What is a promo code? A string of characters that connects your account to an offer that already exists. That is the entire mechanism, and most confusion about codes comes from expecting more: a code only chooses the campaign, and both the value and the terms come from there.
Two fields for a code
There are two moments when a code can be entered, and they are not interchangeable. The first moment is opening the account, when the code is typed in with your details — a code for new players goes there and only there, because it cannot be added later. The second is at the cashier or on the promotions page, where a code tied to a deposit or to a running campaign is applied before the deposit is confirmed.
A sign-up code entered at the cashier does nothing, and a deposit code entered during registration does nothing. When a code is refused, check where it is being entered before checking whether it expired.
What a code can change
- Which welcome offer the account takes.
- What a deposit earns: a match, a free bet or spins.
- The size of an offer that would otherwise arrive at the standard rate.
- Access to a campaign that is not advertised on the public promotions page.
What it leaves alone: the turnover condition, the minimum odds, the expiry window, or the rule that one account takes one welcome offer. Those belong to the campaign, not to the code, and no code lifts them.
Five usual mistakes
- The wrong field. It happens most often, and the error looks just like an expired code.
- Expired. Campaigns have end dates, and a code posted on a forum in March is usually one that ended in March.
- Already used. Most codes are one per account, and some are one per person, household or device.
- Not meant for this account. A code written for new registrations will not attach to an account that already exists, whatever else is true of it.
- Conditions unmet at the moment of entry. If the deposit is smaller than the minimum, the code fails and the message usually stays silent about why.
Codes and the one welcome
The account takes one welcome offer, which is covered in the welcome bonus guide. A code entered at registration can decide which one it is. A second offer is out of reach, and so is a new choice after the first credit — which is why a code discovered a week on has nothing to attach to.
Sources, by reliability
Three sources, best first: the operator's own promotions page and mailings; a partner site running an agreed campaign, which most published codes are; and everything else. Aggregator pages mostly offer dead or invented codes, and none is worth giving them your email address. A genuine code never costs a payment or your login details; a page that asks for them is not connected to Balkan Bet.
Read the terms, not the code
Think of the code as a signpost and of the terms as the offer. Three things are worth knowing before entering one: which tickets count under the minimum odds, how long you have, and how many times the credit must be turned over. What each of them costs is worked out in the wagering guide. If the terms behind a code are not published anywhere you can read them before entering it, the code is not an offer, it is an advertisement.
A few minutes of attention is all a code is worth. The promotion changes, the pricing does not. For live campaigns and any codes that go with them, see the bonuses hub.