Deposit Bonuses

Best Deposit Bonuses For South African Players

One of the most sought after aspects of any online casino lies in the bonuses that it offers. Competition in the online casino world is rife, and this means that online casinos need to go the extra mile in order to stand out, and more importantly attract a whole new pool of online players to their offerings.

The deposit bonus has become one of the most popular means for online casinos to attract and incentivise both new and loyal customers, a popularity that has grown thanks to its mutually beneficial nature, whereby both online casino and player are awarded. For online casinos, it is an opportunity to encourage and incentivise both new and existing players to deposit real money and play, for players, deposit bonuses come with great reward incentives that can certainly help give you that little bit of extra playing credit to win.

Not all deposit bonuses are created equal, and many times claiming a deposit bonus can seriously hinder the gaming experience you are after. It’s important that you understand some key basics regarding a deposit bonus, now don’t panic, these are not life and death, but rather some tips and tricks of wisdom we would like to bestow on you, just to make sure that your online playing experience is as great as it can be. Some of the important things we would like to give clarity on just so happen to be some of the simplest queries, what actually is a deposit bonus?, how do I claim a deposit bonus I may like? and most importantly, when you should claim a deposit bonus?. We will tackle all of these points and more below.

What Is A Deposit Bonus?

The deposit bonus is one of many different types of bonus incentives that an online casino can make available to both new and existing players. It differs from other bonuses for one major reason, in order for a deposit bonus to be claimable it will require that the player first makes a real money deposit with the online casino, naturally, the player making the deposit will need to also have an active players account in order to make a deposit. Once a player has made a deposit of a specific amount, which will often be outlined in the bonus T’s & C’s, the player will then be credited with the specific bonus incentive.

It is very important to know that no bonus of any kind is mandatory, online casinos have full discretion to make available a bonus of any kind when they so wish. For this reason, you may find that an online casino does not have a deposit bonus or any other bonus incentive for that matter.

How Does A Deposit Bonus Work?

We have established that a deposit bonus requires two requirements to be covered before it can be claimed, the first of which is an active player account, if you have not yet signed up with an online casino, or you are unsure of which online casino to choose, head to our detailed online casino reviews section, here you will find loads of the biggest online casino names, filter through some of our key review points, and once you have decided on the online casino you fancy, simply click play to be directed to the sign-up page. Sign up is free and generally very simple, it should not take you any longer than 3 minutes to register.

The second requirement before claiming any deposit bonus is for you to make an actual deposit. In order to do this, log in to the online casino that you have recently created your player account, look for either the “deposit” or the “cashiers” section, from here you will then see a list of all the available deposit methods that you can then choose from. Once a deposit is made the casino will then match your original deposit amount with the communicated bonus percentage. e.g. If you deposit R100, and there is a 100% bonus available, the casino will credit you with 100% of your deposit value, so you will receive R100 on top of the original R100 that you initially deposited, this type of deposit bonus is also referred to as a match bonus because the casino is matching your deposit amount.

Often deposit bonuses may be linked with additional incentives such as free spins, this we will cover in the types of deposit bonuses below. It is very important to note that deposit bonuses work on a sliding scale depending on how much you deposit, if the bonus states 100% up to R4,500, it means that the maximum you can deposit for this bonus is R4,500, and only when the maximum amount is deposited will you be given the full 100% amount. if you deposit less than the maximum amount you will receive a lower percentage bonus. Additionally, deposit bonuses are usually spread over not just one deposit, but 2 or 3, this means that over your first 3 deposits the bonus will be split and allocated in percentage increments.

Types Of Deposit Bonuses

So as to not confuse things even more, there are generally no varying types of deposit bonuses you will likely come across, it is pretty much set that a deposit bonus will carry with it the same premise of requiring a deposit or series of deposits before the bonus itself can be claimed, however with that being said, what you can encounter are several different formats of deposit bonuses. We discussed that the way a deposit bonus is structured is done so completely at the will and discretion of the online casino, and for this case the way a deposit bonus may be structured can vary from online casino to online casino.

Whether you are a new player or an existing player, the formats are likely to be the same considering that you will need to deposit regardless of your status. The different formats that you can encounter are very simple actually, either they deposit comes as a match type bonus on your first deposit, a match type bonus on a series of deposits, or a match type bonus + free spins.

Match Type Deposit Bonus

We briefly touched on how match type bonuses work, just to recap, match type bonuses are a percentage amount which the online casino will add to your initial deposit. Match type bonuses can range anywhere from 25% – 300%. With a match type bonus there is usually a minimum and maximum deposit amount which you can make, the minimum amount will be disclosed in the bonus terms and conditions, however the maximum amount will be represented in the bonus name. For example, 100% up to R4,500, this essentially means that if you deposit a maximum amount of R4,500, the online casino will match your deposit 100%, so an additional R4,500 will be credited to your account. It is important to remember that with a match type bonus they are usually carried over not just the first deposit you make, but the 2nd, 3rd, and sometimes even 4th deposit. With each deposit a percentage increment will be given that will add up to the full percentage amount communicated

Match Type Bonus + Free Spins

The second likely format that you are likely to find is a combination type bonus, in this case not only will you be receiving a percentage match bonus on the amount you deposit, but simultaneously receive free spins to play on a predefined slot game or selection of slot games. Naturally this type of bonus is very sought after for the dual benefit to players, again this predominantly works on a sliding scale depending on how much is deposited, additionally the free spins can also be staggered out across a number of days in equal increments

How Do I Claim A Deposit Bonus?

