Free spins are one of the best types of casino offers for slot lovers, as they allow players to test out new games without spending their own money. But, to a new user, the terms associated with free spins can often seem confusing and difficult. This is especially true when it comes to wagering requirements.
This article will break down the basics for you and help you navigate all of the most important terms you’ll encounter with your next free spins offer.
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What are Wagering Requirements?
Wagering requirements, also called playthrough, staking, and turnover requirements are a standard part of almost any casino offer. This term essentially details how many times you need to wager your winnings (and/or bonus amount) to be able to cash out.
The way casino offers, including free spins, work is that any winnings you receive will be credited to a special bonus fund. Money from this fund can only be used in the casino until the wagering requirements are met.
The playthrough is usually clearly listed in the Terms and Conditions under the offer so you’ll know right away what you’re in for. The thing you need to be aware of is that each casino sets the requirements themselves, so these won’t be universal across the whole gambling industry. However, there is a standard (between 30x and 40x) that most casinos fall into.
If you manage to find an offer with a wagering requirement higher than 40x, you’ll know it’s rather steep. On the other hand, if your free spins come with a 10x staking requirement, you can be sure you’ve got a fantastic offer.
What is No Wagering?
In some cases, you may come across promotions that have 0x or no wagering in them. This doesn’t happen often, but free spins are generally the type of offer that’s most often featured without wagering. What this means is that everything you win is yours to keep.
The catch is that other terms of these offers are usually far stricter. For example, you may only have a few hours to use your free spins or there might be a winnings cap preventing you from cashing out significant wins.
How to Calculate Wagering Requirements?
Calculating how much you need to stake before you claim your free spins is always good practice. It allows you to get a sense of how long you need to play and keeps you on top of your budget. The formula for calculating this is also pretty simple.
For example, let’s say the terms state that you need to wager your winnings 30x. If you won €100, that means that you’ll need to stake €3,000 before you can make a withdrawal request.
Wagering Contribution
The thing about free spins promotions is that they’re often not meant for all slots. Eligible titles will either be written under the offer or in the Bonus Terms and Conditions. This means that only those games will contribute to the playthrough.
You also may be tempted to use your winnings to test out other titles. If you decide to do so, make sure that those games have a 100% contribution. Otherwise, only a small percentage of your bet will go towards the turnover, making you wager more money than you need to.
Why do Wagering Requirements Exist?
Casinos need a system in place to encourage people to stay and play more. Wagering requirements are the perfect solution to that problem. Without them, people would most likely just take advantage of bonuses and never play at the casino again. So, in other words, it would be like the operator is giving away free money.
With a playthrough, hobbyists and genuine casino lovers are more likely to play and those who just want to take advantage will be deterred from signing up.
Other Free Spins Terms
While the turnover requirement might be the most important detail of your free spins offer, there are also other conditions that you should take into account:
- Time limits: As we briefly mentioned before, free spins may come with short time limits. If you don’t use them in that span of time, you forfeit them. The limits vary from bonus to bonus, but the most common ones are between 24 hours and 10 days.
- Winning cap: In some cases, the casino may limit how much you can win from your free spins. If this limit is very low, then the promotion may not be as lucrative as you initially thought.
- Withdrawal limit: Even if there isn’t a winnings cap, there might be a withdrawal limit. This means that you will only be able to withdraw a certain amount of money from your bonus fund. One way to get around the limit is to split your withdrawal into multiple ones. That’s a useful tip for those significant wins you don’t want to leave at the casino.
- Game selection: Free spins are usually offered only for specific slots. You should check which slot the spins are valid for, otherwise, you may be in for an unwelcome surprise. Casinos generally pick either all-time favourite slots like Book of Dead or they choose a title that’s popular in their establishment.
- Qualifying deposit: In most cases, you will have to make a qualifying deposit to claim your free spins. The tricky part here is when the spins are part of a larger bonus. This is most common with welcome offers. While the minimum deposit for the match bonus part of the welcome promo might be one amount, you’ll usually need to make a higher minimum deposit if you also want to claim the free spins. Since these offers are usually valid only for first deposits, it’s very important to double-check you’re transferring the right amount to your account.
Conclusion
Though wagering requirements and Terms and Conditions may seem intimidating in the beginning, they’re actually quite straightforward once you do some research. Hopefully, this article has helped you understand them better and given you enough confidence to start looking for your next free spins promotion.
