Chipstars Casino Bonuses UK: My Experience After 10 Months
I’ve been playing at Chipstars Casino since about July last year, so that’s nearly 10 months of ups and downs (mostly downs if I’m honest, but that’s gambling for you!). Thought I’d put together my actual experiences with their bonus system for any UK players considering giving them a go.
Just to be clear – this is all based on my personal experience as a regular player. No affiliate nonsense here, just straight talk about what you can really expect.
Welcome Bonus – The Real Deal
When I signed up to Chipstars last summer, they were offering new UK players a 100% bonus up to £100 plus 50 free spins on Book of Dead. Pretty standard stuff really.
I deposited £80 initially, so got another £80 in bonus funds. The first thing to note is that the bonus money is kept separate from your real cash – you play with your deposited money first, and only once that’s gone do you start using the bonus funds. This is actually better than some casinos that mix everything together.
The wagering requirement is 40x the bonus amount, which is slightly on the high side compared to some UK sites. For my £80 bonus, I needed to wager through £3,200 before I could withdraw any winnings. Took me about three weeks of regular evening play to clear it, but I did manage it eventually and withdrew about £65 profit in the end.
One good bit – you get 30 days to complete the wagering, which is decent. Some places only give you a week, which is nearly impossible unless you play loads.
The 50 free spins were split as 10 per day for 5 days, which is a bit annoying as you need to remember to log in every day. Each spin was worth 10p, pretty standard value. From my 50 spins I won a grand total of £9.20 – hardly life-changing but better than nothing!
Game contributions to wagering are typical: slots are 100% but table games are much lower (10-20%). I mainly play slots anyway so this didn’t affect me much, but worth knowing if you’re more into blackjack or roulette.
They’ve changed the welcome offer a couple of times since I joined. My mate Darren signed up in February and got 150% up to £150 instead, so it’s worth checking their current offer.
No-Deposit Bonuses & Free Spins
Chipstars isn’t particularly generous with no-deposit bonuses compared to some other UK casinos. In the 10 months I’ve been registered, I’ve received:
- 15 free spins on Starburst for verifying my mobile number
- £5 no-deposit bonus during their Easter promotion
- 20 free spins on Wolf Gold for my birthday last month
The terms for these no-deposit offers are pretty strict – usually 65x wagering requirements, which is much higher than the deposit bonus terms. There’s also typically a maximum win cap of £50-£100.
From the Easter £5 bonus I actually won about £35 playing Big Bass Bonanza, but with the 65x wagering (£325 to play through) I only managed to clear about half before losing it all. Was fun while it lasted though!
Where Chipstars does better is with deposit-based free spins. They have a “Friday Reload” offer where you can get 25-50 free spins when depositing £20+. I take advantage of this most weeks as it’s a decent boost for weekend play.
One really good promotion they ran in December was a “12 Days of Christmas” thing with different offers each day. The best one gave 100 free spins for a £50 deposit with only 25x wagering on winnings – much better than their standard terms. I won about £86 from those spins and actually managed to clear the wagering and withdraw most of it.
The free spins at Chipstars usually expire after 24 hours, which catches me out sometimes if I deposit late at night. Would be much better if they gave at least 48 hours to use them.
Star Rewards Loyalty Programme
Chipstars has a points-based loyalty scheme called “Star Rewards” that’s… OK I guess? Not amazing, not terrible.
You collect points for every £10 wagered:
- Slots give you 2 points per £10
- Table games give you 0.5 points
- Live casino games give you 0.25 points
As someone who plays a mix of slots and live blackjack, this feels a bit stingy for the table games, but it’s similar to most UK casinos to be fair.
There are 6 levels in the programme:
- Bronze (starting level)
- Silver (reached after about 2 months for me)
- Gold (took me another 3 months)
- Platinum (not there yet!)
- Diamond (probably never will be!)
- Black (for serious high-rollers only)
I’m currently on Gold level after 10 months of fairly regular play (I deposit about £150-£200 per month on average). The perks at Gold include:
- Weekly cashback of 10% up to £100 (but comes with 20x wagering)
- Better exchange rate when converting points to bonus cash
- Faster withdrawals (usually processed within 6 hours)
- Exclusive promotions (usually one or two extra offers per month)
The points can be exchanged for bonus funds at a rate that improves as you move up the levels. At Gold, I get £5 bonus for every 500 points. These bonus funds come with a 35x wagering requirement.
One annoying thing about the Chipstars loyalty programme is that points expire after 30 days! This makes it really hard to save up for the bigger rewards. I lost about 800 points once because I didn’t play for a few weeks while on holiday.
