Don’t sign up for an online casino without first checking out the bonuses available. As a rule, virtually all UK casinos offer bonuses to new players in a variety of different formats – all designed to encourage you to play with them, rather than the competition. Like the casinos themselves, these bonuses vary wildly from one site to the next, and finding the best bonuses available can be the difference between hundreds of pounds in essentially free money.

There are a number of different types of bonuses available, including deposit bonuses, no deposit bonuses, and mobile and software specific bonuses you can take advantage of. These can come in the form of free bonus credit, added to your bankroll, or even free spins which can be used to win real money on certain slots games, depending on the type of casino and the rules of the bonuses they offer.

The most common type of bonus found at virtually all reputable UK casinos is the deposit or welcome bonus. This is usually expressed as a percentage match on your first deposit, but in some cases can run on into your second and third deposits, creating a generous welcome package for new players. A typical three deposit bonus structure might be something like 100% – 25% – 50% – in other words, 100% matching of the size of your first bonus, followed by 25% and 50% bonuses respectively, based on the amounts of your second and third deposits.

It is worth mentioning that these bonuses are often capped. Most casinos don’t want to find themselves paying 100% on massive first deposits, so they often cap the bonus amount – for example, up to £200. That means that essentially you’re able to get a free £200 from the first deposit amount when you deposit £200, but bigger deposits won’t do you any favours in terms of your bonuses. If you deposit £100, you get £100 in bonus, but if you deposit £300, you’re still capped at £200 as the maximum bonus payable.

In some cases, you don’t even have to deposit any money to take advantage of the bonuses on offer. These are called no deposit bonuses, awarded when you register for an account. Generally these are much smaller in value than deposit bonuses, but they can still be a great way to try out different casino platforms to get a feel for how they operate. Commonly, you’ll be in line for a no deposit bonus of £5, £10 or £20, depending on the casino, or it may just be a case of some free spins, which you can use to win real money on slots games.
No deposit bonuses are a highly recommended way to start your search for the perfect casino. They allow you to try out different games and providers with no personal risk, so you can start to figure out what works best for you. When you’re ready to take the plunge and deposit some of your own money, you can still take advantage of any deposit bonuses, increasing your bankroll in the process.

Casinos specific to Android OS are popping up all over the place, giving gamblers the chance to play their favourite casino games on the move. Like traditional online casino sites, Android operators have specific bonuses in place for new customers, including deposit and no deposit bonuses. Equally applicable to in-browser games as well as casino apps for Android, these bonuses are a great way to get to know new casinos if you’re an Android device user.

Similar to the Android bonuses, players on iPhone can find specific bonuses for their devices, often offered by casinos tailoring their marketing to iPhone players. Some iPhone casinos come in the form of apps which you download and install to play on your device, and these are often associated with no deposit bonuses and welcome offers. Others will focus on delivering a native experience on mobile in-browser, so there’s no installation processes required.

NetEnt casino games appear far and wide, with a number of different online and mobile casinos drawing on NetEnt technology to power their games. Specific bonuses are available for NetEnt casino players, allowing you free spins and bonus credit to attack your favourite NetEnt games.

Microgaming is another major third party games provider, to be found at online casinos right across the Internet. Casino bonuses for Microgaming are ideal for bagging free spins on your favourite slots games, including access to some of the juiciest progressive jackpots available, where prizes running into the multiple millions are waiting to be won.

Wagering requirements set a multiple of times you need to play through your deposit to withdraw your winnings. So for example, if you see a 10x wagering requirement in the terms and conditions, you need to bet £50 before you can withdraw £5 of bonus credit. These wagering requirements do make it more difficult to get your hands on the bonus cash, but as long as you know the terms of each bonus offer, it’s still possible to make this work for your gambling.