Eve Luneborg
Live casino bonuses offer added value when you play real dealer games such as roulette, blackjack, baccarat, and game shows. These bonuses range from welcome packages and reload offers to cashback and leaderboard tournaments. Unlike slot bonuses, live casino offers come with specific rules that impact how much you can bet, which games count towards wagering, and how winnings can be withdrawn.
In Ireland, the recently established Gambling Regulatory Authority of Ireland (GRAI) is introducing national regulations that affect casino bonuses. Therefore, which bonus types you’ll be able to claim going forward will be changing.
In this bonus guide, we’ll explore all the best types of live casino bonuses and explain how they work. We’re also diving into bonus terms and how you can withdraw bonus winnings.
If you want to play live dealer games with a bonus, you’ll have many different ones to choose from. The selection will differ between operators, but there are some bonus types that are more common than others. Here, we’ll have a look at some standard live casino bonuses you might find at your live casino. We’ll explain how they work, when you can get them, and how to use them.
The welcome bonus is the very first bonus you receive when you sign up as a new player at a casino. What you get differs, but usually you’ll get a match bonus on your deposit of at least 100%. The max cap on the bonus amount can be anything from €50 to several thousand euros.
Typically, the welcome bonus can be used on many game types across the casino. But some operators have a special live casino welcome bonus that can only be used on live dealer games. These are often the best ones, as the bonus terms will be tailored to the live casino experience.
Reload bonuses are ongoing promotions that offer something extra when you deposit into your account. Most often, this is a match deposit bonus, and it’s common to get anything between 25% and 75% extra. Typically, the maximum amount you can get is €100–€500, or somewhere in that ballpark.
The best part about reload bonuses is that most casino operators offer these as recurring promotions. Most often, you get to claim them several times a week. You might also find reload bonuses connected to specific social media campaigns or payment methods — for example, a 5% reload bonus on every single crypto deposit you make.
A cashback is one of the best live casino bonuses you can get. With this, you start by playing with your own deposited money, and if you’re unlucky, you get part of your losses back. You can get cashback for a single deposit or accumulated over a certain period, like a day, week, or month. Anything from 10% to 25% cashback is considered normal.
What makes a cashback one of the best bonus types for live dealer games is that you start playing with your own money. This means no game or betting restrictions and no wagering requirements. If you win, you can immediately withdraw. Only if you’re unlucky and trigger the cashback will certain terms apply. In other words, a cashback is like insurance if things don’t go your way at the tables.
In addition to standard live casino bonuses, many online casinos have special tournaments for their live dealer tables. Most often, this is for either roulette or blackjack, and the aim of the tournament can vary. It can be a wagering tournament, a net profit contest, or a competition where playing the most game rounds is the goal.
For these types of special events, a leaderboard is used, so you can see where you’re ranking compared to other players. Sometimes, these tournaments are hosted by the casino itself, and other times, it’s game studios that arrange them. The only rule that’s almost always true is that the bigger the tournament is, the more you can potentially win.
Claiming a bonus is simple, and most often completely intuitive. There are several ways you can do it, depending on the rules that apply at your chosen live casino.
If you get a deposit bonus — as in a bonus you only get if you make a deposit — then you simply fund your account. Sometimes, the deposit page will have a list of available bonuses, and you simply click the one you want before completing your deposit. Or, you might just have to toggle an on/off button to accept bonuses.
Some casinos require a bonus code, and this is one you can enter on the deposit page. The code itself you’ll get either on the casino’s promotions page or sent via email if it’s exclusive to you. If your casino uses such promo codes, make sure you enter them before you deposit money into your account.
Some live casino bonuses are automatically funded to your account once you have made your qualifying deposit. Other times, you have to manually activate it. In your casino account, you’ll usually find a bonus section where you can see all your available offers. Here, you can click to activate a bonus so the money gets credited to your balance.
On the bonus page, you can also keep track of your bonus progress — the wagering requirement. It’s recommended that you keep an eye on this, so you know when the bonus has been completed.
All bonuses come with terms and conditions. And, when playing live dealer games using a bonus, you need to make extra sure that you read the fine print. Most casino operators focus on general bonus terms, and these are typically for slot gameplay. The special rules that apply to live games are often buried deep in the casino’s bonus terms.
Even though you should read all terms in full, here’s a breakdown of the most important aspects you need to pay attention to. These rules are the be-all and end-all in terms of your ability to actually withdraw winnings from your bonuses.
Almost all bonuses you get from an online casino come with a wagering requirement. The standard playthrough requirement is somewhere between 30 and 40, and sometimes this includes your deposited money. However, this wagering requirement applies mainly to slot machines — not live games.
To find out what the wagering requirement is for a bonus if you choose to play live dealer games, you need to read the bonus terms. There will be a list of game contributions — meaning a list stipulating how much wagers on various games counts towards your playthrough requirement.
