Playthrough Meaning At Online Casino Bonuses

What Do Playthrough Requirements Mean?

The casino playthrough meaning is the number of times you have to playthrough (wager) the bonus before you can withdraw the bonus funds from your online casino account and get some bonus money. You need to know that, in some cases, you will have to playthrough the bonus and deposit and not only the bonus amount.

In terms of a playthrough requirement, it is important to know that if you lose the bonus funds and the deposit, you are not locked into the wagering requirement if you make another deposit. In the example above, the playthrough requirement of 10x is fulfilled if you wager 10x the bonus and deposit or lose all of the money in your casino account.

Wagering Requirements Examples

Let’s look at how higher and lower wagering requirements affect online casino players.

Example 1 – Online Casino A

Online casino A offers a deposit match welcome bonus of 100% up to $50. The associated wagering requirement is 30x (deposit+bonus).

You deposit $50 and receive the full bonus amount of $50 to match it, meaning you have $100 to play with.

Before withdrawing, you must complete the following wagering – 30x (50+50) = $3000.

Example 2 – Online Casino B

Online casino B also offers a deposit match welcome bonus of 100% up to $50. This time the associated wagering requirement is 5x (deposit+bonus).

Again, you deposit $50 and receive the maximum bonus of $50 to accompany it, giving you $100 to wager.

Before withdrawing at Casino B, you must complete the following wagering – 5x (50+50) = $500.

Casino B offers the bonus most favorable for players since its wagering requirement results in players wagering a 1/6th ($500) of what they would have to at Casino A ($3000) before they can withdraw, meaning that they have to risk far less.

Do All Bonuses Have Playthrough?

While not all bonuses have a playthrough requirement, the vast majority will. This is why reading through the bonus terms and conditions is vital before opting for a bonus. You want to ensure you can fulfill the wagering requirements and keep the bonus money. There are cashable no deposit bonuses out there with no wagering requirements, but they are rare. This will depend on the casino and each of their offers. The golden rule is that the bigger the bonus, the higher the playthrough requirements. Casino bonuses that almost always have playthrough requirements include:

No deposit bonus spins or cash – bonus given right after registration

Welcome bonus – deposit match or spins bonuses come with 20 – 40x wagering requirements in most cases

Reload offers – whatever the reload bonus, it will usually come attached with playthrough requirements

On the other hand, comp points and cashback are two types of bonus offers that will not have wagering requirements. Comp points are playing credits you can earn if you are part of an online casino’s loyalty/VIP program. Cashback is the refund that online casinos offer on net losses, and you will get those funds directly back to you with no playthrough requirement tied to it.

Still, it is within the right of each casino operator to tie these offers with playthrough.

Which Casino Has a Bonus With No Playthrough Requirements

You will not find US online casinos that do not have a playthrough requirement for their bonuses. While you may find some sites with specific bonuses with no wagering requirement, they are rare and will never apply for welcome bonuses or other types mentioned.

The same goes for cashback offers and comp points, as you can find them available at US online casinos, but all licensed online casinos will have wagering requirements tied to nearly all bonus offers.

Nonetheless, BetRivers Casino, FanDuel Casino, and SugarHouse Casino are renowned for attaching minimal wagering requirements to their promotions – at 1x. This means that all deposit bonuses must be played through only once, which is more than fair.

DraftKings Casino, Golden Nugget, and Borgata Casino tend to set their playthrough at 20x, which is not bad either.

How to Beat the Online Casino Playthrough Requirements

The first thing you need to note when it comes to beating the wagering requirements in an online casino is that no strategy works for all sites. Each casino has varying rules and regulations concerning how much you must wager to fulfill the playthrough requirements. This means you’ll need to alter your strategy and gameplay to ensure it aligns with the casino.

Nonetheless, there are a few tips that can draw you closer to your goal of beating the wagering requirements ensuring you have fun:

Choose the Right Bonus and Online Casino

The bonus you choose, along with the online casino, is critical in determining how easy it would be to beat the wagering requirements. If you settle for a bonus with unreasonably high playthrough requirements, it will be impossible to beat regardless of what you do. Also, you may want to stay from bonuses with excessively low wagering requirements, as the bonuses are usually small and not worth the effort – although this is not always the case.

Play the Right Casino Video Game

To roll over the playthrough requirements, you will have to wager the bonus amount, and usually the deposit, before withdrawing the funds. However, you need to be aware that certain games contribute differently to the wagering requirements, as some will contribute more than others. This is vital to know and this is especially the case if you like to play certain games.

For example, playing slots at online casinos will contribute 100% to the playthrough requirement the vast majority of the time. Video poker and table games, such as blackjack and video roulette, will often contribute less, around 10%. Most of the time, live casino games and progressive jackpots will not contribute to the playthrough requirements.

The game contribution to wagering requirements is important, as it is not rocket science to know that you want to fulfill the rollover requirements as soon as possible so that you can get the bonus money quickly. If blackjack is your game of choice and only contributes to 10% of the playthrough requirement, which is 10x, then the rollover is 100x!

If slots are your cup of tea, then you are fine with a contribution of nearly always 100%. Still, if you do play slots, make sure that you play the games that contribute to the requirement, as they almost always do, but sometimes high RTP and variance games do not.

You can always read about game contributions in the terms and conditions of the bonus offers. Many online casinos have this info in fine print, but it is always available and may be found on a separate page. Nonetheless, it is important to stick with titles that will help you clear the wagering requirements fast.

