Best Welcome Bonuses in the USA 2024

American online casinos are known to offer many types of promotions. Compared to their land-based counterparts, online casinos are usually swamped with promotions throughout the week. These promotions are responsible for dishing out free spins, bonus cash, cashbacks, and many more.

However, when it comes to new online casino welcome bonuses, one can claim only three types. It doesn’t matter the brand of the online casino you visit; as long as it has a welcome bonus promotion, the offer will fall under one of these three. 

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  Deposit welcome bonuses

  From the name of the bonus, you probably have a rough idea of what it entails. You must top up your account to receive this bonus, hence the name “deposit welcome bonus.” This type of online casino signup bonus has further classifications. One of the classifications is where an online casino gives you this bonus in one batch. You create an account, top up and receive the bonus. It ends at that. The other classification is where the deposit online casino signup bonus is multi-tiered. To ensure players continue depositing and playing with them, they will award a 2nd, 3rd, 4th, or even 10th deposit bonus.

  A popular way online casinos with a sign-up bonus award the deposit bonus is by matching the player’s deposits. For example, an online casino can have a welcome bonus promotion where you are awarded a 100% match deposit bonus of up to $100. 

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  No-deposit bonuses

  online casino with a deposit bonus, create an account, and the reward will be given. No deposit bonuses are usually awarded in two forms; either as bonus cash or free spins. Most online casinos choose to dish out one, but well-established and reputable brands can give both.

  Since no deposit is required to receive the bonus, the free cash tends to be limited. Most casinos with a welcome bonus cap the maximum no-deposit bonus amount at $20. Furthermore, they will enforce high wagering requirements on the winnings resulting from the no-deposit bonuses.

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  Bonus free spins

  Some top-rated sign-up bonus casinos can decide to dish out free spins as an independent promotion. Once you have claimed the offer, free spins are automatically credited to your account.

  Bonus free spins have certain conditions that must be met before using or withdrawing winnings. Whatever you read on our website is meant to guide you on what to look for when reading the promotion’s fine print. 

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Terms and conditions of online casino bonuses are a widely discussed topic. And it’s for a good reason. An online casino signup bonus is only as good as its terms and conditions. A brand with well-written and easy-to-understand terms and conditions for its bonuses will attract more players than one with vaguely written conditions. This is because well-written rules make it easy for payers to understand what they are getting themselves into. But it never was the case before. At the advent of the online casino industry, bonuses used to be given to players with few, if any, restrictions. You can sign up at the casino, claim your bonus and use it to play games. Whatever amount won would be cashed out without any hassle.

Such generosity from online casinos brought about a new breed of players – bonus hunters. Bonus hunting became so popular in the early 2000s. Players would sign up at online casinos to claim as many bonuses as possible. It became so popular that new online casino operators decided to seal the loophole by introducing terms and conditions. That is how the t&c of sign-up bonus casinos came to be. Since then, changes have been made to incorporate newer forms of bonuses. Every online casino has its terms, but they generally remain more or less the same. You must satisfy these terms and conditions to participate and withdraw winnings from the bonus. As you look for casinos with a welcome bonus, consider the points below. 

• Wagering requirements

  They are at the center of welcome bonus terms and conditions. Also referred to as the rollover or playthrough requirements, these conditions must be met before withdrawing your bonus and winnings. Under the terms and conditions, wagering requirements are commonly expressed as a number followed by a multiplier—for example, x20, x40, etc. The number is meant to show you how much money you must spend playing games to cash out your winnings. 

  For example, you may receive a $100 online casino signup bonus with a x20 wagering requirement. This means you must spend $2000 playing real money games to cash out your $100 bonus or winnings resulting from the bonus. Another online casino can have the same bonus amount but with a x40 wagering requirement. It means you must spend $4000 to cash out your $100. Using the two examples, we can say you should pick the first casino as a preferred destination, especially if you are after welcome bonuses.

