Understanding Casino Wagering Requirements?

Understanding Casino Wagering Requirements?

Wagering Requirements Guide

Bonuses, promotions, and other special offers are some of the best things about playing at online casinos. Not only do they extend our playtime, but they can give us more chances to win without having to risk our own money. However, as with most great things, these offers sometimes come with “fine print” that takes them from “great” to just “OK.” One of the most common stipulations you’ll find in that fine print is what’s known as a wagering requirement.

To ensure you’re properly informed of what wagering requirements are and how they can affect your online casino experience, we’ve put together this helpful guide. In it, we’ll explore the different types of wagering conditions, which casinos offer the most beneficial wagering requirements, and more. By the time you’re done with this article, you should have no problems selecting the casino at which you want to spend your hard-earned cash!

What Exactly are Wagering Requirements?

Whether they’re free spins, bonus bets, or extra cash, we all love a good online casino bonus. But when it comes to wagering, we need to remember that there are often stipulations that need to be met in order for us to reap the benefits. A wagering requirement is the number of plays or amount of number that a player has to put up before they can claim their bonus money OR any winnings that result from it. Here are a few examples to help you better understand the concept.

  • You sign up for a casino with a welcome bonus offering a 100% match of your first deposit (up to $200). The wagering requirement attached to the offer is listed as “35x.” This means that if you deposit $40, the casino will provide you with an additional $40 right off the bat. However, in order to withdraw this extra $40 or any winnings earned from it, you will need to wager 35x the bonus and the deposit amount combined. In this case, that would be $2,800.
  • You are awarded a free spins deal from your casino for being a great customer. However, you notice that there is a 50x wagering requirement listed in the award section. When using your free spins, you win $100 from your favorite slot. However, in order to claim that money, you need to wager 50x the free spins first!

Don’t allow wagering requirements to get you down, however. As you’ll see in the rest of this article, every casino has its own stipulations regarding when you can get your money. In fact, some online casinos in Canada have no wagering requirements at all!

Online Casinos with No Wagering Requirements

It’s important to mention this right up front: there are not many casinos with zero wagering requirements. In fact, you’re more likely to find casinos that suspend wagering requirements for short periods of time than those that don’t have any at all. There are also situations in which you might receive non-wagering requirement funds from a casino by participating in special events or tournaments with pay-on-demand cash prizes. In fact, if there are no wagering requirements, it might be a sign that the casino you’re dealing with is not on the up-and-up (more on this later).

Either way, we recommend you keep an eye on our news and special offer pages for more information regarding changing wagering requirements across Canada.

Free Spins Without Wagering Requirements

There are a few no-strings-attached free spins bonuses that crop up from time to time, they aren’t exactly common. Plus, it’s important to keep in mind that there may be additional “fine print” to take note of, even if it isn’t technically a “wagering requirement.” For instance:

LeoVegas – One of the most popular online casinos in Canada, LeoVegas offers up to 122 no-wager free spins (and up to 25 more free spins) with a player’s first four deposits. Still, the number of spins you receive depends on how much you deposit, which means you need to put some a decent amount of cash to get the max reward.

Videoslots – Videoslots has one of the biggest selections of online games out there, offering hours of endless fun and excitement. Better yet, every player who registers and makes a deposit can get 11 free spins with zero wagering requirements.

Online Casinos with Minimal Wagering Requirements

According to our research, the average wagering requirements for an online casino bonus are between 20x and 40x. However, we sometimes come across casinos with special wagering requirement rates that stand out from the pack. For instance, above, we mentioned how LeoVegas is one of the most popular online casinos in Canada. But did you know that they offer newly registered players bonuses and free spins at a WR rate of only 10x? Here, take a closer look:

Deposit #1: Up to $100 in bonus cash and up to 25 free spins

Deposit #2: Up to $300 in bonus cash and up to 25 free spins

Deposit #3: Up to $300 in bonus cash and up to 25 free spins

Deposit #4: Up to $300 in bonus cash and up to 25 free spins

As you can see, how much bonus cash and how many spins you receive depends on the total amount you deposit. Even so, thanks to the low 10x wagering requirement, this is one of the casino bonuses you can find! For more information about LeoVegas, you can read our review here.

