Wagering requirements: our tips to complete your wager
What is really nice about online casinos is that even when you don’t have a lot of money to play with, you can ask for a deposit bonus. It allows you to play for longer, but almost every online casino bonus comes with wagering requirements (also called wager). Today, we will tell you all you have to know about these betting conditions, why they exist, and how you can try to beat them.
Before trying to complete a wager, it is primordial that you find the good casino to not have bad surprises. Madness Bonus has selected the three most trustworthy casinos that offer you good welcome bonuses.
What are wagering requirements?
You should know that when activating an online casino bonus, most of the times it comes with wagering requirements (also called wager). It dictates how much money you have to bet before being able to ask for a withdraw. Why do I have to do this? Let us explain.
Why are wagering requirements a thing?
The number one reason why such betting conditions exist is to prevent money laundering. If casinos were to give bonus money without betting conditions, players could just deposit and withdraw instantly. Even when playing with no active bonus, on most casinos you will have to wager your deposit one time before withdrawing. All of this is to comply with the anti money laundering regulations.
Another reason is that casinos are companies, not charities. When they give you bonus money, they don’t want all the players to be able to withdraw. Wagering requirements are here to make things a bit harder for players. It forces them to play for a long time, and tests their patience.
How to calculate the amount of money I have to wager?
Every casino bonus that comes with a wagering requirement works like this: the amount of bonus money the casino gives you is a percentage of your deposit. Before making your deposit, always check what is the wagering requirement for your bonus (30x, 35x, …). Depending on the casino and the quality of its welcome offer, both the percentage of bonus money and the wager multiplier will vary.
For example, some casinos will offer a 100% up to €200 welcome bonus wager x30, while others will offer 100% up to €1,000 wager x30. In the first case if you deposit €200, you will have to wager €12,000 (€200 deposit + €200 bonus x 30). In the second case if you deposit €1,000, you will have to wager €60,000 (€1,000 deposit + €1,000 bonus x 30).
What rules should I respect when playing with an active wager?
When playing with an active bonus on a online casino that has wagering requirements, there are some rules you have to follow. If you don’t play by these rules, you risk seeing your winnings being voided. Do not worry, these conditions are not hard to respect, but you have to be aware of their existence.
The most common betting condition you have to respect is a max bet of €5 per spin or play round. While it is easy to respect when playing slot machines, be really careful if you play live dealer games. If you double a blackjack hand of €5, your bet will be of €10 and it breaks the casino’s bonus terms and conditions. Most casinos will also forbid so-called “minimal risks bets” such as betting on both red and black simultaneously on roulette for example.
You should also know that you have a limited time to complete your wager. The duration during which your bonus is valid is always written on the casino’s terms and conditions. In general it’s two weeks.
While most casinos don’t have a lot of betting conditions, always take a few minutes to read their bonus terms and conditions. This way, you will play your wager by the rules and will be sure to withdraw if you manage to complete it.
Does each game contribute the same towards wager completion?
The answer is really simple: no they don’t. This rule is essentially the same on every casino. Each game category only contributes to the wager at a certain percentage. According to the casino you are playing on, this percentage might not always be the same.
For example, here are how each games contribute to your wager on Jack21 casino:
- Slot machines, scratch cards: 100%
- Tables, Video Poker, Live casino: 5%
- Virtual Games: 20%
Our 3 tips to complete your wager
The tips we are about to give you are only here to help you better complete your wagers. Know that there is no 100% sure way to complete a wager, as slot machines are random. If there was, online casinos would have stopped giving bonuses a long time ago.
Choose casinos with the smallest wager multipliers
The lower the wager, the easier it might be to complete it, as you will have to bet a smaller amount of money. Of course, the casinos with the lower wagering requirements usually don’t offer the biggest welcome bonuses. So it’s up to you to find the perfect balance between bonus money and a wager that you think you can handle.
Look for a big win on high volatility slot machines
We like to play our wagers like this. At first, we start with medium bets (€1 per spins for a €500 balance for example) on high volatility slots. Why? Because if we want to have more chances to complete our wager, we need to hit a big win. This is why we choose volatile slot machines that can pay really big sometimes. Some of the providers we like for doing such things are Pragmatic Play and Nolimit City.
Then, play low volatility slot machines until wager completion
Once we managed to boost our balance, we keep going for a while with these medium bets and then go back to smaller bets on low volatility slot machines. What we are looking for here is to stabilize our balance while making progress towards wager completion. This is when things can get a bit boring and long, but your patience will be rewarded. Good luck!