• Welcome packages

  Free welcome bonuses can be awarded in two forms; as a single, one-time deposit or as a multi-tiered package. As the former, you sign up with the casino, make your initial deposit, and the bonus cash is credited to your account. After that, you must meet the wagering requirements and satisfy other withdrawal conditions. Many online casinos have this type of bonus. However, top brands go the extra mile and give players multi-tiered welcome packages. Once you’ve claimed your initial offer and like the services offered, you can decide to make more deposits.

  The best online casinos with a sign-up bonus will capitalize on this and offer you a bonus for every deposit you make. As such, you may see a promotion such as this being advertised: a 100% match deposit of up to $100 for your first deposit, a 50% match deposit of up to $150 for your second deposit, and a 100% match deposit bonus of up to $200 for your third deposit. Multi-tiered welcome packages can sometimes feature free spins as part of the bonus. The spins are usually awarded in batches, just like the bonus itself.

• Maximum withdrawal for bonus winnings

  Just like there is a cap on the maximum bonus amount, online casinos limit how much you can win using bonuses. This is especially true when you look at the free spins welcome bonuses. An online casino can award you 100 free spins. However, the maximum you can win from these free spins is capped at, say, $100. Anything won above this is considered irrelevant and cannot be cashed out. The same concept applies to bonus cash.

• Min and max deposit for claiming a welcome bonus

  Casinos with a welcome bonus will only award you the prize when you meet the minimum and maximum deposit requirements. Using the previous example, an online casino will award you a 100% match deposit bonus of up to $100 for depositing between $20 and $100. To qualify for this offer, you must deposit not less than $20 and not more than $100. If you make any deposit of less than $20, you will not receive the bonus offer. Likewise, any deposit above $100 will not guarantee more money since the maximum amount is capped at $100.

• Bet limits

  Once you claim the welcome bonus, you cannot use it as you please. Some bonus hunters found loopholes in the terms and conditions, allowing them to stake high to win more. This is why bet limits and maximum wins from certain games were introduced. So basically, you can receive 100 free spins, which you can use to play Nova 7s online slot. Usually, the game’s bet limits range between $0.01 and $25 per spin. However, an online casino can decide to change this, and for each of the 100 free spins, it values it at a maximum of $0.05. This loosely translates to a total of $5 for the no-deposit free spins.

• Game contribution rates

  Game contribution rates dictate how every game contributes toward the wagering requirements. As mentioned, wagering requirements show you how much you have to spend playing real money games to cash out your bonus or winnings resulting from the bonus. Of importance to note is that games don’t contribute equally toward these wagering requirements. As a matter of fact, not all games contribute toward the wagering requirements.

  Online slot aficionados have the best chance of satisfying wagering requirements faster than any other player. This is because most games make a 100% contribution rate toward the wagering requirement. However, some online slots have a marginal contribution or zero rates. For such a case, the online casino will highlight such games in the terms and conditions section.

  Online slot contribution toward the wagering requirement is constant across most casinos. The other games vary depending on the site you visit. The best welcome bonus online casinos in the USA will give rates of between 20% and 50% for Video Poker/Roulette and Live Games. Blackjack, craps, and other games with a significantly low house edge tend to be disqualified from the list.

• Games covered by a welcome bonus

  Like how games contribute differently towards the wagering requirement, not all games can be played using the welcome bonus. This condition mainly affects the free spins welcome bonus, where you must use the spins to play a specific casino game. For example, you can receive 100 free spins, which are meant to be used on the Achilles slot. So, you can only use the free spins to play the game and not any other slot. There is another condition usually not made clear. You have to ensure the game offered can be played in the US. If the software provider behind it does not operate in the USA, it means you cannot play the game, which beats the point of participating in the promotion.

• Expiry dates

  Expiry dates in terms and conditions address the time frame during which you must claim the bonuses and meet wagering requirements. Once you sign up with a real money online casino, you have a window period to opt into the promotion and participate. At the top online casinos, this can be up to one month. Other online casinos have a short window of about seven days after signing up. The same applies to wagering requirements. Once you opt into a promotion, you have a certain number of days to meet the wagering requirements. If you fail to accomplish this, the bonus and its winnings are forfeited.