Casino Bonus Types
Welcome Bonus
This is the bonus you get as a new player on your first deposit. The casino adds a percentage of your deposit on top, up to a set amount. At 100% you double your deposit, so a deposit of 100 euro gives you 100 euro extra, up to the maximum the casino sets. This extra is bonus money, not your own. Some casinos add free spins on top of this.
For a welcome bonus, the wagering requirement matters most. This is the number of times you must bet the bonus before you can withdraw, often written as “35x”. A lower number is better for you. We explain how wagering works, and what makes it easy or hard, further down.
Below you see the welcome bonus at different casinos. Bonuses differ per country, so we try to show the right one for where you play. We cannot get this right every time. When you click “Claim bonus”, you go to the casino’s own website, where you see the bonus that applies to you. There you also find the full bonus rules, including the wagering requirement.
-
1.000€ Bonus + 100 Free Spins
-
1.000€ Bonus + 100 Free Spins
Reload and Cashback Bonus
These two are for players who already have an account. A reload bonus works like a welcome bonus, but on a later deposit, often on a weekly or monthly basis. A cashback bonus is different. It gives part of your losses back, often between 10% and 25%, up to a set amount. So a reload bonus gives you more to play with, while a cashback bonus softens a loss.
Rewards and Tournaments
Some casinos run promotions that are placed on live casino games. In a tournament on a game like live blackjack, you play against other players to reach the leaderboard and win a share of the prize pool. Other promotions ask you to complete a task on a live game. The prize can be real money or a bonus.
The Bonus Rules to Check
A bonus is only as good as its rules. The wagering requirement is the main rule, but a few more terms decide what a bonus is really worth, and whether you can use it at all.
Wagering Requirement
A wagering requirement is the number of times you must bet a bonus before you can withdraw your winnings. It is written as a multiplier, like “35x”. On a 100 euro bonus, 35x means you place 3,500 euro in bets in total. This is the amount you bet, not the amount you lose. You keep playing with the same money as you go.
The multiplier alone does not tell you how hard a bonus is to clear. The same “35x” can be easy at one casino and hard at another. Four things decide how much work a bonus really is.
#1 What the requirement applies to
The requirement can work in two ways. Sometimes it applies only to the bonus money. Sometimes it applies to your deposit and the bonus together. That difference is big. If it applies to the bonus only, your own deposit stays yours. You can ask to withdraw it whenever you want. If it also applies to your deposit, you cannot withdraw your own money until the full wagering is done.
Here is an example. You deposit 100 euro and get a 100% bonus. That is 100 euro extra, so 200 euro to play with. If the wagering is on the bonus only, you bet 35 times 100 euro. That is 3,500 euro. If the wagering is on the deposit and bonus together, you bet 35 times 200 euro. That is 7,000 euro. Same “35x” on the page, but double the play.
| What the wagering applies to | Sum it uses | Total bets at 35x |
|---|---|---|
| Bonus only | 100 euro | 3,500 euro |
| Deposit and bonus | 200 euro | 7,000 euro |
#2 The maximum bet
Casinos often limit how much you can bet while a bonus is active. This is often around 5 euro per spin or hand. The rule is easy to miss. What happens when you break it also differs per casino. At some casinos, a bet above the limit does not count towards the wagering. At others it is strict. They cancel your whole bonus and any winnings that came with it. One bet over the limit can be enough, even by accident. So treat the maximum bet as a firm limit and stay under it. Check it before you start.
#3 How much each game counts
Not every game counts the same towards the wagering. With slots it is usually simple. They often count for 100%, so a 10 euro bet counts as a full 10 euro. Live casino games are different, and this is the part to check. Their weighting can be anything from 0% to 100%. It changes per game and per casino. Here is what 10% means in practice. You bet 10 euro on a live game, but only 1 euro counts towards the wagering. To clear a 3,500 euro wagering this way, you would need to bet 35,000 euro in total.
