Understanding Wagering Requirements
Wagering requirements, also sometimes referred to as ‘play-through’ requirements, are included in almost every bonus offer available, even those that claim to be ‘no deposit’ or ‘free spins’ bonus offers. This is why reading the fine print by clicking on ‘Read More’ or ‘Bonus Details’ buttons (links) usually found at the bottom of every bonus offer is a must.
Every bonus will have wagering requirements that the online casinos or sportsbooks expect from you once you undertake the bonus offer. Basically, wagering requirements are set at a specific amount of time that you have to wager (bet) the full value of your bonus offer. This can either be just the bonus amount or sometimes the bonus amount plus your deposit amount; it all depends on the casino/sportsbook and their bonus offer.
The purpose of wagering requirements is to ensure that new players aren’t there to take advantage of free money offers. The purpose of a bonus offer is to attract new players to the establishment, and having players take the money and run obviously isn’t in the best interest of the establishment. Bonus wagering requirements can be set at anything from 20 times (20x) up to 50 times (50x) which means if you have a bonus value of 100 ($/£/€) and your wagering requirement is 20x, your total wagering amount would be 2000 of your selected unit value. You will also be given a specific time frame to complete these requirements in, for example 14 days. It’s also important to understand that, until you’ve completed your end of the deal, you will not be able to draw any winnings out of your account, any attempt to do so will result in an automatic removal of your bonus offer plus any winnings accrued from it.
Wagering Requirements and Fair Play Rules
Wagering requirements also come with certain restrictions and rules to ensure that you don’t take advantage of low risk casino games or bets in order to accelerate your wagering conditions completion. Sure, you can play low risk games or make low risk bets, but they won’t count towards your wagering requirement portion, so effectively they’ll be a waste of your time.
Common Infringements that Could Lead to You Being Labelled an Advantage Player
Once you’ve received your bonus and have started to get to work on completing your wagering requirements, it can be very tempting to want to speed things up as much as possible. However, you need to be very careful here, as making the wrong move could result in your entire bonus amount, plus your deposit being forfeited. The casino or sportsbook will label you as an ‘advantage player’ which directly contravenes the terms and conditions which you (by clicking on the ‘agree to terms and conditions’ button, or checking the box) have already agreed to.
The most common pitfalls to avoid include:
- Placing large single bets: Placing bets that exceed the maximum allowable percentage (such as 10% or 30%) is a no-no. For example: If you deposit 100 units and you get a bonus of 100 units and decide to place a single bet of 60 units, you will be labelled an advantage player.
- Playing the same game for too long: If you play the same game, play the same hands or spin the wheel too many times in a row (up to 500 times), or you play the same game consistently for more than two hours while your wagering requirements are active, you will be labelled an advantage player. Some players will set a game (especially slots) to run on auto in order to clear their wagering requirements faster.
- Making low risk bets: Low risk bets don’t count towards your wagering requirements and, if you make them while your wagering requirements are active; you could be labelled an advantage player. Low risk bets are usually defined as any spread bet combo in roulette that covers more than 25 of the available 37 numbers or 67%. So, for example, if you bet on both red and black you will be covering 36 out of the 37 possible results.
