Casino Bonus Wagering Requirements Explained

Are you feeling confused about casino wagering requirements? Perhaps you are not quite sure how bonus wagering works or what exactly it is you must do to withdraw your bonus winnings?

On this page, we answer all questions you might have about bonus wagering. You will learn how wagering requirements apply to different bonuses, how to calculate them and how to determine if a wagering requirement is reasonable. We also explain all other bonus terms that are significant when you are trying to convert a bonus to real money.

What are Casino Wagering Requirements?

Casino wagering requirements are multipliers that casinos apply to your bonus or free spin win.

These multipliers range from 25 to 70 times your bonus and determine how many times you must play through your bonus to convert it to real money that you can withdraw. Let’s delve into the details.

How Wagering Requirements Work

To understand how wagering requirements work, you must first understand how casino bonuses work.

This is what you need to know:

Your player account has two balances – a cash balance and a bonus balance. The money you deposit is added to your cash balance, whilst bonuses and free spin wins are added to your bonus balance.
You can only withdraw funds from your cash balance.
You always play with the funds in your cash balance first. When you have spent all the money in your cash balance, you will access your bonus funds and start playing with bonus money. At this point, you also start wagering your bonus.
To convert bonus funds to real money that you can withdraw, you must complete the bonus’ associated wagering requirement. Once you have completed the wagering requirement, any remaining funds are immediately transferred to your cash balance.
You can always see how much you have left to wager in your account settings.

Calculating Wagering Requirements For Different Bonuses

Although the fundamental principle is the same, wagering requirements are applied somewhat differently to different bonuses.

No Deposit Bonuses

Example

The wagering requirement is applied to the sum of bonus credits the casino has given you.

For example, if you claim SpringBok Casino’s R350 no deposit bonus, which has a 60x wagering requirement, you must pay R21000 to convert the bonus funds to real money.

R350 no deposit bonus x a 60x wagering requirement = R21000 to wager.

ExclusiveNewSpringBok CasinoNo Deposit: R350

Minimum Deposit: Free

Wager: 60x

Date Added: 25 Nov 2021

Bonus Code: ZEBRA350

Get bonus Read Review

No Deposit Free Spins

Example

The wagering requirement is applied to the sum you win with your no deposit free spins.
For example, if you win with Apollo Slots Casino’s no deposit free spins,
which have a 60x wagering requirement, you must stake R0 to convert the winnings to real money.

free spin win x a 60x wagering requirement = R0 to wager.

ExclusiveNewApollo Slots CasinoFree Spins: 50 on Vegas Lux

Minimum Deposit: Free

Wager: 60x

Date Added: 4 Aug 2022

Bonus Code: MOBFREEVEGAS

Get bonus Read Review

Match Deposit Bonuses

When it comes to match bonuses, a casino may apply its wagering requirement to:

The bonus, or
To both the bonus and its qualifying deposit.

When a wagering requirement is applied to both your bonus and its qualifying deposit, it becomes significantly harder to complete. Let us look at two examples to illustrate the difference.

Yako Casino and Casino.com both offer 100% match bonuses with a 40x wagering requirement. However, Yako Casino only applies its wagering requirement to your bonus, whilst Casino.com requires you to wager both your bonus and our deposit.

Assuming you deposit R1,000 with each casino and claim both these offers, the respective wagering requirements would look like this:

Example

You claim a 100% match bonus and deposit R350 to receive a R700 bonus.

R350 x a 35x wagering requirement = R12250 to wager.

ExclusiveNewNext CasinoWelcome Bonus: R3000 + 100FS

Minimum Deposit: R350

Wager: 35x

Date Added: 17 Nov 2021

Bonus Code Not Required

Get bonus Read Review

Example

You claim a 100% match bonus and deposit R250 to receive a R500 bonus.

R500 bonus + a R250 deposit = R500
R500 a 30x wagering requirement = R15000 to wager.

As you can tell, you must wager twice as much if you sign up for Jackpot Cash Casino’s bonus.

ExclusiveNewJackpot Cash CasinoWelcome Bonus: R5000

Minimum Deposit: R250

Wager: 30x

Date Added: 19 Jan 2022

Bonus Code: JCBONUS100

Get bonus Read Review

Deposit Free Spins

Similar to match bonuses, deposit free spins can be applied to only your free spin winnings or to both your free spin winnings and the deposit you made to receive the free spins.

Example

For example, Yebo Casino offers new players 50 free spins, with a 40x wagering requirement applied to both the free spin win and the qualifying deposit.

Assuming you deposit R280 to claim the free spins and manage to win R,1000, your wagering requirement would look as follows:

R280 deposit + R1,000 free spin win= R1,280R1,280 x a 40x wagering requirement = R51,200 to wager.

