Online casinos are notorious for offering some pretty outrageous bonuses. An extra $5000 just for depositing and playing $250 at their casino sounds too good to be true, and it often is. Just like that good-looking stranger on the dating app who’s living far away and has a sick mother, some of these casinos are just masquerading as a good offer and just want your money. The wagering requirements on the slots and table game bonuses can often make using that bonus not even worth it in the long run.
Wagering requirements are a fact of life. They needn’t be so complicated. Plus, there are hundreds of guides breaking down how wagering requirements work. But here are some tips on how to work out whether a bonus will be worth it for you to put your money down and play.
Do Your Calcs Up Front
How much money will you need to lay down on the games to actually get your hands on that ridiculously good-looking bonus? In other words, is that bonus really a bonus at all? There are a few figures you will need for your calculations: your deposit amount, the bonus amount, the wagering requirement (it’ll look like a percentage number), and whether the wagering requirement includes the bonus amount only for the wager, or the deposit and the bonus. Phew!
It goes like this: the amount that you need to play through before you can cash out based on that bonus is the total of the wagering requirements times the bonus (or bonus and deposit). So, for example, a $100 deposit with a $1500 bonus with a 35% wager will require at the minimum $52,000 played on the games before you can use that Casino Bonus to cash out, ouch! The best tactic usually is choosing a low wagering requirement with a smaller bonus. Some bonuses don’t even have a wagering requirement attached.
Pick Your Poison
There are plenty of different bonuses out there. The most common ones include the free cash bonus, but there are others that also, or exclusively, include free spins. Be careful about these free spins bonuses, as they’re often attached to some of the highest wagering requirements!
Check for End Dates
Once you’ve figured out how much money you’ll need to play before you can claim the bonus benefits, you should take a look at the promotion’s end dates – if there are any. Some casinos will provide different end dates for each of their bonuses, whereas others may not have an end to their time period. Obviously, here, the further out the end date, the better.
Eyeball Bet Min and Maxes
Another one to look out for is whether the wagering requirement comes with an attached minimum and maximum bet. Imagine if you have to play through that $52,000 and your maximum bet amount is only $1! Conversely, if there is a minimum bet that might be risky, too, for instance, if the maximum bet was $10.
Different Rules on Different Games
Bonuses with attached wagering requirements are often available across a range of games. However, some of these games may have weightings. So, what does that mean? You might have five slots titles that have a weighting of 100%, so 100% of the played amount at that game contributes to the bonus. However, if you want to play blackjack, it might be weighted at 15%. That means only 15% of the amount that you play at the blackjack table will go towards your wagering requirement. Here, survey the different games you’d like to play and what their different weightings are to see if it’ll be worth it.
Look at The Maximum Win Amount
Is it actually going to be worth it if you win, after all that? Some bonuses have some pretty low ceilings for the amount you’re able to cash out for a bonus. For instance, if there is a cap at $2000 and you have that playthrough amount of $52,000 it may not be worth your time to try and satisfy the terms of the Casino Bonus and cash out. Here, bonuses with larger maximum wins give you a greater chance of winning more.
Look for Other Hidden Gotchas
Those sneaky casinos keep adding new rules and gotchas that will throw a spanner in the works just when you think you’ve won big. Make sure to read all the terms and conditions of the casino bonus very carefully, to see if there is anything you’ve missed. After that, read it again! Make sure that you know what all the language means, and if not then Google is your friend to figure out the tricky bits
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