How many times do we sign up for something where you are asked to click a box to say you have read the terms and conditions? And how many times do we click that box without reading the small print? Well, when it comes to online casino betting, it pays to read the boring legal jargon about what constitutes a wager and what your requirements are to the casino.
Casinos want your money, and they want you to play with them, and they will do anything to get your hard-earned cash. It pays to shop around to see who is offering you the best deal. But let’s not forget, casinos are not just handing you free money. Don’t be put off by what casinos call “wager requirement.”
Whether it’s answering the question “what is a wager?” or understanding the meaning of wagering requirements, welcome bonuses, no deposit bonuses, this article will help you navigate your way around the terminology used by casinos, so you know exactly what you are signing up for. And if you do things correctly, you can successfully win them back.
New players have to figure out if wagering requirements are worth it. If they want to try different games, then they offer an opportunity to do this.
Getting Acquainted with the Wager Concept
It’s not that complicated getting your head around the terms used by casinos. There have to be rules around cashing in on casinos’ bonuses, and these are called wager requirements.
If it were possible to withdraw bonuses immediately after you sign up for them, then criminals would use them to wash their dirty ill-gotten gains, and Canadian casinos would be closing left, right, and centre. Putting the anti-laundry laws to one side, it is important to understand what the terminology means.
What is a wager can be answered like this: a wager is a bet – an act of betting a sum of money to risk against the outcome of an unpredictable event.
Like any bet, it can win or lose, which is why online gambling players are constantly reminded to gamble responsibly. In life, rarely do you get anything for free, and that is the case with online casinos who attach certain criteria to their rules.
Play with them, and you can benefit from healthy bonuses, but only if you adhere to their wager requirement. This is how players have to play a certain game before transferring their winnings from their initial investment to their bank account. And even then, there may be restrictions on how much a player can withdraw at a time.
What are the Wager Requirements?
You don’t have to have a Major in mathematics to understand the numbers associated with online casino gaming. A failure to comprehend deposits, bonuses, and wager requirements could sour your enjoyment of playing online casino games. When the homework is completed, and the decision is made as to which online casino to register, a new player will see a sequence of numbers. One of them will have an ‘x’ next to it.
It is the wagering requirement, and this is an important part of the equation. If the casino offers a $60 bonus and the wagering requirement is x5, then that equates to $300. That does not take into account the deposit the player has invested, which many casinos require the new player to wager.
Let’s say the new player’s deposit is $50, the total amount of money available for gaming is $550 – $50 (deposit) + $60 (casino bonus) x 5 (wager requirement).
This means the player would have to bet $550 before withdrawing any winnings won on their total bonus money.
It might sound harsh, but it’s a way for casinos to protect their investment. Casinos will hope that customers will have won enough money to deposit more dollars and continue playing without offering bonuses. Slots are slightly different. They can count 100 percent towards the wagering requirement, so every dollar wagered at an online slot counts one dollar towards the wagering requirement.
How Can You Calculate the Wagering Amount Mathematically?
By law, casinos have to be upfront with their customers about the offers they are tempting new clients. Casinos have to make it clear what is expected of customers in this arrangement.
Casinos cannot hide important details such as wager requirements from new recruits where they cannot be easily found.
Casinos will do their best to make new players work for any offers available, which applies to the legal requirements. How often are we told to read the terms and conditions before signing up, but we decline to do so because we cannot be bothered? Casinos will hope new players neglect to click on a link in the middle of a document like an email, detailing everything required by both parties.
Thankfully, these days, there is often a live-chat option on most casino websites, which is very useful if there is any uncertainty when signing up, and queries should be cleared up. Everybody works hard for our money, especially with Covid-19 to deal with, so the last thing anybody would want to do is lose money by signing up for an online casino offer without fully understanding what it entails.
What Does a Wager-Free Casino Bonus Offer?
If only we lived in a world where online casinos offered wager-free bonuses.
Well, if you look closely, there are. They are not always given to rookie gamblers, but often they are given to customers as a reward for their loyalty. In these rare but hugely satisfying moments, players can cash these in immediately without the need to play their favourite game a certain number of times.
Something many casinos do it to make them look generous and, more importantly, to retain their customers and make them spend more of their money with them. These generous gestures will not be large sums of money, but casinos are under no obligation to offer such sweeteners.
In the few casinos where wager-free bonuses are made available to new customers, the casino will ask them to make a deposit before withdrawal in the hope that they continue to play their favourite casino games with them.
Now that you can answer the question “what is a wager?” and you know the difference between wager requirements and wager-free bonuses, make the most of them by playing your favourite online casino games.
