No Deposit Bonus Wagering Requirements Explained

No deposit bonuses are the most sought-after casino bonuses for a good reason – after all, who does not want to play for free and win real money?

However, to fully benefit from a no deposit bonus, you must be familiar with its wagering requirement and understand how bonus wagering works. This article explains no deposit bonus wagering requirements in great detail, along with other bonus terms that are relevant to no deposit bonuses and free spins.

What Are Wagering Requirements?

A wagering requirement specifies the number of times you must play through the value of your bonus or free spin win to convert your bonus credits to real money that you can withdraw. If casinos did not apply wagering requirements to their no deposit bonuses, they would virtually be giving away money.

Wagering requirements are commonly referred to as playthrough requirements and typically range from 30 to 70 times your bonus or free spin win. The higher a wagering requirement is, the harder it becomes to complete.

How Wagering Requirements Are Applied to No Deposit Bonuses

As no deposit offers comprise bonus credits or free spins, their wagering requirements are applied to:

  • The sum of bonus credits you have received, or
  • The amount you have won with your no deposit free spins.

The following two examples illustrate how wagering requirements are applied to no deposit bonuses and free spins, respectively.

Example

Wagering a No Deposit Bonus

Casino: Casino Brango
Bonus: $250 no deposit bonus.
Wagering Requirement: 5x

When you claim this no deposit bonus, Casino Brango will apply its wagering requirement to the bonus sum, as follows:

$250 no deposit bonus x a 5x wagering requirement: $1250.

Once you have staked $1250, any remaining bonus credits will be instantly transferred to your cash balance. You can now request a withdrawal.

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Example

Wagering No Deposit Free Spins

Casino: Casino Extreme
Bonus: 250 Free Spins on Olympus Thunderhold
Wagering Requirement: 5x

When you win with free spins, your winnings are added as bonus credits to your bonus balance. If you win $50 with these free spins, your wagering requirement will look as follows:

$10 free spin win x a 5x wagering requirement: $250.

When you have bet $500, any remaining bonus credits are immediately transferred to your cash balance.

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How to Know What Is a Reasonable Wagering Requirement 

Wagering requirements may vary significantly from one casino to another. Here are some guidelines that will help you determine whether a casino’s wagering requirement is reasonable:

  • Below 30x – Super.
  • 30x – 40x – Very good.
  • 40x – 50X – Decent.
  • 50x – 60x – High.
  • 70x or more – Very high.

These guidelines alone are not enough to accurately evaluate a no deposit bonus. To fairly assess a no deposit bonus, you must consider several additional important bonus terms which can significantly affect your gameplay. Skip to the next section to learn about these bonus terms.

Bonus Terms That Matter When Wagering a No Deposit Bonus

Although a bonus’ wagering requirement largely determines how good the bonus is, there are several other bonus terms that you must consider. 

To accurately compare the many exclusive no deposit bonuses on our site, you must be familiar with these terms and understand how they work. Read on to learn more.

Cashout Limits

You can never withdraw an amount that exceeds a casino’s cashout limit. In other words, casinos implement cashout limits to ensure they can never lose more than a specific amount on any given no deposit bonus. Cashout limits range from $20 to $200 and are also commonly referred to as win limits.

Permitted Games

You cannot wager a no deposit bonus on any game you like. Most casinos exclude quite a significant number of games with high volatility and RTP percentages from bonus play.
Their reason for doing so is to limit your chances of scoring massive wins that leave a substantial amount in your bonus balance even after you have completed your wagering requirement.

To put it laymen’s terms, most casinos do not allow you to wager a bonus on games that have statistically frequent payouts and huge win multipliers.

As the number of excluded games may vary significantly from one casino to another, you should always compare the lists of excluded games before you claim a no deposit bonus. At the end of the day, you want to play with a casino that lets you play as many of your favourite games as possible.

Game Weighting Percentages

Casino games are subject to game weighting – a term that describes the percentage of each bet that counts towards your wagering requirement in a specific game. If you bet $10 on a game that is 10% weighted, only $0.10 is deducted from your wagering requirement.

Slots are usually 100% weighted, meaning that your entire stake will count towards your wagering requirement. However, table games, video poker, and live dealer games typically range from 1% to 25%. Therefore, a casino’s game weighting percentages become extremely important when you intend to wager a bonus on other games than slots.

Game weighting percentages only apply to match deposit bonuses as no deposit bonuses are generally only valid on slots.

Time Restrictions And Expiry Dates

No deposit bonuses usually have short expiry dates, and you must often wager your bonus in a relatively short amount of time. You are commonly requited to play your no deposit free spins in 24 hours and wager any winnings in 14 days or less. If you do not meet these requirements, any free spins or associated winnings will be forfeited.

Conclusion

No deposit bonuses are an excellent option when you want to test new casinos and games. By signing up for these bonuses, you can play entirely risk-free and still get a chance at winning real money.

The important thing to grasp is that no deposit bonuses are not free cash. You must always wager your no deposit bonus or free spin win to convert the bonus credits to real money. Therefore, you should always choose bonuses with the lowest possible wagering requirements.

Published on: 2021/03/25

About the Author

Hi, I'm Courtney, the Webmaster at No Deposit Kings - We provide visitors with free and easy access to real money casino gaming thanks to no deposit casino bonuses offered by our hand-picked selection of online casinos.