Do Deposit Bonuses Offer Value? The Key Considerations
Posted by Harry Kane on Tuesday, December 19, 2023
If you’ve ever signed up at an online casino or sportsbook, you’ll know that operators regularly use bonuses and welcome offers to incentivise registrations. These offers always sound impressive too, usually matching your deposit up to a specific percentage and potentially rewarding you with a finite number of free spins.
While most welcome bonuses offer at least some value, it’s always important to read the unique terms and conditions and drill down further into the promotion. After all, there are key T&Cs that impact the value proposition associated with each bonus, but what are the key considerations as a bettor?
What is a Deposit Bonus?
A deposit bonus simply describes a promotion that’s contingent on you making an initial deposit into your account. It can relate to either a welcome or reload bonus, but you’ll usually have to meet a minimum deposit requirement and use an eligible payment method to participate. You may also have to enter a specific promo code.
However, deposit bonuses can adopt different structures, especially across online casino and sportsbook verticals. It’s important that you understand these bonus types and exactly how they reward players, and determine whether or not they suit your betting frequency and preferred markets. Here’s a summary of the most popular deposit bonus types:
Deposit Matches
Synonymous with online casino promotions (including both welcome and reload bonuses), this structure matches your deposit by a certain percentage up to a specified value. For example, they may match your deposit by 100% up to £100, enabling you to access up to £100 in free play in the process. Typically, deposit match percentages range from 25% to 200% depending on the total value of the bonus. This type of offer is usually restricted by wagering and game weighting requirements too, but we’ll touch on this later in the post.
Free Bet Offers
Free bet offers are synonymous with sportsbooks and may be included as part of a broader welcome or reload offer. Typically, they’ll require you to deposit and stake a minimum amount at minimum odds, at which point you’ll unlock a free up to a specified value. The free bet will usually have an expiry date once it has been added to your account (often 14 days or less), while there may be similar restrictions pertaining to the odds you have to wager at and the sports or markets you can target.
Free Spins Promotions
While free spins may also appear as part of non-deposit casino bonuses, this type of incentivise is often included as part of a broader welcome offer structure too. Typically, a brand will afford you a finite number of free spins (often between 10 and 100) on one or a selection of slots, while your winnings may be subject to nominal wagering requirements. Each spin is usually capped at a value of £0.10 (except in the case of some progressive jackpot slot offers), while there may be a maximum threshold imposed on the winnings that you’re able to bank.
Explored – Key Deposit Bonus Terms and Conditions
As we’ve touched on, every single welcome offer, reload bonus or free bet will have its own unique T&Cs, pertaining to everything from minimum and maximum deposit limits to how much money you’ll have to play through before withdrawing any winnings. Some of these terms have a direct impact on the value boasted by each bonus, including the following:
Wagering (or Rollover) Requirements
While some offers don’t impose wagering requirements on players, this is a common feature of most deposit bonuses. Wagering requirements simply dictate how much money you’ll have to play through before withdrawing any winnings, while they’re usually expressed as a multiplier of the total bonus value.
For example, it’s common for online casinos to apply wagering requirements of 35x to your online bonus funds. So, if you deposit £10 and receive an additional £10 with which to play, you’ll have to play through £350 before withdrawing winnings that are accrued. Often, wagering requirements at reputable casinos can range between 10x and 40x the bonus, while this multiplier is typically lower when dealing with sports betting promotions.
We’d recommend that you avoid betting at sites that apply wagering requirements to the combined value of your deposit and bonus funds, as this can create disproportionate terms and is frowned upon by UK regulators. Similarly, you should avoid any bonus with wagering requirements of 100x or above, while always ensuring you’re playing at a licensed site before committing.
Timeframes and Free Bet Expiry
Typically, all deposit bonuses are bound by strict timeframes in which they must be deployed. For example, a site may insist that you fulfil your wagering requirements within a finite period of time. This must be factored into your analysis of bonuses, as sites that allow small timeframes of between seven and 14 days may compel you to wager recklessly and more than you usually would.
Instead, you should prioritise offers with longer timeframes for fulfilment (up to 30 days), or at least ensure that the wagering requirements allow you to bet comfortably within your means. The same principle applies to free bets, which may also be subject to minimum odds requirements. In the case of the latter, just make sure that you’re comfortable wagering at such odds and in the markets specified.
Game Weighting
Last but not least, we come to game weighting rules, which are linked directly to wagering requirements and synonymous with online casino bonuses. In simple terms, game weighting refers to extent to which different casino games and verticals can contribute to the fulfilment of your wagering requirements, while details are expressed as a percentage and explained in the T&Cs.
Typically, slots contribute 100% towards the fulfilment of your wagering requirements, so every pound you stake through this vertical will count towards you accessing your winnings. However, this percentage can drop as low as 10% for some table or live casino games, so you’d have to bet considerably more through these verticals to complete a withdrawal.
So, it’s key that you review the game weighting requirements attached to a deposit bonus. After all, unless you’re an avid slots player, you may struggle to fulfil the wagering requirements within the designated timeframe, unless you spend considerably more than you’re comfortable with during a short period of time.