Wagering Requirements on free bets and bonuses

Learn the truth about wagering requirements on free bets from sports betting sites, bonuses at online casino, poker and bingo sites.

To attract new customers, online gaming websites offer free bets and bonuses. They also offer these periodically to existing members in order to retain their membership. These free bets and bonuses, although free, have restrictions placed on them. The most important among these restrictions is what is called the Wagering Requirements. Most players will at one time or another play these free bets or bonuses. In order to make full use of these promotions and make a profit out of them, a player needs to understand exactly what they are. Depending on the type of games i.e. sports betting, casino, poker or bingo, the Wagering Requirements also differs slightly.

Wagering Requirements on Free Bets

Online betting sites offer promotions called Free Bets. These are free balance credited to a player’s account. A free bet may be offered to new players on their first bet, or can be given to existing members from time to time. There are certain qualifications needed to trigger the free bet. For example, Coral.co.uk for new members a free bet of £/€20 when they make a first bet of £/€5 or more. This free bet will be credited to the player’s account once the requirement is fulfilled (In the case above, after a bet of £/€5 is made).

Free bets cannot be withdrawn immediately. There are monetary requirements to be completed before any encashment is allowed. Depending of the betting site, they may be several conditions. Chief among them is the wagering requirement.

Wagering requirements for free bets are usually given as the amount of rollover required: 1x(one times), 2x(two times) etc. In the Coral free bet example given above, the wagering requirement is 1x. Therefore, the player has to bet a minimum of one times the amount of free bet to complete this requirement i.e. £/€20.

Important terms and conditions for Free Bet wagering requirements:

• Wagering requirement may be restricted to certain types of bets only. In the case of our example, the free bet cannot be used on Player Bets, Football Jackpot, tote, other combination and multiple bets like Lucky 15s.
• The free bet if wagered on a void selection may not be returned.
• The free bet may be required to be used in one bet in full. That is, if you use part of the free bet amount, the remaining balance will be unusable.
• Most free bet amount will not be included in the winning returns.
• There is an expiry date for using the free bet after which period, it will be removed from account.
• The free bet may not be used in conjunction with any other promotional offers.

Wagering Requirements on Casino Bonuses

Most online casinos offer casino bonuses to new players as well as existing players. These are extra free amounts credited to the player’s account. They are usually given as a multiple of the amount of deposits for eg. 100%, 200% etc.

For example: Coral Casino offers new players a £/€50 bonus on deposit of £/€10. The bonus is credited when a first deposit of £/€10 is made by the player. The wagering requirement for this bonus is 24x. That is, the player needs to play a minimum of 24 times the bonus amount before any winnings from the bonus can be encashed. In this case, the amount of playthrough or rollover required is (24 x 50) £/€1200.

The most important terms and conditions of casino bonus wagering requirements:

• Playing of the Wagering Requirements are not permitted on certain games. Example: Coral Casino will not count wagering made on bingo, poker, sports bet or poker/bingo side games. That is to say that play on any of these games will not contribute to the rollover.
• Different Casino games contribute different percentages to the Wagering Requirement. To explain, in Coral Casino bonus: Slots, Arcade, Scratch Card games contribute 100%. Roulette, Blackjack, Sic Bo, Keno contribute 20%. Red Dog, Pai Gow, Casino War contribute 5%. In this case, £/€10 spent on Slots will be counted as £/€10. However, £/€10 played on Roulette will be counted as £/€2 only, while on Red Dog, it will be counted as £/€0.50 only.
• There is a time limit for playing the Wagering Requirement. In the case of Coral Casino, the play of wagering requirement must be completed within 28 days of acceptance of the bonus. After this time, the bonus or remaining balance will be void and will be removed from the account.
• Making withdrawal before the wagering is completed will void the bonus. That is, if a player withdraw funds before bonus wagering is fulfilled, the bonus and any winnings will be removed from the account.
• Some low-risk betting are not permitted during the play of wagering requirement. For example: In the case of Coral Casino, Betting on Red or Black, or covering 75% or more of the table are prohibited. If a player does that, the bonus and winnings will be removed.
• There are maximum bet playable per round. For example: in Coral Casino, players must not bet more than 20% of the bonus amount or more than £/€10 in a single bet. Breaking this rule will void the bonus and winnings.
• There may be a separate list of restricted countries specifically for bonuses. For example: in Coral Casino bonuses, the following countries are not permitted to enjoy bonuses: Albania, Belarus, Czech Republic, Georgia, Hungary, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Macedonia, Romania, Russia, Slovakia.

Wagering requirements on Bingo Bonuses

Online Bingo sites also offer bonuses to new and existing players. Bingo bonuses can be given in the form of free bingo tickets or as credit of a given amount to the account. For example: Coral Bingo offers £/€25 bonus to new players when they buy £/€5 worth of bingo tickets.

Wagering requirements on bingo bonuses are similar to casino bonuses . They usually require rollover over or playthrough of a number of times. To explain: the Coral bingo bonus given above has a wagering requirement of 2 times the bonus amount. That means a player must spend a minimum of 2 times £/€25 that is £/€50 before winnings can be withdrawn.

The terms and conditions usually associated with bingo bonus wagering requirements:

• Play of the Wagering requirements restricted to purchase of bingo tickets. For example, in the Coral Casino bonus, only playing bingo is permitted using the bonus. So, playing side games, slot games or other available games will not contribute to wagering requirements.
• The bonus has an expiry date which means that wagering needs to be completed before the expiry of the bonus. To explain, Coral Bingo bonus expires 7 days after issue.

Wagering requirement on Poker Bonuses

Online Poker Sites offer bonuses to new players as well as existing players. These bonuses are usually given in the form of bonus amount credited to account and/or as free tokens for Poker tournaments.

For example, Sky Poker offers new players 200% bonus of their first deposit up to £/€500.

Wagering requirements on poker bonuses are different from other types of online gaming promotions. The bonus credit is usually held in a separate bonus account, not in the playing account. This amount is then release in increments to the playing account when the member earns a given amount of poker points. Poker points are earned by rake on cash tables or by buying of entry tickets in poker tournaments.

For example: the Sky Poker bonus given above is released in increments of £/€10 for every 250 Sky Poker Points earned by the player.

Important terms and conditions of Poker bonus wagering requirements:

• The manner of earning poker points are different on different poker sites. To explain: At William Hill Poker, every £/€1 spent on cash rake on table games or tournament fees paid will earn 10 WH Points. While in Coral Poker, every £1 = 17.8 points, every €1 = 12.8 points.
• There is a time limit to earn poker points to fulfill the wagering requirement. For example,for  the Sky Poker bonus this time limit is 30 days from the day of registration. After the expiry of this date, the remaining bonus account balance becomes void and unusable.

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