Bonus + Deposit Wagering

A 200% match bonus sounds amazing. You deposit $100 and play with $200 for example. No downside, right?

Wrong. Most of these offers will have a wagering requirement that is based on the bonus plus your deposit amount.

So let’s say the wagering is a pretty standard 35xB+D (bonus+deposit amount.

For a $200 bonus example above, this would be a total of $10500 to wager.

Of course, it’s still much better than playing with just raw cash in terms of expected value, but we wanted to point out that it’s not going to be all that easy to wager these high match deals.

Stratospheric Bonus Amounts

The high match deals, like the 200%, can go very high in amounts which might make you wonder.

How can a casino offer a 200% match to $5,000 (example) and still be profitable?

The thing is that past a certain point a higher bonus is almost more beneficial for the casino than you.

This is because of the max bet with bonus usually being capped at $5 or $7.50 in the best case scenario.

When playing with a bonus, you want to be as much of the bonus funds on volatile slots as possible.

A high bonus amount means that the bet amount per spin is not high enough to move the needle, where this could be an advantageous play for you.

Deposit Bonus / Welcome Package

These are the most frequent bonuses within the online casino industry on both sides, demand, and supply, and the reason is simple.

New casinos need new players, so they offer tempting sign-up bonuses, causing old casinos to react and boost their sign-up bonuses.

On the other side, new players tend to accept generous offers since the sign-up or welcome bonus is usually the best casino bonus you can find on the web.

Note that sign-up bonuses are offered exclusively to new players, those that have registered for the first time at the casino.

Online casinos are very specific about it and they will not provide you a sign-up bonus if you live at the same home address or use the same computer as any other existing player.

The welcome bonuses are usually given after your first deposit as a value that matches the amount you placed by a certain percentage.

Sometimes a casino will offer you a welcome package awarding not only your first but also the second, the third, even the fourth deposit.

No Deposit Bonus

As you have read above, typically, bonuses depend on your deposits, more precisely, the sum you placed when making a deposit.

However, sometimes a casino will offer you free cash to play, no string attached.

Although no deposit bonuses are symbolic in comparison to deposit-linked ones, you will be playing with the casino’s money after all.

These come with some stiff wagering requirements, often feature a maximum withdrawal clause and about 500+ other clauses.

They work well if you just want a taste of what certain games are like and don’t want to deposit.

Reload Bonus

After you spend your sign-up bonus, you will not be left to play only with your own money, at least not with some casinos.

Reload bonuses are similar to sign-up bonuses, except they are offered to existing players.

Basically, when you make a deposit, you will be able to claim a certain percentage as a reload bonus.

Some casinos give reload bonuses on a monthly basis, therefore the name “monthly bonus” is frequently used.

This is a tool of CRM (customer retention management) and is often used after you haven’t played at a particular casino in some time.

Free Spins Bonus

Most popular games at online casinos are slots, no question about it, and with free spins bonuses you’ll have a chance to play

Usually, free spin bonuses are offered on specific games, rather than all slots at a casino. Most casinos are offering free spins on Starburst, Book Of Dead and in some cases Immortal Romance or Dead or Alive.

These bonuses are offered when a casino tries to promote a particular game or to make you interested in an upcoming casino tournament.

Free spins can be offered as both – a deposit incentive or a no deposit bonus.

There are also some new terms brought in as of late – mega spins and super spins, but we will cover all that on our free spins page.

Cashback / Points For Cash

Reward Wheels

This is the latest industry trend – casinos offering their own bonus wheels every time you reach a certain amount of money wagered.

Some casinos take a tiny percentage of all wagers made on their site and put it up as a progressive jackpot that can be won on these bonus wheels.

Others simply let you win instant cash prizes every time you spin this wheel and sometimes, after a period of no play, they will send you a free wheel spin as a reactivation bonus.

These are some of our favorite types of bonuses, as they are typically wagering free and credited as real money.

A couple of examples of casinos offering these are VideoSlots and Rizk, but we are sure that there will be more.

Wagering Requirements

Is The Bonus Sticky or Non Sticky?

Once the wagering requirements have been met, you can ask the operator to pay. But which amount will you be receiving – both the winnings and bonus or only the first?

That depends on whether the bonus is cashable or non-cashable (also referred to as “sticky”).

Some Canadian online casinos will let you collect the freebie as well as the fruits of your gameplay; others provide bonuses for you to bet with but are not willing to hand them over no matter what.

Related T&C should specify whether the bonus is sticky or not.

The majority of the casinos you’ll find on this site will offer cashable bonuses, but in cases where the deposit match is 200% or higher, it is likely that the bonus is “non-sticky”.

Maximum Cash-Out Limits

Imagine getting extremely lucky while playing with someone else’s money, either by experiencing a winning streak with the game of your choice or by hitting a generous progressive jackpot.

Many online casino games have the potential to pay 6 and even 7-figure wins, but you may not be able to collect such huge amounts when playing with bonus funds.

While some deals come with an unlimited payout potential, others have maximum cash-out limits.

If the promotion you decided to enter comes with a withdrawal cap of $1,000, that’s the most you’ll (potentially) see landing in your bank account even if the game won you millions.

Max Bet Limits

We have yet to see a gaming site which offers bonuses but doesn’t limit the size of your bets.

Promotional T&C will state that you’re not allowed to place any wagers that exceed the maximum bonus bet size of X when using bonus money.

The casinos do this to protect themselves against bonus abuse. If there would be no maximum bet limits, you could claim the bonus money, bet $500 per spin on slots, wait until significant wins and then stake down to finish wagering.

All that is not possible when the maximum stake with bonus funds is between $3 and $10 (mostly capped at $5 though).

You’ll likely also be warned against placing minimal risk bets such as wagering on Red and Black simultaneously in Roulette or betting player and banker simultaneously in Baccarat too.

Game Weighting/Eligible Games

Another point to explore is the contribution of different games towards play-through requirements. You’ll never see all bets counting the same.

Generally, wagers placed on video slots (with certain exceptions) count 100% but table games may contribute as little as 5% and bets on live dealer games may not count at all.

What’s more, one may not be allowed to use bonus funds for playing certain games at all. Eligible games and game contributions will differ from one online casino to another and even between promotions offered at the same gaming site.

If you’re a live gaming fan, you’ll be happy to know there are Canadian casinos that feature bonuses tailored to your taste. They’ll either let bets on live games contribute to a certain degree or offer dedicated deals with wagering requirements which can be met only by playing in their Live Casinos.

On top of the crucial details mentioned above, one should also check if the promotional offer has any country restrictions, as well as its validity. Being able to wager the bonus the required number of times within 60 days is obviously preferential to having to do so in two weeks.

Payment Method Restrictions and Benefits

The most common bonus restriction related to the chosen funding method applies to eWallets – primarily Skrill and Neteller, but sometimes also PayPal.

While multiple benefits of these payment options make them popular among Canadian players and those from other parts of the world, and numerous operators seem happy enough to accept them, depositing via Skrill or Neteller may rob you of your welcome gift.

Why? It appears that bonus hunters also favor eWallets and Skrill/Neteller depositors have been known to duplicate accounts and abuse introductory offers.

Since, at the same time, operators have to pay hefty fees for related transaction processing, this kind of behavior can generate substantial losses.

If your chosen casino has such restrictions and you’re keen on benefiting from its welcome offer, you’ll simply have to use an alternative deposit option.