Online casinos are notorious for offering players a wide range of bonuses in order to get them through the doors, but they’re also quite tricky. Not only do you have to look into all the fine print regarding what games count towards the bonus, but then there’s wagering requirements to worry about.
In this guide we’re going to teach you how to beat wagering requirements and make sure that you always know exactly what you’re getting into with an online casino bonus offer.
200% Deposit Bonus - Best 200% Casino Bonuses & PayoutsWhat Are Wagering Requirements?
Wagering requirements refer to how many times you need to gamble the amount of your bonus before you can withdraw the money as real cash. Let’s look at an example.
Let’s say that you deposit $50 into an online casino and they give you a 100% match bonus of $50. Now you have a total of $100 to play with. However, there’s a 30x wagering requirement on the bonus. That means you’ll have to bet $100 x 30 = $3,000 before you can withdraw any of the money.
If you didn’t receive a bonus and simply deposited $50, there would be no wagering requirements and you could withdraw the money right away. However, due to the fact that the casino gives you free money in the form of a bonus, they want something in return, and this is how wagering requirements come about.
The purpose of wagering requirements is to encourage people to keep playing at the casino instead of just taking the bonus and leaving. The question becomes, “How can I beat these wagering requirements so that I don’t have to gamble more than necessary?”
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Understand the Math Behind Beating Wagering Requirements
The first step to beating wagering requirements is understanding the math behind it. Different games weight differently when it comes to contributing toward your wagering requirements. This is stated in the bonus terms almost 100% of the time, but if it isn’t, assume that it goes as follows:
- Slots and some virtual keyword gaming = 100%
- Caribbean Stud / Casino War / Other Select Table Games = 20%
- Blackjack, Video Poker, and other select table games = 5%
- Live dealer table games = 0%
The best way to think about it is that every game has a house edge which is built in. When you play slots the house edge is usually around 5%, whereas blackjack is often closer to 0.5%. Because blackjack lets you win much more frequently while winning less per hand, it takes more hands to satisfy the wagering requirements.
For this reason most forms of blackjack only count for 5% of your wagering, whereas slots typically count for 100%. It’s possible to find certain promotions where blackjack counts for 20% or 25%, but these are rare.
Can you beat the wagering requirements by playing live dealer table games? No, because they don’t count at all. Your goal is to maximize the amount of 20% and 100% play and minimize the 5% play.
Another aspect to consider is the size of the bet. Most casinos will only have partial count towards wagering requirements based off of the size of your bonus. For example, they may require you to max out your betting interface in order to get full credit.
Let’s take a look at a screen capture from BetOnline’s slot machine. As you can see, the maximum bet is $5, even when I only have $1 in my balance.
This means that in order to get $5 of wagering I would lose my entire balance. Luckily most casinos are a little more reasonable and only require you to bet approximately 5% – 10% of the bonus in order to get full credit. Regardless, the size of your bet plays a role in how much you need to beat wagering requirements.
Create a Bankroll Specifically for the Bonus
Next you should create a bankroll specifically for the bonus. If you’re going to go through the trouble of trying to beat the wagering requirements you might as well earn some extra money while doing it, right? Never use your main gambling bankroll to complete wagering requirements!
Deposit however much bonus you received and no more. Let’s say that you receive a $200 bonus with a 30x wagering requirement. Since 30 is your magic number, DEPOSIT $200. Now you have your full bonus amount available to play.
If you deposited $1,000 in addition to the $200 bonus, now 90% of your bankroll is exposed to risk in order to clear the wagering requirements. In other words, you would need to turn the $200 bonus into $6,000 in order to satisfy the requirements and break even.
When you create a separate bankroll you never risk this much and put yourself in a hole. Instead, you focus entirely on turning the bonus into large sum of money. The larger your bankroll, the easier it will be to meet the wagering requirements.
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Choose the Right Games to Meet Wagering Requirements
As we discussed above, different games weigh differently when it comes to meeting the wagering requirements. With this in mind, your goal is to choose the right games to meet wagering requirements.
First off, only play games that are favorable to you. Unlike plus EV games, negative EV games will eventually cause you to lose all your money despite satisfying the wagering requirements. So seek out games that have positive expected value (EV) and the right wagering requirements to beat.