ExclusiveNewYebo CasinoNo Deposit: R350

Minimum Deposit: Free

Wager: 70x

Date Added: 17 Nov 2021

Bonus Code: NEW350

Get bonus Read Review

How to Know If a Wagering Requirement Is Reasonable

As wagering requirements can range from 20x to 70x, you must do your due diligence before signing up with a casino and claiming its bonus.

If you are claiming a match deposit, it is also crucial that you check whether the bonus is applied to both your bonus and your deposit or to your bonus only.

Here are some guidelines that will help you determine if a casino’s wagering requirement is reasonable.

These pointers assume that the wagering requirement only applies to your bonus:

20x – Remarkable. Few casinos have this low wagering requirements.
30x – Low.
35x-40x – Industry standard.
40x 50x – Still within industry standards, but slightly high.
60x – High.
70x or more – Way too high. You can easily find generous bonuses with lower wagering requirements.

Other Bonus Terms That Affect Your Bonus Wagering

When trying to convert your bonus to real cash, there are a few other bonus terms that you must take into consideration.

Permitted Games

You cannot wager your bonus on any game.

Casinos always exclude certain games from bonus wagering. If you play an excluded game with bonus credits, your bet will not affect your pending wagering requirement.

You can see which games are excluded in the casino’s general terms and in our reviews.

Game Weighting Percentages

Game weighting percentages tell you how much each bet contributes to your wagering requirement in a specific game.

If a game is 10%-weighted, it means that R10 is deducted from your wagering requirement when you play a R100 spin or hand. Slots are generally 100% weighted, meaning that your entire stake counts towards your wagering requirement.

Table games, live dealer games usually have game weighting percentages ranging from 1% to 30%. If you wish to wager a bonus on any other games than slots, a casino’s game weighting percentages become very significant.

Here are game weighting percentages found at a typical online casino.

The example is taken from Spinit Casino:

All Video Slots and other games – 100%
All games under the category “classic slots”- 75%
All Table games – 10%
All Blackjack games – 5%

Bet Limits

Most casinos do not let you bet more than R70 per spin or hand when playing with bonus credits.

They implement this rule to reduce your chances of scoring massive wins that could potentially leave substantial funds in your bonus balance after you have completed the wagering requirement.

Imagine that you play a R750 spin on Starburst and hit the maximum 120x win multiplier. In such a scenario, you would win R90,000, which would likely be enough to wager your bonus and still be able to cash out a considerable amount of money.

However, if you were limited to betting R70 per spin, that same win multiplier would only yield a R8,400 win.

Advisable Practices When Wagering a Bonus

Despite what you might have heard or read, there is no way of ‘beating’ a casino’s wagering requirements.

As all casino games are based on luck, no strategy can guarantee that you wager your bonus. What you can do is follow practices that may increase your chances of converting your bonus to real cash as much as possible.

Here is some advice to keep in mind:

Choose High RTP Games

Games with RTP percentages payout more winnings. The more you win, the more likely it is your bankroll lasts until you have wagered your bonus.

Avoid Table Games

Due to their low game weighting percentages, table games and live dealer games are not efficient in bonus wagering.

Place Large Bets

It might be wise to place large bets for two reasons. Firstly, you win more considerable amounts that boost your bankroll and allow you to play longer. Secondly, you wager more with each spin.

Play Low-Volatility Slots

The challenge in wagering a bonus is to make your bonus funds last until you have completed the wagering requirement. By playing low-volatility slots with frequent payouts, you increase your chances of keeping your bankroll afloat and wagering your bonus.

FAQ

The short answer is that it is not possible to beat wagering requirements. As all game results are entirely random and based on luck, there is no way to ensure you beat a casino’s wagering requirement and manage to wager your bonus.

However, by having a good understanding of how casino game’s work in terms of RTP (Return to Player) percentages and volatility, you may be able to somewhat increase your chances of wagering your bonus by making your bankroll last longer.

In a nutshell, you should play low-volatility slots with the highest possible RTPs and adjust your bet size according to your current bankroll.

Casinos apply wagering requirements to their bonuses for the following reasons:

To ensure that you do not claim a free bonus and simply withdraw the funds.

To ensure that you do not claim a match bonus and immediately withdraw your deposit and the bonus funds you have received.

Essentially, casinos apply wagering requirements to limit their risk and ensure they do not go bankrupt from offering players bonuses.

For the most part, yes. Although they do exist, wager-free casino bonuses are scarce. For the most part, you can expect bonuses to have wagering requirements ranging from 30 to 70 times your bonus or free spin win.

Generally, it is best to play slots. When you play slots, your entire stake will count towards your wagering requirements as long as the game is not included in the casino’s list of excluded games.

Casino Bonus Wagering Requirements Explained

What are Casino Wagering Requirements?

How Wagering Requirements Work