Casino Bonus Wagering Requirements

What you need to know about casino bonuses and play through requirements. Most respectable online casinos offer some sort of bonus or reward to players that sign on at their site. This may come in the form of a welcome bonus or a first deposit bonus, with varying rewards and requirements for each one of them. A welcome bonus for instance requires nothing more than a sign up, after which the promised amount is automatically deposited into the player’s account. With the first deposit bonus, the player will have to make a deposit into his or her account in the online casino before the bonus will be made available for games.

Many online casino bonus offers are billed as “free”, and although you can in most cases use the free money for gambling at the casino, actually withdrawing the funds and any winnings is another matter. Many players have found out too late that withdrawing the money in their account will require depositing a wagering or playthrough fee. This is simply a certain amount of money that you will have to deposit in order to be able to withdraw your bonuses and winnings.

While it may seem like a catch to the apparent free money deal, such playthrough requirements are necessary for the casino to stay in business. In the early days of the business, online casino weren’t quite so strict with this requirement, although a number of abusive players required modifying the system. In the early days of online gambling, players would take advantage if the system by signing up for several different accounts in the same online casino. These players would then cash out the online casino bonuses as quickly as possible.

Understanding Wagering Requirements

The playthrough requirement is not just some arbitrary fee set by the operators of the online casino. With deposit bonuses, this is usually a multiple of the minimum deposit. With welcome bonuses, the casino may simply set a dollar amount. In any case, the player will have to wager this amount before he or she can cash out any winnings.

Here’s an example. The most common online casino playthrough requirement is 15x. What this means is that you will have to deposit 15 times the amount of your first deposit, before you can cash out of your account. If you deposit $100 into your account, and get a 100% bonus, you will then have $200 in your account. With a 15x play through requirement, you will then have to wager $1500.

Keep in mind that the actual amount of the play through fee can vary from casino to casino so you should read through the terms and conditions carefully before signing up for a bonus offer. This is an essential step in getting the best possible bonus available, and will help you avoid wasting time on bonus offers that aren’t sufficient for you.

While casino bonus playthrough requirements may seem unduly steep, you should realize that is a necessary part of the online gambling experience, and it allows casinos to stay in business while attracting a more distinguished clientele.