Online casinos are just like any other business- in the sense that they too want attract new customers and keep the existing ones. They offer promotions, attractive propositions and bonuses to tempt new players and also to keep loyal players happy. Given the level of intensity in the online gambling arena, gambling sites to face severe competition. To attract players, they sometimes offer (unrealistic) ‘bonuses’- not because they feel charitable towards you, but because they want to get you to play.
What are wagering requirements?
Wagering requirements are some protective mechanisms that are attached to the bonuses- a glorified term to tell you that there are ‘strings attached.’ These conditions ensure that casinos stay in business by providing that at least part of the money comes back to them. If online players (millions of them) were just allowed to walk away with their (even small) bonuses with no caveats, then casinos would go broke and wouldn’t be able to survive.
How wagering requirements work
All online casinos don’t offer the same kind of bonus- however, the one offered is a deposit bonus. Sometimes wagering requirements apply to deposits, some casinos apply them only to the bonus amount, while others apply it to the bonus and deposit combined. When the bonus offered is 50 percent of the deposit, then a player who makes a $200 deposit, gets a bonus of $100. If the wagering requirement is 10x the bonus, then the player has to wager $1000 before the bonus is worthwhile. For example the requirement is 10x the deposit + bonus, the player has to wager 10x (200+100) = $3000. In both cases, the player has to spend the respective amounts on specific games before any amount can be withdrawn.
Impact of rollovers on bonuses
Different bonuses have different rollovers- 20x rollover may be applied to the bonus + deposit, whereas a 30x rollover may be attached to the bonus amount only; also different games have different wagering requirements. Sometimes many games count towards your wagering requirements, but the percentage of the playthrough varies depending on the kind of casino game. Slots may attract 100 percent, while poker may attract 50 percent and other admissible games draw different percentages.
Hence if a player wagers $20 on slots- the full amount of $20 will go towards the wagering requirement, whereas if the player spends $ 80 on poker, only $20 will go towards it. If the player gets a bonus of $100 with a 10x wagering requirement (as indicated above), then with the above play on slots and poker, they would have met $40 (20+20) of the (100×10) $1000 in wagers that have to be made.
It’s obvious then that players don’t get the total benefit of the bonus, they only get the amount they win by wagering the bonus. Casinos thus get back a part of their money.
Thus you see that the basic concept of ‘wagering requirements’, (which appear in fine print) is that you have to wager a specific amount of money before you withdraw either your winnings or the bonus. Such requirements ensure that players are committed to a certain extent.
Before you gamble online and claim your bonus- do make sure you understand the wagering requirements. If you don’t want that hassle, dip into your bank account!
Always be aware of gambling and it’s problems. If you think you are in trouble or no longer play for fun please visit BeGambleAware at https://www.begambleaware.org/.
Casino Casino wish you the best of luck!