Online casinos have become notorious for offering over-the-top welcome bonuses to anyone willing to sign up to their platform. It has become something of a competition between rival casinos to see who can offer the most outlandish reward for choosing them.
It’s not uncommon to see casinos promise welcome bonuses in the thousands of dollars, usually as a percentage match to a player’s initial deposit. Typically a casino would offer a 100% match bonus up to $1,000 or so, meaning you get rewarded an amount equal to what you deposit.
Some casinos, however, have upped the ante, offering 200% or even 300% match bonuses up to the tens of thousands. For example, if you deposit $5,000 on a 300% match bonus you would get $15,000 extra! The question many people ask is: how can these casinos afford to give away such huge amounts of money?
The fine print
The trick is in the fine print, or terms and conditions, which the majority of players never bother to read. It’s become common for online casinos to include a clause that requires the player to spend a certain amount of money before the bonus is rewarded. It’s called a ‘wager requirement’ and is usually represented as a multiple of your initial deposit, eg: 35x.
So if you deposit $10 you would have to wager (and potentially lose) $350 before you get your meager $10 match bonus. Even if you win a large amount of money on your very first bet you still can’t make a withdrawal until you’ve met your wager requirements!
That’s where non sticky bonuses come in. A non sticky bonus, as the name implies, is a bonus that doesn’t keep you stuck to the casino. With a non sticky bonus, you can withdraw your winnings and leave whenever you like without having to meet any requirements. A quick browse online will reveal several review sites that list casinos where you can play with a non sticky bonus.
Sometimes these bonuses are also referred to as a ‘parachute bonus’, meaning that you only need to use them in emergencies. If you are lucky enough to win on your initial deposit money then you may never need to activate the bonus.
UK Gambling legislation
Non sticky bonuses came to light when the UK Gambling Commission passed legislation that required online casinos operating in the country to allow the withdrawal of winnings at any time without restriction. Players have now adopted the term ‘non sticky’ to differentiate between casinos that offer the unrestricted bonuses and ones that don’t. Some casinos even offer both sticky and non sticky bonuses, although few use those specific names so you are advised to always read the terms.
One thing you will notice about a non sticky bonus is that they don’t promise unrealistically high payouts or percentage matches. Most non sticky bonuses offer more conservative levels of around 50% to 100%, with limits up to a few hundred dollars. If you see a casino offering ridiculously high match bonuses it’s usually your first sign that it’s not a non sticky bonus.