Casinos, just like every other establishment, are businesses, and as businesses, they have to attract customers and generate profit, fairly.
There are a lot of promotions and bonuses that a casino can use in order to do that, and they generally tend to use every tool at their disposal in order to do so. But by far one of the most popular ways in which a casino can attract players is by offering them bonus money to gamble with, as well as bonus spins and bonus tries.
Focusing on the bonus money for a bit, we can clearly see that this system is rather easy to take advantage of, as a player.
A simple tactic that comes to mind is fulfilling the conditions needed to earn that bonus (deposit a certain amount of money, play for a certain time, etc), and simply walking away with it once it is in your possession.
Casinos, however, are always one step ahead of the players, and this scenario is no exception.
There is no such thing as “free money”, and there will always be strings attached. Whenever you see a promotion or a bonus of any kind, you will want to look at the terms of service and casino rules before choosing to take advantage of it.
The safety precaution that casinos take is called a “wagering requirement”, and it is put in place specifically so that players don’t simply walk away with the bonus.
While it might not be placed directly on the promotional banners, or on the various graphical elements that advertise it, they are there. However, due to international casino laws, they are required to at least put them in the terms of service and casino rules. And they do just that.
Each and every casino has its own wagering requirements, and they are not as straightforward as they might sound.
An example of a wagering requirement is the 10x requirement.
Basically, let’s say the casino in question is offering a 100£ cash bonus to start off, but only if you deposit at least 100£ yourself. To any normal person, this is literally free money because a person can simply deposit 100£, receive another 100£ and immediately withdraw 200£, without even gambling 1£.
This is not an exactly profitable way to do business, nor is it fair towards the casino itself, so here’s where the wagering requirement comes in.
In order to actually withdraw the bonus 100£, in the case of the 10x requirement, you will need to of have wagered a total of 10 times the value of the bonus, in this case, 1000£.
You can do it all in one massive bet, or you can do it in smaller chunks, but in order to be able to withdraw that extra 100£, you will need to fulfill that wager requirement.
In all fairness, the casinos keep their word. No matter how much you lose, or win if you meet the wagering requirement, you are able to withdraw that bonus.
A more interesting part to remember is the fact that, while you are not allowed to withdraw the actual bonus funds, you are allowed to gamble with them before meeting the wager requirements. If you are a skilled and seasoned casino player, this can actually come in quite handy.
Each and every casino has its own wagering requirements in order to be able to take advantage of their promotions. It is always advised to carefully read all the information that you can find on the casino’s website before starting to gamble. This will help you better understand the rules and know what your actual limits are.
And if you do your research properly, and you understand the basics behind wagering requirements, it is only a matter of time until you turn those sweet promotions into solid winnings.
