With so many online casinos opening up in Canada, there’s absolutely no shortage of what appear to be extremely lucrative deals popping up from casino, live casino, bingo, lottery and sports betting businesses to attract new users. The most available form of casino promo comes in the shape of a deposit bonus and this is the type of casino promo we’ll be discussing in our complete guide about deposit bonuses.
Most online casinos in Canada work with attractive deposit bonuses, which include a cash bonus and sometimes even free spins — giving new users some great options to get used to a new platform. Players signing up for new accounts at online casino websites should make sure that they fully understand the bonus terms attached to deposit bonus as well as the mechanics which affect the feasibility and revenue. In this guide we will give you a clear overview of how deposit bonuses work, how to claim them, and how to see if they’re any good. If you read on you will also discover how to make a profit with deposit bonuses.
How deposit bonuses work
A deposit bonus is there to mirror the amount that you deposit into your online casino account. You can use the bonus to play your favourite online casino games for real money while you enjoy some extra credits you wouldn’t have had without the bonus. Usually, your deposit will be matched either fully or partially and this depends on the casino and whether it concerns a first deposit or not. Some casinos will even double your deposit. As a deposit bonus matches the amount you deposit, this bonus is often known as a match bonus.
Match bonus
When online casinos want to match your deposit, it basically wants to give you a casino bonus that is at least a portion of your deposit amount. For instance: if you deposit $200 in order to activate your 100% Match Bonus, you will receive additional $200 as bonus money which you can use to play online casino games on the site. If you deposit $200 to activate your 50% Match Bonus, the casino will give you $100 in bonus cash, matching your deposit at a rate of 50%. Although it may sound kind of logical that a casino match bonus is set at 100%, some of them are even more generous and increase their rewards to 150%, 200%, or even 300%. These higher percentages are normally reserved for the welcome bonus or for some other special event. Later on, we will touch upon deposit bonuses that work with percentages that are less than 100%, but still offer a good deal for existing customers. Talking about the different types of casino bonuses, let’s take a look at them one for one.
Different types of online deposit bonuses
There are various types of deposit bonuses online casinos may have available to their customers. We’re breaking the most common types that you are likely to encounter here:
- Deposit Welcome Bonus
- Second and Subsequent Deposit Bonuses
- Reload Bonus
- High Roller Bonus
Deposit Welcome Bonus
Almost every online casino website in Canada offers some kind of welcome deal to its new users. A casino’s welcome bonus is mostly available for the very first deposit you make at your preferred online casino. In most cases, welcome bonuses are a deposit or match casino bonus. The most common variation you’ll find online is a 100% match bonus attached to a maximum amount of bonus casino. A welcome bonus always comes with specific bonus terms, including the period of validity and rollover requirements. Deposit bonuses as a welcome bonus is actually a way to make a player commit to a casino as they have just deposited some money and want to make the most out of it either way. A deposit bonus gives them some extra incentive to make the deposit and possibly some future deposits.
Second and Subsequent Deposit Bonuses
A lot of casinos offer complete welcome packages that will give you special deposit bonuses on your second and sometimes even third (or even fourth and fifth) deposit. Do note that for subsequent deposits it is less common to receive a 100% match bonus or higher. Instead, the match percentage will be lowered to a percentage of 75%, 50% or 25%. That means you could, for instance, get a 50% bonus for your second deposit at the casino site. If you would make a deposit of $200, this would give you a maximum of $100. In cases of welcome packages with multiple deposit bonuses, online casino websites could offer you a deal that gives you 150%, 100%, 75%, 50% and another 50% for your first five deposits. We review a lot of casinos and come across a lot of packages that work with this approach. Some casino websites even work with higher percentages for the last deposit to give players some extra incentive to make a deposit. A deposit bonus casino is actually very interesting.
Reload Bonus
This is true for reload bonuses as well. Reload bonuses also require you to first make a deposit and they may be available either weekly or monthly or uniquely for special events. Some online casinos will match your deposit with another 100% once again, but most casinos will give you reload bonuses offering somewhere between 20% to 50% instead. They will usually give you less bonus money and lower match percentages. Reload bonuses are used as regular incentives to retain current users. Clearly, reload bonuses also have bonus terms attached and wagering requirements that will need to be considered. Luckily, wagering requirements tend to be a lot less strict for reload bonuses than for welcome deals.
High Roller Bonus
Higher roller bonuses come in different sizes and forms which is also the case for deposit bonuses. This type of deposit bonus is particularly aimed at users who tend to spend or play more. High roller bonuses can come in the form of welcome offers, reload bonuses or special promos. The main difference with regular deposit bonuses is that they require higher deposits. There shouldn’t be a big difference in terms of match percentages, but don’t be surprised if a casino matches a bonus up to at least $1,000. With higher bonus amounts, the terms and conditions may be higher than with standard casino bonuses as well.