Most casinos will apply a game contribution of between 5% and 20% to most live table games, like roulette, blackjack, poker, and baccarat. Game shows, on the other hand, can sometimes contribute as much as 50%. That means a €5 wager on roulette with a 10% contribution will mean only €0.50 is counted towards your wagering. Then, a €5 bet on game shows can count as much as €2.50.
Note that some online casinos have a 0% wagering contribution for live casino games. In such cases, you won’t be allowed to play live games as long as you have an active bonus on your account.
Another very important rule is the one that decides how much you’re allowed to bet per game round. The industry standard is set at €5. This is usually sufficient when playing slots and instant games, but for game types in a live casino, this can be too low for many players.
Since the max bet is usually quite low, you need to be careful when choosing a table to play at. Not all tables allow for small bets. And, even more importantly, you need to make sure that you’re not using a progressive betting strategy. These kinds of betting patterns will quickly take you above the maximum allowed bet while using bonus funds.
At most live casino operators, the maximum bet is enforced by the system, automatically restricting bets above the set limit. But this is not the case at all casinos. Therefore, make sure you read the terms carefully and ensure you comply with them. A breach of this rule can lead to your bonus and the winnings from it being forfeited.
In order to withdraw funds from a live casino bonus, you have to start by completing your wagering requirement. Only when this is done will the bonus funds convert into real money, which you can withdraw.
Before you request a withdrawal from the casino, make sure your account is fully verified. You complete the KYC verification by submitting ID, proof of address, and verification of payment methods. Once approved, your account is ready for cashouts.
You can now go to the cashier and choose ‘withdrawal’ or ‘cash out’. Choose a payment method to withdraw to (this should be the same as your deposit method), enter the amount you wish to withdraw, and fill in any required banking details. Then, confirm that you want to proceed with the cashout.
The casino will then process your withdrawal, and once approved, the money will be on its way to you. The transaction time can be anything from a couple of minutes to several hours, depending on the payment method you used.
In reality, it’s far too easy to fail in compliance with bonus terms, especially when you play live casino games. Since the bonus terms are almost always made with slot games in mind, it can be unclear what applies to live dealer games. And the rules can also feel too restrictive in terms of bets, strategies, and eligible games.
We mentioned progressive betting strategies as something you should avoid when using bonus funds. But this is not the only strategy that must be avoided. Some casinos don’t allow you to bet on more than a certain percentage of the numbers on a roulette wheel, and even if you play with small bets, Martingale and similar strategies can be prohibited. The tricky part is that the system can’t pick up on such patterns and restrict the bets — therefore, you risk playing and winning, only to have your withdrawal request cancelled when you want to cash out.
You should also keep in mind standard bonus rules that apply to all game types. For example, bonuses come with a time limit, you’re usually not allowed to stack bonuses, and postponing game rounds is also prohibited. To ensure you can actually claim bonus winnings, always read the full bonus terms, in addition to the specific terms of the bonus you’re taking part in.
In April 2025, the new Irish gambling authority, the Gambling Regulatory Authority of Ireland (GRAI), was established. Once they are fully up and running, all online casino operators must have a local Irish licence in order to legally accept Irish players. And, once they have that licence, they need to follow Irish gambling regulations when offering bonuses.
As part of the new Irish gambling regulations, some bonuses will not be available at GRAI-licensed casinos. Particularly, bonuses that target individual players — rather than being available to all player segments — will not be allowed. This means special VIP bonuses cannot be offered at casinos licensed in Ireland.
Not only are VIP bonuses prohibited, but also match deposit bonuses and other incentives that are targeted at only certain players based on their activity. Unfortunately, this also means that cashbacks will not be offered at GRAI-licensed live casinos.
In short, the only bonuses a casino is allowed to offer its players are those that are available to every player on the platform.
We can expect that more bonus rules will follow, as the GRAI gathers inspiration from other European gambling authorities. Here’s a breakdown of some of the gambling regulations regarding bonuses, imposed by various regulators.
UK Gambling Commission (UKGC)
Malta Gaming Authority (MGA)
Swedish Gambling Authority (Spelinspektionen)
Dutch Gambling Authority (Kansspelautoriteit – KSA)
Danish Gambling Authority (Spillemyndigheden)
German Gambling Authority (GGL)
Most players love it when they get to claim a live casino bonus, but using it effectively requires attention to detail. Bonus mechanics, wagering contribution, and bet limits are rarely optimised for live dealer games. Missteps, such as exceeding the maximum bet or playing restricted game types, can lead to bonus forfeiture. To avoid being accused of bonus abuse, it’s important that you read all the applicable terms — carefully.
Irish-licensed operators under the GRAI will not be permitted to offer cashback or individually targeted bonuses. This follows a wider European trend, where multiple gambling authorities impose similar constraints. As a result, bonus terms are becoming more uniform, but also more restrictive.
If you’re playing live casino games with a bonus, always read the full bonus terms and check the licensing authority of the site you’re using.
Eve Luneborg – Live Casino Specialist at LiveCasino.ie
Eve Luneborg has been part of the online casino industry since 2014, when she moved to the sunny shores of Malta to pursue her passion for gaming.