The Reason for Wagering Requirements

Wagering requirements are important for online casinos for two reasons. First, casinos would be taking a huge risk if they offered bonus money to players without requiring some sort of commitment on their end. If they did, there would be nothing stopping the player from just signing up and withdrawing the money right away. It would also give criminals a way to “launder” their money. This is why all casinos governed by legitimate legislating bodies are required to use wagering requirements of some kind.

The other reason for wagering requirements is that most online casinos feature all sorts of different games. However, each of them contributes towards the wagering requirement in different ways. That is, slots almost always contribute 100%. This means that each spin or bet goes completely toward the total. Table games, on the other hand, may only contribute 25%. So, if you’re trying to meet a $1000 wagering requirement and are betting $10 per hand on Table games, including Live Casino Games, only $2.50 is getting knocked off your WR balance. Here’s the average contribution breakdown per online site:

  • Slots: 100%
  • Table Games: 25% or less
  • Live Casino Games: 25% or less
  • Poker: 0%

In short: always read the fine print and always read the Terms and Conditions.

Bonus Money Wagering / Including Deposit

You also need to realize that some online casinos in Canada will only require that a player’s bonus money be wagered, while others will require that both deposit AND bonus money be used to meet the wagering requirements. Here are a few examples of how this might break down:

  • Bonus Money Only: $40 bonus money x 30x wagering requirement = $1800 in wagers before winnings can be withdrawn.
  • Bonus money + Deposit Money: $40 deposit money + $40 bonus money = 80 x 30x wagering requirement = $2,400 in wagers before winnings can be withdrawn.

Bonus Money and Maximum Bets

Casino companies aren’t dumb – they know how they need to operate to not be taken advantage of. For that reason, simply betting the highest possible amount on each game won’t help you meet the wagering requirement faster. In fact, casinos usually restrict bonus money bets significantly (usually to a max of $5).

On top of this, casinos may cap how much you can win when betting with bonus money. This might seem unfair at first. However, it makes perfect sense when you realize that this money isn’t really “yours.” As the name implies, it’s just a bonus!

Can You Beat Wagering Requirements?

Again, there’s no real way to “beat” a casino’s wagering requirements. If there were, the casino might get in big trouble with local regulatory committees. The only way to ensure that a bonus or free spin deal is highly likely to benefit the player is to find those casinos that already offer super-low wagering requirements.

Still, we cannot stress how important it is that you only play at fully licensed casinos. These regulated platforms offer the best security and can only host games that have been certified honest and trustworthy. In the end, the best way to ensure you are getting the most from your online casino experience isn’t to look for loopholes in wagering requirements but to make sure you’re only depositing cash with a licensed platform.

And remember: always read the Terms and Conditions fully. Ignoring the fine print makes you more likely to violate the terms of the bonus! In our opinion, the best strategy is to play the slot games that contribute 100% towards the WR so that you meet the requirements as quickly as possible. You should also concentrate on games with a higher RTP (return-to-player), as these will give you the best chance to make the most of your bonus cash!

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Frequently Asked Questions:

The best online casinos for Canadian players must be licensed in a reputable and well-known jurisdiction, such as the UK or Malta. They should also offer a large section of games from a variety of providers. Of course, a nice welcome bonus for Canadian players is always welcome!

Modern online casino games are extremely secure. Providing the website is a reputable one, they will provide proof that all of their games have been tested for fairness and use an RNG (Random Number Generator) to produce the outcome.

We review the mobile versions of all the online casinos that provide them. So far, some of the best are LeoVegas, Mr Green, CampoBet, Unibet, ComeOn and PlayOJO.

Most Canadian online casinos will allow you to try out their table games and slots without having to wager or make a deposit. You may have to set up an account to get access, but you do NOT have to put any money on the line to play FREE games.

The latest and greatest new online casinos provide their players with the most popular games, biggest promotions, and fun challenges and tournaments. However, they should also ensure a safe place for you to gamble from anywhere youd like.

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