Casino Welcome Bonus Guide

Types of Welcome Bonuses

Let’s start off with the different types of online casino welcome bonuses. There are quite a few of them and they all work a little bit different from one another. For this reason, we will explain in detail how each type works.

Deposit Bonus

Almost every online casino or sportsbook gives new players a welcome promotion in the form of a first deposit offer. A deposit bonus does exactly what it says on the tin: it is a free amount on top of your original first deposit. In most cases, this is a 100%, also called match. In other cases, you receive a different percentage, maybe 50% in combination with free spins.

An example of a typical deposit bonus is 100% up to NZ$250. This means that if you deposit NZ$100, you will start with NZ$200 on your player account. If you decide to deposit NZ$500, you will start with NZ$750 as balance since NZ$250 is the maximum amount of free money you can receive. Mind there might be a minimum deposit in place to claim.

Free Spins

Some casinos don’t give deposit bonuses to new players but free spins instead (or combination). Free spins are free rounds of gameplay on slots. A casino can give an x amount of free spins usable on all slots or certain slots only. The free spins are always of a certain value, NZ$0,10 or NZ$0,20 for instance. On rare occasions, the value of the free spins increases if the player deposits a higher initial amount of money. Most times these free spins are limited to only one or a few slot games.

Cashback Bonus

Although it is not really common, some online casinos and sportsbooks give a (permanent) cashback bonus as a welcome offer. At these casinos you will receive a certain percentage of your net losses or total wagers back weekly.

If a casino offers a 10% on cashback bonuses for example, and you deposit and lose NZ$100, you will receive NZ$10 back the next week in the form of cashback. This might look like a bad deal at first glance, but over the long term these cashback bonuses is actually quite good and can be even better than a regular offers.

No Deposit Bonus

The no deposit bonus is the rarest type of a welcome bonus. With this type, you don’t even need to deposit any of your own money to receive free money from the casino. Usually no deposit bonuses are quite low, like NZ$5 to NZ$25, and players still need to make at least a single deposit to be able to cash out any winnings made. Most sites do not offer this.

What are Wagering Requirements?

If you get a casino bonus, you can never withdraw it to your bank account or e-wallet immediately. First you have to wager a certain amount of money before the casino releases it. The wagering requirements are the number of times you have to wager your received free money to clear the credit. Wagering requirements are also called 'playthrough' or just 'wager'. Before accepting any of the offers, always check the requirements.

Playing Through

Now that you know what wagering requirements are, it is time to discuss how to play through. In most cases, you will receive a welcome bonus in the form of money and your player account will consist of both a bonus and real money account balance. Sometimes you can cash out any amount from the real money account balance at any given moment. But at most online casinos and bookmakers even the money on this balance cannot be cashed out before you have met the wagering requirements.

By playing slots you play through fairly easy. Each wager is counted for the playthrough in full. Playing table games such as roulette and blackjack is a different story. Most online casinos have so-called wagering contribution schemes in place. These dictate that wagers on table games and live dealer games only count for a certain percentage for the playthrough of a welcome bonus. Most of the time this is only about 10% to 20%.

For this reason, it’s best to avoid any type of game other than slots while trying to unlock your free money. Make sure to always read the fine print of any bonus to find out what the wagering contributions of different games are. And also which games are excluded from playthrough.

Online Casinos with the highest welcome bonus

Types of Bonuses

All casino bonuses, fall under one of these three categories: cashable, sticky, or post-wager bonuses. Below we will explain to you in detail what these types actually mean and how they work.

Cashable Bonus

Most bonuses are cashable. When you have met the wagering requirements, the bonus money will be converted to real money. Now you can withdraw it to your bank account or e-wallet if you’d like.

For example: an gambling site gives players a 100% offer with 20x wagering requirements. You deposit NZ$100 and receive NZ$100 in free money. Now you must wager 20x NZ$100 or NZ$2000 to be able to withdraw any winnings. After you have wagered the NZ$2000 any free money left will convert into real money which is withdrawable. This can be limited to certain games.

The cashable offers are the best type because you get to keep the most money statistically. The expected value or EV is the highest with this type.

Sticky Bonus

The sticky bonus is quite rare compared to others. Sticky bonuses are not that good compared to cashable bonuses. The reason for this is that you can never actually withdraw it. You can play with the free money and everything you win turns into real money after you’ve met the wagering requirements. The amount itself however, never turns into real money.

For example: an online casino gives players a 100% offer with 20x wagering requirements. You deposit NZ$100, receive NZ$100 in free money, and have to wager NZ$2000. So far everything looks similar to the cashable bonus. However, let’s assume you’ve met the wagering requirements and you have NZ$300 left in your account. NZ$200 of your player balance is cash and NZ$100 stays with the casino.

You will never be able to cash out the free money, hence the name sticky. The expected value or EV of a sticky one is always lower than that of a cashable bonus. Often NZ online casinos offer these bonuses with a higher minimum deposit.

Post-wager Bonus

The post-wager bonus is a bit of a weird type, but nonetheless, some offers are classified as post-wager. With this type, you must first meet the wagering requirement before receiving it. Once you receive the it, it is instantly withdrawable, though.

For example: an online casino gives players a 100% deposit post-wager bonus with 20x wagering requirements. You deposit NZ$100 and don’t receive anything just yet. Once you’ve wagered NZ$2000 in total, the casino will add NZ$100 to your balance which you can instantly withdraw if you’d like. Not many online casinos offer this.

How to Claim?

Start by comparing different online casinos and their welcome bonuses. Don’t only look at the height of the bonuses, but also at the requirements. Make sure the casino bonuses you are comparing are offered by legal online casinos. Once you’ve compared a few bonuses and found one that suits you, sign up at that casino. After signing up, make your first deposit and make sure you enter the correct bonus code or tick the box that indicates that you want to receive a bonus. Some casinos offer deposit bonuses only by codes, but most of them don't need one.