Almost every online casino offers a welcome bonus of some description. These are exclusive to new players who sign up with the venue. The most commonly available welcome bonus is the match bonus. These bonuses award players with additional funds when they make a deposit for the first time.
The casino matches the deposit with bonus credits. The bonus might be a 25, 50, 100, 200, or even greater percent match. The percentage refers to the amount of bonus credits the casino adds relative to the amount the player deposits.
A good example is an online casino that offers a 100% match bonus up to $500. This means up to a maximum limit of $500, the casino will match your deposit 100% – if you deposit $400 and the casino gives you an additional $400, you will have $800 in total to play the casino’s games with.
Here are a few characteristics of the welcome bonus:
- Most casinos offer a matched deposit bonus on first deposits.
- Some casinos spread a welcome bonus across the first few deposits to make their promotions appear more lucrative and to encourage repeat visits to the venue by the player.
- In the case of a multi-deposit welcome match bonus like the one mentioned above, the match percentages need not be equal for all the deposit rounds. The following is a hypothetical example of what one of these bonuses might look like: Get a multi-deposit match bonus of up to $2,000 on your first 4 deposits:
- 100% match up to $500 on the first deposit.
- 50% match up to $250 on the second deposit.
- 75% match up to $250 on the third deposit.
- 75% match up to $500 on the fourth deposit.
- 100% match up to $500 on the fifth deposit.
- Some casinos offer a match welcome bonus in combination with another hugely popular bonus – free spins. The following is a good example of such a bonus: – 100% match up to $400 and 100 free spins on the Starburst slot.
- Casinos might offer the match bonus-free spins combination promotion on the first deposit only or as part of a multi-deposit bonus offer. The following are examples of ways casinos offer these bonuses as part of a multi-deposit welcome bonus package:
- Awarding match bonus and free spins components on each of the deposit rounds.
- Awarding the free spins only on the first deposit, and the match bonus across all the deposit rounds.
- The free spins comprising of a specified number of spins a day for a specified number of days only.
It’s important to remember that you do not need to take the casino up on its welcome bonus. If you do not wish to take part, simply contact the customer support department at the casino you are playing with. They can have a welcome bonus cancelled for players not wishing to partake.