A welcome bonus is almost a prerequisite for any top Australian online casino nowadays. Mainly designed for the purpose of rewarding gamblers for signing up to become members of an online casino, a welcome casino bonus is an online casino’s way of retaining first-time visitors. Also referred to as a sign-up bonus, a welcome bonus differs from one Australian casino to the other, with most casino’s tying the reward packages to specific conditions involving the depositing and withdrawing of money from the online player’s account.
Top Australian Casinos for Welcome Bonuses
 | AU$1000 Bonus | |
 | AU$1500 Bonus | |
 | AU$2000 Bonus | |
 | AU$8888 Bonus | |
 | AU$3500 Bonus | |
 | AU$4000 Bonus |
Types of Welcome Bonuses
There is an assortment of welcome bonuses to choose from for online players. These casino bonuses vary depending on the online casino a player selects. Here are the most popular casino bonus and how they work:
Free Spins
For the online pokies enthusiast, Australian casinos offer free spins, allowing the online gambler a specified amount of spins on a pokie machine. Casinos online offer this reward to new players when they open an account with the casino upon making their first deposit. These free spins can occasionally be used on certain online pokie games or all slots that are offered by the online casino.
No Deposit Bonuses
Gaining popularity among Australian casinos, no deposit bonus places no burden on the online player to deposit any dollars into their account before they can play for real money. As the name dictates, players receive this bonus after signing up to the casino without any requirement for a real money transaction to take place. It is the most competitive form of welcome bonus for top rated casinos because you literally stand a chance of winning without depositing any money of your own. In light of this fact, however, casinos have placed varying wagering requirements as a condition for players to receive them.
Deposit Bonuses
An online casino will offer their initial welcome bonus with a deposit match bonus. A deposit match bonus refers to when the online casino matches a deposit made by the player. Generally, casinos offer 100% Bonus up to $100, in this case a player can make a deposit of up to $100 and they will receive additional $100 to play with. In the case where a player deposits $75, you’ll receive an another $75. Deposit bonuses normally have a set cap, in that if a new player deposits over $100 into your account, they will only receive $100 extra, not equivalent to the deposited amount.
The majority of the welcome bonus will take the form of percentage deposit bonuses. Percentage deposit bonuses work in almost identical fashion as the deposit match bonus. The difference though, is that with the percentage deposit bonus, the casino will not match a player’s deposits. More accurately, they will give a player a percentage as a bonus. The percentage differs from one casino to the next, but the most universal variations are 75%, 50%, and 25%. Some online casinos can even offer up to 200%, typically doubling a player’s deposit with the casino.
Free play
Free play is another instrument for online casinos to welcome new members by offering them a free credit that is valid for a specific time frame. Generally, players get 30 minutes or an hour to make as much money as they can with free credit. This form of bonus carries strict requirement also, with a cap set on the money a player can actually keep.
How to Claim Casino Welcome Bonus
It comes as no surprise that players seldom skip the tedious task of reading through the guidelines and procedures of claiming your welcome bonus. After seeing the word free flashed on the screen in big and bold letters, players just can’t wait to get started. Seemingly the most boring thing to do, checking the terms and conditions of every online casino a player enters cannot be stressed enough.
Claiming procedures are listed in the terms and condition as they relate to the limits, times and code requirements before one can claim their winnings. When a casino is using a bonus code, players will be requested to enter the code into a cashier field, and the system will redeem it. Alternatively, send the bonus code to the customer support team.
How to Pick the Best Casino Bonus
With Australian online gambler’s knowledge about welcome bonuses increasing every day, top casinos online have to find new ways to maintain their edge over the rest of their competitors. Casino-Aus.com has come up with a brilliant checklist to help online players choose the best online casino bonus. Aussie online players should look at the following:
Welcome Bonus amount
The sum of the bonus offers will differ from one casino to the next. Some casinos will reward players with loyalty bonuses that do not necessarily fall within the bracket of a welcome bonus. These rewards are offers based on the length of stay and frequency of playing of a player.
Conditions
Casinos online set conditions such as a playthrough requirement in order to prevent players from immediately withdrawing any winnings accrued using bonuses without playing at the casino at all. Such conditions are specified in fine print and relate to a set amount of real money bets needing to be met before a withdrawal can take place.
Things to Consider
When choosing the best casino welcome bonus, players have to consider the type of online game they want to play. For instance, free spins bonus is predominantly advertised to attract online pokies players. With regards to free play, players have to remain aware of the period as it relates to wagering requirements and forfeiture of the bonus.
Welcome Bonus FAQs
What is a wagering requirement?
A wagering requirement refers to the amount of real money prescribed by the casino required to access the real cash winnings accumulated using bonus. This money is deposited into the player’s account and used to place a bet to the prescribed limit.
Do I get my bonus instantly?
Upon completing the required information in the fields provided, online casinos will activate the bonus immediately. In cases where they require bonus codes, players should contact customer support.
What bonus is offered to existing players?
Online casinos provide existing players with loyalty bonuses to retain them and offer further rewards for depositing real money into their account.
In which case will I forfeit my welcome bonus?
In cases where a player is in contravention of the online casino’s terms and conditions, the player is subject to forfeiting his/her bonus and further punishment. A player forfeits his/her bonus in the event of failure to fulfil the wagering requirements as well.
Are they applicable to mobile players?
Yes, subject to minor changes with regards to the game interface, welcome bonuses as well as online casino games are available for smartphone and tablet users.