Wagering Requirements Explained

“There ain’t no such thing as a free lunch” applies to online casino bonuses and the small print can be a real deal-breaker.

Playing casino games is fun and playing with free funds can be even more entertaining. There is no risk of losing your hard earned cash and you can relax while focusing on the gameplay. The truth is that we all love free stuff and those online casinos that offer hard to resist bonuses seem the most attractive to us. However, the popular saying that goes “there ain’t no such thing as a free lunch” applies to casino bonuses and you should keep it in mind when looking for a casino to register with.

Some of online casino bonus offers may seem too good to be true making us ask ourselves: what’s the catch? The catch is in terms and conditions with the small print that can be a real deal-breaker. All of a sudden, an attractive four-figure sum may not be that appealing when you know that you can never turn it into real money and withdraw it from your account. That’s why we have made a lowdown of wagering requirements with key details you have to pay attention to when accepting online casino bonus offers.

What Are Wagering Requirements?

So, you have registered with an online casino and it offers you a welcome bonus deal. It is based on the money you deposit and, in most cases, the casino will double your bankroll by crediting a match bonus to your account. You play your favourite games and you win, but your winnings are locked in your account because of one rule – you have to meet the wagering requirement imposed by the casino in order to turn your bonus money into real cash that can be withdrawn.

A wagering requirement or playthrough, which is another term for the same rule, is the number that indicates how much real money you have to deposit and wager in order to turn bonus money into withdrawable cash. All you need to know about wagering requirements can be found under the Terms and Conditions or Bonus Terms and Conditions page on the casino website.

Calculating How Much Money You Have to Wager

For example, the casino you have signed up with offers a welcome bonus of 100% up to $100. The wagering requirements are set at 30x the deposit plus bonus received. To calculate how much money you have to wager to release your bonus and winnings from it, you have to multiply the wagering requirement by the amount you have deposited and received. If you have deposited $100 and received a bonus of $100, you will have to wager $200×30 or $6,000 in real cash to be able to withdraw the bonus funds and winnings from them.

Wagering requirements vary from one casino to another. That’s why it is of the uttermost importance to check out all the rules before you accept a bonus. At some casinos, only the bonus amount is subject to wagering requirements while at others, the wagering requirements may seem lower but both the deposit and bonus received are subject to it. Wagering requirements are typically set between 20x and 50x but can be higher as well. In this case, you should avoid committing to such a casino.

How Different Bonus Games Contribute to Playthrough

Another thing you should pay attention to is how casino games contribute to wagering requirements. What that exactly means? Well, to turn free cash into real money, you have to wager real money on casino games. However, not all wagers contribute towards wagering requirements the same way and you should know which ones contribute most. In most cases, wagers on slot machines count 100% which means that the sum you have played will be deducted from the total sum you need to wager to meet the wagering requirements. Slots are games of chance where players’ moves cannot change the outcome of rounds, which is the main reason while bets placed on these games are the most valuable when it comes to playthrough.

Bets on other casino games will count too but at lower rates. Avoid playing Blackjack or Roulette when trying to reach the wagering requirements as bets on these games count 20% or less, which means that it will take much more time (and money) to turn bonus funds into withdrawable cash.