino offers in the no deposit category.
No Wager Bonus
Look at you! By now, you are a self-taught expert on what types of bonuses there are, and let’s face it – no small part of that is thanks to your diligence and sticking through with my guide if I may throw myself a feather there.
The no wager bonus is any promotion that doesn’t require you to deposit. New casino offers are often focused on the no wager bonus, as it’s one of the most tempting. Then again, I urge you to keep in mind the things we have discussed when it comes to picking a reliable bonus in the first place!
Deposit Bonus
The deposit bonus is the bread and butter of casinos. Long before the freebies came into existence, every casino was asking you to cough up some cash. It’s a classic example of win some – lose some. Well, I don’t have anything against the deposit bonuses for what they are.
Quite frankly, with the regulatory pressure that has been applied, I can say that the majority of such casino bonuses are quite awesome. A deposit bonus is, in fact, a straightforward affair. You place an amount, and you are given back bonus funds to play with based on that amount. There are several common types of bonuses I will quickly go through here:
100% Casino Bonus
The most common of all is the 100% match bonus. Remember when I discussed the welcome bonus? Well, this is when you will see the casino offering to match you up by 100%.
200% Casino Bonus
A 200% offer is very tempting already. It defies the popular industry standard, and that’s precisely why it will catch your eye. 200% bonuses are a great choice, and so long as the Terms & Conditions check out nicely, there’s no problem to play them.
300% casino bonus
This bonus is the balance between a regular player and a player heading towards high-rolling. Of course, each bonus will be very specific, so there’s no saying whether this is indeed an online casino offer for high rollers. However, in most cases, the maximum bonus amount you can claim with that type of promotion usually exceeds regular bonuses. Then again, you probably know of quite a few 100% matched bonuses that promise you up to €2,500.
400% Casino Bonus
There is nothing specific about the 400% casino bonus. Just make sure that you need it and that the wagering conditions aren’t too steep. Other than that, I believe the 400% casino bonus is a decent choice.
500% Casino Bonus
I have seen quite a few great 500% casino offers. Now, you will probably think that most of those bonuses will slap you with thousands worth of cash to rollover. Not in my experience. A 500% deposit casino bonus can actually fetch you no more than €500 in bonus funds. That’s quite the bargain, as even €10 would quickly turn into €50!
Casino Cashback
Cashback offers are a great opportunity for you to be constantly developing your bankroll. Now, not all websites out there offer you quick access to a cashback programme, but those that do are definitely worth your time. I have played at various casinos, confirming that the decent ones are few in between. However, I have also been able to find casinos that will return up to 10% of my monthly losses and let me play again or cash out my money out completely! True, you certainly aren’t looking to lose any money playing, but we also all have had my bad days. So, why not claim some of that money back anyway?
VIP & Loyalty
I do think that the best casino bonus you can have has to do with the VIP & Loyalty programmes that a casino operator runs. Why? Because there’s always a bit of exclusivity about these bonuses. Let’s face it – you and I want to be playing with the most profitable offers, and often, that means being given the VIP treatment.
VIP bonuses will include special perks as cashback, better rates at which you can redeem your offers, birthday bonuses, anniversary bonuses, and even the opportunity to win cool perks as some electronic devices and an exotic trip. I would be lying if I told you that I haven’t tried to be a loyal customer on more than one occasion myself!
Bonuses: Can You Play Without Them?
Of course, you can always play without a bonus. But after finishing this read, you probably have found out about all the cool perks that bonuses bring to your game. So why should you give up on the good things in life? In my opinion, bonuses are a must-have. True, not all casinos offer bonuses that are worth your time, but guess what!
By now, you are a real expert on the bonus game, and whatever online casino offers to come your way, you will know how to only focus on the best ones out there. In the casino world, the best bonus offers are your oyster!
