Take a look around online and it soon becomes very clear that there are a huge number of online casinos all competing for business. What’s more, there can be very little to choose between the ones on offer. They tend to have the same kinds of games, offer the same methods of payment of winnings and promise high levels of service and support for players. Yes, they have branding to differentiate themselves but, again, this can be very similar making it hard to tell them apart.


So, the one really effective method that all have to help them stand out and appeal to would-be players are the welcome bonuses that they offer. This is a technique used by very many sectors to attract new customers by offering an appealing welcome incentive it can prove to be the tipping point that’s needed to bring customers on board.


While this is also great news for would-be players it also puts them in something of a quandary in choosing which is the best bonus for them. So this short guide is designed to help anyone with an interest in playing in an online casino to make that choice.


Types of bonus you’ll find


The first thing to be aware of is the various kinds of bonuses on offer and how to compare them. There are four main kinds of bonus that you’ll find and these are:


Welcome Bonus


This is by far the most common bonus and it usually takes the form of an offer to match a player’s initial stake deposit up to a stated maximum amount. For example, if you sign up with an online casino and deposit $100 to play with, the casino will match this giving you effectively $200 in your account. You can then start to play with that money straight away.


No Deposit Bonus


Although they are increasingly rare these days, some online casinos are still offering no deposit bonuses. As the name suggests, these are bonuses that are awarded with no requirement at all to put in any money of their own. Naturally, there are terms and conditions attached to this kind of offer – and you can read about them a little later on when we cover wagering requirements.


Free spins


Ever since they were invented over a century ago slots have been very popular games and today they’re the runaway favorite in any online casino. This is because there’s an almost endless variety of them and they are easy and quick to play. So it stands to reason that offering people free spins on these games is going to be a very attractive proposition. Online casinos can be very generous with these, sometimes offering as many as 100 free spins, and 100 chances to win.


Reload Bonuses


Some casinos also offer new players the promise of reload bonuses once they become regulars. These bonuses are typically awarded after a certain amount has been wagered and often come in the form of an additional deposit-match bonus. Reload bonuses are not always advertised up-front, but after some time playing, you are likely to receive a notification that one is available. The best way to see what bonuses different online casinos are offering is by consulting a trusted review site like Casino.us. CrownCoins and RealPrize, which are casino.us top rated ones, offer things like 200% More Coins on First Purchase and 1000 VIP points, they offer a quick link to sign-up so the bonuses can be claimed quickly.


Wagering and other requirements


We’ve already mentioned wagering requirements and it’s important that you understand these before signing up to any bonus.


These are rules put in place by casinos to safeguard against bonuses costing them too much money and state how much needs to be wagered by a player before they can claim any winnings. They’re expressed as a multiple, typically between 20x and 50x the initial stake plus bonus. To give an example, a player deposits $100 which is increased to $200 with the bonus. There’s a wagering requirement of 20x so $4,000 would need to be wagered before any winnings can be claimed.


It's also important to know that some games only qualify for 50% of a wagering requirement and this usually includes slots. So the $4,000 figure would increase to $8,000 if only slots were being played. It’s also likely that any no-deposit bonus would attract a higher wagering requirement to help the online casino pay for the extra costs of this offer.


Making the choice


As to which is the best form of bonus, that’s very much a case of personal choice. If you’re a big slots fan then one with lots of free spins makes sense. But if you plan to stick to table games like roulette and blackjack then it makes sense to maximize your stake money.


And there are so many different bonuses waiting for you out there that there’s sure to be the right one for you.