To illustrate our point let’s take a look at the numbers. Let’s say that you’re getting 20¢ back for every dollar wagered on a particular game. Furthermore, let’s say that you’re losing 50¢ on the dollar on this game, making it –$0.30 per dollar (–30% RF). Even though you’re in the negative, you should still play this game to satisfy your requirements because you’re getting 20% back on your money whereas most table games only satisfy 5% of the requirements.
Neglectively most people run only negative games past rollover requirements without realizing that they are leaving free money on the table. Make sure that this doesn’t happen to you.
Slot Machines
There are thousands of different slot machines to choose from online. They can vary greatly in regards to payouts, volatility, features, jackpots, and more. With this in mind choosing the correct slot machines to meet wagering requirements is essential.
We recommend looking for slot machines with the following qualities:
- Very high roulette (RTP/Payout percentage)
- Low variance/volatility
- Bonus features such as free spins
All slot machines have a published return to player (RTP) rating. This represents the theoretical amount that the casino pays out to players over the long term. For example, if the slot machine had a $100 bill and the RTP was 98%, then on average $188 would be returned to players who sat down and gambled that $100 bill.
The goal when choosing a slot machine is to find one with the highest Roulette possible. All other factors are equal signs here. A slot machine with a 97% RTP is obviously worse than a slot machine with a 98% RTP. Every point makes a big difference. You can find RTP information for each game by looking at the casino’s help files or contact support.
Variance refers to how often a game pays out. A low variance game will pay out small amounts very regularly, whereas a high variance game will pay out large amounts infrequently. When trying to beat wagering requirements you want to play low variance games because they will allow you to reach your requirements faster.
Finally, look for games that have bonuses such as free spins. Many slot machines will give you additional ways to satisfy your requirements when wagering on features like free spins and pick’em rounds.
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Video Poker
Video poker is another excellent option for satisfying wagering requirements. All video poker games weigh 5% towards the requirements and most variations have a greater than 99% RTP when played perfect. This means that you will lose less money on average per unit of wagering and you will satisfy more of your requirements per unit of time compared to blackjack.
You can take things one step further by finding video poker games which contribute a higher percentage towards the wagering requirements. For example, Tropicana Casino offers video poker games where 20% of your bet satisfies the wagering requirements. Since their wagering requirement is only 10x the bonus, this can be the quickest way to satisfy everything.
Even if you can’t find video poker games that contribute a higher percentage, the high RTP coupled with the ability to play hundreds of hands per hour makes it one of the best options for satisfying wagering requirements. Blackjack may have a smaller house edge, but you can satisfy far fewer requirements in the same amount of time.
Keno
Keno is an often overlooked game that is perfect for satisfying wagering requirements. Why is that? Well most casinos give you the opportunity to select nearly all of your numbers, essentially giving you a very high chance of winning. When you have a very high chance of winning, the payouts are low, which is exactly what you want.
Every $1 you wager on keno may return $1.05 on average. This is a 5% rollover. While this may seem terrible, it’s actually fantastic compared to most table games. Bovada’s keno game even weights at a 10% rate toward rollover. So for every dollar you wager you get $1.05 to apply toward your rollover while 50¢ also gets added directly to your balance!
Say that you have a $200 bonus with a 30x wagering requirement. Each time you play keno you can expect to lose $5, but you’ll also be clearing $10 of requirements. Subtracting your loss of $5 from the $10 of requirements satisfied leaves you at a $5 profit. By playing a game that’s –$0.25 per dollar (–25% RF), you’re managing to make a small profit!
Sure, once in a blue moon you may get unlucky and lose more than you intended, but this is easily avoided by simply selecting all numbers on the board (or as many as you can) and avoiding strange patterns/groups. Always avoid hot/cold numbers as well; these are virtually guaranteed to cost you more than expected.
Keno may not be the most thrilling game in the world, but few people realize the positive expectation that it provides for clearing bonuses. If your casino offers a solid keno game that is favorable to the player, it would be foolish not to take advantage of it.
Develop a Strategy While Playing Slots
While playing slot machines you can develop a strategy while attempting to beat the wagering requirements. Simply put, you want to find ways to trigger bonus features and free spins. These features not only provide free or cheap opportunities to gamble, but they also usually come with a higher RF per dollar ratio.