When it comes to claiming your deposit bonus, you will be please to know that this is a pretty straightforward process. There are a few ways in which deposit bonuses can be claimed, these include:

• The Bonus is instantly credited when making your first deposit, no further action is required
• Making use of the available listed promotions. Online Casinos will feature some of the latest ongoing deposit bonuses on their promotions page from which you can select and claim
• Using a Bonus code. The bonus code, also known as a coupon code is often given to help identify one bonus from another. You can find all of the available bonus codes for redemption on our bonus section.
• Direct casino support. The casino support team will often make contact with you to indicate a bonus that you may be eligible for, this could be through SMS, email, direct message.

When Should I Claim A Deposit Bonus?

Believe it or not, not all bonuses are worth claiming, it really comes down to your playing needs and whether claiming the bonus will enhance or prohibit your playing experience. For this reason we have compiled a few checklist points that you can scan over before claiming any deposit bonus, by doing this you will be fully equipped to decide whether the bonus is worth claiming or not. Remember our team have already reviewed and summarised the below checks for each and every bonus we review, so if you would like to claim a bonus and want to find out more, all you need to simply do is head to our bonus review page for more insight.

1. Understanding the T’s & C’s

By now some point in your life you would of hear the saying “read the fine print”, well this statement couldn’t be truer than in the online casino bonus market. One of the most important rules we recommend that all players apply when ever playing online is to make sure you read the fine print before claiming, in other worlds, know your T’s and C’s. Now we know this can sometimes be incredibly dull, and often more confusing than anything, so if you head to our review section for each bonus you’ll be able to get a quick summary of the T’s & C’s that are a must to know.

2. The Selection of Games

Deposit bonuses of all kinds will most definitely come with some small level of restriction, whether it’s time-related or game accessibility related, this of course has been put in place to protect the online casino to a certain degree. It is off of this protection understanding that most deposit bonuses will come with either a specific selection of games or a game which you as a player can then access and play. The selection of games will normally be indicated in a percentage format, for example, all slots will contribute 100%, speciality games 50%, table games 25%. These terms will differ from casino to casino, so make sure you are aware of what games contribute to the bonus before you claim to make sure that they align with your playing needs and preferences. When it comes to the free spin + deposit bonus, the free spin portion of the bonus will always be assigned to slot games. Often if you play a game that is not part of the bonus aforementioned list, the casino does reserve the right to void all winnings, so be careful before playing.

2. Wagering Requirements/Rollover

The second thing you want to look out for is something called the bonus wager requirement, also represented as WR, and sometimes even referred to as a rollover. The Wagering requirements are essentially the number of times that the bonus amount needs to be played before the online casino will allow you as the player to withdraw any earnings, this is one of the most frequent pain points for any online player who is unaware of the terms.

Casinos will normally state in the T’s and C’s the number of rollover times that the bonus needs to be played before it can be withdrawn. Make sure that you clearly identify what this amount is beforehand. Deposit bonuses can tend to carry with them very high WR amounts, ranging from 30x the bonus amount up to 60x on average.

3. Maximum & Minimum Withdrawal Limits

When utilising a deposit bonus it is important to note that every deposit bonus comes with a maximum and min withdrawal amount. This ultimately set the parameters of how much, or how little you can withdraw from the winnings you have made using the deposit bonus. A maximum amount may be set to restrict high earnings of players at once, and similarly, there is also likely to be a minimum withdrawal amount that can protect the casinos resources and time processing withdrawals. Make sure you are aware of the maximum withdrawal amount applicable to the bonus so that you are not surprised when it comes time to withdrawing and big winnings you may have incurred.

4. Spread Of Deposit

The spread of the deposit specifically highlights the number of real money deposits that you will need to make, and more importantly the percentage match bonus you will receive per deposit. if you recall we mentioned that a deposit bonus can often be carried over not just your first depost, but sometimes your 2nd, 3rd and even 4th deposit. Online casinos will often split out the total match deposit percentage, say for example 200% over the 4 deposits. Your first deposit may get 100%, your 2nd 50%, your 3rd 25% and your 4th 25%. Additionally, the maximum deposit amount will often increase as you go down the deposit scale, so your 4th deposit may have a much higher maximum amount than your first.

5. Country Restrictions

If you have read our gambling rules and regulations across the world, you would know that not all countries allow legal gambling activity, what this ultimately means is that although you may have an account and be able to play the various casino games, often certain bonus incentives may not be allowed, or catered to your market. For this reason, it is important to first identify if the available bonus is available in your market or not.

6. The Spread of Free Spins

We mentioned that often deposit bonuses may be linked to free spins on a popular slot game, well if this is the case, and similar to our 4th point, free spins may be spread out and allocated over several days as opposed to all in one go. The online casino will normally state in the T’s and C’s how the free spins will be allocated, often these are in equal increments. They will also most likely carry with them an expiry date as well.