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Wagering Requirements

wagering requirements
Article by:
Amanda Wilson
Pavo Jurkic

Wagering requirements are the number of times you have to play through your bonus before withdrawing any wins. You can also read them as an amount of money you must stake. In its Terms & Conditions, each site specifies the wagering requirements, as they can apply differently to different games and bonuses.

Sometimes, sites call them rollover or playthrough requirements. Nonetheless, real money online casinos prefer playthrough, while sportsbooks stick with rollovers. These limits vary depending on the company’s policy, games, and bonuses. All in all, if you don’t meet the wagering requirements, you won’t be able to turn your bonus funds into a withdrawable cash amount.

What Are Wagering Requirements

In short, a wagering requirement is a rule online casinos instate in their welcome offers to challenge the players and prevent them from withdrawing the funds right away. The wagering requirement represents the number of times the player has to wager through the bonus funds to convert the winnings into real money and be able to withdraw them.

How Wagering Requirements Work

The wagering requirement represents the number of times you have to wager the bonus amount to complete the bonus and unlock withdrawals. For instance, you claim a $100 bonus at a 10x wagering requirement. In this case, the total wagering amount is $1,000. Or if you claim a $200 bonus at 20x wagering requirement, the total wagering amount is $4,000.

Calculation of Wagering Requirements: Example

You only need simple maths to calculate the wagering requirements, or to be more precise – multiplication. Online casinos usually provide playthrough requirements between 35 and 70 times. This means that you’ll have to stake your bonus or the whole amount for (by) 35 or 70 times.

Let’s take wagering requirements of 35x as an example:

Suppose you make a 10 NZD deposit and receive a 100% deposit match as a welcome bonus. This gives you an extra NZ$10 to play with, bringing the total balance to NZ$20. If the casino applies a 35x wagering requirement to the full amount, you’ll need to wager the entire NZ$20 35 times before you can withdraw your winnings.

This means you would need to place bets worth a total of NZ$700 (35 x NZ$20). Once you meet this requirement, your eligible winnings can be withdrawn.

Some casinos, however, apply wagering requirements only to the bonus amount, which is common with non-sticky promotions. In this case, you would need to wager NZ$350 (35 x NZ$10) instead.

A casino may also set a higher playthrough requirement, such as 70x. With a NZ$20 balance, this would mean wagering a total of NZ$1,400 (70 x NZ$20) before meeting the requirement.

In any case, always check the T&Cs of each casino bonus before claiming it.

Other Bonus T&Cs That Influence Bonus Wagering

Before staking your funds, check the T&Cs of the company. There you’ll see what else can limit or curb your wagering. For example, sites have different time limits, minimum bets, or game restrictions. Furthermore, they can have specific playthroughs for free spins or other promotions. Following are the most important T&Cs that influence your wagering:

Game Contribution

Different games contribute differently toward the playthroughs. Sites usually state that slot games contribute 100%. This means that the 35x wagering stays 35 times when staking your funds at slot tiles.

Nonetheless, tables or live dealer games may contribute 50% or 10%. If the contribution is 50%, this means that you will have to double your wagering sum. Your standard wager will decrease from 100% to 50%. In this case, wagering your money at tables or live dealer will become 70x (or 35 x 2).

Time Limit

Time limits are another condition that can influence your bonus wagering. For instance, websites can specify time limits for wagering your free spins or the whole bonus amount.

Sometimes they’ll impose time limits on the bonus wagering between 7 and 60 days. Other times, you’ll have only 24 hours to wager your funds.

Additionally, the gaming operators can divide the free spins amount daily. For example, you may unlock 100 free spins as a part of a welcome offer. However, some sites may oblige you to wager 10% of the free spins for 10 consecutive days. Please check out the T&Cs of each company and learn more about the wagering time limits.

Minimum Bet

A minimum bet stake doesn’t tell much about the bonus value. In fact, it only states the lowest amount you can stake at a game without losing the right to play with the bonus funds.

However, a limit you should reconsider before claiming a bonus is the maximum betting limit. This restriction will give you an insight into how quickly you could clear the wagering requirements. Most of the time, the max limit will be set at 5 NZD.

Type of Bonus

On NZ online casinos, first-deposit and no-deposit (AKA sign-up) bonuses are the two most common types. When we compare them, we’ll notice that first-deposit bonuses have much lower wagering requirements. In contrast, wins based on free spins tend to have much higher wagering requirements and usually require players to make a deposit to unlock withdrawals.

Bonus Amount

Another factor that plays a vital role in the wagering requirements is the bonus amount. Typically, bonuses with larger maximum caps and superior deposit percentage boosts have higher wagering requirements than their lower-capped counterparts. For example, a bonus that rewards a 200% first deposit bonus capped at $2,000 is typically going to have a much higher wagering requirement than a 100% first deposit bonus capped at $200.

FAQ

What do wagering requirements mean?

Wagering requirements are the number of times you have to stake your bonus before a withdrawal. They are also called playthrough or rollover requirements and can be applied to the whole or only the bonus amount. Sportsbooks and online casinos have different wagering requirements, which vary from site to site.

Can I avoid wagering requirements?

Yes, you can avoid wagering requirements in 3 ways: use no wagering bonuses, play without bonuses, or claim non-sticky bonuses. No wagering bonuses are the hardest to find. However, you can always play without a promo or claim a non-sticky offer. In the first case, you won’t have any playthroughs to fulfil. In the second, you’ll be able to withdraw your initial deposit at any time.

Can I withdraw winnings without meeting playthrough requirements?

No, you can’t withdraw your winnings without meeting the wagering requirements. Every operator has its playthroughs specified. Therefore, when you’re deciding which bonus to unlock, please check the T&Cs of the gaming operator, so you can know how much you must wager before you can withdraw any wins.

What happens if I don’t meet wagering requirements?

As long as the wagering requirement is active, casinos won’t allow you to withdraw the bonus funds. If the bonus has an expiration period (typically 30 days), once it expires, you’ll lose all your bonus funds. So, if the date is inching closer, it might be a good idea to take some slots for a spin (quite literally).

How can I wager a casino bonus?

You can wager a casino bonus by playing casino games on the platform. However, we’d like to emphasise the fact that not all games have equal contributions to the wagering requirements. Slots typically contribute 100%, meaning each $1 you wager on a slot is $1 less to wager. But games like blackjack, roulette, and baccarat have way lower contributions, so keep that in mind.