When you get a free bonus offer for signing up at a scratchcard site obviously it's a carrot to get you to sign up for the games.

If you are not sure whether scratch cards is a game you would like to play then it's a good way of testing the water. If you are a comitted scratch addict then it's a good way of finding a game you like to play.

You need to understand the wagering requirements for each scratch card site so that you don't get too excited with your first win.

For example I recently joined the scratchmania site and with my £7 bonus I managed to rack up wins of over £100 and at one stage I was £140 up.

At this point you would want to cash out however none of the scratch card sites will let you cash out without making a deposit. Which is fair enough.

However on depositing you are awarded a further bonus and so on scratchmania.com for example you will need to wager 20x this bonus AND your free bonus to be able to cash out.

So that means you need to wager £370 to clear a £7 + £10 deposit + £11.50 bonus (20x £18.50).

with a 95% payout you are guaranteed to be able to meet the wagering requirements if you get up to £100 with your bonus money.

I'm putting this here so that beginners don't get caught up in the excitement of winning free money and then the disappointment of not being able to cash it out.

If you go in with your eyes open then you'll be a happier scratchcard player

And we only want happy scratch card players!