Some casinos go a step further and exclude games from a bonus completely. Live blackjack is often on that list, because it has a low house edge. On an excluded game your bets do not count at all. At some casinos, playing one can even cancel the bonus. So before you accept a bonus, check two things: how much your games count, and whether any of them are excluded.
| Game weighting | Counts towards wagering | Bets needed to clear 3,500 euro |
|---|---|---|
| 100% | 10 euro | 3,500 euro |
| 50% | 5 euro | 7,000 euro |
| 10% | 1 euro | 35,000 euro |
#4 The time limit
Most bonuses give you a set number of days to finish the wagering, often something like 7 or 30 days. After that, the bonus and any winnings from it are gone. This point works together with the one above. If live games count for little, you already have to bet a lot to reach the requirement. A short time limit on top of that can make it impossible to finish in time. So check how many days you get. Ask yourself if that is realistic with the games you want to play.
Win Cap
A win cap limits how much you can win from bonus money. It is often written as a multiplier, like “10x the bonus”. This decides how much of your winnings you can actually keep.
Here is what that means. You take a 100 euro bonus with a 10x win cap. The most you can keep from that bonus is 1,000 euro, even if you win more while you play. Anything above the cap is removed when you withdraw. A bonus without a win cap lets you keep everything you win.
The cap matters most on bonuses with a big headline amount. A large bonus with a low win cap can be worth less than it looks, because the cap, not the bonus size, decides your real limit. So always check whether a cap applies, and how high it is.
| Bonus | Win cap | Most you can keep |
|---|---|---|
| 100 euro | 10x | 1,000 euro |
| 100 euro | 5x | 500 euro |
| 100 euro | No cap | No limit |
Minimum Deposit
This applies to bonuses you claim with a deposit, like a welcome or reload bonus. These often start only from a set deposit amount. If you put in less, you get no bonus. So check the minimum before you deposit. Make sure it matches what you want to put in.
Payment Method
At some casinos you get no bonus if you deposit with certain methods. Skrill and Neteller are often left out. So if you plan to use one of these, check the bonus terms first.
How to Choose a Bonus That Fits You
Playing at a casino often starts with the welcome bonus. But the size is not the only thing that matters. The rules above count just as much. A bigger bonus is not always the better one.
A bigger bonus can come with a higher wagering requirement. So you have a choice to make. A big bonus gives you more to play with, and a higher possible win if you finish the wagering. But the higher the wagering, the smaller your chance of finishing it. You take the risk of ending with nothing.
If you are happy with that risk, go for the bigger bonus. Just keep the wagering in mind. Anything from 50x and up is very hard to finish. A bonus like that is more about the extra play than a real chance to withdraw.
If you want a real chance to withdraw some of your bonus money, do the opposite. Pick a bonus with a lower wagering requirement, even if it is smaller. You get less to play with, but a better chance to keep what you win.
The welcome bonus is only the start. Casinos offer other types too, and the same thinking helps you choose. A reload bonus works like a welcome bonus, but on a later deposit. So you weigh it the same way: size against wagering. A cashback bonus is different. At most casinos it has no wagering, so there is nothing to finish. But it only pays you when you lose. So the choice comes down to what you want. A deposit bonus gives you more to play with now. A cashback bonus gives you part of your losses back.
Whatever you choose, only accept a bonus with terms you are happy to play through. And play responsibly.
FAQs
Some casinos offer a no deposit bonus. You get a small amount of bonus money, or a few free spins, without paying in first. These are less common for live casino, and the amount is usually small. The wagering is often high, and the amount you can withdraw is often capped. So see a no deposit bonus as a way to try a casino, not as a real chance to win.
No. A bonus is optional. If you do not like the terms, you can decline it and play without one. At some casinos you opt in before you deposit. At others a bonus is added unless you opt out, so check this if you want to play without one. Playing without a bonus keeps your deposit free of wagering, so you can withdraw whenever you want.
No. A welcome bonus is for new players, so you get it once per casino. The terms usually limit it to one per player, and often one per household or address. If you open a second account to claim it again, the casino can close your accounts and keep the winnings. For later deposits, look at reload or cashback bonuses instead.
A lower number is better for you. As a rule, we see anything under 35x as reasonable. From 50x and up, the amount you have to bet makes it very hard to finish. But the number alone is not the full picture. Also check how much your games count and how many days you get, because these change how hard the same number really is.
About the author
