The reload bonus, read before Monday

A reload bonus is a deposit match for people who already have an account. The welcome package gets the banner; reloads do the quiet work afterwards, usually on a fixed day of the week, with a smaller percentage and a lower cap. Smaller sounds worse. Often it isn't.

Monday, Wednesday, weekend: the reload calendar

Most of the casinos in the coupons above run a weekly rota. What we could confirm, in brief:

• 7Bit: Monday 25% up to C$1,000 + 50 free spins (code MONDAY, C$100 minimum, 35×, one day to use it); Wednesday 35, 75 or 100 spins for C$40, C$70 or C$150 (code WEDNESDAY).
• KatsuBet: Monday 25% up to €500 + 50 spins (LUCKYMONDAY, €50 minimum, 35×), Wednesday spins, Thursday loot boxes and 75 weekly crypto spins (BTC75).
• Mirax: a near copy of KatsuBet's week (MONDAY code, €50 minimum) plus 33 weekend spins for €10 (33WEEKEND), all at 35×.
• Rolling Slots: weekend 50% up to C$400 and Wednesday 30% up to C$450, C$30 minimum, 45×, C$7 max bet.
• Bizzo: Thursday 50% up to C$200 + 100 spins from C$20, and a Tuesday "Secret Bonus" worth up to C$750 on C$60 (40×).
• National: Friday 50% up to C$250 + 100 spins on Book of Cats (40×), and Monday spins.
• Woo: Weekend Reload of 50%, code RELOAD; reviews put it at C$150 + 60 spins with a C$25 minimum, while the operator page shows 100 $/€.

Two more are vaguer. BitStarz offers a 50% Monday Reload and Wednesday spins, but only after four earlier deposits. Casino Days posts weekly reloads in its Rewards tab with amounts that change; one review cites 30% up to C$100 on Mondays.

Several of these figures are in euros because the operator publishes them that way, and KatsuBet's and Mirax's Monday offers were seen on their own en-CA pages. The Bizzo, National, Rolling Slots and Woo details come from review sites. As with every offer here, Ontario residents are excluded.

A smaller match costs less to clear

Here's the part people skip. When a bonus has a negative expected value, and most do, a bigger bonus means a bigger expected bill. Clearing cost grows with bonus size times wagering. A 25% reload on C$100 creates a quarter of the turnover that a 100% match does.

Same C$100 deposit, slots at 96%, wagering on the bonus only:

None of them is free money. But if you were going to deposit C$100 and play slots anyway, the 25% reload takes C$10 of expected value from you and the 100% welcome takes C$80. Free spins attached to the reloads would improve each row slightly; we left them out because spin values aren't published (our free spins page covers how to value them). One caveat on the top row: KatsuBet's terms don't say whether 45× applies to the bonus alone or to deposit plus bonus. If it's the latter, double that turnover.

So a reload beats the welcome offer when:

1. the welcome carries heavier wagering (KatsuBet's Interac package sits at 45×, its Monday reload at 35×);
2. you'd rather keep turnover small enough to finish in one evening;
3. the welcome's expiry is tight for its size; Rolling Slots gives 5 days on a package worth up to C$5,500;
4. you play table games that barely count, and a smaller bonus is easier to abandon.

The welcome still wins if you plan to deposit large amounts anyway and treat bonus money as extra playing time. Our welcome bonus page runs those packages through the same sums.

Twenty-four hours to bet C$3,500

The time limit is where reloads bite. Take 7Bit's Monday offer at full stretch for a mid-sized deposit: you put in C$400, get 25%, so C$100 plus 50 spins. Wagering is 35× the bonus, so C$3,500 of bets, and the bonus is valid for one day.

At C$1 a spin that's 3,500 spins. A brisk player manages perhaps 10 a minute with quick spin on, which is close to six hours of continuous play. At C$2 a spin, three hours, but every swing is twice as large. Expected cost at 96% is C$140 against a C$100 bonus. You can't take a break, sleep on it, or come back Tuesday: whatever is left at the deadline disappears, along with anything it won.

A cap of C$1,000 sounds generous. Clearing a C$1,000 reload in a day would take C$35,000 of bets. We'd only take this offer at the low end, and only on a day with time to spare.

Codes, and what happens without one

Reload codes are entered in the cashier before the deposit, not after. Forget MONDAY at 7Bit or LUCKYMONDAY at KatsuBet and the deposit goes in as plain cash. Support may add the bonus by hand; it's under no obligation to.

That's sometimes a lucky accident. A deposit without a bonus can be withdrawn whenever you like, subject to the casino's own rules on unplayed deposits. Mirax wants deposits turned over 3× (10× on table and live games) before a withdrawal, and BitStarz wants them played once.

A practical habit: screenshot the promo page with the code and the date. If the bonus doesn't appear, you have something to show the live chat.

When the reload holds your deposit hostage

Once a reload is active, your deposit and the bonus usually sit together until wagering is done. Ask for a withdrawal halfway and most casinos cancel the bonus and everything it won. Some go further and confiscate winnings made on the deposit if the bonus was active at the time.

Watch for three set-ups in particular. First, bonus-first play, where your stake comes from bonus money and your deposit stays locked behind it. Second, cash-first play, as at Casino Days, where real money goes first; that's the friendlier order, since you can stop while still on cash. Third, a reload stacked on an unfinished welcome bonus, which can merge both requirements into one. Our wagering guide explains how sticky and non-sticky balances behave.

If you think you might want your money back before Sunday, deposit without the code. A reload is only good value if you're happy to finish it. And if what you want is something back after a bad week rather than more to bet, a cashback offer paid in cash does that job better.