Navigating Wagering Requirements: A Guide to Maximizing Online Casino Bonuses in 2024

Online casino sites can use terminology that is not very familiar or easy to understand for some customers. Wagering requirements is one of these terms.

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Exploring internet casinos will bring you across a range of free spins, cash bonuses and no deposit bonus deals. There are lures in these incentives that we call wagering conditions. A wagering requirement is the number of times you have to bet an amount of money before you can withdraw your bonus or any winnings from it. Casino requirements like these guarantee that players play rather than just claim bonuses and then make withdrawals instantly.

WHAT IS A WAGER AT AN ONLINE CASINO?

Before I explain what a wagering requirement is let me first explain what a wager is. A wager at an online casino is a bet placed on any of the online casino games offered by the online casino. This includes bets placed on blackjack, roulette, online slots, jackpot games and other online casino games.

WHAT IS A WAGERING REQUIREMENT?

A wagering requirement at an online casino is typically linked to a casino bonus. For example a welcome bonus or a loyalty bonus. In basic terms a wagering requirement is the amount of times a customer must wager a bonus before they can withdraw any winnings as real money.

WHERE CAN I FIND DETAILS ABOUT WAGERING REQUIREMENTS?

All bonuses tend to have various terms and conditions associated with them at an online casino. A wagering requirement is one of the most common terms you will find when you receive a casino bonus. This information can usually be found in the marketing communication you received about the bonus or in the promotion page where details of the bonus are listed. Alternatively you can usually find the general bonus terms and conditions for the online casino in the footer of the site.

HOW DO I CALCULATE WAGERING REQUIREMENTS

Don’t worry, calculating wagering requirements is very straight forward for a customer to do. Below are two examples of how an online casino could apply a wagering requirement to casino bonus.

Offer 1: 100% up to ₹10,000
Wagering Requirement: Bonus has 30 times wagering
Bonus: Customer deposits ₹10,000 to get the full bonus of ₹10,000
Calculation: Bonus multiplied by 30 times wagering (10000 x 30 = Rs. 300000)
Outcome: Customer needs to wager ₹300,000 at the online casino before any winnings can be withdrawn)

Offer 2: 100% up to ₹10,000
Wagering Requirement: Deposit and bonus has 30 times wagering
Bonus: Customer deposits ₹10,000 to get the full bonus of ₹10,000
Calculation: Deposit plus bonus multiplied by 30 times wagering (10000 + 10000) x 30) = (₹600,000)
Outcome: Customer needs to wager ₹600,000 at the online casino before any winnings can be withdrawn)

Always make sure you read the bonus terms and conditions at the online casino to understand how much you need to wager to release the winnings.

DO ALL GAMES CONTRIBUTE THE SAME TO THE WAGERING REQUIREMENTS?

The simple answer to this is no. Most online casinos have restrictions in place that mean some games contribute less to the wagering requirement. In some cases, some online casino games even contribute 0% to wagering.

What do I mean by this? When reading the general bonus terms and conditions at an online casino you will probably find a term which states the below;

Different games mean a different percentage towards what you need to wager.

  • Video Slots: 100%
  • All games in the Classic Slots section: 75%
  • Roulette and Live Dealer Roulette: 50%
  • All other Table games and Live Casino games: 10%
  • Wish Master, Castle Builder 1, Dead or Alive, Double Dragons, Dr Jekyll & Mr
    Hyde, Eye of the Kraken, Pearls of India, Robin Hood, Tower Quest, Super
    Monoploy Money, 1429 Uncharted Seas, Jack Hammer 2, Forsaken Kingdom,
    Shifting Riches, Zombies, Castle Builder 2, Lucky Angler, Big Bang, Devil’s
    Delight, Tomb Raider 2, Tornado: Farm Escape, Jackpot Jester 6000, Jackpot Jester
    Wild Nudge, Thunderstruck 1, Aliens, Vikings go Bezerk, Alchymedes, Holmes
    and the Stolen Stones, Viking Runecraft, Beautiful Bones, Joker 8000, Mega Joker, Spiña Colada, White Rabbit, Blood Suckers are all 0%.

This means when you are using a bonus, if you place a wager on a video slot 100% of that wager will contribute to the wagering requirement. However if you place a wager on live casino only 10% of that wager will contribute to the wagering requirement. For example you place a ₹800 wager on live roulette, only ₹80 will contribute to the wagering requirement.

The percentage of contribution of the different online casino games will vary for each online casino. It is common in some cases that live casino games contribute 0%. Online casino sites also tend to exclude some video slots from wagering. This is usually because they contain in game bonus rounds that make it easier to wager a bonus quickly.

It is very important you read all the terms before you start wagering your bonus at the online casino of your choice.

WHY DO ONLINE CASINOS ADD WAGERING REQUIREMENTS?

There are two reasons why bonuses and deposits have wagering requirements at online casinos. The first reason is to combat against money laundering. If a casino does not have wagering requirements that would mean criminals who launder money could easily deposit illegal funds and withdraw instantly as clean funds. Online casino and other online gambling sites are legally obliged under Anti money laundering laws to combat this type of behaviour where possible.

The second reason why wagering requirements are used is to combat against bonus abuse at online casinos. Unfortunately, a lot customers try to abuse the terms and conditions of a bonus in order to win big. While this is understandable in someways, it means that online casino sites put higher wagering requirements in place to make it harder to win big with a bonus.

Welcome bonuses specifically usually have higher wagering requirements at online casinos. This is because the online casino does not know new customers and cannot differentiate between a bonus abuser and a regular customer.

If you are a loyal and honest customer at an online casino you will notice that the wagering requirements for your bonuses will become lower. This is because the online casino in question knows you are not a bonus abuser. In most cases VIP customers will have no wagering requirements on a bonus.

DOES A CASINO HAVE TO SHARE THE WAGERING REQUIREMENT OF A BONUS?

Yes. A licensed and regulated online casino is legally obliged to share all bonus terms and conditions with a customer when a bonus is made available. If you cannot find these terms the online casino is in breach of basic marketing requirements. You have the option to report them to the regulator or the relevant marketing authority in your region if you want.

WHAT HAPPENS IF I DON’T WANT THE BONUS ADDED TO MY ACCOUNT?

In most cases online casinos allow you to accept or reject a bonus. This can be done before you deposit in the casino where it is a deposit bonus so it is never added to your account. Alternatively you can ‘forfeit’ it after it has been added.

Please remember that if you started playing with your online casino bonus and you decide to forfeit it you could lose the winnings won with the bonus. This means if you won ₹800 when playing with bonus funds and now decide to forfeit it before wagering is completed, you will lose the ₹800 winnings.

In most cases if you forfeit the bonus, even accidentally, the online casino will not add the bonus back if you speak to customer service.

DO ALL BONUSES HAVE WAGERING REQUIREMENTS?

Some online casinos offer wager-free bonuses which basically means no wagering requirement. Wager free spins are sometimes offered as part of the welcome offer at some online casinos. In most cases wager free bonuses are only offered to loyal customers who don’t abuse bonuses.

CONCLUSION

It is important when a customer receives an online casino bonus that all terms and conditions are understood. If you are having difficulty understanding the terms you can speak to the customer service team at the online casino.

Below is a list of Indian casinos and the wagering requirements they tend to offer to indian customers.