Online Casino Bonus Wagering Requirements: How They Work

Everyone loves a bonus offer, but when it comes to online casino welcome bonuses there’s some key fine print to pay attention to.

Wagering requirements are an important factor in any US online casino offer, as they detail how many times you will have to wager the bonus funds before they are released to your account and available for withdrawal.

Some bonus offers keep things simple with low playthrough requirements, being more user-friendly. However, some have lofty requirements that can be difficult to achieve and can lead to confusion and disappointment for customers.

We will run down how wagering requirements work, and what you need to know before jumping into a bonus offer.

What is an Online Casino Bonus Wagering Requirement?

A wagering requirement might also be referenced as a playthrough requirement or rollover requirement.

No matter how it is referenced, what it means is how many times you need to wager bonus funds before they become eligible for withdrawal. Online casinos do this to make sure they aren’t just giving away free money, requiring customers to use the product to some degree first.

Each offer that includes a deposit match, a sign-up bonus, or loss back credits will carry some form of a wagering requirement in their terms & conditions.

Current offers from the best online casino bonuses range anywhere from 1x-30x for their wagering requirements.

If a wagering requirement is just 1x, that means you need to wager the bonus credits one time. Any winnings from those wagers will be unlocked to your account and available for withdrawal.

Should the wagering requirement be any greater, you will have to wager the credits more before having them unlocked. For instance:

• $100 in bonus credits with a 5x wagering requirement means you’d need to make $500 worth of wagers before being able to withdrawal any winnings.
• $100 in bonus credits with a 15x wagering requirement means you’d need to make $1,500 worth of wagers before being able to withdrawal any winnings.

How Long Do Wagering Requirements Last

Along with the wagering requirements, the terms and conditions will provide a deadline for how long you have to meet that requirement.

Deadlines can range anywhere from 7 days to 30 days.

During that period, you can work to meet the playthrough requirement. If you do, any winnings from that point are yours to keep and available for withdrawal.

If you do not meet the requirement under the given deadline, the online casino will remove the bonus and any winnings associated with that.

Should you not have the bonus amount left in your account, they will take what is remaining.

If not comfortable with the wagering requirement, most operators offer an Opt-Out option that will remove the bonus funds and relieve you of any wagering requirement. This way you can play with your own funds and not have to track progress.

Not All Wagers Impact the Requirement the Same

Another important thing to note is that many online casinos apply wagers with the bonus funds differently.

Most will include slot games equally, so any $1 wager will count for $1 of that requirement.

However, table games and live dealer games may have less value toward that wagering requirement. Even the best live dealer casinos won’t be able to provide a 1-1 match on wagering.

Live dealer games and table games like blackjack or roulette tend to have 5-20% value. So, if the operator only has 20% value for table games, that increases the wagering requirement even more if you’re only applying the credits to those games. If your bonus is $50 with a 10x wagering requirement, the table games only return $0.20 per dollar wager, adding another 5x to each dollar, making it 50x to meet the requirement.

Video Poker is almost never included in wagering requirements, so don’t plan on playing that to meet your deadline.

Online Casino Bonuses with Low Wagering Requirements

There’s a lot of online casino bonus offers available, depending on the state you are playing in.

Here’s a look at some of the offers that feature low wagering requirements for their offers.

Tips for Utilizing Bonus Offer Wagering Requirements

Before signing up for a new online casino and receiving their bonus offer, there are a few tips to consider so you don’t get caught in a lofty wagering requirement.

• Know the rules: Always read the terms and conditions. See what the wagering requirement is and what games are eligible.
• Plan ahead: If your bonus is a deposit match, calculate what you’d have to wager to meet your requirement and figure out what you’re comfortable with. Just because an operator offers a deposit match up to $1,000, doesn’t mean you have to contribute that much.
• Opt-Out if necessary: If you feel like meeting the wagering requirement is too big of a hill to climb, considering opting out of the bonus.

Bonus offers are meant to be helpful in starting with a new online casino. Keep it simple and fun and don’t let yourself get lost in the big numbers.