You’ll come across lots of jargon when frequenting online casinos, and wagering requirements crop up a lot. If you’ve read my guide to casino bonuses, you’ll know that wagering requirements form a big part of bonus terms & conditions. They dictate how much money you have to wager from your bonus to convert it into real cash winnings.
That’s the shorthand version of what they are, but it goes waaaay deeper than that.
So, here’s an explanation of what wagering requirements are, how they work, why casinos use them, and more!
Defining Bonus Wagering Requirements
The best definition of bonus wagering requirements is that it is a set amount you are required to bet before you can withdraw bonus-related winnings or treat your bonus-related winnings as real cash.
Casinos will demonstrate wagering requirements as a figure. For example, you might see an offer with 30x wagering requirements, or 50x, 70x, 20x, and so on.
You sometimes see them referred to as playthrough requirements by some casinos, but those terms are interchangeable - unless the casino specifies otherwise.
How Wagering Requirements Work
During my time reviewing and researching online casinos, I have identified two different ways in which wagering requirements can be enforced:
Bonus-only wagering: In this case, the casino will put wagering requirements on the bonus money you have received.
Deposit plus bonus wagering: Some casinos will make you wager your bonus funds and the deposit you made to claim the bonus.
How does wagering work in these scenarios? Let’s imagine that you have deposited $100 at your chosen online casino and claimed a 100% match bonus; here’s what will happen if either of the two wagering requirements is in play:
100% Bonus & $100 Deposit
Type | Wagering Requirements | Total Wagering |
|---|---|---|
Bonus Only | 20x | $2000 |
Deposit Plus Bonus | 20x | $4000 |
When the deposit plus bonus rules are in play, you have to wager all of your deposit 20 times (in this example), and then all of your $100 bonus 20 times as well.
What Happens When You Meet the Wagering Requirements?
If you manage to meet the wagering requirements - and, full disclosure, the majority of players never manage to do this - then you’ll be allowed to use your bonus funds in line with the casino’s terms and conditions.
As mentioned, the bonus money becomes available as real cash that you can withdraw from the casino.
Having said that, the casino may impose other withdrawal terms on bonuses, such as a cashout limit. This can stop you from withdrawing more than a certain amount of money even if you meet the wagering requirements. Take our example above and imagine you’ve met the 20x bonus-only wagering requirements, but let’s say the casino puts a $100 cap on winnings.
After wagering $2000, you have won $150 from your bonus, but you can only cashout $100. The remaining $50 of your winnings is usually forfeited under the bonus terms and disappears into the ether.
Always read the wagering requirements thoroughly so you know if the deposit is included. It can literally double or triple the amount of money you need to wager in some cases, so don’t be blindsided.
Let’s Discuss Game Contribution
Okay, deep breath here, people, because this is where wagering requirements get even more technical. What I haven’t mentioned yet is that casinos will normally provide you with a list of game contributions in relation to wagering requirements for bonuses.
What does that mean?
It’s when the casino decides how much weight a particular type of game carries over to the wagering itself. They express this as a percentage, and here’s an example taken from a real, unnamed casino site.
Game Category | Game Contribution |
|---|---|
Video Slots, Scratch Card, Keno, Race, Arcade & Dice | 100% |
Pai Gow Poker, Caribbean Poker, Triple Card Poker & Poker Table Games | 20% |
All versions of Blackjack, Roulette, Baccarat & Video Poker | 10% |
Craps | 5% |
In practical terms, this means that a bet on any of the games with 100% contribution will mean your entire bet contributes to the wagering requirements.
You bet $10 on video slots, and $10 gets added to the qualifying wagering amount
But if you bet $10 on roulette, it only contributes 10%, meaning that $1 gets added to the qualifying wagering amount
As you can see, it’s really important to look at game contribution rules because this has a huge impact on wagering. If you’re constantly playing games with 10% or 5% game contribution, then you’re effectively wasting your money.
Keep in mind that if a casino doesn’t list a game category in its game contribution table, it likely means that category is excluded from the promotion entirely and contributes nothing to bonus wagering.
Why Don’t All Games Contribute 100% to Wagering?
Good question, and the truth is that there isn’t one particular reason for this; it’s more to do with managing what a player can gain from bonuses. Casinos want to maintain a house edge as much as possible, so they are likely to exclude or restrict games where they lose a bit of control.
That’s why games involving pure luck tend to contribute 100% to wagering, while games with an element of skill contribute way less, as do games with the best odds.
It ultimately comes down to the casino preventing players from winning way too much money from bonuses or finding ways to exploit the bonus terms.
How Wagering Requirements for Free Spins Work
Pretty much everything I’ve spoken about so far revolves around the idea of depositing money, getting a cash bonus, and then having to meet wagering requirements. E.g. You deposit $50, get a 150% bonus, and end up with a $75 bonus. The terms say you have to wager your $75 bonus 10 times - simple.
But what about the free spins elephant in the room?
Lots of casinos offer free spins bonuses instead of deposit match bonuses, so how do wagering requirements work when you’re not actually getting any money to use? Some players think that the casino takes the value of each spin, but that’s not what happens.
Rather than doing this, casinos will make you wager any winnings earned through your free spins.
