If you sign up at an online casino, you’re going to get a casino bonus.
But there are some pretty bad casino offers out there – so why bother?
Because the best online casino bonuses in the UK are actually quite good. They’ll allow you to explore the casino in greater detail while playing a variety of slots and games. You might even have half a chance of winning (if you’re lucky).
But because the best online casino bonuses are outweighed by poor offers, we felt the need to step in. Here, we’ve selected our top 10 online casino bonuses for new UK players. You should be able to find something that interests you – be it bonus money, free spins, or both. Take a look.
Casino bonuses UK are bonuses given to new players in Great Britain when they sign up. All the top online casinos UK offer new players a bonus. But you’ll need to verify your account before using one, even if it’s free.
Most casinos verify instantly, as they use the details you provide on sign-up to confirm your identity. However, sometimes you may need to send ID documents to them.
Once this is done, there are two types of casino bonuses UK that you can get:
When you sign up at a casino as a new player, you’ll often get a bonus with your first deposit. Again, this bonus will either be given as bonus money, free spins, or a mix of both.
If you’re given extra bonus money, the amount you get depends on the size of your first deposit. It will usually be advertised as a percentage followed by a maximum amount.
The percentage part is how much of your deposit the casino is willing to match. So if you see 100%, this means the casino will match your deposit in full. However, you may see other percentages. For example, 200% is common and this means the casino is willing to give you double what you deposit in bonus money.
The maximum amount is how much bonus money the casino is willing to give in total. It prevents players from making a huge deposit and forcing the casinos to give them a huge amount of bonus money. For example, if the bonus is “up to £100” then the casino won’t give you more than £100 in bonus money.
Here’s an example using the common 100% up to £100 first deposit bonus:
Whatever the size of your bonus money, remember it is not real cash. So players can’t just withdraw it straight away.
Instead, you need to complete the wagering requirements to turn the bonus money into real cash that you can withdraw. To do this, you have to bet the bonus money a certain number of times.
Here’s an example of a 100% up to £100 first deposit bonus with a x30 wagering requirement:
If you manage to complete the wagering then exactly how much profit you get depends on if a bonus is cashable or not. If it is cashable then you will keep all the remaining money as profit. However, if it’s non-cashable then the bonus amount will be deducted from the final amount.
For example, say you get a bonus of £100. You manage to complete the wagering requirements and are left with £140. Here’s the difference:
It’s also possible to get free spins on first deposit. This will allow you to spin a slot machine a certain number of times without using your own money to bet.
It’s possible to receive both bonus money and a batch of free spins as your first deposit bonus. However, casinos that offer this usually only give you a small number of free spins such as 50 or lower.
However, if a casino only gives free spins on your first deposit then there’s usually something special about them. For example, you might get a very large number like 100+. This would give you a lot to play with.
Alternatively, they may give you free spins with no wagering requirements attached. A no wagering casino is rare but very popular as any winnings will be paid in real money straight away.
What makes the best slot bonus for UK players?
The answer is one that gives you lots of credit so that you can play slots games without having to bet any of your own money.
As we’ve just seen, this can come in one of two forms: free spins or bonus money.
But what’s better – free spins or bonus money?
Ultimately, that depends on your preferences.
The upside of bonus money is that you often get a lot more credit to play with, although a high deposit is often required for this. You can usually play the majority of casino games using bonus money too.
Free spins generally do not require you to commit anywhere near as much of your cash. For example, £10 is usually enough. It’s also possible to get some when you sign up, as mentioned above. The downside is that free spins are typically restricted to a single slot or group of slots. So you don’t have as much choice about what you play.
A match casino deposit bonus is when a casino gives you the same amount of bonus money that you deposited. They match it. This is a very common bonus but it won’t always be called a match bonus. Often you’ll see casinos list them as “100% bonuses” or similar.
