Welcome to our guide on casino bonuses for the UK! Here, you’ll find the best casino bonus offers and promotions from safe British casinos. These sign-up bonuses can be attractive but often come with complicated rules.
In this guide, we’ll provide you with all the information you need to make the most of these deals, whether they are sign-up deposit bonuses or no-deposit offers.
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A casino bonus is a special offer that online casinos give to players from the UK who sign up or make a deposit on their site.
A casino bonus is like an ice hockey match ticket or a reward for supporting a particular team. For example, if you go to a stadium and they give you a free seat upgrade or a discount on your food, that is a bonus. Similarly, if you go to an online casino and they give you extra money or free spins to play with, that is a bonus.
Are you curious about how to pick the best online casino bonus?
While promotions like casino sign-up bonuses may seem too good to be true, it’s important to understand the terms and conditions that come with them.
For example: Casino bonuses come with wagering requirements. It means bonus money must be bet a certain number of times before it can be withdrawn.
So, how can you tell if a bonus is good or bad?
Here is what to consider when reviewing online casino bonuses:
🔽 Let's take a look at each of these factors in a greater level of detail.
Not all players can receive casino bonus offers. Depending on the casino and its promotions, players must fulfil certain requirements to receive bonuses.
For example, welcome bonuses are only for newly registered players. Some of these sign-up bonus offers require players to make deposits, whilst others don't require deposits. All the top online casinos we have listed offer a welcome bonus for new players.
We'll break down the types of casino bonuses later.
We can all agree that the bigger the bonus amount, the better.
Casino bonuses usually give you a second chance to play games even when you have spent all your cash at an online casino. So, you can explore and enjoy the top online casino games longer with bigger bonuses.
Wagering requirements require players to bet the bonus money a certain number of times before it can be withdrawn.
For example, a £100 welcome bonus with a 20x wagering requirement means you must bet £2000 (20 x £100) using the bonus money before you can withdraw any winnings from it.
Some online casinos apply their turnover requirement to the bonus amount alone, whilst others require it on the sum of your deposit to qualify for the bonus and the bonus amount.
We'll further explain about different bonus systems later in this guide.
Online casinos cap the maximum bonus amount you can bet at a time to prevent players from abusing their casino bonuses.
Typically speaking, the maximum bet allowed with an active bonus is £ per spin on slot games or £20 per round on table and live casino games.
In most casinos, you are: 1) unable to place a bet exceeding the max bet amount; or 2) able to bet more than allowed, but the bonus will be forfeited when requesting a withdrawal.
To avoid the risk, we highly recommend you not to attempt to bet higher than allowed.
Casinos sometimes limit the games you can play with your bonus money.
You can always check which games are available with bonus money in the casino's bonus policy.
For example, you can use your bonus to play almost any slot game, but the progressive jackpot category is usually unavailable to play with casino bonuses.
Depending on the games, your bets contribute to fulfilling the wagering requirements of your bonus differently.
In the casino bonus policy, you will usually find something like the table below:
The contribution differs by game category, as indicated above. Typically, playing slots for real money contributes better than other games like blackjack, roulette, and baccarat. Some popular games, such as online roulette, blackjack, and baccarat, usually fall under the Table or Live Casino category.
Understanding the different rates of contribution helps you clear the wagering requirements efficiently.
Most online casino bonus offers come with a time limit.
This means there’s not an unlimited amount of time to meet the wagering requirement. In general, the time limit varies from 7 days to 30 days.
Maximum win limits decide how much a player can convert the bonus into withdrawable cash money.
Bonuses and promotions are principally a gesture of goodwill from casinos, but they cannot afford to give away everything for free.
Some casino bonuses have payment method restrictions, meaning you can’t claim the bonus if you deposit with a specific payment method like Neteller or Skrill.
These restrictions are often in place for e-wallets, which is an issue if you’re playing from the UK. A lot of casinos offer e-wallets like PayPal, Skrill, and Neteller, but they are often excluded from first deposit casino bonuses.
Casino bonus policies vary from online casino to online casino.
So, we strongly suggest going through them every time you discover a new casino site or receive a new bonus offer.
It may seem tiring to read through such complicated terms and conditions. But, if it's not easy to understand or lacks details, you might want to be careful of the casino or bonus offer.
There are different types of casino bonuses for punters, such as:
Deposit bonuses boost the amount of money in a player’s account by adding bonus money to the bonus balance. They are very popular and typically offer around 100% of the deposit amount, though this can vary.
A no-deposit casino bonus allows players to receive bonus money without any deposit. This type of bonus is increasingly popular, especially for new players, but the amount of bonus money offered is usually lower than for a matched deposit bonus. It tends to come with relatively low caps on how much players can convert into withdrawable cash.
