Last updated April 15th, 2021
Casino Bonuses are the marketing method used to tempt you to join a particular site rather than one of its rivals. This is a loss leader for the Stateside casino sites. They would prefer not to hand out free money, even though certain stringent strings are always attached to these offers. The casinos are aware, that in the language of freebies, size matters.
On this page, USA Casinos explains what types of offers exist. Bear in mind that many casinos offer a combination of the different incentives. We also highlight what to keep in mind when exploiting these freebies. First we list the top three bonuses from our favorite recommended online casinos, sorted by the size of the headline offer:
$9750 Offer: With the excellent CasinoMax, you can get $9750 matched across your first three deposits. This is a 325% match bonus for that trio of initial funding. This bonus is for slots play and they have a lesser $1500 offer for table and the other casino games. There is also a 175 free spins offer – 25 for each of the first 7 days. This RTG-powered casino also has an alluring live dealer option. It is a top site for Americans to join. Get the full story: Mull over the full CasinoMax review.
$8000 Welcome Bonus: Cherry Jackpot Casino has RTG games and that whopping $8k welcome bonus, collected over your first two deposits. The wagering requirement is 40x. That is where it starts for this site as they also have a range of other special offers for crypto / bitcoin deposits and a bundle of reloads. Cherry Jackpot conveniently accepts residents from all USA locations, Canada and most nations but not Europe. Want to know more? Flick through our excellent, even if we say so ourselves, Cherry Jackpot review.
$8888 Bonus: Next in our bonus list, where size certainly matters, is the laudable Uptown Aces Casino. They boast a $8888 freebie for newbies. This is gathered over the first half dozen deposits as a match bonus starting at 250% and reducing to 100% by the end. You also get a handy 50 free spins. As with all these offers, there are the usual rollover requirements. In this case that is 30x and, for the spins, 5x the winnings you collect. This is another largely RTG-powered casino that USAcasinos really trusts. Need more details? Dip into our Uptown Aces review here.
Casino Welcome Bonus | First Deposit Bonus | Sign-up Bonus
The first-deposit is the most common type and it can also be known as a ‘welcome,’ ‘match’ or ‘sign-up’ bonus. It is usually a 100% match of your first deposit of funds but they always advertise the maximum you will receive. For instance, as an example, you might see ‘100% bonus on first deposit up to $100.’ That will mean that if you deposit anything between perhaps $10 and $100 you will have that amount matched. So if you deposit $50 you will get an extra $50 to play with free. Obviously if you deposit over $100, say $500, then you will still only get the $100 extra.
Sometimes casino bonuses look wonderful, say a sign-up incentive of $1000. However you will need to maybe deposit exactly that amount to be eligible. That’s a big first deposit and on top of that, as explained in the next paragraph, you will have wagering requirements to satisfy to release it all. So suddenly the amazing deal is not quite so easy to achieve.
Because the casinos do not want you to simply take the free money and leave their site forever, there are conditions attached. You will need to play quite a lot at the casino. Usually the terms dictate that you can only cash out your winnings once you have hit the defined target. This is called the ‘play through’ or ‘wagering requirement.’
For instance your personal handle or turnover may need to be many times more than the deposit plus bonus. The gambling requirement may typically be around 25 x the free offer. So you would have to bet or gamble or play in total 25 x the deposit and bonus amount to receive it. As an example: if you deposit $100 and get a 100% sign-up incentive up to $100 then you are due to receive $100 extra. But first you will need to turn over $2500 of wagers at the casino to get the full amount of the offer released to you.
It is worth pointing out, for clarity, that obviously the smaller the wagering requirement the better the deal for you. So ‘x 25’ is better than ‘x 30.’ We state the play through wagering requirements for each casino we recommend in the right-hand column of this page.
Please double check the terms of each operator on their ‘promotions’ or ‘offers’ page. The wagering requirement may have changed and there could be other onerous conditions for that site.
These might include some or all of the following: 1, The offer only applying when you use certain specified deposit methods. 2, The need to enter bonus codes before you deposit. 3, The freebie not applying below a certain deposit size. 4, Another common term is that some games do not contribute fully to the turnover requirement. For instance, video poker might only count at 40% towards your handle. That would mean for every $100 you play on video poker only $40 of it counts towards achieving the play through.
It takes a bit of research to be a successful bonus tart! This art is also more widely and crudely known as ‘bonus whoring’. Being a whore for these huge casino bonuses can be a lot of fun and could result in a larger bank balance for yourself. That is certainly the plan but you may just have to jump through a few hoops to achieve it.
No Deposit Casino Bonuses
This is possibly the best for players to get, because it is almost money for nothing. You get casino bonuses just for registering. The idea is to give you a little amount, maybe $10, to play with to try out the games. You will not be able to cash it out without playing it through though. The terms of the no deposit offer can vary with each specific site.
Reload Bonus
A reload is a subsequent deposit of funds after the first time you funded your account. Some online casinos do offer reload bonuses to try to keep you loyal to them. For all intents they follow the same structure as the welcome bonuses, just for existing players. Also, some deposit methods will attract higher incentives.
Referral Bonus
These are bonuses available if you refer a friend. This is usually circa $50. Your friend will need to deposit funds first. The terms of each referral bonus will vary slightly.
Our USA Casino Bonuses Advice
Ensure you check the ‘promotions’ or ‘special offers’ pages on each site visited for the terms of the initial bonuses and also to scour any ongoing offers once you are an established player there. We try to keep this site updated with these details but the promos can change all the time. They can be quite generous as they are geared to luring you to play at that site as a regular. They reward your return custom.
The free incentives on offer are well worth having, so a bit of homework won’t go amiss. Checking who has the biggest casino bonuses can not be underestimated but we think it should not be your sole decision-making criteria.