Casino bonus glossary

The words below appear throughout casino promotions and throughout this site. Where a term has its own guide, it is linked.

A to C

Alternative dispute resolution (ADR) — An independent service that considers complaints a licensed operator has not resolved. Free to the customer. See how to complain.

Bonus funds — Money credited by the operator that is not yet yours. It carries wagering requirements and usually a cap on how much can become withdrawable cash. Distinct from your cash balance.

Cash balance — Your own money, including winnings paid as cash. Withdrawable without wagering.

Cash spins — Free spins whose winnings go straight to your cash balance with no wagering. See cash versus bonus spins.

Claim window — How long you have to accept an offer after it becomes available. Separate from the wagering window.

Conversion cap — The ceiling on how much bonus money can become real money. Often tied to your total deposits over the life of the account, up to a stated maximum. Frequently the number that decides an offer’s real value.

D to G

Deposit limit — A cap you set on what you can pay in per day, week or month. Every licensed site must offer one. Reductions apply immediately; increases go through a cooling-off period.

Expiry — The deadline on an offer. Spins, bonus funds and wagering each commonly have their own.

Free spins — Spins on a named slot credited by the operator. Winnings are paid either as cash or as bonus funds, and the difference matters more than the number of spins.

GamStop — The free national self-exclusion scheme for online gambling in Great Britain. Registering blocks you from every licensed online operator for six months, one year or five years. See safer gambling tools.

Game weighting — How much a pound staked on a given game counts towards wagering. Slots usually count in full; table games often count for a fraction or not at all.

Gambling Commission — The regulator for gambling in Great Britain. Licenses operators, publishes a public register and takes enforcement action. It does not settle individual disputes.

K to N

KYC (know your customer) — Identity and age verification. Required of every licensed operator, and in practice completed before your first withdrawal.

Match bonus — Bonus funds worth a percentage of your deposit, up to a stated maximum. A 100% match up to £200 means depositing £200 to receive the full £200.

Maximum bet — A cap on stake size while a bonus is active. Breaching it can void the bonus and its winnings, which makes it one of the most costly terms to overlook.

Maximum win (win cap) — A limit on what an offer can pay out, sometimes expressed per batch of spins, for example a few pounds for every ten.

Mega Reel / prize wheel — A wheel spun once after qualifying, which decides how many free spins you receive. The reason offers say “up to” a large number: it is the ceiling, not the expected result.

No deposit bonus — An offer claimable without funding the account. Small, capped and subject to wagering. See no deposit bonuses explained.

No wagering — Winnings that carry no play-through requirement. The cleanest term in any offer.

R to W

Reality check — A periodic on-screen reminder of how long you have been playing and where you stand. You set the interval.

Reverse withdrawal — Cancelling a pending withdrawal to gamble the money again. If a site offers it, turning it off is a good idea.

RTP (return to player) — The proportion of stakes a game returns over a very long run, expressed as a percentage. It is a long-run average across all players, not a prediction for a session, and it is always below 100%.

Self-exclusion — Asking to be blocked from gambling for a set period, either with one operator or, through GamStop, across all licensed online operators.

Significant terms — The conditions that materially affect an offer: minimum deposit, wagering, caps, expiry and eligibility. Advertising rules require these to be presented clearly alongside the offer, not hidden a click away.

Sticky bonus — A bonus that can never itself be withdrawn. You may withdraw winnings it produces, but the bonus amount is removed.

Time-out — A short break from an account, typically a day to six weeks, during which you cannot log in.

Wagering requirement — How many times bonus money must be staked before winnings can be withdrawn. Stated as a multiple, and the basis matters: bonus alone, or deposit plus bonus. See how wagering works.

Welcome offer — The promotion for new customers. One per site, and the only thing that reliably differs between sites sharing an operator.

White label — A brand operating on another company’s licence and platform. The name on the site and the company responsible for your account are different. See why so many sites look identical.

Withdrawal time — How long a payout takes once approved. Processing by the operator and settlement by your bank are separate stages, and the second is outside the operator’s control.

Gambling should be entertainment. If it stops being fun, stop. The National Gambling Helpline is free and open 24 hours a day on 0808 8020 133.