Read the Terms & Conditions

As we have mentioned above, it is always a good idea to have a good read of the terms and conditions page before you claim any bonus offer. Making sure you read the fine print means you will have knowledge that you can use to your benefit later on. This means you will be able to meet your wagering requirements quickly and efficiently.

Some of the key terms and conditions to check for when it comes to playthrough requirements with online casino bonuses include:

Minimum Eligible Deposit

You may be lucky enough to find one of the rare no deposit bonus options out there – we hope so! If not, then make sure you check the minimum qualifying deposit amount to allow you to claim the bonus offer you are interested in. Pretty much all zero and low wager bonuses will require you to make a minimum deposit.

Maximum Cashouts

This term is very commonly applied to zero wagering and low wagering bonuses – especially if they are of the no deposit sort. Why? Because online casinos don’t want to give away too much and put their business at risk. It is highly likely that if you haven’t had to risk any of your cash to claim a bonus offer, you’ll be able to cash out only a limited amount in winnings. Operators will remove any amount won over this max cashout threshold from your account at the point of withdrawal.

Maximum Bets

Maximum bet terms are popular with online casinos – especially if they don’t have a maximum cashout term. The maximum bet usually refers to the amount a player can wager in a single spin or on a single round of play if playing some other game type than slots. If you fail to notice a maximum bet term in place and exceed it, your bonus and all associated winnings will be void.

Expiry Dates

Most zero-wagering or low-wagering bonuses come with a set validity period. A common one for no deposit bonuses or deposit match bonuses is seven days. It is more usual to have bonus spins expire in 24 hours to 3 days. If your bonus combines a deposit match and bonus spins, there may be two different expiry dates, so check for both.

Game Eligibility

Some online casinos limit the use of certain games when playing with a zero or low wager bonus. Often table games, video poker games, some high RTP slot games, and progressive jackpot slot games are excluded from play with a bonus. Some games may be permitted for use when playing a low wagering bonus but contribute less to the wagering requirements, so they will take longer to complete if you choose to play your low wager bonus on such a game.

EG, if a slots game contributes 100% to wagering, but a blackjack game contributes only 25%, then you’ll have to play four times as many hands to clear wagering on blackjack than on slots.

Why are some games excluded?

Some games are excluded or have a smaller contribution to the playthrough requirement, as they are riskier for online casinos. For example, table games have a higher return to player percentages (RTP), which means the player has the advantage with minimal risk for higher RTP games, as they will win more often. Therefore the player will have more wins contributing to the playthrough requirement. This is the case for newer releases for slots, as they typically have higher RTPs to entice new players to try the new slot machines.

When it comes to live casino games, they rarely contribute to the player requirement. One reason is that the live games are table games and, therefore, have higher RTPs. Another reason live games do not contribute to the requirement has to deal with player collusion. For example, in a live roulette game with multiple players, it is easy for two of them playing to collude and counter-wager against each other. One player will win, but both will contribute to the wagering requirement.

Lastly, progressive jackpots and tournament games are often excluded so that the community pots do not increase in size from bonus funds. That’s reasonable since the casino would then have to pay these out in real money wins.

Which Playthrough Requirements Are Considered High?

Typically, a wagering requirement is high if it is over 10x. However, a key factor is your level of play. If you are a casual player that does not often play, a lower bonus offer with a lower wagering requirement is the way to go. Still, if you often play and wager a significant amount before you plan to withdraw, a higher wagering requirement can be more lucrative. The rule of thumb with bonus offers is that the more lucrative the offer, the higher the wagering requirement.

Let’s say there is a wagering requirement of 10x on a $100 bonus. That would be 200 spins at $5 per spin playing a slot machine. Since slot action is fast and furious with the spins, it would not take long to fulfill the playthrough requirement.

Several sites with low wagering requirements are listed on top of this page, so indifferently to your betting habits, they are good to go.

Best US Casino Bonus Playthrough

The best US casino bonus playthrough is one that has the lowest wagering requirement. Two online casinos have great bonus offers with very low playthrough requirements in WynnBET Casino and BetRivers Casino. Each offers a welcome bonus with a wagering requirement of only 1x. Each welcome bonus is different, with 100% matching up to $250 on your initial deposit on BetRivers and $1,000 on WynnBET.

FanDuel is another online casino that regularly offers 1x playthrough requirements for bonuses. For example, they have two monthly promotions with a 1x playthrough requirement; Tuesday Slots Special (bonus $10 betting, bonus $100 on slots) and Wednesday Win-Win (get a $20 bonus when betting $200+ at the casino). Their insurance bonus and $100 no deposit bonus is also available with 1x playthrough, unheard of before.

Can I Cancel My Bonus?

If you later have second thoughts about a bonus, you can easily opt-out. Most online casinos will allow you to cancel a bonus after you have opted in. The process is often rather easy, but you must contact the online casino’s customer service department. All bonus winnings will be forfeited if you decide to cancel your bonus, and any real money balance will remain.

Canceling a bonus is never advantageous, as while you play, you are reaching the playthrough requirement for that bonus. No matter how close you are to fulfilling the wagering requirement, you will not get any bonus funds when canceling. Still, canceling is good if you want to start fresh without a bonus and keep subsequent winnings.

Again, reading the terms and conditions of casino offers is always a good idea to ensure you can meet the playthrough requirement to get the bonus funds.

Playthrough requirements are present for nearly all bonus offers from top online casinos. A bonus is a great way to get extra money and pad your gaming bankroll. However, you have to make sure you know all about the bonus and the playthrough requirements it has.