If you are struggling with casino bonuses, or you simply need to understand how wagering requirements work because you are new to online casinos, this guide gives you a great head start. (Photo by icetrayimages794410 on on Vecteezy
We have already covered how to avoid bonus mistakes in order to successfully complete your wagering requirements and convert your bonus money into cash.
If you are new to online casinos, reading this guide covering casino wagering requirements and our advice on avoiding bonus mistakes go hand in hand.
You don’t want to find yourself in a situation where you’ve successfully played through the bonus wagering requirement only for the platform’s support team to deny you the bonus.
Casinos also want to avoid this situation because they don’t want you to have a bad impression when you first interact with their platforms.
In my experience, 99% of player complaints I have personally dealt with claiming that they have been unfairly treated are actually due to misunderstanding the bonus rules.
The second and third complaints casino players approach me is that they find the wagering requirements too difficult to understand or play through. Hence, this guide is here to help you understand casino bonus wagering requirements.
If you understand wagering requirements, you can formulate a strategy to beat the house using bonuses. Also, if you know how to avoid making bonus mistakes, you’ll increase your chances of regularly converting bonuses into real money.
How do Bonus Wagering Requirements Work?
The casino will give you a wagering amount. This could be 30x the bonus only or 40x the bonus amount. Other casinos like to include the deposit amount, too. 30x the Deposit + Bonus ‘or’ 40x the Deposit + Bonus. Below you will find explanations with scenarios for both situations.
Bonus Only Wagering Explained
This means you only need to play through the bonus amount. However, for this to happen, you will need to lose your original cash deposit. Once this happens, your bonus money balance kicks into play, and your bets will begin to lower your play through amount. To explain further, if you have a play through of $300, and you bet $2.00, your wagering requirement bar will lower to $298.00 remaining.
Scenario 1
- You deposit $10.00 for a 100% deposit match bonus you receive a $10.00 bonus balance ($10.00 x 1).
- There is a 30x bonus only wagering requirement.
- 30 x 10 = $300.00.
If you lose your $10.00 cash deposit, your bonus money balance will now come into play. In this instance, with a 30x wagering requirement on the $10.00 bonus:
- You need to win another $290.00 and bet it all, plus bet your entire $10.00 bonus amount to reach that $300.00 figure.
- Once you do, your $10.00 bonus will convert into real money.
Scenario 2
- You deposit $10.00 for a 200% deposit match bonus, you receive a $20.00 bonus balance ($10.00 x 2).
- There is a 30x bonus only wagering requirement.
- 30 x 20 = $600.00.
If you hit a cold streak and lose your $10.00 deposit, your bonus balance will kick in. Although the wagering requirement is also 30x, the bonus amount is $20.00 bonus. The amount your need to play through to convert the bonus into real money is higher than in scenario 2.
- From your $20.00 bonus money, you need to win $580..00.
- To covert the bonus into real money, you need to bet the $20.00 and the $580.00 winnings.
- If you manage to meet this turnover requirement, the $20.00 bonus will convert to real money.
| Pros |
|---|
| You have a backup bonus balance in case you lose your real money balance. |
| Usually quicker to play through ‘bonus only’ wagering if you hit a hot streak. |
| Once you hit the bonus balance, you can try out new games. |
| Cons |
|---|
| Real money bets do not count towards wagering. |
| Short expiration can negatively affect the bonus if you lose your real money balance close to the bonus expiry time limit. |
| Often lower amounts offered versus ‘deposit + bonus’ options. |
Can you convert more than the bonus amount into real money? Yes. If your bonus has not expired, the amount converted into real money is the total value of your bonus money balance when it expires. However, some casinos may put a cap on how much you can convert. For instance, maximum conversion of $200.00.
Deposit + Bonus Wagering Explained
Although deposit + bonus wagering requirements are not overly popular, the terms and conditions surrounding the bonus may be favourable to make up for the higher amount you need to play through.
It is important to read the bonus rules before you begin. However, as this guide is a simple explanation of how online casino bonus wagering requirements work, we will not go into too much detail. You can read more about bonus terms in the ‘how to avoid casino bonus mistakes’ guide recommended in the introduction to this guide. Now let’s take a look at two scenarios so you can understand how ‘deposit + bonus’ wagering works.
Scenario 3
- You make a deposit of $10.00 for a 100% deposit match bonus, so your receive a $10.00 bonus balance.
- There is a 30x ‘deposit + bonus’ wagering requirement.
- $10.00 deposit + $10.00 bonus = $20.00.
- 30 (wagering requirement) x 20 (deposit + bonus) = $600.00 worth of bets needed to convert your bonus.
Here’s how it works:
- Your gaol is to bet $600 in total. From your $10.00 bet, you have an uphill challenge winning $590 from your bonus balance.
- If you get through $600 worth of bets, you only win $10.00 in real money. To win more, you need to continue playing and when you bonus expires, your entire bonus balance will convert into real money.
Scenario 4
- Let’s change the deposit amount to $20.00 for a 200% deposit match bonus. You receive a $40.00 bonus balance.
- There is a 25x ‘deposit + bonus’ wagering requirement.
- $20.00 deposit + $20.00 bonus = $40.00.
- 25 (wagering requirement) x 40 (deposit + bonus) = $1,000.
