A bonus code is a short word typed into a cashier. What it unlocks, and whether it's worth unlocking, is decided by a few lines of small print. Here's how to read them.
Published 17 October 2026 · By the Royal Casino Advisor editorial team
Every casino review on this site ends with a code: PURPLE100, YOUR250, WIN300 and so on. Readers ask us two things about them more than anything else. Where do I type it? And is it worth it? The first has a one-line answer. The second depends on how you play, and the casino tells you everything you need to know, if you know which lines to read.
A code is a switch. Typing it tells the casino which promotion you want attached to a deposit. It doesn't create free money on its own; it opts you into an offer that comes with rules. Most welcome codes trigger a deposit match: deposit a sum, and the casino adds a percentage of it as bonus funds. A 100% match on a €50 deposit gives you €50 of bonus money alongside your own €50. A 250% match on the same deposit gives €125.
The bonus money usually sits in a separate balance and can't be withdrawn straight away. To turn it into cash you can withdraw, you have to stake a set amount first. That's the wagering requirement, and it's the single most important number on the page.
At the brands we review, the welcome code goes into the cashier, while you're making your first deposit. Not in the registration form, not afterwards in a chat window. If you deposit first and remember the code later, it's normally too late for that deposit, so have the code ready before you open the cashier.
Codes aren't usually case-sensitive, but type them exactly, without spaces. If the cashier rejects a code you copied from a review, check it against the casino's own promotions page: offers change, and the promotions page is the one source that's always current.
A straight 100% match on the first deposit. The cashier runs in euros, so a UK card is converted by your bank; the terms sit on the promotions page rather than in a pop-up.
100% on your first deposit · code PURPLE100
250% on the first deposit at a brand built around slots, which tends to be where welcome-offer wagering is easiest to complete.
250% on your first deposit · code ZESLOTS250
The largest percentage of the five, 300% on the first deposit. The bigger the match, the bigger the total you'll need to stake, so this is the one to run the worked example on.
300% on your first deposit · code WIN300
A 250% match on the first deposit. Most YourWin24 players use it from a phone; the code goes into the cashier there exactly as it does on a laptop.
250% on your first deposit · code YOUR250
Also a 100% first-deposit match. Cas2Bet has a large casino lobby and a sportsbook on the same account, so check which products the bonus can be played on before you opt in.
100% on your first deposit · code CAS100
Before typing any code, open the promotion's terms and find these six things. They're usually in the first screen of text.
These numbers are made up for illustration. They aren't any particular casino's terms, so do the same sum with the real figures from the offer in front of you.
Say you deposit €50 with a 100% code, receiving €50 in bonus funds, and the wagering is 35 times the bonus. That's 35 × €50 = €1,750 of stakes before the bonus converts. On slots counting 100%, at €1 a spin, that's 1,750 spins. If you played live blackjack counting at 10%, every €1 you staked would only count as 10p, so you'd need €17,500 of stakes instead. Same code, same deposit, very different evening.
Now scale it up. A 300% match on the same €50 gives €150 of bonus funds, and at 35 times that's €5,250 to stake on slots. A bigger percentage is more bonus money, and it's also more wagering. Neither is better in the abstract; it depends on whether you'd realistically play that much anyway.
One more thing that catches UK players out: several of the casinos we review run their cashier in euros. Your bank converts each deposit and withdrawal, and many UK cards add a non-sterling fee on top of the exchange rate. Check your card's terms before depositing.
If a genuine code is refused, the usual reasons are dull: it was entered after the deposit, the deposit was below the qualifying minimum, the account already used its welcome offer, or the offer has changed. The casino's live chat can tell you which.
Be wary of pages promising "exclusive" or "secret" codes worth far more than the casino advertises, especially if they ask you to sign up through an unfamiliar link or download something. A code that doesn't appear on the casino's own promotions page has no reason to work, and the page offering it may be fishing for your login details. Our YourWin24 login guide covers how to tell the official site from a copy; the same checks apply to any brand.
And remember you can always say no. Depositing without a bonus means no wagering, no maximum stake and no excluded games: you withdraw whenever you like.
These are the first-deposit offers and codes for the five casinos we cover. The percentages are the welcome match; wagering, game contribution and maximum stake are on each casino's promotions page, which is always the version that counts. For the full picture on each brand, see our Casino Purple review and the other reviews linked from our homepage.
In the cashier, while making the deposit the offer applies to. At the brands we review, a code entered after the deposit normally won't be applied to it.
The casino adds bonus funds equal to 100% of your qualifying deposit, so €50 deposited becomes €50 of your money plus €50 of bonus funds, subject to the offer's wagering requirement.
The amount you must stake before bonus funds can be withdrawn, expressed as a multiple of the bonus (or bonus plus deposit). A 35x requirement on a €50 bonus means €1,750 of stakes.
Often only partly. Many offers count live and table game stakes at a reduced rate, or not at all, towards wagering. Check the game contribution table in the terms.
Common reasons are entering it after depositing, depositing less than the minimum, having already claimed a welcome offer, or using an out-of-date code. Check the casino's promotions page and ask its live chat.
No. You can deposit without one, which means no wagering requirement, no maximum stake and no game restrictions on your balance.
18+ only. Gambling should be entertainment, never income. Please play responsibly and read our responsible gambling guide.