My friend Sarah somehow made it to Platinum level (she must spend a fortune!) and says the perks are noticeably better – 15% cashback with only 10x wagering, and a monthly £50 no-wagering bonus. Sounds good but I’m not planning to spend enough to reach that level anytime soon!
Weekly & Special Promotions
Chipstars runs a decent selection of regular and seasonal promotions for UK players. The quality varies quite a bit, but here’s what I’ve experienced:
The weekly cashback is probably the most reliable offer – available every Monday based on the previous week’s net losses. As a Gold member I get 10% back up to £100, with 20x wagering requirements. It’s come in handy a few times after bad runs! Last month I got £42.30 back after a disastrous weekend on Gonzo’s Quest.
They also run regular slots tournaments with prize pools typically around £1,000-£3,000. I’ve placed in the top 20 a couple of times and won small cash prizes (£25-£40). The nice thing about their tournaments is they use “equalised wins” (win amount relative to bet size) rather than raw win amounts, so even if you’re betting modest stakes like me (usually £0.50-£1.50 per spin) you still have a chance against bigger spenders.
Seasonal promotions can be quite good. Their Christmas and Easter specials usually feature reduced wagering requirements and higher percentage matches. The Valentine’s Day promo this year was particularly good – 150% match up to £150 with only 30x wagering.
During the football season they sometimes run “Predictor” promotions where you can earn free spins or bonus funds for correctly guessing match results. Got 50 free spins last month for correctly predicting the score in the Liverpool vs Arsenal match.
Game-specific promotions happen whenever a new slot is released. Last month they were pushing the new NetEnt game (something about pirates, can’t remember the exact name) with 1 free spin for every £2 deposited up to 75 spins. These had reduced wagering of 25x which was decent.
They send regular email offers too – usually about 2-3 per week. Some are pretty rubbish but occasionally there’s a gem in there. Got an exclusive “Happy Hour” offer a couple of weeks ago that gave double comp points for two hours on a Tuesday evening. Managed to rack up about 600 points in just over an hour on Starburst!
One thing to watch for – always check the T&Cs properly. They sometimes sneak in max bet restrictions (usually £5) when playing with bonus funds. My brother-in-law had a £240 win invalidated because he was betting £8 per spin with bonus money. He was absolutely fuming!
Banking Options for UK Players
Chipstars offers all the standard payment methods you’d expect for UK players:
- Debit cards (Visa, Mastercard)
- PayPal
- Apple Pay (added recently, which is handy)
- Bank transfer
- Trustly
The minimum deposit is £10 across all methods, and I’ve never been charged any fees for depositing or withdrawing.
Withdrawal times are pretty decent – typically processed within 24 hours, though sometimes quicker if you’re on Gold level or above. Once processed, e-wallet withdrawals (PayPal etc.) are almost instant, while card withdrawals take 1-3 banking days.
Like all UK-licensed casinos, they require identity verification before your first withdrawal. Their process was fairly straightforward – had to upload my passport and a recent utility bill. Verification took about 8 hours for me, which is better than some other casinos I’ve used.
One nice touch is that they have a “turbo withdrawal” option for Gold members and above – for a £5 fee, they’ll process your withdrawal within an hour guaranteed. I’ve used this a couple of times when I’ve needed the money quickly and it’s worked as promised.
Is Chipstars Worth It for UK Players?
Overall, Chipstars offers a decent if not spectacular bonus system for UK players. The welcome package is fairly standard, and while no-deposit bonuses are rare, the regular deposit-based free spins and seasonal promotions provide ongoing value.
The loyalty programme is a bit stingy at lower levels but improves significantly once you reach Gold status. Weekly cashback is a useful safety net for when luck isn’t on your side.
Game selection is excellent – they have pretty much all the popular slots from NetEnt, Play’n GO, Pragmatic Play etc., plus a good range of live dealer games from Evolution Gaming.
Customer service has been good when I’ve needed it – live chat is available 24/7 and they’ve always resolved my issues quickly. Had a problem with a missing bonus once and they sorted it within about 15 minutes.
For UK players looking for a reliable casino with reasonable bonuses and good game selection, Chipstars is definitely worth considering. It’s not the most generous in terms of bonuses, but what they do offer is fair and their platform is very stable (I’ve never experienced crashes or freezes, which is more than I can say for some other UK sites!).
If you’re after the absolute biggest bonuses with lowest wagering requirements, you might find better options elsewhere. But for a solid all-rounder with decent promotions and excellent game variety, Chipstars is a good shout.
For more information about Chipstars Casino and other UK bonus offers, check out our main casino review page.
