UK Live Dealer Casino Bonuses

The Basics

Bonuses are a great way to make your money go further and aren’t exclusive to the world of gambling. Offers, promotions, coupons, bonuses and freebies are everywhere, and they’re all designed with one thing in mind: getting your business. Then, when they’ve got it, keeping it and increasing it.

There’s a whole mindset attached to this increasing technique and so while they’re not a benevolent kindness bestowed on us from the wealthy, you can absolutely use this active marketing to your advantage.

Most live casinos do have bonuses, although these vary across games as well as from region to region – and many won’t let you wager on live dealer betting. Like any of the games though, when it comes to bonuses, you’ve just got to know how to play them. Here, we’ve provided an extensive list detailing offers from some of the best live casinos on the market, as some useful inside information and tips to help your bankroll go further.

Wagering Requirements

Also known as play-through, wager requirements are the caveats placed on bonuses. You’ll need to bet a certain amount before any winnings can be released into your account – and this isn’t as linear as placing a bet to this value on a single game. Most games have their own set of rules, with most contributing only a percentage of your bet toward the full wager requirements, meaning it takes some time to gradually work away at your play-through (although this is certainly more play than work).

Wagering requirements are displayed with a number and an X, representing the number of times you must bet your deposit or bonus amount in order for the bonus to be eligible for cash out. It may not be fast cash, but if playing the long game can certainly pay off.

To give you an example, we can use the welcome bonus offered at Codeta Casino, where you need to wager 35 times the bonus amount and the amount is 100% up to £/€300.

• You need to wager a total of 35 x €300 = €10,500
• Live Blackjack, Baccarat, Roulette and Casino Poker counts as 25% towards wagering, so you need to multiply the above number by 4. The true amount you'll need to wager is €42,000.

For the record, Codeta offers one of the best welcome bonuses for live casino players. If you play Evolution live blackjack while applying basic strategy, the house edge comes to 0.61%. The 42k needed to wager will cost you €256, meaning less than the bonus amount. So expected value on this offer is actually positive.

Bonus Types

Deposit Bonuses:

The most common form of casinos bonuses. Make a deposit of X and get a bonus of Y. These usually have a deposit match percentage of a certain % with the most common being 100% match. If you deposit £100, you'll get a £100 bonus for a total of £200 to play with.

No Deposit Bonuses:

No cash to deposit (or that you want to deposit)? Not a big problem. From time to time there are casinos that give $/£5 or $/£10 to newly registered players to give a try to their live casino. Understand that these usually come with a max win of between $/£50 and $/£100. You will also need to be very lucky and likely wager a few thousand before withdrawing this bonus. Nothing is free after all and unless you don't mind the hassle, we feel that it is just easier to deposit the $/£5 or $/£10 to play with.

As is often the case with this kind of agreement, chances are you’ll end up wanting more, which is why they are offered to begin with.

Cash-back Offers:

Cash back is an offer type that gives you a refund in an event of you losing. There are a few different types of these offers:

• Cash-back on the first deposit only that works similarly to a deposit bonus. If you have a 50% cash-back offer up to £50 and you deposit and lose £100, the casino shall give you £50 back. This can usually be withdrawn if you please, but make sure to read Terms & Conditions of your bonus instead of taking our word for it.
• Daily/Weekly/Monthly cash-back. This is a bit of a different kind of arrangement often awarded to VIP players playing for the highest stakes. The casino might promise you a 10% rebate on your losses or let's say 0.2% rebate of all the wagers made that is credited either daily, weekly or monthly.
• Cash-on-top is a pretty rare arrangement, but we have seen it before. This is more like a promotion that live casinos sometimes run to get players playing. They could offer something like 20% extra on your blackjack wins up to £/$200 if you play for X amount of time or wager Y amount of money. So this would mean if you get lucky and win £/$1,000 they would credit your account with an extra £/$200.

Important: Always read the terms and conditions of the bonus you are using. If uncertain, ask the live chat or e-mail support for clarification. Good rule of thumb is - if it seems too good to be true, it probably is.

Game Contribution

Live casino games can seem less lucrative when it comes to bonuses . This is down to the lower house edge attached to them. The more risk you take and money you stake, the bigger the bonus, so these “safer” options attract a lower percentage in terms of wager contribution, while some games may not be included in the play-through at all.

Live dealer casinos are also a more expensive medium to run, requiring advanced and copious amounts of technology, live (rather than virtual) human dealers and real time responses, so promotions are oftentimes less prolific. For this reason it’s worth seeking out bonuses designed for live casinos.

If you don't quite understand what contribution is all about, here's an example of a welcome bonus offered at Casumo:

• The first deposit bonus offer is 200% up to £50 and features a 30x bonus + deposit wagering requirement. This means that you would have to wager £1,500 to clear the bonus on slots.
• In their terms you can find that live blackjack and roulette count only for 10% contribution though. This means that every £100 staked will count as £10 towards the wagering.
• This essentially increases your wagering 10x meaning the real amount to wager on live casino is £15,000 to clear the bonus of £50.

Terms And Conditions

As there are exemptions, exclusions and variance across games, deposit methods and even geographical areas, it’s best to check out the terms and conditions associated with any given bonus. You can skim these easily enough. For instance, if you’re live roulette player, scan for this word coming up in a phrase such as: “minimum risk wagering on roulette voids the bonus”, or head to the live casino site’s T&Cs page and look for games grouped together by percentage contribution, in the form of tables or lists.

It may well influence your choice of game. All good live casinos make these T&Cs transparent and clear, but you do have to find read them, something it’s worth taking the small amount of time to do, before beginning.

Excluded Deposit Methods

You’ll often find that depositing funds using the popular and super convenient e-wallets Skrill and Neteller will preclude you from getting a bonus. Finding a “real money” exclusion term on the bonus small print might seem frustrating, as e-wallets are a handy way of keeping your betting safe, secure and separate from your other finances.

However, it’s a necessary fraud protection method, due to the issues the likes of Skrill and Neteller cause with anonymity and verification confirmation.

Having that said, deposits made with a debit or credit card almost always qualify for the deposit bonuses. This is similar to instant bank transfer options such as Trustly.

Non Cashable Bonuses

Some casinos offer deposit bonuses that can only be used for playing. Let's say you deposit £100 and get a £100 bonus. Start with £200 and manage to finish the wagering requirements with a balance of £500. Now when you try to withdraw the funds, the casino will deduct the £100 they gave you and pay the other £400 out.