The What, How and Why of Wagering Requirements

Making sense of wagering requirements is an absolute must for anyone looking to gamble for real money online. As is tracking down a decent low wagering casino bonus, which isn’t always as easy as it sounds.

Wagering requirements are a staple feature when taking advantage of online casino bonus offers. Nevertheless, the extent to which wagering requirements impact the true value of a bonus varies significantly from one promotion to the next.

You’ll find all the information you need in a casino’s terms and conditions, but you’ll also need to know how to make sense of the numbers when you find them.

What Are Wagering Requirements?

In a nutshell, wagering requirements exist to ensure that a casino does not end up out of pocket when handing out bonuses. When wagering requirements apply, the customer in question needs to bet (or wager) a certain amount of their own money, before being able to withdraw the bonus funds or any winnings generated from them.

Wagering requirements apply with almost all casino bonuses across the board, with the rare exceptions of no-wager spins and other no-wager promos. And where wagering requirements apply, you need to consider them carefully to establish whether or not the bonus is worth claiming in the first place.

How Do Wagering Requirements Work?

While wagering requirements vary significantly from one casino and promotion to the next, the basic mechanics are always the same. 

In a typical example, a casino could be offering a welcome bonus with a wagering requirement of 30X. This would mean that in order to withdraw the bonus funds or any winnings derived from them, you would need to wager thirty times the value of the bonus. 

In some instances, the wagering requirements quoted apply to both the bonus funds and the deposit. This effectively doubles the wagering requirements that apply to the offer in question, making it even more difficult to get your hands on your cash. 

Where wagering requirements apply with free spins, the figure quoted concerns the winnings you generate – subsequently indicating how much you will need to bet before qualifying for withdrawals.

How to Calculate Wagering Requirements

Here’s how each of these three examples of wagering requirements works in a typical casino setting:

• Wagering Requirements of 30X Applicable to the Bonus Amount
  • You deposit £100 in your account and claim your bonus
  • The bonus you collect is worth 200% of your deposit 
  • £200 in bonus credit is added to your account
  • £200 bonus x 30X wagering requirements = £6,000 
  • You must wager £6,000 to withdraw the bonus funds 

• Wagering Requirements of 30X Applicable to the Bonus Amount + the Deposit 
  • You deposit £100 in your account and claim your bonus
  • The bonus you collect is worth 200% of your deposit 
  • £200 in bonus credit is added to your account
  • £200 bonus x 30X wagering requirements = £6,000 
  • £100 bonus x 30X wagering requirements = £3,000
  • You must wager £9,000 to withdraw the bonus funds 

• Wagering Requirements of 30X Attached to a Series of Free Spins
  • You claim your free spins when opening your account
  • As you play, you win £200 with these free spins
  • £200 x 30X wagering requirements = £6,000
  • You must wager £6,000 to withdraw the bonus funds 

Each of the above examples clearly illustrates why it is essential to take wagering requirements into account when signing up for bonus offers. Unless you plan on wagering a small fortune using your own money, many introductory offers and incentives are best avoided entirely.

How to Find a Decent Low Wagering Casino Bonus

Thankfully, more casinos than ever before are beginning to introduce genuinely fair and transparent incentives for customers. Sky-high wagering requirements are still the norm, but there is plenty of low wagering casino bonus offers to be found. 

As a general rule of thumb, it’s important to be wary of casino bonus offers that seem too good to be true. If there’s a casino that claims to be handing out four-figure sums of cash simply for signing up, huge wagering requirements are guaranteed.

Common sense is often the best indicator when scouring the web for low-wagering casino bonus offers. Aggregation sites like TopDogCasinos.com offer helpful overviews of what’s on offer, but it is still essential to check the T&Cs before signing up.

Even if you find a casino offering new customers a no-wager signup offer, there will almost always be strings attached of some kind!