What Are Wagering Requirements and How to Understand Them

When searching for the best online casino bonuses, you’re bound to come across the term wagering requirements. This is hands down the most important piece of information you’ll find on every bonus T&C page, as it can make or break your chances of cashing in on the promotional offer. 

Wagering, playthrough, or rollover requirements are stipulations casino operators impose to prevent players from abusing bonus deals. If not for these regulations, punters would hop from one casino to another, collecting bonuses along the way. In the long run, this would put casino operators out of business as they wouldn’t be able to afford giving out so much free cash on a consistent basis. 

If you’re an online gambling rookie, understanding wagering requirements and what the concept actually represents may prove a tricky task. That’s why we decided to compose an informative guide that will help you grasp all the nuts and bolts of wagering requirements. Keep reading if you were wondering, “what does wagering requirements mean,” and how to get rid of these burdensome obstacles. 

What Are Wagering Requirements? 

The wagering requirement is by far the most perplexing parameter you’ll find in the casino bonus terms and conditions page. Even experienced players sometimes have trouble getting their head around its underlying mechanism, which is why we’ll start from the very basics. 

Wagering requirements stemmed from the word wager, which, in casino terminology, refers to a real money bet placed on any type of game, be it slots, table games, or live dealer games. In the context of casino bonuses, the term wager can be used as a metric to describe the amount of cash that contributes to the rollover requirements. This begs the question — what is wagering? It’s an act of placing bets on casino games that will count towards meeting the wagering requirements.

Now, let’s get to the phrase itself and shed light on the question, “what are bonus wagering requirements?” 

Wagering, or rollover requirement, is a figure that indicates how much money you’re required to spend (wager) on eligible games to convert bonus cash into withdrawable money. It’s expressed as a multiplier whose exact value differs significantly from one online casino to another. 

Many players assume mistakenly that the wagering multiplier applies only to the granted bonus credits, which is almost never the case. It pertains to the cumulative sum of the deposited cash and the awarded bonus money. 

Usually, wagering requirements are set out on the promotions page, right next to the main bonus specifics. If not, then you can look them up in the applicable T&C section, which is typically listed in the site’s footer. Here’s how Risk casino goes about it: 

Different Types of Wagering Requirements 

There are fundamentally three categories of playthrough requirements, and we’ll provide a brief rundown of all types below: 

• Match deposit WR: The match bonus is the most common type of incentive offered by online casinos. The principle is rather straightforward — the casino matches your deposited sum up to a certain percentage and gives you a portion of bonus cash to play with. This type of bonus is subject to wagering requirements on the sum total of your deposited cash and the received bonus credits. 

• Free spins WR: Rollover requirements are not only limited to cash offers but also to free spins bonuses. But since free spins don’t have a monetary value, the multiplier applies to winnings generated from your free spinning session. 
• No deposit bonus WR: In the case of no deposit bonuses, you’re not making any deposits, which consequently means that the WR apply only to bonus cash. 

What Is Game Weighting? 

Not all casino games have an equal wagering contribution rate. Game weighting refers to the percentage of bets that count towards the completion of playthrough requirements. In most cases, slots have a 100% contribution, whereas table and live dealer games have a much lower weighting — 0-20% on average. The game weighting percentages are usually displayed on the T&C page. If you can’t find them, feel free to contact customer support; they’ll fill you in on the details. 

Reading the Fine Print 

When assessing the value of a casino bonus, it’s important to go over the entire T&C page and look beyond the wagering requirements segment. There are a few conditions that directly or indirectly affect how quickly you can play through the bonus. Notable examples include: 

• Stake limitations: Most casinos impose a stake cap on their bonuses, effectively putting a limit on how much you’re allowed to bet when playing with the bonus cash. If you exceed this threshold, the operator could forfeit your bonus along with any associated winnings. 

• Time restrictions: All bonuses come with an expiry date — a period within which you have to complete the wagering requirements. If the clock runs out and you don’t meet the WR, your bonus money will be lost. 
• Game limitations: Some slots are exempt from wagering, which means that placing bets on these games will not count towards meeting the playthrough requirements. Again, you should check out the casino’s terms and conditions page before swinging into action. 

How Do Online Casino Wagering Requirements Work

The best way to learn how to calculate wagering requirements is via an example. For explanatory purposes, we’ll use the welcome bonus offered by Playzee casino — 100% up to £300. 

By depositing £300, you’ll get an additional £300 in bonus cash. Playzee has placed 35x wagering requirements on this offer (bonus+deposited money), which means that you need to place bets worth £21,000 before getting withdrawal approval. The math behind it is simple — just use the following formula: 

(deposited amount + bonus credits) x wagering multiplier

In this example, it would be: 

(£300+£300) x 35 = £600 x 35 = £21,000. 

As we mentioned earlier, it’s possible that the casino might impose rollover requirements on bonus money only. In such instances, all you need to do to calculate how much money you’re required to spend is to multiply the bonus amount with the associated WR. For the above-mentioned bonus, it would be: 

£300 x 35 = £10,500 

When it comes to free spins WR, the formula transforms to: 

Winnings from free spins x WR multiplier 

Let’s say that you claimed the Temple Nile sign-up offer and got 30 free spins on your first deposit. This particular bonus comes with a 40x wagering requirement, which effectively means that you have to play through your free spins winnings 40 times before they are considered real cash that you can withdraw. 

How to Beat Wagering Requirements? 

Beating wagering requirements is by no means an easy task, and it often takes a great deal of luck to get it done, along with the appropriate game selection. Needless to say, you also must have detailed knowledge on how to meet wagering requirements and all ins and outs associated with the process. 

Here are a few tips that may help you get over the hump: 

• Choose high RTP slots — The higher the RTP percentage of your chosen slot, the more the game will pay out, and therefore, the easier it will be for you to eliminate the WR. With that in mind, you should opt for slots with an RTP of over 96% — these are considered high-paying games. 

• Go with low volatility slots — Volatility in slots indicates the frequency of payouts. Low volatility games will produce a minimal variance on your bankroll, which makes them more suitable for bonus clearance. The payouts in these slots are on the lower side, which means that it can be a while before you accumulate winnings needed to dispose of wagering requirements. 

• Avoid slots with bonus features — The lion’s share of payouts in slots that have bonus elements come from free spin rounds that are often hard to trigger. That’s why it’s best to stick to slots with simple gameplay, like fruit-themed slots. These will dish out nice wins in the base game, thus allowing you to dispose of wagering requirements more quickly.
• Choose a player-friendly casino — As we repeatedly mentioned throughout this page, wagering requirements vary drastically between different casinos. It goes without saying that you should look for bonuses with favourable playthrough requirements — the lower, the better. That’s not to say that you shouldn’t pay attention to other factors, though, like the casino’s size and payout restrictions. 

Final Thoughts

Wagering requirements are every online casino goer’s nightmare. They are a vital part of every promotional offering and represent a figure that shows how much cash players are obliged to spend on the casino site before being allowed to cash out. Casinos put these conditions in place to prevent money laundering practices, bonus abuses, and other fraudulent activities. 

Now that you’ve learned how to wager through casino bonuses properly, it’s time to put that knowledge into action. Our team of casino experts at Casinosters has assembled bonuses with the lowest wagering requirements, along with the top-rated slots that will give you the best bang for your buck. We wish you all the best in your future spinning endeavours, and please don’t forget to gamble responsibly.