Betting bonus

A betting bonus is an offer with which a licensed provider appeals to new or existing users. It usually comes with conditions you have to meet before any benefit becomes available. These often include a minimum turnover and minimum odds. They include welcome offers for new users and promotions for existing users.

Importantly, a bonus is not free money. The conditions decide whether and how a benefit arises. Often you have to stake an amount several times before anything becomes available. So always read the rules in full before you accept an offer.

Specific amounts and requirements vary from promotion to promotion and can change. This page therefore gives no figures on purpose. Only the conditions stated with the offer itself are reliable.

A bonus is always a marketing tool. The provider wants to win you over or keep you. That is allowed, as long as they stick to the rules. For you, that means seeing a bonus soberly as an offer and not as a gift. Only the conditions show whether it brings you a benefit.

The guide GGL licence and legal sports betting explains the wider context.

To judge an offer, you should know the usual terms. They appear in the conditions.

• Wagering requirement: how often an amount has to be staked.
• Minimum odds: the lowest odds allowed towards meeting it.
• Deadline: by when the conditions have to be met.
• Scope: which bets the bonus applies to.

These terms decide whether a bonus is any use to you. A high wagering requirement or a short deadline limits an offer a great deal in practice. So don't just read the headline, read the small print too.

Bonus offers take several forms. The labels differ from provider to provider, but the basic idea is similar.

• Welcome offer: aimed at new users after they register.
• Free bet: a bet whose stake the provider puts up.
• Promotion for existing users: an offer for users who already have an account.
• Cashback: a partial refund under certain conditions.

What all forms share is that conditions come attached. Only once you know these can you judge what an offer is worth. Don't be guided by the name or a big number in the advertising alone.

Which offers a provider may even make is limited by law. Some bonus forms known from abroad are not allowed in Germany at all. If an offer seems too generous, check carefully whether the provider holds a German licence.

Bonus offers for sports betting are strictly regulated in Germany. The Joint Gambling Authority of the Federal States, GGL for short, oversees the market. Clear advertising guidelines apply, and they ban misleading promises. Player protection also plays a central role. The aim is that no one is tempted into reckless betting.

• Advertising: must be factual and verifiable.
• Transparency: conditions must be clearly visible.
• Protection: limits and self-exclusion stay available at any time.
• Licence: only authorised providers may advertise.

These rules are meant to stop a bonus from hiding the risk. A reputable provider therefore sets out the conditions openly.

A bonus should never be the only reason for a bet. Check the wagering requirements, the deadline and the required minimum odds in the provider's conditions. Work out whether you can even meet these requirements in the time allowed, without betting more than planned.

Also ask yourself whether you would have played the same bet without the bonus. If the answer is no, caution is advised. A good offer fits the behaviour you had planned anyway and doesn't tempt you into higher stakes.

Only bet with money whose loss you can cope with, and use your provider's protection functions. Responsible play comes above every offer. Gambling is only permitted from the age of 18 (21 in Bremen) and can be addictive.