Best Casino Match Bonus

First thing to clarify is that the percentage part will tell you how much the casino will add; by to what degree they will match your deposit. To demonstrate how the percentage part works, let us set up a scenario where we simply deposit a fixed amount and see how our resulting balance will look like after the bonus has done its thing! For bigger bonuses, 200% casino bonuses and above, follow the link. We deposit £$100:

• 25% - £25 extra, £125 to play with
• 50% - £50 extra, £150 to play with
• 100% - £100 extra, £200 to play with
• 150% - £150 extra, £250 to play with

As you can see this is fairly straightforward but matching bonuses rarely come without an upper limit, so let us explore that in more detail.

Let us demonstrate how the second part of Match Bonuses, the maximum amount, work with three examples, and see how a casino promotion expressed as ‘150% up to £200’ would affect a player’s account balance:

1. A deposit of £50 - the casino adds £75 (1.5 x £50), and £125 available for play.
2. A deposit of £100 - the casino adds £150 (1.5 x £100), and £250 available for play.
3. A deposit of £200 - the casino adds £200 (1.5 x £200 equals £300), - as the bonus is capped at £200 only that amount is added - and £400 available for play.

In terms of utilising the matching bonus above, the last example would be suboptimal and money left on the table. If the aim is to use bonuses efficiently it would make more sense to go for the second option and make an additional deposit at a later stage. But as you can see below, it can be easier to turn a 'suboptimal' deposit into real cash.

Bigger is in most cases better, at least in terms in entertainment value. No matter how you put it, the more money available for play will mean more game rounds – but in terms of real monetary value, it is a bit more complicated than this. If you want to turn the bonus into real cash, which we of course always should strive for, we have to take some more aspects of the Matching Bonus’ wagering requirement into account.

Most matching bonuses will be subject to a wagering requirement, and the first thing to look for is how many times you need to wager what. There are plenty of players out there willing to make excessively big deposits in order to make it easier to clear the wagering requirement. Someone with £10,000 available will have no trouble turning over £10,000 - although what remains in the end would of course vary, and left to Lady Luck. Turning over 10,000 with only 500 to start with is a very different beast. What needs to be wagered will be expressed as either;

• Only the received bonus amount, or
• deposit amount + received bonus

Many casinos will welcome larger deposits, while some are unwilling to take the increased risk of having to pay out the awarded bonus. Including the deposited amount is generally not a way to mislead players, but it is important to pay attention to this detail. In most scenarios, you can make them comparable by simply doubling the latter expression. 25x become 50x, 30x equal 60x, and so on.

Matching bonuses are the Gold Standard when it comes to comparing bonuses. In general, it is possible to translate any type of casino bonus into terms of a matching bonus and this can be very helpful when trying to evaluate bonuses. After all, what is important is how much we get in return for what we put in. Absolute amounts are not very useful, but the relationship between the cost (deposit) and the benefit (bonus) is.

Beware of phrasing, for fixed amount bonuses:

• Deposit £10, Play with £20 = 100% up to £10
• Deposit £10 get £20 extra = 200% up to £10

Note, that due to the nonprogressive nature of other bonuses, when expressed as a matching bonus the minimum required deposit has to equal he upper limit of the bonus.

Match Bonuses Compared to Free Spins

The above also holds true for UK Free Spins bonuses, in terms of value. Make a minimum deposit of £20 and get 200 free spins (valued at £0.20 per spin = £40) is the equivalent of a 200% up to £20. Inversely it is not possible to claim that 100% up to £100 has an equivalent in Free Spins. As mentioned above though, some welcome packages will credit a progressively higher amount of free spins depending on deposit size. Get one free spin for each £1 deposited for instance, make sure you know the actual value of each spin if you wish to compare it to a regular matching bonus.

If you have a choice of free spins or a matched deposit bonus, consider the following - multiply the amount of spins with their value, and divide this with the required minimum deposit. Let us demonstrate with a bonus requiring a deposit of at least £20 to get:

• 50 Free Spins (with £0.10 Spin Value) = 25% up to £20
• 50 Free Spins (with £0.20 Spin Value) = 50% up to £20
• 100 Free Spins (with £0.10 Spin Value) = 50% up to £20
• 100 Free Spins (with £0.20 Spin Value) = 100% up to £20

Note that as soon as you make a deposit that is bigger than the minimum amount required to trigger the spins, you will indirectly dilute the value of the bonus. When claiming a free spins bonus, the optimal deposit size will always be equal to the minimum deposit required to trigger the bonus.

Why Match Bonuses are so Popular

Matching bonuses has become the staple they are because of their unrivalled flexibility. Free spins are limited to a certain slot, and with a specified wager lever. Fixed money bonuses are a bit more flexible in terms of usage, but often have a hard time catering to high rollers. This is the reasons why you will undoubtedly find great matching bonuses headlining our best UK casino bonuses listings considering everything!