Best match-deposit casino bonuses
Match deposit bonuses, sometimes referred to as first deposit bonuses, are the bread and butter of online casino promotions and happens to be the most common of casino bonuses. They are a casino’s pledge to match a real money deposit with bonus funds, up to a certain amount.
This page will present you with the latest offers, and break down terms such as wagering requirements and game weightings.
- Deposit £20
- Play with £50
- 11 Welcome Spins + 100% up
- to 200£ on Your 1st Deposit
What is a match deposit bonus?
A match deposit bonus is so-called because the casino offers to ‘match’ a percentage of your deposit, providing you with some additional cash to play with.
These are usually fairly large bonuses and are typically used to hook in new gamblers. When offered to newcomers, match deposit bonuses are also known as ‘welcome’ or ‘first deposit’ bonuses.
An example:
- A casino is offering a 100% match bonus up to £100 on any deposit over £10.
- If you deposit £100, the casino will match 100% of your cash, giving you a starting bankroll of £200.
- If you deposited £200, you would still only receive £100 as this is the maximum amount available from this particular promotion.
- Fun, modern approach to casino entertainment.
- Provisions in place to protect problem gamblers.
- Certified as fair by reliable Swedish auditing body.
- Get 50 Free Spins on Sign Up
- on Lucky Mr Green
- Transparent about responsible gambling and fair pay-outs.
- Excellent slot game catalogue.
- Intuitive user interface and great user experience overall.
- 11 Welcome Spins + 100% up
- to 200£ on Your 1st Deposit
- The Grosvenor brand has a stellar reputation.
- Manual flushing available.
- Buzzing poker client.
- Deposit £20
- Play with £50
- Decent bonus conditions, and nicely transparent T&Cs
- An absolutely superb selection of slots from all the top providers
- A very responsive and well designed package all round
- 50 Spins on Big Bass Splash
- + 100% Bonus Up To £100
How do match deposit bonuses work?
A match deposit bonus is usually offered in the format ‘100% bonus up to £100’. The two important factors you need to understand are the percentage amount, and the maximum bonus amount. You’ll also need to find the minimum deposit amount, which usually is stipulated within the T&Cs. This is usually £10 to £20, but at places such as Ladbrokes and Sky Vegas Casino, it’s as low as £5.
If the percentage amount is 100 percent, then the amount you deposit matches the amount of bonus cash you receive. So if you were to go ‘the whole hog’ and deposit £100, you’d receive £100 in bonus cash.
Some casinos offer 200, 300 and even 400 percent. These offers double, triple and quadruple the value of your deposit as bonus cash.
The bonus limit is maximum amount of bonus cash a casino will award. So, in the example above, if you were to deposit £200, you would still only get £100. Some online casinos interpret the ‘up to’ differently. It may refer to the maximum total deposit and bonus you receive. If this was the case in example above, then the maximum you could deposit and have matched would be £50. The £100 refers to the £50 deposit and the £50 bonus. As with any bonus offer, make sure you read the terms and conditions attached in full before you make your deposit.
Make sure you also find the minimum deposit you need to qualify for the bonus. You might end up depositing £10 and expect a £10 bonus only to find the minimum was £20. If you do make such a mistake just contact the casino and explain your error. Most casinos value their customers and will be happy to let you top up your deposit and claim your bonus.
- Deposit £20
- Play with £50
- Deposit £10
- Get a £40 Casino Bonus
Match deposit bonus wagering requirements
Your match deposit bonus arrives in your account in the form of bonus cash. This is cash you cannot withdraw. Some bonus cash will forever remain as bonus cash – these are called ‘sticky’ bonuses as they ‘stick’ in your account until they expire. You can never withdraw them, but you can withdraw any winnings you make from them.
Most bonuses you can withdraw though – eventually. To convert your bonus cash into real money, you need to meet what are known as ‘wagering’ or ‘play-through’ requirements. This means you must wager the bonus cash (and often your deposit as well) a certain number of times before you can cash it out.
A typical wagering requirement is ’35x bonus + deposit’. This means you have to wager thirty-five times the total of the bonus and the deposit. In our example above, this would give you a play-through requirement of (35 x (£100 deposit + £100 bonus) =) £7,000. Once you’ve placed £7,000 in wagers you will be able to cash out your bonus cash and any winnings you made from it.
Note, the £7,000 requirement is the amount of money you have to wager, not spend. You could meet your requirements by playing 3,500 £2 spins on an online slots game, for example. By the time you’ve played your spins, you most likely will have some cash remaining, or you could have hit a productive streak and ended up with more cash than you wagered. The important thing is that you have placed £7,000 in wagers, and you can now withdraw your bonus cash.
Some casinos, such as 7Red and Cresus Casino, waiver wagering requirements altogether. Instead, you can only withdraw winnings from bonus cash. We are strong advocates of this approach.
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