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Learn more about deposit match bonuses
Deposit match bonuses have a fairly simple premise – put some money into your casino account and get it matched with bonus money, on the house, to help you extend your play time. But these bonuses have much more to them than meets the eye once you look under the surface, which we cover in this guide.
Why trust us with deposit bonuses?
We at InsideCasino are always after good deposit bonus deals that we can trust and we’re fairly sure that most Canadian players are, too. That is why our in-house experts constantly review casino websites and update guides like this one. We continue our hunt for the best deposit bonuses and other deals you can get while sharing our findings to help you with your own search.
What is a deposit match casino bonus?
A deposit match casino bonus is a promotional offer from a casino, that gives players an incentive when they deposit and play with real money on their site, which can be in the form of either bonus cash or free spins on certain games.
Before we go any further, it is important to highlight the difference between a deposit bonus and a deposit match bonus, as a lot of online casinos use the two terms to mean the same thing. The difference is that a deposit match bonus is actually one type of casino deposit bonus – to be more specific, it is the one that gives you bonus cash.
Why use a deposit match bonus?
There are few good reasons for players to take a deposit match bonus whenever they are available. Whether or not you agree with the value of the deposit bonus or the restrictions of its cash or spins, that bonus will still get you extra plays to use at the casino.
Why do casinos offer match bonuses?
Like all bonuses, match bonuses are one of the casino’s many promotional tools and arguably, the most important. This importance has reached the point where players are now starting to consider the value of a casino’s welcome bonus as part of the process of choosing a casino to play at.
As such, online casinos in Canada have been competing to offer match bonuses with more and more value in their attempts to pull potential players away from competing sites.
Different types of deposit bonuses
The deposit bonuses you see being offered by casino, come in two main forms, which are bonus money and free spins. Being the most common kind of casino bonus on the market, there have been a few variations of deposit bonuses that have popped up over the years. We have listed these for you below.
Bonus money
Deposit bonuses that give out bonus money, also called “match bonuses”, work about as simply as you can expect. Deposit some money into your playing account, and you get a portion of it back. A few examples of casino websites that have this are:
- Miami Dice: 200% bonus up to C$2,500
- Chelsea Palace: 100% up to C$500
- Nomini: 50% up to C$1,500
Free spins
Free spins are the other kind of deposit bonus you will find on some of Canada’s gambling websites. As the name suggests, spins are given that you can use on a selection of slot games.
Getting spins for free can seem good, but they often come with catches. Players often find restrictive limits when it comes to bet sizes, wagering requirements and overall value. You can find out much more by visiting our page for free spins.
Bonus percentages
Deposit bonus percentages is the preferred method of players for judging the bonus value. It comes down to how much of the player’s deposit the casino will match in bonus cash. This can often be staggered and split over a few of a player’s first deposits. Some examples of staggered percentage splits include:
- King Billy: $2,500 Bonus (consisting of 100%, 50%, 25%, 75%)
- Dream Vegas: $7,500 (consisting of 200%, 40%, 60%)
- Mystake: $1,400 (consisting of 170%, 150% or 100%)
Bonus sums
The other way you can measure the value of a bonus is, of course, how much the bonus sum is worth in total. But on many gambling sites, the big number showing the total sum of the deposit match bonus is not the entire story. This is because the total value of the bonus is split across multiple deposits.
Taking our Twin casino bonus as an example, the C$1,200 bonus can’t all be claimed on the player’s first deposit; instead, the player is intended to do this over 3 deposits worth C$500, C$300 and C$400, respectively.
While each casino operator will have their own specific reasons, we find that splitting the deposits in this way extends the value of the deposit bonus over a longer period of time. After all, not many people have the time, money or inclination to burn through C$1,000 in a single sitting. Spreading the match bonus over multiple deposits also helps lower budget players get more from their welcome bonuses as their next deposits will still net them bonus cash.
How do match bonuses work?
On the surface, the way match bonuses work is really simple. Register an account to play at a cash casino, then deposit some cash and the casino matches your deposit with a bonus, that you can play with on certain games.
Where to find?
Generally, you have two ways to find casino match bonuses in Canada. You can take the long way around and look through casino websites one by one to find the bonus you want. Alternatively, you find a casino from our list of deposit match bonuses. Our in-house experts have done the hard work and you can also find in-depth reviews if you want to get a more detailed impression of these sites.
How to claim?
After you have found a deposit bonus casino you are happy with, it is worth checking the terms to decide how much of it you want to claim. Once you’ve decided how much to deposit, you’ll know how much of that will get bonus matched. The larger the deposit bonus on offer, the more chance there is of it being staggered across a few deposits. You will be offered the option of selecting the bonus when you complete your registration.
How to complete?
Now, it seems a bit strange to complete a match bonus when you already get the bonus money with the steps above. But what some people mean by completing a match bonus is actually referring to clearing their bonus wagering. In short, completing a match bonus simply involves using enough of your bonus money on the casino games until you can cash out.
Now, there are some casino match bonuses that let you skip this requirement entirely. These are called no wagering bonuses and they allow players to withdraw any winnings you get from using your bonus without any strings attached.
How to withdraw?
Once you have cleared the requirements above and you have some money left in your bonus balance, you can withdraw it via the normal withdrawal functions. Most bonuses only allow deposits & withdrawals to be made using certain banking methods. This is due to the payment processing fees charged by some providers, which would make the bonus mechanics unviable. You’ll most likely be opting to withdraw your funds using the same payment method you already used for the initial deposit anyway, in which case, you know it can be used with the bonus.