How to check if deposit bonuses are any good
The deposit bonus is the most common casino deal you’ll find online, so pretty much every online casino offers at least one deposit bonus. The idea of this type of casino bonus is to allow you to get extra money for the casino game you want to play, and also give you a bit more flexibility to experiment with bets. With careful use of the deposit bonus, you should be able to significantly increase your chances of success. In order to see whether a casino bonus is worth it we recommend you to check the following characteristics:
- Rollover requirements: the wagering requirements depend on the website or the casino owner. Therefore, we always recommend reading our casino reviews and paying some extra attention to this specific term. Being aware of the playthrough requirements makes the choice of a casino website a lot easier for those wanting to make a wager. This also holds for players who want to benefit from any of the online casino deposit bonus offers and the wagering requirements are possibly the most difficult to understand as there will always be rollover requirements for deposit bonuses. Some bonuses, like cashbacks, sometimes come with wagering requirements, but deposit bonuses unfortunately need to deal with this condition.
- Maximum payout: although a lot of deposit bonuses work with fixed percentages, a lot of casinos will have set an additional term that caps the total payout as well. By listing a maximum payout the casino avoids that it will need to payout major wins to a lucky player. This also means that it’s not worth playing any longer once you have met both the wagering requirements and the maximum payout.
- Canady oriented: like most casino deals, deposit bonuses can be aimed at specific countries, sometimes excluding Canada if you don’t pay enough attention. As our platform is mainly Canada oriented we only take into account casinos that are available for Canadian users. In the event of finding yourself a cool deposit bonus on a different platform, you should always verify whether the promo is valid for Canada based users as well.
- Games: deposit bonuses are available across all gambling site platforms, but each deposit bonus should include clear information about its purpose and its validity. Deposit bonuses for online casinos and sportsbooks are rarely interchangeable, but some casino deposit bonuses could be claimable for live dealer games as well — usually with lower wagering contributions. Apart from specific platforms, some deposit bonuses also have a specific game-related validity. This means that a deposit bonus can be valid only for the games or a specific game provider. Every deposit bonus lists the games that are and aren’t allowed to be played with bonus money.
- Minimum deposits: this type of bonus is clearly very deposit oriented, which means that there are very specific deposit conditions about depositing your funds. Luckily, minimum deposits tend to be very fair for deposit bonuses and you should think of something like $10-$20, which we believe is quite okay and shouldn’t create a barrier for most users.
- Match percentage: this should be at least 100% for a first deposit and somewhere between 100% and 50% should be fair for the second deposit. What we’re trying to say here is that match percentages should be reasonable. If a casino offers you a match bonus of 75% for the first deposit and a match bonus of 20% for the second one, there should be a bell ringing that there is something going wrong here.
- Banking method: as the bonus requires a deposit, it is very important to check the conditions whether there are any payment methods that are excluded from the bonus. A lot of casinos do have some limitations for e-wallets making your deposit invalid for the bonus. Usually this doesn’t concern bank transfers or credit card transactions, so you should be alright if you prefer one of these payment methods. We haven’t come across a lot of casinos that have restrictions for Interac, so most Canadian players won’t have to deal with the limitations of the banking method.
How to claim deposit bonuses
We believe deposit bonuses are one of the easiest deals to claim online, but they do require some extra attention as you’re about to make a deposit and play with real money. The way to claim this type of bonus should be pretty uniform across casinos which is why we believe you will come across the following 7 steps of how to claim your own deposit bonus:
1. Read more about deposit bonuses
Our guide is actually a good starting point for learning everything about bonuses as we’ve got separate guides for all sorts of bonuses. Make sure to check out our guides on free spins bonuses, no deposit bonuses, and cashbacks as well. A lot of players who are going to claim a deposit bonus will be new to the website which is why they should learn more about deposit bonuses and casino bonuses in general. Deposit bonuses work with bonus cash and free spins, and all of these have separate terms and conditions. There can also be differences between a first deposit bonus, a 2nd deposit bonus and every match bonus after the first deposit. Whether you’re new or a skilled player you should be able to learn more about casino bonuses fairly quickly as it’s actually quite a lot of fun to learn.
2. Find a good casino
Our website is an equally good starting point to find a nice online casino as well. Pretty much all of the casinos we have listed work with a deposit bonus and we have compared them along the way and ranked them for our readers. We believe that there’s a lot more to it than just a nice bonus which is why the online operator should give you a proper platform as well. We will only recommend online casinos that can give you the ultimate casino experience. As we’re aimed at the Canadian market we recommend you to play at licenced casinos only.