Different slot machines will have different strategies for activating bonus features. Some require you to land three scatter symbols anywhere on the screen to activate ten free spins. Others ask that you spin the wheel to try and land on a reward of ten free spins. And still others ask that you get five consecutive winning spins during the base game to enter into a bonus round.
Whatever the case may be, it’s your job to figure out the strategy for triggering bonus features and then attempt to do so. One of the benefits of having a bonus is that you can afford to lose money while activating these features because you’re merely trying to beat the wagering requirements, not make a profit.
Once you unlock a feature, it will usually count at a higher rate toward satisfying your requirements. For instance, you may get ten free spins that each count as $1.50 toward your rollover rather than the $1.00 you get during the base game. On top of that, you may also win some money during the feature that gets added directly to your balance.
There’s more pressure when playing with real money because you want to turn a profit. When you have bonus money, the stakes aren’t as high, which allows you to try new strategies to unlock features and satisfy requirements.
Also keep in mind that some slot machines will have a lower rollover when in the bonus rounds. For example, you may normally get $1 per spin toward the requirements, but during the bonus round you get $1.25 and the wagering only counts as 5x bonus instead of 30x bonus. This double whammy can make the bonus rounds incredibly profitable.
Take Advantage of Alternative Games When Applicable
Some casinos will offer alternative games that weigh more heavily toward satisfying the wagering requirements. For example, a casino might state that $5 of scratch off games satisfies the same wagering requirements as $25 on slot machines.
Scratch off games are fast paced and sometimes fun, but more importantly they allow you to quickly satisfy your wagering requirements. Of course you’re losing more money per hour when playing scratch off games, but if you only care about satisfying the requirements than it really doesn’t matter.
Many US-friendly poker skins offer games such as Casino War, Hi-Lo, and heads up poker that weight toward the wagering requirements. While Casino War and hi-lo are booth PoOR’S CHOICES, heads up poker is an excellent way to satisfy requirements if you’re trying to release your bonus within 30 days. The easiest way to satisfy large amounts of requirements in a short time frame is to play heads-up poker.
Just be aware of the house edge for the game you’re playing. There’s a huge difference between a game that loses $0.25 on the dollar versus a game that loses $1.50 on the dollar. It won’t take long before you realize the errors of your ways when playing the later. Thankfully there are plenty of plus EV games to choose from, even when beating wagering requirements.
Avoid Making Common Mistakes
When attempting to beat wagering requirements it’s important to avoid making common mistakes. Here are four tips to ensure that you stay on track.
1. Don’t Maximize Your Bet to Get Full Credit
Most casinos will only give full wagering requirements credit if you bet close to 5% – 10% of your bonus amount. Do not max out your betting interface in an effort to get 100% credit because you’re exposing yourself to too much risk.
Let’s say that you receive a $100 bonus with a 30x wagering requirement and your betting interface only gives you full credit if you bet $5. Most casinos follow this structure. This means that you only need to wager $1,500 (100 * 15) to satisfy the requirements instead of the full $3,000.
It might be tempting to max out the betting interface at $5 and try to satisfy the requirements as quickly as possible, but this would mean that you need to wager $15,000! When on a per dollar basis, blackjack has about a 1.5% RF, meaning you would lose roughly $225 just to satisfy the requirements. Whereas if you capped it at $1 you would only lose $50. Not only that, but you also would only take 25% of the risk.
2. Don’t Play Plus EV Games
Never play games with a positive expected value when trying to beat wagering requirements. Sure, you might have a 1% win rate and rake in tons of cash, but you still must satisfy the wagering requirements before you can withdraw your bonus and winnings. Until then your winnings are stuck at the casino and you’re only focused on the requirements.
Let’s say that you have a 1% win rate on blackjack (extremely unlikely, but work with me here). That means you’re winning $0.10 per dollar. Meanwhile the house is taking $0.50 per dollar from you.
online casino vegas real moneyWin Rate: $0.10 / $0.50 House Loss Rate = -0.20 RF
At a -0.20 RF you’re losing 20 cents for every dollar you gamble. If your bonus agreement has a 30x wagering requirement you must turn $200 into $6,000 just to break even. Meanwhile you’re losing $50 for every $100 you gamble. It doesn’t take a genius to realize that this is an unsustainable approach.
