What are Wagering Requirements?

Online casinos provide very generous bonuses to new and existing players. In order to protect themselves from people who will just deposit money to get a high bonus and then withdraw it without ever becoming a player; the online casinos place various restrictions on the withdraw of the bonus given.

The main restriction online casinos place on the bonuses they award is a wagering requirements also known as playthrough requirements. In simple terms this means the amount of "Real Money" you need to wager on the games that the online casino is offering before you are able to withdraw the bonus amount you were given. 

For example if you were awarded a Welcome Bonus of 100% on a $100 deposit. That means you are starting playing for "Real Money" in the online casino with $200 in your player account. In order to be able to withdraw the $100 of free cash the casino gave you there will be wagering requirements you will need to meet.

If your chosen online casino has placed wagering requirements of 20 x the bonus given, then you will need to wager in the amount of $2000 before clearing the bonus for withdraw.  However if your online casino has placed wagering requirements of 15 x the bonus given + amount of deposit, then you will need to wager in the amount of $3000 before clearing the bonus.

You always need to be mindful of the wagering requirements placed on the bonus you are about to receive and check the fine print on the online casino website to ensure you fully understand them. If you don't understand how their wagering requirements  then contact live player support or email the support and ask them to explain it to you in simpler terms much like we did here. Even tell them the amount you are planning to deposit and ask them to do the math for you. 

Other bonuses the online casino gives also have wagering requirements; be it a Reload Bonus, Free Bonus or any other type. Always check what they are as they may vary for different types of bonuses.

Another key factor you need to be aware of is if all the games at the online casino account for the same percentage when it comes to calculating the player meeting the wagering requirements. For example in a some online casinos the amount you wager on Slots counts for 100% of the bet value, so if you bet $20 on Slots that will bring you $20 closer to meeting the wagering requirements. Blackjack and Roulette may only count for 25% of the bet value and Video Poker will count for 80% of the bet value.

In money terms this will translate in the following way; let's say you deposited $100 and got a 100% bonus of $100 so you have $200 in your player account. Then you have wagered $40 on Slots, $20 on Roulette, $60 on Video Poker and $80 on Blackjack.  So the bet value that will count towards your wagering requirements will be as follows:

$40 (Slots) + $5 (Roulette) + $48 (Video Poker) + $20 (Blackjack) = $113 that will count towards meeting the wagering requirements.

Of course this is just an example and the percentages will vary from casino to casino so you always need to check with the online casino you play at. There are no fixed percentages and no main online casino industry standard when it comes to this issue. So be wise when selecting an online casino to play at and if you are, for instance, a keen Blackjack player; select an online casino that for playing Blackjack will give you a higher bet value percentage towards clearing your bonus.