$1,000 is a large amount to play through. You will have to make sure the casino has a long bonus expiry and the max bets are not too low.
- Once you begin betting using your bonus balance, you have to keep your $ 40.00 balance going for $1,000 worth of bets.
- After $1,000 worth of bonus bets, any money in your bonus balance will convert into real money. That is unless there is a rule that stipulates a maximum bonus to real money conversion.
| Pros |
|---|
| Some casinos count real money bets towards wagering (not all). |
| Deposit + Bonus offers are usually hight than ‘Bonus Only’. |
| A chance to win losses back if you hit a cold streak. |
| Cons |
|---|
| It takes twice the time to play through the wagering requirements. |
| You need a long winning streak to convert the bonus. It’s a lot to ask for at the right time. |
| Some casinos do not count your real money bets towards wagering making the promo much harder to crack. |
Now here’s the catch with ‘Deposit + Bonus’ deals. Different casinos offer different T&Cs. Some split real money bets and bonus money bet in half and the full amount counts towards wagering. Others count all real money and bonus bets towards wagering. However, you will find most sites will mention in the T&Cs that only bonus bets contribute towards wagering.
Bonus Money Versus Real Money Balance and Total Balance
Hopefully, you are not confused about the difference between your real money balance versus your bonus money balance. Yet, this another questions we receive from players on occasion from beginners. Generally, casino terms and conditions do explain the differences between these balances, but in amongst walls of text in the T&Cs section. Rarely is this point explained in the FAQ section.
- Total Balance: This is the total balance of your casino bankroll including your bonus money and real money.
- Bonus Money Balance: This is a balance that shows how much you have in bonus money. You cannot withdraw this money until you meet wagering requirements. You can win a bonus balance in one of several ways. Through a free spins bonus in which all your winning spins credit the bonus balance. Through deposit match bonus offers as explained above. Other ways to build up your bonus balance include VIP Loyalty and Cashback promos.
- Real Money Balance: This is your money you’ve deposited or won. In most cases you can withdraw your real money balance at any time. Yet, there are some caveats to cashing out. For free withdrawals, some casinos require you to turnover your real money deposit 1x or 3x. Look out for this rule in our casino reviews, under the casino payments section. We always highlight it. Also, if you have a bonus active and make a withdrawal, the casino will cancel the bonus.
| Synonyms for Wagering Requirements |
|---|
| Turnover |
| Playthrough |
| Rollover |
| Clearance |
How Difficult Is It to Play Through Casino Bonus Wagering Requirements?
Look, I’ll be completely honest with you here. Not many players convert bonuses into real money. Even with my two decades of experience playing online casino bonuses, I convert deposit matches or free bonus winnings around one out of ten tries on average. Why?
The casinos don’t make it easy to get free money out of them due to two rules:
- Wagering requirements: Playing through wagering requirements on deposit match bonuses or free spins deals is not easy. It is a game of numbers.
- Max bet limits: Most bonus offers have max bonus bet limits. It is important you do not exceed this amount, as casinos will chalk this off as bonus abuse. The most common max bet limit is $5.00 per betting round or spin. Some casinos go as high as $10.00, but this is rare. On the other end of the scale, I’ve seen casinos that put a max bonus bet of $3.00, which isn’t ideal if you are claiming a large bonus amount. Yet, if you are only depositing $10.00, then a $3,00 max bet limit is unlikely to affect you as your bet sizing should be lower than $3.00 per bet to give yourself the best chance of playing through the wagering requirement.
Why are casino bonuses difficult to convert into real money?
If bonuses were easy to convert, then why bother going to work? We could simply play online casino games all day, converting bonus after bonus. If that were the case, casinos online wouldn’t exist. Making bonus deals too easy to convert is not a sustainable business model. Hence, casinos apply these rules as more of a challenge that welcomes you to try your luck at winning free cash.
Other factors can also make your wagering requirements more difficult to turn over. A short bonus expiry time can be annoying as it may not give you time to offset your real money balance with the bonus balance. Also, confusing bonus rules are often an issue with some casinos. If the bonus rules are not clear, we would recommend avoiding the casino as rules can be open to misinterpretation leading to bonus abuse.
Wagering Requirements FAQ
What does maximum bonus to conversion mean?
When your casino bonus expires and you have played through the wagering requirement, the casino will move your bonus balance to your real money balance. However, there may be a maximum bonus for real money conversion in some cases. If this is $100.00, then as soon as your bonus balance hits $100.00 and your turnover has been fulfilled, the bonus ends and you have $100.00.
What are the main disadvantages of claiming deposit match bonuses?
I am not a big fan of deposit match deals unless they have extremely low wagering requirements. The idea of a deposit match is to give you a cushion in case you lose your real money balance. Next, you need a long winning streak to convert a small bonus money balance into real money. I’d much rather make another cash deposit and hope to hit a winning streak with real money.
What alternatives are there to deposit match bonuses?
My favourite bonus type is cashback on your losses. For slots, you can find cash-back deals with low wagering requirements—some as low as 5x. The cashback wagering requirements are as low as 1x if you play live dealer games. Yet, only a handful of casinos offer cashback as a regular bonus deal for online slots. Most casinos will only include it as part of their VIP program. However, check out the 7Signs Casino review. You will find crypto and fiat currency cashback deals.
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