What is a wagering requirement?

Today's market is getting more and more competitive with each passing day. If you start to look online, you wouldn’t need to look for long before you run into an excellent welcome promotion or bonus. But, the important thing is to understand the overall value of the bonus, and wagering requirements are certainly one of the most important factors to consider.

What exactly are wagering requirements?

In this article, I’ll talk about the wagering requirements and help you understand all of their mechanics to take advantage of them and profit at an online casino. But, to understand how they work and what is their purpose, we need to understand what even are wagering requirements?

Wagering requirements are betting conditions and limitations set by the casino. You won't run into a bonus or promotion that doesn't have some sorts of the wagering requirement. In simple words, to profit and withdraw any cash, you would need to meet these requirements. There are different wagering requirements like sports betting requirements, but in this article, I’ll stick to the online casino wagering requirement type.

Wagering requirements for free spins

Wagering requirements for free spins are probably the most popular ones and most common ones. During my gambling career, I’ve come across to just a handful of casinos which don’t ‘tax’ their free spins with wagering requirements.

With free spins, the wagering requirement is simple. For example, I sign up to the casino and take advantage of the welcome bonus 50 free spins offer with a 20x wagering requirement. To cash out my winnings, the casino requires me to wager 20x the amount of the spins worth. If those 50 spins are worth $5 I would be required to wager 20x$5=$100 before I could withdraw my money.

As I’ve said, these requirements differ from casino to casino, as well as from slot to slot. A slot game offering 50 free spins with a 20x wagering requirements is more often than not a better deal than a game that offers 200 free spins at a 40x requirement.

Wagering requirements for money bonus

The money bonus wagering requirements work similarly to the free spins wagering requirements. They are the second most popular type at casinos and are attached to bonuses which players usually receive upon depositing. The are two ways casino implement a wagering requirement for money bonuses:

• This is a little less popular case, but still present in online casinos. I’ve recently signed up for a popular casino that offers a 100% match on a deposit of up to $100. I’ve deposited the money in order to be eligible for the bonus. But, there’s another catch in this, and here’s when the wagering requirements come into play. In order to actually receive that bonus, I need to place $100 worth of bets before that bonus is transferred to my balance.
• The more popular and well-known Its present in most online gambling houses and looks like this: The welcome bonus offer is a fantastic $1000, but it needs to be wagered 35 times. Let's take a minute and calculate how much you need actually to wager before you can withdraw the bonus $1000. Your math’s not wrong, its $35,000. That’s why I usually opt for playing in the casino which offers the first option, as it is a lot less stressful, but if you’re confident in your skills and knowledge, you can meet this.

Watch out for what games you wager

Wagering requirements not only vary from casino to casino but also differ depending on the type of game you decide to play. Most players don’t even realise this when playing, which costs them a lot of money and effort when they try to win back their deposited money. I ’ll put it this way: the better the RTP and the lower the house edge is, the better your chances of winning your money will be. For example, in most cases, online video slots games have the lowest house edge, which means that playing those type of games will give the best shot at winning. Games like poker, baccarat, blackjack, and generally all table games, have a higher house edge, which hampers you from the start and makes winning more difficult. If you want to wager your money back, play games like video slot games, which usually offer a 100% match for wagering, and not table games, as they tend to stay around 50% (or even below).

Why do casinos put them up?

Now that I've explained all of the essential aspects of wagering requirements, all that is left is to solve the most critical question, why do casinos even put them up? How does it help them and why is it a part of their every bonus offer? The most straightforward answer to this important question is the right one. Casinos implement the wagering mechanic into their business model to keep themselves safe from possible money fraud. It guards them against unscrupulous individuals who would take advantage of their bonus money and never play in their casino.

This sounds perfectly reasonable. As much as the casinos care for their players, it is a business after all, and the companies want to secure the funds of the business itself as well as of their gambler database. T&C clearly says that every player who wants to cash out a bonus, even a free one, must wager it at least one time before he could withdraw the money.

Are there casinos that don’t demand wagering requirements?

I’ve saved the best news for last. Some casinos offer money and free spins bonuses that don’t require for you to wager them before you can cash them out. And I’m going to share a few of them with you, so you to can enjoy little-playing money.

No wagering casino offers:

• Guts – This casino has not only one of the largest offers for table games, but also a free spins no wagering bonus for a slot game of your choice. You can enjoy your favourite slot game, and the best part of it is, whatever you win, is yours to keep.
• ComeOn! – ComeOn! Is one of Netent’s more popular online casinos. It has a fantastic and diverse selection of games, and best of all a $5 no deposit, no wager bonus. It’s a casino worth giving a try.
• Kaboo – Kaboo is one of the lesser known online casinos, but one that certainly doesn’t lack in quality. It has some excellent games and offers, but what us interests the most, in this case, is that this online gambling house offers all of its new players a no wagering free spins welcome bonus.
• SuperLenny – Like Kaboo, SuperLenny is owned by the same parent company and operates under a similar business model. They offer a no wagering free spins bonus for every registration and are also known to have good money rewards and prizes on their websites.

These were just a few of the most popular no wager type casinos. I’m sure there are more out there, and if you look a little bit more, you can find a few more. Just keep in mind every aspect that I’ve told you, and you won't have any trouble at these types of casinos.

Keep in mind, though these bonuses don’t require any work to be put into them before you can cash out, there is usually one requirement. You have to put in a small deposit into the casino. This could be as low as $5. The best part of it, you’re not actually risking that money, but just depositing it in order to unlock that bonus. So you’ll lose maybe a few minutes of your time, but gain some money in return, not a bad deal.

Why do casinos do this? It's pretty straightforward when you think about it. Most casinos figure that when you deposit a small sum of money, you won't care that much about it and will use it to gamble anyway and they would end up profiting in the end. But you’re not required to spend it if you don’t want, you are completely free to do the opposite if you wish, deposit the money, unlock the bonus, and walk away with the cash.

Conclusion

When all is said and done, wagering requirements are not such a bad thing. They may seem unfairly high in some cases, but when you look at the bottom line, they keep us all safe from fraudulent behaviour. If that was the case, every underhanded player could register, claim the welcome bonus and just walk away. The casinos wouldn’t last long, and we would lose the point of gambling.

While playing your favourite game, it's fairly easy to forget all of these things that are not so fun. But to successfully claim the bonus and win at online casinos, it's essential to understand its business model. I hope these tips and advice were helpful and that you’ll have a very enjoyable and profitable gambling experience.