Bonus guides · Updated
Sticky vs non-sticky bonuses
A non-sticky bonus keeps your deposit in its own pot, so you can withdraw it and decline the bonus at any point. A sticky bonus merges the two, and nothing leaves until the full requirement is cleared. Same headline, same multiplier, completely different risk — and the terms rarely use either word.
In short
The difference between a sticky and non-sticky bonus is what happens to your own deposit. Non-sticky keeps it withdrawable in a separate balance; sticky locks it behind the full wagering requirement — €7,000 of turnover on a €100 deposit and bonus. The terms rarely name it, so read the withdrawal clause.
What is the difference between sticky and non-sticky bonuses?
A non-sticky bonus keeps your deposit and the bonus in separate balances. You play with your own money first, and the bonus is only touched once your own funds are gone. Win early and you can withdraw your own balance and decline the bonus, with the wagering requirement never engaged.
A sticky bonus merges the two the moment it is credited. One balance, one requirement, and nothing comes out until that requirement is met — your own deposit included. Cancelling usually removes the bonus and everything won with it.
Why does sticky vs non-sticky matter more than the bonus size?
With a non-sticky bonus the downside is bounded. The worst case is losing the deposit you had already decided to risk, and the bonus behaved as a free option you were never obliged to exercise.
With a sticky bonus, accepting it puts your own money behind the full requirement. A €100 deposit that would otherwise be withdrawable at any moment is now held behind €7,000 of turnover, which on a 96% slot costs about €280 in expectation to produce. The bonus is €100. The lock is not free — on those numbers it is priced at roughly €180.
What is recorded here, and what is only inference
Stickiness falls outside the nine fields we record per offer, so we cannot publish it as verified for these operators, and we are not going to repeat what other review sites assert about it. The word is scarce in the source documents too: exactly one of our 52 records, CryptoLeo, is described as a sticky bonus anywhere.
What we do record points one way. All eight apply the 35× requirement to deposit plus bonus, which puts your own deposit inside the wagering base — a base that means little if the deposit can be withdrawn mid-bonus. That is an inference, not a term, and it is why the withdrawal clause is worth two minutes. Across the wider market the structure is a minority one: 13 of the 48 study records that state a basis, 27.1%, calculate wagering the same way.
How to tell which one you have
The terms rarely use the words sticky or non-sticky. Find instead the sentence describing what happens if you request a withdrawal while a bonus is active. If your own balance is available and the bonus is forfeited, it is non-sticky. If the request is refused, or the whole balance is removed, it is sticky.
A second tell is the maximum-win clause. A cap written as a multiple of the bonus is a signal rather than a proof, but a genuinely separated deposit does not need capping — and the single record in our study that is explicitly called sticky carries exactly that kind of cap. Read both clauses before depositing rather than after winning, when the answer stops being academic.
| On a €100 deposit and a €100 bonus | Non-sticky | Sticky |
|---|---|---|
| Your €100 deposit | Separate and withdrawable | Inside the €200 wagering base |
| Turnover before you can withdraw anything | None on your own funds | €7,000 |
| If you are €300 up early | Withdraw, decline the bonus | Keep playing to €7,000 |
| Cancelling the bonus | Your own balance stays | Bonus and winnings removed with it |
| Worst case | The €100 you chose to risk | The €100 plus everything won with it |
Frequently asked
Are these casino bonuses sticky or non-sticky?
It is not something we record, so it is not something we state. What we do record is that all eight calculate the requirement on deposit plus bonus, which puts your deposit inside the wagering base. Read the withdrawal clause in the operator's own terms before depositing rather than trusting a review, including ours.
Can you ask for a bonus to be removed?
On a non-sticky bonus, yes: declining it is the normal mechanism and your own balance stays withdrawable. On a sticky bonus, cancelling usually removes the bonus and every euro won with it, so it is not a free exit.
Does non-sticky mean no wagering?
No. The multiplier is unchanged and applies the moment you start using bonus funds. What changes is whether your own deposit is trapped behind it while you decide.
Is a sticky bonus ever the better offer?
Only if the terms are enough better to pay for the lock, and they rarely are. Compare the bonus not against another headline but against the expected cost of the turnover that releases it: on this group's terms that is roughly 280 euro of expected loss to unlock 100 euro of bonus.
