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What Are Wagering Requirements?

All bonuses have terms and conditions, and one of the most common is wagering requirements. Follow our guide to wagering requirements to discover how these conditions work and what types of bonuses have these terms.

Lauren Le-Hair
Last updated: 03.03.2024
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What Are Wagering Requirements And How They Work?

A wagering requirement is how often you must play through your bonus funds before they become eligible for cash withdrawals. For example, a wagering requirement of 20x tells players that they must wager any bonus funds 20 times before any profit can be withdrawn. You must complete the wagering requirements to withdraw any money from an account. If not, no bonus winnings will be eligible to cash out any winnings from casino bonuses. 

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Example

For instance, if there is $100 in cash in an account and $10 in bonuses, any playthrough requirements will need to be completed before withdrawing.


How To Calculate The Wagering Requirement?

There are two ways to work out how much to spend to complete the wagering requirements, depending on the terms and conditions of the specific bonus. If the promo only requires players to use a bonus amount, the following equation can be used:

  • (Bonus Amount) x (Wagering Requirements) = Total

So, if you have a $500 bonus amount with 15x wagering requirements, the total bet will be $7,500.

Alternatively, if the bonus requires you to wager your bonus and deposit amount to complete the wagering requirements, these equations can be used:

  • (Bonus Amount) + (Initial Deposit) = Account Total
  • (Account Total) x (Wagering Requirement) = Total Bet
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Example

Here’s an example of how wagering requirements work to help you better understand them. Say an online casino offers a 100% deposit match of up to $500 with wagering requirements of 20x. So, if a player deposits $350, they will receive $350 in bonus funds.
They will need to spend their bonus funds 20 times before withdrawing any cash. So with $350 in bonus funds, $7,000 must be used before any money can be withdrawn. Once this requirement is completed, they can cash out any profit.


What Is Considered a Good Wagering Requirement?

With wagering requirements, the lower they can get, the better. Lower wagering requirements will give users a better chance of walking away with a profit, as they won’t have to spend the bonus funds as many times before withdrawing.

However, these terms are almost unavoidable with online casino bonuses, and the average for US casinos is around 20x. Players should look out for bonuses offering playthrough requirements similar to or lower than this. 

How Do I Identify a Low-Quality Bonus?

There are many ways to identify a low-quality bonus, but one of the easiest is looking for high wagering requirements. Any casino bonus with wagering requirements higher than 35x will require you to have significant luck to withdraw any profits. So even a promotion that promises plenty of bonus funds may be too good to be true if the wagering requirements are too high.


How To Find The Best Bonuses?

Now you know what wagering requirements are and what they mean for casino bonuses, you can use these terms and conditions to find the best value for each promotion. Follow our tips below to claim the most generous bonuses from US online casinos, including no deposit bonuses, deposit matches, free spins, and more.  

Shop around at different online casinos
Every casino will provide unique promotions for new players, offering various rewards, values, and terms and conditions. 

Study the terms and conditions
Claiming a promo based on the bonus number will often lead bettors to claim offers with harsh terms and conditions. Use T&Cs like wagering requirements to determine the actual value of a promotion.

Look out for low minimum deposit requirements
A bonus that requires users to commit a small amount of money to get any rewards will give a much better chance of making a profit. 


Are There Any Online Casinos Without Wagering Requirements?

Some online casinos may provide bonuses that don’t have wagering requirements, but these promos usually have other terms and conditions limiting how much players can win. For example, some free spins bonuses may have no wagering requirements but may have caps on the possible winnings. Say a cap is $200, and you win over $450. You will only be able to keep $200 in profit.

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Note!

Remember to check the terms and conditions of each individual casino bonus to find any other hidden restrictions and limitations, such as minimum deposit limits and time limits.

Conclusion

As a common casino bonus restriction, players will likely encounter wagering requirements when boosting their bankroll with attractive perks and prizes. Pretty much every promo will come with a playthrough requirement, including online casino no deposit bonuses, deposit matches, free spins, and more. While wagering requirements can be confusing at first, once you understand these conditions, you can use them to determine the value of online casino promotions.

Frequently Asked Questions

Users can complete wagering requirements by betting their bonus funds the required number of times. For example, with a $100 bonus and 10x wagering requirements, the player must stake $1,000 in bonus funds before withdrawing.

Usually, you will need to complete the wagering requirements with a bonus amount. However, some bonuses will require users to play through the bonus and deposit amount. Read any terms and conditions before claiming a promotion.

No, not all games contribute the same amount to wagering requirements. Usually, slots will count 100% to the playthrough requirements, whereas virtual table games and live dealer games add significantly less.

You will have to complete wagering requirements before you can withdraw the bonus funds from the online casino. The wagering requirements will outline how many times players need to use their bonuses before they can cash out any winnings as real money. 

Many online casinos will let you see a running total of how close your wagering requirements are to being completed. Simply head to your account settings to locate this information.