You sign up and get 50 Free Spins
The casino has 10x wagering on this bonus
You win $10 from your 50 FS
You now have to wager that $10 ten times, meaning a total wager of $100
Does that make sense? It doesn’t really matter if the free spins are worth $1 per spin or $0.10 per spin; wagering comes down to the money you earn from this type of bonus.
Some casinos might put a separate wagering requirement on your deposit for free spins bonuses. E.g. You must wager your deposit once before you’re then granted the free spins.
Wagering Requirements & Time Limits
It is incredibly common for casinos to place time limitations on your wagering requirements. They essentially give you a set number of days in which you must wager your bonus, or it is forfeited.
Let’s pretend a casino gives you a bonus with 40x wagering and then says you must meet these requirements within 7 days of activating the bonus. You could meet those requirements in 8 days, and the casino will not let you withdraw any winnings because you have run over the allocated time limit.
I’ll be perfectly honest with you, this kind of thing sucks.
Some casinos are a bit more lenient than others and may give you, say, 30 days to meet the wagering requirements. Others could be even stricter and only give you 24 hours - it depends on the operator and any regulations they have to follow.
Does Canada Impose Any Wagering Requirement Rules for Online Casinos?
In some countries, the nationwide governing body that regulates online gambling may introduce a rule that prohibits certain wagering requirement activities, such as:
A maximum wagering requirement allowance
A ban on wagering deposits
But in Canada, where online gambling is regulated provincially, there isn’t a nationwide rule in place. Now, I have read an absurd amount of government regulations from each province, and as far as I’m aware, there isn’t a rule that enforces a maximum wagering requirement for online casinos. This means that you could, in theory, run into bonuses with 100x wagering or more.
Is that likely to happen? No, because although there are no rules in place, it’s just bad business for an online casino to do this. People won’t bother claiming the bonuses - and it’s also more likely to flag regulatory rules surrounding player fairness anyway.
I also had a long look at regulations for deposit wagering requirements, and all I could find was a policy from British Columbia’s Technical Gambling Standards for Internet Gambling Systems (IGSs), which says:
“All players must be able to withdraw funds up to the current account balance at any time.”
So, if you deposit $10 and want to withdraw $10, you should be allowed to do that. To be crystal clear: I only found this in British Columbia, so it stands to reason that all other provinces do not have this type of rule in place.
Read a casino’s terms and conditions before depositing money to see if there is a deposit wagering requirement. Some might force you to wager your deposit before you can withdraw it.
The Practical Implications of Bonus Playthrough Requirements
You’ve taken in all this information about wagering requirements, but what does it all mean? You (hopefully) now understand what playthrough requirements are and how they work, yet there is still a very big practical implication when you look at what these requirements mean for you, the player.
A bonus’s playthrough requirements will basically determine the overall value of a bonus - especially when compared to others. Here’s an example:
Feature | Bonus A | Bonus B | Bonus C |
|---|---|---|---|
Deposit | $50 | $50 | $50 |
Bonus | $50 | $200 | $50 |
Wagering | 30x | 30x | 10x |
Required wagering | $1500 | $6000 | $250 |
In these examples, Bonus A and Bonus C initially look identical in that you deposit $50 and get a $50 bonus. But when you look at the wagering requirements, Bonus C is easily more valuable because you only have to wager $250 compared to $1500.
Bonus B also looks like the most valuable on paper because you deposit the same $50 and receive $200. It’s so easy to look at that and think you’re getting better value for money from your deposit, but you have to wager a whopping $6000 to win anything.
Pay attention to wagering requirements and avoid looking at the deal’s initial appearance. Casinos love giving you bonuses that look really good, but in reality you might be better off claiming a “smaller” offer from a different site with way lower playthrough demands.
Responsible Gambling and Bonus Wagering
There isn’t any evidence that suggests bonus wagering requirements are directly linked to problem gambling.
That being said, there’s definitely a pressure of sorts that comes when you’re forced to wager something over and over. High wagering requirements can encourage you to keep betting money as you desperately attempt to meet them. Even if you’re only ever wagering bonus funds, the point is that you remain exposed to online gambling for much longer than intended.
One good tip is to simply log off after you’ve exhausted a bonus. Whether you have or haven’t met the wagering requirements, log out of your account and take a breather. You can go back at another time if you wish, but this break stops you from jumping right back in and potentially gambling away lots of real money.
If you’re experiencing problems with bad gambling habits, please visit our Responsible Gambling page to find contact details for helpful organizations in each Canadian province.
Key Takeaways
Wagering requirements explain how much money you have to wager in order to withdraw money from a bonus. Most casinos will use bonus-only wagering, though some might ask you to wager your deposit as well. If there’s one thing you learn from this article, it’s to be vigilant when reading through a casino’s bonus terms and conditions.
Always look for the wagering requirements, pay attention to the game contributions, and check for any deadlines. In the future, if you want to compare more than one bonus, you can use their wagering requirements to determine which one has a higher likelihood of being turned into real money.
Ben Tremblay
Copywriter & Head of Content
With hundreds of hours dedicated to online gaming, Ben knows what it takes to find a reliable casino and break down its pros and cons. He’s a specialist in responsible gaming tips and covers content related to all aspects of the Canadian online gaming space.
