Depositing $1 or $5 gets you into a casino, but the bonus landscape at those levels is thin. Most casinos cap match bonuses below $5 to free spins only — no percentage match, no VIP tier, no enhanced withdrawal limits.
Three things change once you hit $10. First, match bonuses of up to 500% come into play, so your $10 turns into $60 at Mirax or KatsuBet. Second, several casinos hand you Gold VIP status from your first $10 deposit, which moves your withdrawals into the priority queue (under 4 hours at Mirax, against 48+ hours on the standard tier). Third, you'll have a crack at progressive jackpot pokies like Mega Moolah through dedicated $10 deposit offers at Spin Casino and Cosmo Casino.
In practice, the jump from $5 to $10 isn't proportional. It's exponential. A $5 deposit at Mirax gets you $30 in total, while a $10 deposit gets you $60. So doubling your deposit triples your playing balance.
If a $10 minimum still feels steep, sister-site Deposit1Casino tracks the New Zealand operators that accept a single-dollar deposit instead.