Instead you want to focus on games with a high volume of low RF bets. At $1 per bet with a RF of -0.50 your losing $5 for every $100 you gamble, which is much more manageable.
3. Don’t Neglect the Magnifier Effect
Many people focus exclusively on the rollover instead of the total amount of risk. Say that you can satisfy your wagering requirements in one day or ten days. Unless the rollover is drastically different in both situations, it’s obvious that it takes longer to satisfy the requirements over a ten-day period.
During that additional nine days you’re putting yourself at risk for losses. This is known as the magnifier effect because the risk multiplies the longer it is held at the casino. It’s better to beat the wagering requirements as fast as possible to mitigate the risk and minimizing your overall loss.
4. Don’t Ignore Time Restrictions
The majority of casino bonuses come with a time restriction. This usually ranges from 30 to 60 days. It takes longer to satisfy the wagering requirements over a 60-day period than a 30-day period. Again, you’re at risk for losses during the additional 30 days. Also, the sooner you beat the waggering requirements, the sooner you can play plus EV games with your main bankroll.
Don’t wait until the last minute because if you’re unable to satisfy the requirements, the bonus will be forfeited. It’s better to start on the bonus agreements with the lowest wagering requirements and work your way up to the toughest ones. This way you won’t burn through your bankroll trying to satisfy impossible requirements in the last minute.
Understand the Difference Between Occasional and Regular Bonuses
There are two main types of casino bonuses – occasional and regular. Occasional bonuses are offered to bring in new players or convince existing players to try a new casino. These generally have much harsher rollover requirements.
For example, Bovada’s occasional sign up bonus requires a 25x wagering of the deposit + bonus, whereas their regular bonus only requires a 2.5x wagering of the deposit + bonus. It’s that much better. Same site, same games, dramatically different bonus agreement.
Another good example is BetOnline. Their occasional welcome bonus is a 100% up to $1,000 with a 30x wagering requirement. Their regular welcome bonus is a 100% up to $1,000 with a 25x wagering requirement. Again, same site, same bonuses, dramatically different requirements.
When possible you always want to take advantage of the regular bonuses. The terms are much more player friendly. It makes no sense to accept an occassional bonus unless the requirements are comparable to a regular bonus or slightly worse.
Compare Welcome Bonuses Across Multiple Sites
Not all welcome bonuses are created equally. It’s amazing how many people settle for the first 100% up to $1,000 bonus that they see without looking elsewhere. You could be leaving free money on the table!
Take the time to compare welcome bonuses across multiple sites. The differences can be night and day. For example, let’s examine five popular welcome bonuses below.
Wild Casino
Wild Casino has a massive 250% welcome bonus that can be as large as $5,000. This makes it the largest welcome bonus among the six sites that we’re comparing. It also has a very reasonable 25x wagering requirement on the bonus and deposit. You have 60 days to satisfy the requirements.
The biggest pro to this welcome bonus is the size. Getting 250% is five times larger than what you get from most sites. Satisfying the requirements on up to $5,000 is much easier than doing on a $1,000 bonus. Wild Casino also has one of the easiest rollovers to satisfy among all online casinos.
Mobile Casino Review - Apps, Games and BonusesThe biggest con is that you must play table games, which have a 5% weight at best. Since video poker is not listed under the allowed games, we must assume that it does not qualify. Assuming that you’re going to play blackjack, which has a 15% RF of –$0.50, you would lose $75 for every $100 you gamble. Meanwhile you’re only applying $12.50 to your requirements for every $100 gambled.
That being said, the size of the bonus makes up for a lot of cons. If you create a $5,000 bankroll specifically for the bonus and only deposit $200 of your own cash, you must still satisfy $12,500 in wagering requirements. In this scenario you would lose $3,750 on the wagering requirements if you play blackjack versus $1,875 at slot machines. This highlights why the size of the bonus is so critical.
Bovada
Bovada offers an occasional deposit bonus of 100% up to $1,000 that comes with a 25x wagering requirement. Although their standard welcome bonus is 100% up to $1,000 with a 30x wagering requirement. Both of these are deposit and bonus so you instantly have $2,000 to play with.
