Welcome, class! Settle down, settle down, class is in session; today’s lesson: deposit bonuses. A deposit bonus is one of the most common types of bonuses that you’ll encounter in the wonderful world of bonuses, so it’s best that you should know everything there is to know about them. So, take out your notepads and pencils, and get ready to learn.
What is a Deposit Bonus?
Obviously, the first and most important question in our lesson today. The short answer is that these are bonuses that only activate once you’ve made a deposit. Yep, that’s all there is to it. However, the long answer is, well, longer (duh): deposit bonuses can come in different forms and can be found in different “places,” that is, as part of different bonus schemes, packages or promotions.
Firstly, let’s talk about the different forms of deposit bonuses: the most common types of deposit bonuses are match bonuses, that is, bonuses where the casino matches your deposit by a certain percentage of the amount you deposited as bonus money. Or, in simpler terms, the casino gives you bonus money equal to a percentage of what you deposited.
So, for example, a casino is offering a 200% match bonus (which means that any deposit you make is matched by twice the amount you deposited), and you deposit £100. Therefore, the casino will give you £200 on top of the amount you deposited, giving a total of £300. Other that match bonuses, deposit bonuses can also be free spins.
Free spins are nothing more than free plays on slots, that is, for the amount of free spins you have, you can play for free on a slot. So, if you have, for example, 30 free spins, you can play for free 30 times on a slot. However, just because you play for free doesn’t your winnings aren’t yours to keep: everything you win from free spins becomes yours!
As to where to find bonuses, there are a few different promotions that offer deposit bonuses, the most common of which is definitely the welcome bonus: welcome bonuses are everywhere in the casino world nowadays, so much so that casinos that don’t offer any welcome bonus should be avoided.
Welcome bonuses, which are also known as “sign-up bonuses” or “registration bonuses,” are bonuses that casinos offer to new players, which is a great way to start your online gaming journey with a casino. These tend to be packages of match bonuses and free spins together, but can also be either free spins or a match bonus only.
Related to welcome bonuses are 2nd and 3rd deposit bonuses: welcome bonuses sometimes come in packages of multiple deposit bonuses, which is where these bonuses come in. These are usually match bonuses, or combinations of match bonuses and free spins that are granted on your 2nd, 3rd, 4th or even 5th deposit! This, obviously, depends on the casino offering the bonus.
Just because you used up your welcome bonus, doesn’t mean the bonuses stop there: some casinos also offer “reload bonuses:” these are regular bonuses that casinos offer to players who aren’t new to the casinos, but still enjoy the thrill of bonuses! They work very much like welcome bonuses, and generally tend to be match bonuses.
Another bonus that you might encounter, although it tends to be very rare, is the “preferred payment bonus” or the “preferred deposit bonus.” This bonus is really simple: it’s generally a small match bonus on your deposit whenever you deposit with a payment method that the particular casino prefers. If you encounter one of these bonuses, you should generally go for them.
Finally, the last kind of bonus out there is a rather exclusive bonus, and this is the “high roller bonus.” These bonuses are reserved for the well-to-do players with tonnes of cash burning holes in their pockets. They’re basically your normal match bonus, but on steroids, that is, they’re meant to generate a sizeable sum of bonus money.
How Does Bonus Money Work?
Bonus money, as we’ve seen, is extra money that the casino gives you on top of the money that you deposited. However, this doesn’t mean that it’s yours just yet. Unless the casino doesn’t have wagering requirements, then the bonus money still has to “earned,” so to speak. We’ll explain this in more detail in a coming section.
Do Deposit Bonuses Have a Time Limit?
Sadly, yes, deposit bonuses generally have a time limit from the time they are claimed to the time their bonus money can be cashed in. Different casinos offer different time limits for their players to manage to fulfill the wagering requirements (more on this later). After the time limit is up, the bonus money is, unfortunately, lost forever.
Can You Get Free Spins in a Deposit Bonus?
As we’ve already seen before, the answer is yes! Everybody loves free spins; what isn’t there to like about them? They’re free and they could potentially land you some humongous wins! Those are 2 things that are pretty hard to beat when it comes to bonuses, which is all the better, then, that free spins can potentially be offered as part of a deposit bonus.
What are Wagering Requirements?
Wagering requirements are certain amounts imposed by casinos that players must wager before they’re allowed to cash the winnings they made with the bonus money the casino gave them. These amounts are generally expressed as multiples (for example, x30) of the bonus money offered by casinos.
Therefore, if you earned £200 as bonus money, and the wagering requirements are x30, the amount you need to wager to finally withdraw your winnings is £200 x 30 = £6000. This might seem unfair to players, but keep in mind that giving away free money is generally a bad game-plan when it comes to business. Casinos need to make money too, and this is simply their “insurance policy.”
What are the Deposit Requirements?
Deposit bonuses not only come with wagering requirements, but also with deposit requirements, that is, a certain amount that you’ll need to deposit before being eligible for the bonus. I know you’re probably thinking, “oh, what the hell? more requirements?!”, but it’s not as bad as you think! Deposit requirements are, most often, the equivalent of the minimum deposit a casino allows.
This means that you’d still have to deposit the minimum amount required anyway to make a deposit, so at the same time that you deposit the minimum amount required, you’re actually activating the casino’s deposit bonus. And, not to worry, the minimum amount required by casinos are generally pretty low, usually in the range of £10-20.
What About Bonuses Without Wagering?
Oh, yes, those exist too! And, oh, boy, they are as beautiful as they sound since they’re pretty much as free as bonuses get. There are essentially 2 kinds of bonuses that don’t need to be wagered. These are: “no deposit bonuses” and “no wagering bonuses.” No deposit bonuses are bonuses that are instantly credited to your account, whether or not you’ve made a deposit.
These bonuses generally tend to be free spins or small amounts of cash that are instantly given to you without the need for wagering requirements. No wagering bonuses, on the other hand, tend to be deposit bonuses that have no associated wagering requirements with them. This means that there is no obstacle in your way between you and your bonus winnings. Most no wagering bonuses tend to be free spins, but there are also other no wagering bonuses, such as cashbacks.
Deposit Bonus FAQs:
Easy: all you have to do is make a deposit and bam! you earned your deposit bonus.
As we saw before, deposit bonuses are generally part of welcome bonuses or as part of a casino’s reload bonus. The welcome bonus and reload bonus could also simply be deposit bonuses.
Not unless the casino has wagering requirements. If the casino imposes wagering requirements, then you will need to fulfill those before withdrawing the bonus money.
Yes, of course! However, if the casino has wagering requirements you can only cash in your winnings after you manage to fulfill the wagering requirements. After that, your winnings are yours to keep.