Definition of Wagering Requirements
What does the term "wagering requirements" mean in the world of online casinos? What is meant by the term "wagering requirements"?
When you claim a bonus at an online casino, "wagering requirements" are the conditions that tell you how many times you need to bet through that bonus before you can actually withdraw any winnings from it.
In other words - the casino isn't just handing you free money. There are strings attached, and wagering requirements are those strings.
For instance, let's say that you deposit $100 at an online casino and they match it 100%, giving you $200 to play with. The casino attaches a wagering requirement of 30x to that bonus. That means you need to place $3,000 worth of bets before you can touch any of the winnings that came from that bonus money.
Now here is something that a lot of people miss. You need to understand exactly what that 30x applies to. Does it apply to just the bonus amount, or does it apply to your deposit and the bonus combined?
In the example above, if 30x applies only to the $100 bonus, you need to wager $3,000. If it applies to the full $200 - your deposit plus the bonus - you need to wager $6,000. That is a massive difference, and it is buried in the fine print more often than you would like.
Here is another thing that catches people out. Not every game contributes equally towards clearing wagering requirements. Slots will almost always contribute 100%. Table games are a different story. Blackjack and roulette might contribute 10%, or in some cases nothing at all.
Let's say you decide to work through a $3,000 wagering requirement at the blackjack table, and blackjack only contributes 10%. Every $100 you bet only counts as $10 towards the requirement. You would actually need to put $30,000 through the blackjack table to clear what looks like a $3,000 requirement on paper. That is not a typo.
Wagering requirements vary a lot from casino to casino. Some offer 10x, which is genuinely generous. Others go as high as 50x, 60x or beyond, which in most cases means the bonus is nearly impossible to clear profitably.
As a general rule of thumb, anything in the 20x-35x range is considered fair in the online casino world. Once you start seeing numbers above 40x, it is worth asking yourself whether the bonus is actually worth claiming at all.
As mentioned, always read the terms before you take a bonus. The wagering requirement is the number that matters most, and knowing what you are agreeing to before you deposit will save you a lot of headaches later on.