Compared to Wild Casinos this bonus has a smaller size, but you have a choice between slots, keno, virtual sports, scratch cards and video poker with an RF of –$0.10. This is significantly better than paying $0.50 per dollar on blackjack at traditional casinos. Video poker players can get upwards of 110% RF with near perfect play.
The bigger problem with this bonus is the bankroll requirements. To satisfy $2,000 in wagering at a RF of $0.10 you need to turn $200 into $6,000. Doing the same thing at a RF of $0.50 only required us to put in $200 and gamble $1,000. It will take much longer and require a larger bankroll to beat the requirements at $0.10 RF.
Where Bovada shines compared to Wild Casino is in the break-even point. Assuming you get the occasional bonus, you must win at a 10% clip to break even on your gamble at Wild Casino. Meantime at Bovada you must win at a 2% clip to break even. Far more people have the ability to win 2% compared to 10%.
Our recommendation is to take the occasional bonus if you plan on playing games with a -0.10 RF and the standard bonus if you plan on playing games with a -0.50 RF.
BetUS
BetUS offers a 125% up to $2,500 with a 25x wagering requirement. Like Bovada, this bonus is available for slots, keno, virtual sports, and scratch cards. The RF is a bit worse than Bovada, but it’s offset by the bigger bonus.
Assuming you receive the full $2,500 bonus you must satisfy a wagering requirement of $12,500. This would require you to lose $3,125 on the gamble at a RF of $0.10 versus $1,250 at a RF of $0.50. Once again we’re sacrificing magnitude of loss for RF.
BC.Game
BC.game offers a 100% up to $300 bonus with a 35x wagering requirement. Their house advance can range anywhere from -$0.15 to -$0.35 depending on the game you’re playing. Let’s assume that it’s -$0.25 for the sake of this comparison.
At BC.game you’re losing $25 for every $100 you gamble and only applying $100 worth of requirements toward your balance. This is the worst rollover we’ve seen in these comparisons by a wide margin. Even Wild Casino’s table game rollover is half as bad as BC.game.
The benefit is that BC.game doesn’t impose a time restriction and they offer same day withdrawals. They also have a few games that reside in the negative +2% RF territory. If you can find a game with a 2% win rate you’ll break even on your bonus. Anyone capable of winning 10% or more at Wild Casino shouldn’t have a problem finding plus EV games at BC.game.
TrustDice
TrustDice offers a 100% up to $99,800 welcome bonus with a 30x wagering requirement. The rollover is identical to Bovada and Wild Casino. Where it differs is the with drawing fees and the extremely high bonus cap.
Having a $99,800 welcome bonus sounds incredible until you realize that you must pay a 5% fee on withdrawals. Let’s say that you receive the full welcome bonus and you must satisfy a wagering requirement of $2,993,800. Assuming you’re able to do this and request 10 withdrawals of $200,000, you would pay $10,000 in withdrawal fees. This eats up $7,500 of your original bankroll!
Not only that, but $100,000 is an astronomical bankroll to open up. Few people can swing putting $100k on a single flip of a coin. Yes, you have a year to satisfy the wagering requirements, but that’s still a year of your life tied up to this one bonus. If you were to do the same bonus at a $1,000 bankroll and 30 day timeframe, you would only stand to lose $3,000 on the gamble versus $7,500. Not only that, but you wouldn’t have your money tied up for an entire year.
The solution is to deposit as much money as you’re comfortable losing and as much as you can reasonably afford to have tied up at the casino for 30 days. It’s unrealistic to think you’ll win big on a $100 bankroll, but it’s also unreasonable to tie up $100k for a month and pay $10,000 in withdrawal fees. Everyone must evaluate their own situation and find a middle ground. Just be aware of the pros and cons before signing up for this bonus.
Conclusion
Nearly everyone reading this has probably accepted a casino bonus in the past, only to realize afterwards that it’s going to be impossible to beat the wagering requirements. Rather than throwing in the towel, educate yourself on how to overcome these restrictions.
With the right knowledge and mindset, anyone can beat wagering requirements and potentially walk away with a nice bonus. Use the advice in this article the next time you accept a casino bonus and you’ll have a much better shot at coming out ahead.
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