How To Beat Wagering Requirements - Ultimate Playthrough Strategy
Online casino bonuses can be a real double-edged sword sometimes. On one hand, they can afford you plenty of additional free bonus cash to get started playing at your best. But while these wagering bonuses can ideally start you off with an edge, they often come with an innate, built-in house edge - in this context, this is known as “wagering requirements”.
Wagering requirements refer to the number of times you need to bet your bonus cash before that cash is able to be cashed out into tangible, real-world cash. For example, if an online casino affords you a 25x slots bonus, that means that you need to spin/bet your initial wager 25 times over before you’d be able to cash out any winnings.
Giving out free bonus cash generally isn’t the best business practice for online casinos, which is why they often attach catches (most prominently, wagering requirements) with that bonus cash. Common parameters and variables that will affect the terms of bonus cash include:
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Whether you’re initially wagering with bonus money or deposit real money
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The max bet parameters dictating how much money you can wager on a game
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The expiry date indicates when the bonus period will end and be voided
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Certain games contribute differently to certain bonuses than others
If you aren’t clear on certain wagering requirement terms, we’d recommend contacting the customer support behind your preferred online casino platform of choice. Certain bonuses’ wagering requirements can be significantly harder to fulfill than others, or conversely, significantly easier.
Fortunately, if you’re able to play your cards right (or spin the slots right, or roll the die right, or whatever metaphor best gets the point across for you), you’ll be able to cash that bonus cash out of the house and into your bank accounts in no time. Here are 3 simple, but remarkably effective steps to make the most of your bonuses, no matter the wagering requirements.
1. Pick The Right Games, With A High RTP
The more RTP (short for return-to-player variance), the better. A higher RTP percentage figure means that a game has a theoretically higher long term return percentage, meaning you could potentially accrue more winnings over the longer term of your bonus.
For example, a slot game with an RTP percentage of 77% would have a theoretical long term return rate of $77. Likewise, besides a return to player percentage, you will want to thoroughly evaluate the percentages by which different casino games contribute to different bonuses’ different wagering requirements.
These contribution percentages may vary depending on the online casino platform you wager with, but to give you some examples, here are the average percentages that casino games most often contribute to wagering requirements:
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ULT. TX. Hold ‘Em, Baccarat, Punto Banco, Blackjack, & Roulette: 0%
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Casino Hold ‘Em, Texas Hold ‘Em Poker, And Oasis Poker: 10%
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Video And/Or Virtual Poker Games: 30%
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Slot Games (Except Those Exempt) And All Other Games: 100%
If you can’t discern the contribution rules for a specific online casino game, nor the specific online casino game’s return-to-player percentage, we would recommend consulting the online casino operator’s customer support services.
2. Making Smaller Stake, Lower-Risk Wagers
You need your amount of play time to adequately average out to the long-term return to player percentage, and in order to have it effectively average out, you’ll need to make a lot of wagers. To fulfill this goal, we would recommend focusing on minimum slot bets above all other casino games, ideally wagering 0.50 cents or less per bet.
Obviously, this entails A LOT of wagers, which is why you’ll want to concentrate on smaller wagers, so you can afford to take the most chances and practice sensible bankroll management. In order to budget out more wagers, you should bet less per wager.
3. Read The Fine Print, Avoid The Requirements!
Before opting into any casino wagering requirement, it would be wise to review its terms and conditions as thoroughly as possible. You’ll want to know how much you have to wager prior to wagering, how much different online casino games contribute to wagering requirements, and how you’ll be able to track your wagering progress over the duration of the bonus period.
Conversely, you’ll also want to read the bonus requirements to determine whether or not said bonus even has wagering requirements to begin with. Not all casino welcome bonuses will even be subject to wagering, and these risk-free no deposit bonuses tend to be the best offered by online casino platforms, because they require you to risk no actual stake!
More online casino platforms in the United Kingdom, for instance, are steering away from wagering requirements in light of new local gaming industry regulations. But in case you aren’t fortunate enough to have the ability to access online casinos that aren’t subject to wagering requirements, here are some frequently asked questions (and answers) with regard to wagering requirements.
Wagering Requirement FAQs
Wondering about wagering requirements? You’re not alone. Below are some commonly asked questions (and answers) pertaining to wagering requirements:
1. What does playthrough mean with online casinos?
Playthrough requirements aren’t different from wagering requirements, they’re simply another word for them.
Playthrough requirements simply refer to how many times a game needs to be played through before the winnings retained from the bonus offer can be cashed out - nothing more, nothing less.
2. How do I turn bonus cash into actual cash?
Any winnings earned after the wagering requirements are fulfilled will ultimately amount to the sum total you’ll be able to cash out, as well as any leftover bonus cash.
3. What do “rollovers” mean in the context of online casinos?
Like “playthrough requirements”, rollover requirements are simply another synonymous way of saying wagering requirements.
4. Am I wagering the bonus or the deposit + the bonus?
That depends on the specific online casino operator you’re using. Review their terms and conditions for more information.
Conclusion
We hope this guide helped you better understand the parameters behind common online casino wagering requirements, but if you’re still curious about stuff like:
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