Casino Bonus Game Weights Explained

This guide aims to help you understand what casino game weights are and how to check them before you claim a bonus.

Table of Contents

Imagine you’ve claimed a casino bonus to play a specific game, only to discover that the game has a 0% bet contribution towards wagering. This can be a disappointing realisation, underscoring the importance of understanding game weights before claiming a bonus.

What are game weights?

Not all bets contribute equally to the wagering requirements when you play online casino bonuses, which is decided by the game weight contribution.

When you are betting using bonus money, you need to play through the wagering requirement to convert the balance into real money. The game weight indicates the percentage of each bet you make that count towards the wagering requirement.

Below are two examples of game weights in action. For the sake of currency conversions, I will use dollars.

50% Live Game Show Contribution Example

If you play a live gameshow and Wheelz online casino, only 50% of your bet will count towards the wagering requirements. Therefore, a $5.00 bet will strike off $2.50 from the wagering requirement.

For a $10.00 deposit match with a 30x bonus wagering requirement, you need to play through 30x $10.00 = $300.00. Your $5.00 bet, worth $2.50, will mean you now have another $300.00 – $2.50 = $297.50 worth of bets to place.

100% Online Contribution Example

On the other hand, most online slots have a 100% bet contribution, so if you bet $5.00 per spin, the entire amount struck off the wagering requirement.

For a $10.00 deposit match with a 30x bonus wagering requirement, you need to play through 30x $10.00 = $300.00. Your $5.00 bet is worth $5.00, so you only have $300.00 – $5.00 = $295.00 worth of bets to place.

To be clear, these two scenarios are oversimplified examples to help you grasp the concept. If you claimed a $10.00 deposit match, staking $5.00 bets is not the best option, as it is 50% of your bonus balance.

Where to Find Game Weights

Online casinos can place game weights in different places, so no one size fits all when trying to find them.

Dedicated Bonus Terms Page

The bonus terms usually found in the casino’s footer should show the game weights. Sometimes, a list clearly shows the game weights for various game types, while some bonus terms will have a sentence saying, ‘This bonus is for online slots only’.

Main Terms & Conditions Page

If an online casino does not have a dedicated ‘bonus terms’ page, then you might be able to find the standard game weights in the main T&Cs. Look for the bonus section and search here for game weights.

The Casino’s Promotions or Bonus Page Section

Some casinos use different bonus terms for different offers. They place the bonus terms alongside the bonus itself to avoid confusing their clientele with a bonus terms page.

Casinoplusbonus Online Casino Reviews

Any online casino website worth its weight in gold will include game weight information in its review. For example, if you check any of our reviews on our casino reviews page, you will see that we include a table that includes game weights for bonuses under the bonus section.

If you are going to claim a bonus and you sign up to an online casino via one of our casino review, we want to make sure you know exactly which games you can play, and the percentage each one contributes towards the wagering requirement.

As you can see in the Gamblezen game weights screenshot, the casino makes the percentages each bonus bet contributes to a particular game abundantly clear. We also placed the same information in the bonus section of our Gamblezen review here.

Other Games That Contribute Less Than 100% Towards Wagering

The Gamblezen screenshot above shows a list of games contributing only 20% towards wagering. This information is below the main game weights, and before you start placing bonus bets, it is important to understand which games contribute a lower percentage.

Online casinos pick these games often because they come with unusually high RTPs or certain features that give the player an unfair advantage when it comes to bonus betting.  In the Gamblezen example, the percentage is 20%, but at other casinos,,, you will usually see lists of games that will only contribute anywhere between 50% and 20% towards wagering.

Can you use tlower game weights to your advantage? For me, if the casino feels these games give bonus players an infair advantage, the lower percentages tell me that when I am playing real money, these are the games I should focus on. Surely stats show these games pay well!

Games That Contribute 0% Towards Wagering

I personally don’t agree with casinos adding this section, which you will see in the accompanying screenshot. Casinos might as well just state that these games are not available while a bonus is active, but for some reason they add a 0% section.

The problem is that some casinos will allow you to take your bonus balance into these games, which effectively amounts to bonus abuse. If you win bonus money from these games, the funds do not count as funds you can use to bet and play through your wagering requirement.

In short, stay away from these games to avoid bonus abuse. For more information, you can read our guide explaining bonus mistakes.

Games Excluded From Bonus Betting

This section in the accompanying screenshot is more self explanatory. Basically, you cannot play any of the games in the list while the bonus active, and if you do try to play one of these games, your bonus bonus balance will not appear.

You will notice that most of the games excluded from bonus bets are progressive jackpot slots.

The only casino I’ve seen that allows bonus bets while playing progressive slots is 888Casino.

Final Thoughts on Casino Bonus Game Weights

To wrap things up, the crucial point made in this guide is that if you want to claim casino bonuses, understanding game weights is a must in order to maximise your chances of converting your bonus into real money. Therefore, you should always check the game weight percentages so you can make an informed decision on whether a particular bonus is right for you.

Another key point includes avoiding games that the casino shows as contributing 0% towards wagering, or you could risk the casino penalising you for bonus abuse. As for excluded games, avoiding these is simple enough as your bonus balance should not show up if you can open the game, or the casino will not allow you to open the game while your bonus is active.

We hope this guide helped, and please feel free to take a look at the FAQs below. Also, if you would like to leave comment, please do so, as we always answer anyone that messages us via the comments section.

FAQ

Why do some casinos offer low game weights on live casino games?

There are several reasons why an online casino excludes live casino games or offers low game weights. Some live dealer games like Blackjack and Baccarat come with an RTP (Return to Player) of 99.5%, while some casinos are worried that they will lose money due to the skill element of playing blackjack.

See our live casino guide for more information about live casino bonus deals.

Why are progressive jackpot slots often excluded from casino bonuses?

There are several schools of thought on this topic. Even if a player wins a progressive jackpot using bonus money, the software provider pays, so the casino doesn’t lose out. Some feel it makes no difference whether these games should accept bonus bets. On the other hand, some casinos feel other players may be disgruntled that a bonus money bet won a jackpot.

Why do some casinos include video poker and others exclude this game from bonuses?

It is always down to the casino’s promotional marketing team. Sometimes, it is down to the aggregator platform they use, and other times, it is simply because video poker games, much like table games, come with a high RTP.

What should I do if an online casino does not show game weights in its T&Cs?

You have two options. Contact the casino’s customer services team and see whether one of the support agents can tell you. Alternatively, avoid the casino altogether because if the promotion team cannot offer clear bonus terms, they could make up an excuse not to pay you if you convert a bonus into real money.

Are there any tricks to playing online slot bonuses?

There are no tricks per se because every spin on an online is random. However, you can read our slot machine bonus guide for more information on the most effective way to play an online slot bonus.