3. Register
Signing up at a website is very easy as most registration forms will guide you through the process. Some casino websites even work with a so-called Pay N Play website which means that you can “pay and play” without requiring a separate registration. Most casinos work with manual registration forms, but they are so easy to fill in that it shouldn’t take a lot of time or effort to join a new casino. Deposit bonuses should be claimable upon registration.
4. Go through every single term
Before you claim your own we find it important to go through every single term you can find on the promo page. Do this for the deposit bonus you’re about to claim, but we recommend you to already do the same for the subsequent deposit bonuses. Most users would be willing to claim a second, third, and maybe even fourth deposit bonus as well, which is why we believe you should be fully aware of what’s coming. The attractiveness of a deposit bonus depends on the overall terms and conditions and not only for the deposit bonus you’re about to claim. The most important term is the wagering requirements and this term can actually depend on each single deposit, despite the fact that they’re often part of the same welcome package.
5. Check the bonus codes (if applicable)
Sometimes, you will need to make use of a bonus code to be able to redeem the bonus. This shouldn’t lead to any inconvenience as they are always listed on the promotions page. The bonus itself states them clearly and all you need to do is copy and paste them. Please note that this is very important as you can’t do this anymore once you have transferred the funds. Once you have claimed the bonus you can’t go back to enter the bonus code and you will have missed out on the match bonus. Adding the deposit bonus code is directly done when making the deposit and should show the bonus has been claimed successfully.
6. Make a deposit
The casino’s goal is to give you a bonus, but only in return for a deposit. This means you’ll need to deposit some funds to be able to redeem the offer. Please note that some deposit methods are excluded from the bonus, which is often the case with a few e-wallets. Every casino should clearly list this exclusion on the page with promotions and it shouldn’t be too difficult to find more info about this at the casino. Assuming there are no restrictions at the casino you’re wanting to sign up for, you can go ahead and make your deposit with your preferred banking method. Do note that some payment solutions have slower processing times. This is particularly the case with credit cards and bank transfers.
7. Check your account balance and play
When the funds are deposited you should be able to enjoy your higher amount of credits straightaway. You can verify this by going to your account and checking the account balance. The exact amount you will be able to play with depends on the bonus itself and the amount of money you have deposited. The instant visibility also depends on the banking method you have used. Generally, e-wallets will top up your balance straight away, while bank transfers and credit card transfers will take some more time to be credited to your account. Now your credits are fully topped up it is time to enjoy and make the most of your casino experience.
How to make a profit from deposit bonuses?
It’s hard to compete without a deposit bonus casino which is why most casino websites in Canada will have one or multiple bonuses. As a deposit bonus is the most common type of bonus, you should expect a lot of casinos in Canada to offer one or more deposit bonuses. As a lot of casinos offer both deposit bonuses in the form of both welcome packages and reload bonuses you should have different moments to make a profit from deposit bonuses. This isn’t an easy task as most casinos will find some ways to limit their risks. A well prepared casino player, however, can get the most out of a casino deposit bonus by following the steps we have outlined below.
1. Check the wagering requirements
We have addressed the importance of the rollover requirements several times in this guide and there’s enough reason to do so. It’ll not only affect the feasibility of a casino bonus, it can also make a huge difference for the profitability of your bonus. The idea behind this is pretty straightforward as checking the wagering requirements will give you an idea when to stop. The problem of most players is that they don’t know when to stop and that’s when a winning spin turns into a losing one. Once you’re aware of the wagering requirements you can prepare yourself and select the moment to stop playing and cash out your wins. Even if it seems like a good idea to continue playing and you’re in the winning mood, you might want to consider stopping once you meet the wagering requirements.
2. Stick to the maximum bet
Like other casino bonuses, most deposit bonuses you will find across Canada have a term that implies a maximum bet. Our advice is to stick to this term at all times. You don’t want to get too enthusiastic about a few winning spins and raise your stakes in the heat of all the casino action as you believe it won’t affect your bonus if you do this once or twice. It does actually invalidate your bonus which is why you should respect the bonus conditions at all times until you meet the withdrawal requirements and request a payout. Deposit bonuses are designed in such a way that you will never win too much money which is why it might be tempting to raise your bets. Don’t fall for this as long as you’re playing with bonus money.
3. First practice, then play
A deposit bonus is a nice way to get the most out of your casino experience, but our advice is always first practice the games the bonus is valid for and then play. A lot of bonuses will use the bonus money as a way to practice with a lowered risk, but you should use the demo mode for this purpose. All slot games should be available in the demo mode giving you a lot more options to practice a new game and learn the rules. Once you’re fully aware of how things work you can always start playing with the bonus money you have just received. By first practicing and then playing you should be able to get the most out of your deposit bonus. The deposit bonus isn’t as risk free as a no deposit bonus or a cashback, so you should be fully prepared for each spin you make with your bonus. And don’t forget to check our casino guides every once in a while to get the best no deposit deals in Canada.