Reload bonus
A reload bonus is a deposit match offered to an existing customer rather than a new sign-up: you top up an account you already hold, and the operator adds a percentage of that deposit as bonus funds, up to a stated ceiling. It usually comes smaller than the welcome offer, because its job is keeping you rather than winning you over. Like most deposit bonuses, it carries a wagering requirement before anything won from it can be withdrawn.
How is a reload bonus calculated?
The headline has two numbers: the match percentage and the cap. A 50% reload up to €50 means a €100 deposit earns €50 in bonus funds, and a €200 deposit earns the same €50, because the cap has already been reached.
Wagering is where the real cost sits. At 10x on the bonus only, that €50 needs €500 of qualifying play; at 10x on deposit plus bonus, a €100 deposit needs €1,500.
Same headline, very different obligation.
Operators set these terms themselves, so there is no standard multiple, cap or percentage across the market, and the clause saying whether wagering applies to the bonus alone or to the deposit as well is the one that decides how much play the offer actually asks of you.
Where you meet a reload offer
Reloads tend to arrive on a schedule, such as a weekly top-up deal, or after a spell when you have not deposited at all. Claim windows can be short, sometimes a single day, and many offers need an opt-in before the deposit rather than after it.
Read whether the reload stacks with other promotions or voids them.
Under section 157 of the Gambling Regulation Act 2024, a licensee may not offer an inducement to a person or a specific group of persons, which would catch a reload sent to selected accounts. That rule waits on commencement and on the new licensing regime, so what you see today still follows each operator’s own terms.
Reload bonus versus welcome bonus
A welcome bonus is a one-off deal for opening an account, while a reload can come back repeatedly for as long as you keep depositing.
The two are easy to mix up because both are deposit matches with wagering attached. A reload is also different from a free bet on the sports side: a free bet returns winnings only, without the stake, whereas reload funds sit in your balance until the wagering is cleared or they expire.