Of course, there is still a maximum limit in place. You can’t just deposit thousands of pounds and get that amount back. Here are a few examples:
If you deposit more, then the casino will just give you the maximum bonus amount available. For example, if the offer is 100% up to £100 and you deposit £150, then the casino will give you the max £100 in bonus money.
There are many new casino sites launching in the UK throughout the year.
The bad news? They often have poor casino bonuses.
That’s because they want to get as many people to join them without losing money. Therefore, they make the terms and conditions really hard to beat or tricky. Unfortunately, this still happens. In fact, the Gambling Commission has warned licensed operators about using “terms and conditions that are difficult to understand”.
Luckily, there’s a recent addition that offers the best new casino bonus UK by far. MrQ Casino is a fully no wagering casino. This means whatever you win from their bonus(es) is paid in cash. No tricky terms at all. They are also a fast withdrawal casino UK so any winnings can be paid out quickly. See our MrQ Casino review for more.
Each casino decides what payment methods are eligible to trigger their bonus. It’s not necessarily the same at all sites.
However, there are a few payment methods that all online casinos for UK players will accept. Those include:
You can almost always use a debit card from Visa or Mastercard to trigger a casino bonus. You just need to enter your card details to make a qualifying deposit instantly. The bonus will then be credited to your account.
Alternatively, you can now unlock a bonus using bank transfer in most cases. In previous years, this was very slow so most players would avoid it. But the instant bank transfer casino has changed all that, with deposits via online banking done instantly. So sites have now started to regularly accept these payments for their casino bonuses.
Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for e-wallets like PayPal, MuchBetter, Paysafecard, Skrill, and Neteller. Despite being very popular in Great Britain, some casinos don’t give bonuses to players who use e-wallets to deposit. In these cases, you have three options:
You can check the bonus terms and conditions to find out what payment methods are available. Some casinos will state the only options you can use – such as “debit card or bank transfer only”. Whereas other casinos will state what payment options are excluded – such as “e-wallets not available”.
If you have any doubts, make sure to contact the casino’s customer support before doing anything. Pretty much all sites have a live chat option so you can get an answer in real time. This is important because if you end up making an ineligible deposit then you won’t be able to get the bonus. Even if you do this by accident.
Casino | PayPal bonus | Minimum deposit |
---|---|---|
MrQ | 30 Bonus Spins (no wager) | £10 |
Jackpot.com | 50 Bonus Spins (no wager) | £15 |
Lottoland | 100 Bonus Spins (no wager) | £20 |
Duelz | 100% up to £100 + 100 Spins | £20 |
PlayOJO | 80 Wager Free Spins | £10 |
Many British players use PayPal to deposit and play at an online casino. It’s one of the most popular payment methods. So some sites decide to offer a PayPal casino bonus as an incentive to join their site, like those above.
You just need to make your first deposit using PayPal from the cashier. The money will be transferred into your casino account instantly. The bonus will then be credited too.
The minimum deposit depends on each casino, as you can see above. Usually, a casino bonus with PayPal will be activated with a deposit of between £10 and £20.
A good casino won’t just give you a first deposit bonus and then leave you to it. Instead, they regularly give other promotions and casino bonuses for existing players who continue to play. However, some sites only have standard offers with not much imagination. Whereas others make sure that they are genuinely appealing.
Here are sites with some of the best casino bonuses for existing players:
We can’t say exactly what you’ll get. That’s because each casino has different promotions that they change regularly. But most sites offer more casino deposit bonuses so you can top up your account with extra bankroll.
One type of promotion for existing players is a game of the month bonus. This is when the casino chooses a specific game and allows players to get a bonus to play it. This is usually for those who make a minimum deposit of £10 or £20.
A game of the month casino bonus is great for trying out new releases. For example, if a popular software provider has recently released a new flagship slot game, you’ll often see a variety of casinos offering a bonus to play it.
However, other casinos may run this promotion every month as standard. If there are no major slot releases to promote, they will just choose an older slot game that’s still popular with players.