Deposit bonus terms and conditions
A deposit bonus casino will have various terms and conditions that need to be followed before a player can redeem the bonus fully. These T&Cs can come in a wide variety of forms, the most common of which include:
- Player restrictions
- Minimum deposit
- Validity period
- Wagering requirements
- Restricted games & game weighting
- Maximum bet cap
- Winning cap
New players only
Different deposit match bonuses are typically designed to only be redeemed by new casino players. For instance, these deposit bonuses also fall under the name of ‘welcome bonuses’, meaning a casino website is using them as an offer to entice new players. On the opposite end of the spectrum, these bonuses can also be offered to high rollers, to thank them for their loyalty and to entice them to continue playing for longer.
Excluded banking methods
Casinos usually have some restrictions for methods of casino payments when this type of bonus is included. This is simply due to the processing fees that some providers charge – which can be up to 14%. Luckily for players, the most popular banking methods are permitted for bonuses and the excess fees only apply to the less common methods.
Minimum deposit
All these bonuses have a minimum deposit amount before players can claim them. Most casinos will typically set this to whatever minimum deposit is available on their payment methods, which usually lies in the range of C$20 to C$30. There is a recent surge in the popularity of bonuses that are available at low deposit casino sites that allow players to make deposits with as little as $1.
Validity period
These bonuses are typically only valid for a limited period. Most welcome bonuses, for example, will typically only be usable for 14 to 30 days before any unused money, free spins, or winnings are forfeited.
Wagering requirements
Wagering requirements are arguably the biggest hurdle for casino players that claim a deposit match bonus. This condition requires players to bet a specified amount on games before they can cash out the bonus money or any winnings made using it.
The amount you need to wager is usually expressed as a multiplier. The multiplier works as it is named and it begins as soon as you start playing with the bonus funds. If you received C$100 in bonus cash, a 35x wagering requirement means you have to wager C$3,500 before you can cash any bonus money out. One particularly extreme example can be found at Jackpot City Casino, which has a whopping 70x wagering requirement on its deposit match bonus for new players.
If you are keen to learn more about wagering, you can find out everything that there is to know in our guide to bonus wagering.
Restricted games & game weighting
Several casino games are restricted or unable to be played in conjunction with a match bonus. One of the main reasons for this is down to the variance or RTP (return to player) of certain games. Several slot games have RTPs of over 98%, which means that for every $100 a player spends, on average, the player will win $98 back. If a casino allowed match bonuses to be used on these games, they wouldn’t be in business for very long!
While some casinos only allow a bonus to be played on certain games, others have a game weighting system in place. If game weighting is in place, details of it will be found within their terms and conditions. Options like live casino games have the highest risk and are usually excluded completely. Other games, namely slots, are given weighting and are put into categories like this:
-
- 100% – No game weighting
- 75% – 75% game weighting on these games
- 50% – 50% game weighting on these games
- 25% – 25% game weighting on these games
- 0% – Bonus cannot be used on these games
Maximum bet
The maximum bet permitted will often be reduced on bonus rounds. Given that casino sites have thousands of games integrated nowadays, the maximum bonus bet is often in place to limit any exposure that the casino could have with flaws in their system. It also allows the player to continue playing with their bonus funds for longer.
Winning cap
Players will also find winning caps in place for bets made with bonus funds. Much of this is for similar reasons to the max bet limits. On top of this, it also prevents players from winning progressive jackpots, which have been built up over time from real money deposits made by other players.
How to calculate the value of your deposit bonus?
Since value is the main draw of the deposit bonus, how do we calculate how much value a deposit bonus has? Well, we already know that deposit bonuses come in two forms, which are bonus cash and free spins. This means that there are also two ways to run the numbers.
Calculating the value of deposit bonus cash
For this example, we can use Spinland’s bonus cash offer that gives players an extra 200% from your 1st deposit, up to C$3,000.
The percentage clearly indicates how much of the player’s 1st deposit will be matched by the casino bonus (which is where the term ‘match bonus’ came from). So if we deposit C$100 into our Spinland account, we can run the numbers like so:
C$100 + (C$100 * 200%)
= C$100 + C$200
= C$300
Our deposit will therefore get us a total of C$300, including bonus money, to play with at the casino.
Calculating the value of bonus spins
The value of spins from a deposit bonus is a bit more difficult to compute, but not by much. To do this, we simply need to multiply the number of spins being offered by the bonus, with the value of each spin.
As an example, we can use the 200 spins given out in the Excitewin welcome package. According to their terms, each spin is locked at a value of C$0.10. Doing our calculations:
200 * C$0.10 = C$20
We find that the total bonus value of these spins is C$20.
You can find many more bonuses like these in our list of deposit match bonus casino above.
Deposit bonuses and responsible gambling
Even if you find deposit bonuses really valuable and they help to spread your playing out for longer, it’s important to keep your responsible gambling in check. The massive bonus amounts dominating the headlines of these bonus options make them very tempting. However, you should never try to max out these deposit matches if they are outside your means. Always remember to only spend what you can afford to lose.
Our verdict on deposit match bonuses
For any Canadian casino player willing to buy in, deposit match bonuses are arguably the best ones you can claim from an online casino. With much higher bonus amounts and more agreeable terms and conditions, deposit bonuses give much more value to players compared to their no-deposit bonus counterparts and other variations.
Deposit bonus pros & cons
Despite the many benefits that deposit bonuses offer, the fact that some Canadian casino players continue to seek out other types of bonuses is proof that they aren’t the best option for everyone. If you’re not sure whether or not a deposit bonus is right for you, we’ve made a handy list of their basic pros and cons so you can weigh your options.
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