Nothing deflates a player’s enthusiasm for an online casino bonus quite like a wagering requirement.
This proverbial pin in the balloon can be found in the vast majority of incentives across the bingo, casino and slot-playing verticals. Unfortunately, they’re a fact of life. So what are they? If you don’t know the answer to this question, then you really, really should read on.
Wagering requirements are conditions that online casinos usually attach to their bonuses and promotions. They determine how many times you must ‘play through’ a bonus before you’re able to withdraw money.
Although maddening, these requirements are put in place to prevent bonus abuse and to ensure that the actual bonus money is used for its intended purpose. In this article, we’ll discuss how wagering works and look at some typical examples of wagering requirements in action. Keep in mind if you want to avoid wagering altogether, there are a number of no wagering sites out there.
How do wagering requirements work?
Wagering requirements are usually expressed as a multiple of the bonus amount, such as "20x" or "30x."
This means you must play through the bonus amount 20 or 30 times before withdrawing any winnings generated from it.
So for example, if you gleefully sign up to claim a £100 bonus with a 20x wagering requirement, you’ll have to play through £2,000 (£100 x 20) before any potential winnings can be transferred to your account.
Wagering can also be applied to free spins. For instance, if you won £50 from free spins with a 20x wagering requirement, you’d need to spend £1,000 (£50 x 20) before getting your hands on the loot. These are the types of promotions to which wagering is applied.
Deposit match bonuses
Deposit match bonuses are bonuses that match your deposit by a certain percentage. For example, a 100% deposit match bonus of £100 will give you an additional £100 in bonus funds. However, the wagering requirements for deposit match bonuses can vary considerably. Some online casinos offer wagering requirements as low as 10, although it’s not unusual to find restrictions of more than 40x.
No deposit bonuses
No deposit promotions don’t require you to make any sort of deposit to be eligible for the bonus. To offset this silly generosity and to protect their own behinds, operators are very careful to ensure that the bonuses are smaller, usually in the $5 to $20 range. They’re often beset by higher wagering requirements too. In fact, it’s not uncommon to see play-through requirements of more than 40x.
Free spins
Free spins are of course thrown in with most welcome incentives and are highly-sort after allurements among slot players. ‘Free’ should probably be taken out of the equation here though because, more often than not, any winnings generated from them are subject to you know what. Again, these vary between sites but tend to range from 20x to 50x. Keep in mind too, that maximum betting limits are usually applied to each spin. Go over that limit and you may forfeit any winnings.
Game weighting and time limits
To top it all off, wagering rules are subject to game weighting and time limits. In regards to the former, each game contributes a certain amount to the wagering requirements. Most popular slots, or at least those with RTPs below 97%, tend to fall in the 100% bracket. However, games like roulette or blackjack contribute on average 10% or less, meaning that you’ll contribute just 10p for every £1 you stake.
Then you’ve got time limits. These determine how long you’ve got to satisfy wagering requirements. 30 days is pretty standard although a few online casinos impose 7 day time limits. ‘Responsible’ play can go out of the window when you’re trying to play-through a bonus with a restrictive time-limit.
Conclusion
There’s no escaping wagering requirements unfortunately, that is if you want to claim an online casino bonus. You could of course avoid casino bonuses altogether. In fact a lot of players do just this, preferring not to get tied into time limits, withdrawal restrictions and other little caveats hidden in the small print. Nonetheless, should you decide to ‘take advantage’ of an online casino bonus, make sure you fully understand what you’re letting yourself in for. This means scouring the terms and conditions to find out if a bonus fits your playing style and of course your budget.