21.co.uk quickly piqued my interest with its live casino-focused welcome offer. Most online casinos exclude live games from their bonuses, so fans of games like XXXtreme Lightning Roulette, Crazy Time, Exclusive Infinite Blackjack and many others will be excited to see what’s on offer.
The package consists of £6 in live casino chips plus a 100% matched deposit up to a maximum bonus of £50. To unlock these rewards, players are first required to opt in and deposit £10 — nothing untoward there. However, there’s then a 40x wagering requirement to fulfil before the deposit and chip bonuses are awarded.
To put that in context, a £10 deposit would require you to bet £400 to unlock a £10 bonus. I’m really disappointed to see such a harsh wagering requirement applied before I’ve even had a chance to use the bonus. There’s also a seven-day time limit to complete the wagering, and a three-day limit to spend the deposit bonus if I do manage to unlock it. For me, it just isn’t worth risking that amount of money for such a small reward — the additional £6 chip bonus isn’t enough to make up for it.
If you’re happy to crack on with the wagering process to unlock this bonus, there are a few additional T&Cs to be aware of. Notably, only eligible live casino games contribute to the wagering requirements, ruling out bets on slots, slingo and RNG table games. Furthermore, the £6 chip bonus is gifted over the course of three days in £2 chunks. There’s then a £50 win cap applied to each £2 chip.
Although wagering requirements in the 35x–45x region are found at many top sites like Hyper Casino and All British Casino, those sites do at least allow you to play with the bonus and then decide if you want to try and convert any winnings into withdrawable cash. At 21.co.uk, players have to cough up large sums before they can enjoy any freebies. It’s a similar story at sister site LeoVegas on its Weekend Live Casino Offer — although this comes with 10x wagering, there’s a whopping £50 minimum deposit.
Everyone has their own personal preferences when it comes to casino bonuses, which is why it’s a good idea to browse all the available options using our comparison tools — click over to the TopRatedCasinos homepage to compare 21.co.uk’s offering to more sites. For something truly player friendly, I’d recommend Betfair’s no deposit, no wagering free spins that are available to all new players.