Needless to say, such bonuses also come with wagering requirements. On very few rare occasions, casinos also hand them out without any conditions. The advantages of no wager casino bonuses are simple and easy to understand, i.e. you get a bonus for free and keep the winnings as your cash.
Free spin bonuses allow players to try their luck on a game without risking their own cash. They are one of the most common types of bonuses at online casinos and are sometimes restricted to certain games.
No-deposit free spins combine free spins with no-deposit bonuses, allowing players to test a new online casino or slot game without making a deposit or using their own cash. The games on which the free spins can be used may be limited.
Cashback rewards offer players a rebate on a proportion of their losses. They are another common form of loyalty bonus at online casinos.
In most cases, online casinos have either a Sticky Bonus or a Non-Sticky Bonus system, except for casinos with their unique bonus system.
System | Sticky Bonus | Non-Sticky Bonus |
---|---|---|
Wagering Requirement (WR) applies | Sum amount of deposit and bonus | Bonus amount only |
Priority Use | Bonus balance | Cash balance |
Cash Play Contributes to WR | ✅ | ❌ |
Withdraw Before Finishing WR | ❌ | ✅ |
Note: The above only depicts the general idea of sticky- and non-sticky bonuses. Little details may differ from casino to casino.
A sticky bonus system combines bonus money with the money you deposit to claim the bonus.
You can use the whole balance to play different games but cannot take out any money until you meet its wagering requirement, which applies to the total of the bonus and the deposit. The bonus is called "sticky" because it stays in your account and doesn't let you withdraw until you finish the wagering requirement.
The good thing about this system is that betting with both cash and bonus money contributes to meeting the turnover requirement. This means you can complete the bonus relatively fast compared to the non-sticky bonus.
A non-sticky bonus system separates bonus money from the money you deposit to claim the bonus.
You can use the bonus to play different games, but you need to fulfil its wagering requirement to convert it into withdrawable cash. The wagering requirement applies to the bonus money alone. The bonus is called "non-sticky" as opposed to the sticky bonus.
The good thing about this system is that you can give up the bonus and take out your cash balance anytime, as long as you follow the other terms and conditions. However, your cash balance is used first when having both cash and bonus money, and cash wagers don't count towards the turnover requirement.
Some players prefer non-sticky bonuses to sticky bonuses, and vice versa. Our research about non-sticky bonuses and sticky bonuses reveals the difference between these bonus types and helps you gain insight into which bonus type is for you.
Online casinos offer their players many chances to get bonuses. These tips will help you get the most out of them:
As we have talked about in our ultimate guide to casino bonuses and offers, it can be difficult to turn bonus money into real cash as a result of the terms and conditions of such deals.
First of all, we recommend keeping your eyes open and choosing low wagering casino bonuses offered and not the ones that include a wagering requirement of 50x or higher.
But there are ways customers can give themselves the best possible chance to do so.
Naturally, it is necessary to stick with games that offer a total 100% contribution to the wagering requirements that are in place. For most online casinos, this will only be online slot games.
So, picking a slot game is recommended when playing with bonus money.
Choosing the right slots to play can also make a big difference. Slots have something called RTP, which stands for the return to player. Displayed as a percentage, it demonstrates the value offered by an online slot.
For example, 97% RTP would usually be seen as a good value for a slot game. On the flip side, any slot at around the 95% mark, or even lower, is usually a poor value.
This might not seem like a big gap, but if you have a lot of bonus money you are trying to turn into real cash by meeting wagering requirements, it can make a difference in the long run.
You will probably notice or feel that some slots pay out more frequently than others. This is known as variance or volatility. High-volatile slots will pay out less often than low-volatile slots. However, a volatile slot offers a better chance of getting a big win from a spin of the reels.
Some casinos display this information for each game. If you cannot find it, you can always look it up on the Internet.
To use your bonus most efficiently, our expert editors recommend you choose from two different playstyles:
Both playstyles have their perks, so you can try and see which suits you best.
Playing with various casino bonuses is fun, but always remember to play responsibly. Online gambling is solely one form of entertainment. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose.
By following these practices, you can manage your money well and also enjoy playing at online casinos with bonuses in a healthy way:
Apart from the limits mentioned above, casinos also have other tools that help you gamble responsibly. Try to use them actively. You can usually set them from your account, but if you can’t find them, you can contact customer support and ask them.
Casino bonuses are like vouchers and promotions you get from supermarkets, but there are things you need to know before claiming them. Understanding the concept of wagering requirements and other general rules will help you evaluate your bonus of choice. These rules can be difficult to understand first, so our guide focused on the essential aspects of casino bonuses you need to know.
Now that you've read them all through, you're ready to try out a casino sign-up bonus. Visit one of the casinos on our list and get the bonus today!
Steven is responsible for all content on BettingGuide UK. He is an experienced iGaming content writer working in the industry since 2018. If you have any questions regarding online gambling in the UK, don't hesitate to contact him.