Wagering requirements: the factor and its basis

Two offers both reading “35×” can differ by a clean factor of two in the turnover they demand. The number is identical, the basis is not.

The calculation, carried through once

Deposit 100 euro, bonus 100 euro. On “35× bonus” there are 3,500 euro to stake. On “35× deposit and bonus” it is 7,000 euro. Playing at one euro a round, that is 3,500 rounds ahead of you in the first case and 7,000 in the second.

Why wagering costs money and not just time

Every one of those rounds carries the house edge. At four per cent and 3,500 euro of turnover that is 140 euro on paper, and on 7,000 euro accordingly 280. The expected value therefore falls with the factor, and it falls linearly.

What else stretches the wagering out

• Weighting. A table game counting at 10 % demands ten times the stake for the same progress.
• Excluded games. Some slots do not count at all — the list sits in the terms and not in the game.
• The deadline. A high factor on a short deadline is an obligation to play daily.

The rule of thumb that mostly holds

Up to roughly 30× on the bonus amount alone, an offer is defensible for occasional play. From 40× on deposit plus bonus it is on the figures almost always worse than no bonus at all. In between, the deadline decides. The version without a bonus.

Where the buttons on this page lead

The casino the buttons on this page lead to

A cashier in six currencies, a licence that can be looked up in the authority's own register, and a bonus whose wagering factor is written as a number in the terms.

• 150 % on the first depositfrom the equivalent of 20 euro
• Six currencies at the cashiercard is not one of them
• Licence in a public registersearchable by domain

To the cashier

18+ · play only with a limit you set beforehand

More on the bonus

The remaining pages of this section, each on a question of its own. Online Casino Bonus pulls them together.