Whenever we have some free time on our hands or when we are bored, we typically turn to different sources of entertainment. It’s quite common for people who are stuck at home to browse the web and give online gambling a try. This was made abundantly evident during the COVID-19 lockdowns when searches for gambling entertainment were breaking all records. Moreover, statistical evidence confirms that more and more people give online casinos a try, as everyone wants to test their luck every now and then, much like with the lottery. 

However, new players are also more susceptible to falling into some traps or accepting bonuses without reading the wagering requirements. Here we will explain how wagering requirements work, and how beginners should take them into consideration when making a new account. 

What are Wagering Requirements? 

Online casinos tend to offer an array of different bonuses, but almost always the welcome offers are seemingly the best offers. You can get funds that match your initial deposit or even multiply it by 2 or 3 times. However, there are always some restrictions to how you can use these funds, and you can never withdraw them. Additionally, you won’t be able to make any withdrawals until you meet the wagering requirements for the claimed bonus.

In order to find more about how each bonus functions you need to read the terms of service. There you can find how much money you need to spend on gambling in order to be eligible for withdrawal. Typically that can be 20. 30 or even 50 times the amount of funds you were awarded through the bonus. But if you don’t claim the bonus offer you are not obligated to make those wagers. Furthermore, you will most likely have to play slots as spending money on other games won’t count the same for meeting the goals of the requirement. Clearly, if you play slots this isn’t a big deal but if you mainly want to play blackjack, it will be annoying. 

Finding the Best Online Casino

Online casino UK operators are aware that many players find these wagering requirements annoying and some of them really addressed the issue. Nowadays you can find sites that rank the lowest wagering requirements across casino sites, and basically, tell you where to play if you don’t want to make heavy commitments. Alternatively, you can look for no wagering welcome bonuses, which basically give you free funds without attaching any caveats. Clearly, you will still need to spend those extra funds on their site, and you won’t be able to withdraw them. Finally, you can look for no deposit bonuses. These are really small, but they are completely free and if you win anything you can still make a withdrawal which is great. 

Are Wagering Requirements Bad? 

The casino uses money from other players in order to create prize pools for each game. So, by giving you extra funds they need to ensure you pay them back in some way in order for other players to have rewards if they win. Moreover, there needs to be a portion of the money that a house gets in order to maintain business. So, all of the games favor the casino, and that’s why the house always wins, sort of speaking. If there are big bonuses without wagering requirements, then the casino is potentially making promises it cannot keep. 

Meaning you are more likely to find these deals with operators who have successful business history, and who can handle big payouts. Also, some of the most popular games are those with progressive jackpots, and without the need for players to invest money, the rewards would never be as high as they are today. We can all agree that some of those wagering requirements are ridiculously high, but eliminating them completely is definitely not a solution. The best way to make them fairer is to opt for operators who are providing better deals.  

Conclusion 

In all honesty, you should not be too concerned with this. If you are playing to win big and want as many shots as possible then feel free to claim even those bonuses with heavy wagering requirements. If you don’t win anything just move on to the next platform and forget that account. Additionally, if you plan on playing slots and don’t mind the expenses then wagering requirements will rarely affect you. 

However, if you just wish to play occasionally and don’t want to make a ton of new accounts then this is an important aspect of the experience. You can pick a trusted provider and ignore the bonuses, or simply use other sites to find operators with low or no wagering requirements.