How to Understand and Beat Wagering Requirements at the Casino

You may be wondering, what does wager mean in casino terms? A wager is a bet that is spent on either a casino game, bingo game, online slot, or poker game.

It can be against another player, the house dealer, or sometimes even both. It can be placed on games of chance, such as roulette spins or dice roll games, and if the punter wins a wager, then the winning stakes go to them.

Wagering requirements are stipulations by the casino that state how many times the bonus money needs to be wagered before being allowed to make a cash withdrawal. They have several conditions that need to be met by the player, such as a minimum withdrawal limit.

With all of these stipulations, many new players are left wondering how do online casino wagering requirements work?

When you sign up with any online casino, it's likely that you will receive some type of welcome bonus. This kicks in as soon as you've made your first deposit.

Before you can make any withdrawals, you need to fulfill the casino wagering requirements. If you don't understand how the requirements work and don't meet the stipulated criteria, your bonus will never convert into real money for withdrawal.

Simply put, casinos are in the business of making money. Giving out free money would not be good for business. By offering players free spins and bonuses, the casinos entice players to sign up. Players get money to play with while they try out the casino’s game portfolio, which can sometimes consist of hundreds of different titles.

The other reason is a more serious one in that all online casinos have wagering requirements in place to comply with anti-money laundering regulations. If there weren’t any wagering requirements in place, then criminals could clean their money by depositing and withdrawing funds straightaway.

For bonuses

Most of the time, this comes in the form of a welcome bonus and is given with the first deposit. This bonus money generally carries a high wagering requirement then a deposit match or free spin bonus. Figures as high as 100x are not unheard of, so be careful to check the terms of this type of bonus.

For deposits

The deposit match bonus rewards you with a matching amount up to a specified maximum, as stipulated by the casino. You could get a 100% matching bonus up to a maximum of €100. Depending on the wagering requirement, this type of bonus can work out to be very costly, so search for the lowest amounts possible and try not to go for over 10x.

For free spins

Free spins work differently than bonus money. The amount that you see affixed to free spins is referring to an overall number of wins you accumulate. You will only need to bet the bonus money that you've won from the spins. Sometimes you will need to wager both your deposit and the free spin winnings, but make sure to read the terms and conditions to find out if that is required.

How do online casino wagering requirements work? It might be boring, but it will help you understand how to apply these calculations in a real-world situation. First, you need to understand some terminologies.

• Bonus Amount: The bonus money you received.
• Deposit Amount: The amount you deposited to activate the offer.
• Wagering: The number of times you are required to bet/wager.
• Deposit and Bonus/Deposit only: Select whether the requirements are for the bonus amount or deposit plus bonus.
• Game Contribution %: How much the game you’re playing contributes towards the requirements.

You must understand how to pick a casino bonus that suits your bankroll. Take note that not all the games you play will contribute towards the requirement. The casinos will usually have a list of eligible games. If you want to meet the wagering requirement faster, stick to the stipulated list.

For the calculation, we will use an example as though you decided to sign up with a specific casino. The casino offers a €50 casino bonus as soon as you deposit a minimum required amount of €20. The wagering requirement is 5x. It would work as follows:
 

• 

  Calculation:

  C$50 (bonus) x 5 (wagering requirement) = C$250

  For you to be able to withdraw cash, you must wager a total of €250. That is a straightforward calculation for a bonus without other stipulations.
• 

  Calculation with deposit:

  C$20 (deposit) + C$50 (bonus) x 5 (wagering requirement) = C$350

  In this example, for you to withdraw cash, you need to wager a total of €350. Once you understand the question of what is the wagering requirement at an online casino, it will be a lot easier to decide if it's worthwhile to sign up for that particular welcome offer.

Now that you have had online casino wagering explained, you will be happy to know that there are online casinos that offer wager-free bonuses. The benefit of these is that you can snatch them up right away and usually don’t need to make a deposit to use them.

However, the bonuses offered are often minimal, but it’s still a great way to get started and enjoy a few wins at no cost to yourself.

If you’ve read the information above in detail, you will know how to answer the question, what does wagering mean in casino lingo the next time you are asked. You’ll also know how it works when utilizing a bonus. It might sound complicated, but once the basis is understood, your journey to finding the perfect casino is less confusing.

Research casino bonuses and pick one that has an offer that your bankroll can handle.