Finding the Best Casino Bonuses – A Guide to Bonus Terms and Conditions

Not all online casino bonuses are created equal. The big rewards that these bonuses often promise aren’t what makes them good or bad, either. If you need to understand how terms and conditions in online casino bonuses work, here’s a handy, simple guide.

Casino bonus terms and conditions define how a certain bonus can be used. In the worst cases, these conditions are there to ensure you don’t actually get anything for free. In others, they merely make it difficult to profit from a casino bonus deal.

Either way, you’ll want to fully understand what you’re getting into before you sign up for anything. That’s why we’re here – we’ll go through important points about live casino terms and conditions, what you need to pay attention to, and which bonus types can benefit you the most.

Here’s a good rule of thumb to have while looking at live casino bonuses: if something sounds too good to be true - it probably isn’t.

Table of Contents

Terms and Conditions You Need to Watch Out For

Before we get ahead of ourselves, we’ll point out why we’re listing live casino bonus terms and conditions in the first place.

Knowing how to use casino bonuses is not a big deal. You mostly just need to opt into the right thing and start using your bonus funds. However, the fine print at the bottom typically affects how the bonus can be used, which is crucial.

Not paying attention to the conditions is a surefire way to never see any of the money in your bank account. We’re hoping to avoid that – which is why we’ll explain how online casino bonuses work. Instead of a basic step-by-step guide, though, we’ll list some of the most common terms listed in casino bonus agreements.

Specifically, we’ll go through the terms and conditions you want to keep an eye out for. These points of a bonus are why you may be unable to withdraw the funds or why an offer sounds too good to be true.

100% up to $/€100

100% bonus to the maximum amount of €/$100. Eligible games: Blackjack, Casino Hold’em, Bet on Poker, Keno, Switch Blackjack, Rusky Poker, Bet on Teen Patti. 18+ only. Please gamble responsibly. Full T&Cs apply.

Wagering Requirements

Wagering requirements state that a bonus has to be played through multiple times before it becomes available as withdrawable cash. This is often the most important detail in any casino bonus, so let’s examine how it works.

For example, let’s say you received a $100 bonus with a 30x wagering requirement. That’s on the lower side of industry standards, by the way.

This means that you will need to wager a total of:

100 x 30 = $3,000

Effectively, you will need to put up $3,000 worth of stake money before it becomes cashable. As you might imagine, that’s not an easy feat.

The good thing about wagering requirements is that, statistically, you get most of every stake back. After all, the average live casino game has an RTP of over 96%, so you get $96 back for every $100 thrown in, on average.

The bad news is that the bonus sum will keep getting smaller and smaller as you play. A 5% house edge is not much, but once you run your money through it 30 times, you can expect to lose a good chunk of the $100 bonus. Luck is a factor (as always in gambling), but these requirements were designed to leave you with as small of a freebie as possible.

We should also mention that there are two types of wagering requirements.

If it is described as, for example, a 30x bonus, you just need to play through the bonus 30 times. So you deposit $100, get $100, and need to play through $3,000.
If the bonus states “30 x bonus + deposit”, the wagering requirement refers to both the bonus and your initial deposit. In this case, that would be a $100 deposit, plus a $100 bonus, and all of that times 30 for a $6,000 total requirement.

Wagering Contribution

The story of the casino bonus wagering requirement doesn’t end there, though. Wagering contributions are a consistent thorn in the side of every live casino fan, and we’ll explain why.

Wagering contributions in casino bonuses define how much of your stake goes towards meeting wagering requirements.

By default, online slots and RNG games have a 100% contribution. That much is simple – just follow through on the requirement, as described above.

However, table games and live dealer titles sadly often have reduced contributions. This means that only a part of the stake you’re using goes towards completing the requirement.

For example, let’s say a casino bonus has 10% contribution on blackjack. This is common in most bonuses due to the game’s low house edge.

This would mean that only 10% of every blackjack bet you make counts towards the requirement. We’ll stick to the same example of a $100 bonus with 30x requirements.

You need to wager a total of $3,000 to complete the terms. Since blackjack only contributes 10%, however, you would need to wager a total of $30,000 before you can withdraw the money because $3,000 is 10% of $30,000. Of course, this calculation assumes you only play blackjack while the bonus is active.

It should be clear why checking casino bonus wagering contributions is so important.

Calculating Your Actual Bonus

All of these percentages and formulas can make it difficult to know how much you’re actually getting from a bonus. If you need help with the calculations, try our handy casino bonus calculator!

Looking for a casino with reasonable bonus terms? Try the Betfair live casino!

Bonus Expiry

On top of all of the above, bonuses typically have a time limit. Sounds simple, right? Yes, but there are some deeper considerations here as well.

Casino bonuses have a time limit during which you need to complete wagering requirements if you want to withdraw bonus funds. The usual limit is one month, but this can vary.

The reason this matters so much is that you will lose the entire bonus if you don’t complete the wagering requirements in time. This won’t be much of a problem if you’re planning to play as soon as you register, right?

Yes, but it should also be in the back of your mind when deciding how big of a bonus you want. Some top casino offers can award thousands in matched welcome bonuses. Let’s say you took a $1,000 bonus with a 30x wagering requirement. You would have to bet a total of $30,000, assuming 100% contribution.

That’s a lot of money, and not everyone has the kind of bankroll required to play through that amount in less than a month.

The lesson is simple – don’t get too excited about big numbers, and only accept bonuses you can actually collect down the line.

Up to $130 Welcome Bonus

Your first deposit at Dafabet between $50 and $130 is doubled! 18+ only. Please gamble responsibly. Full T&Cs apply.

Maximum Bets/Odds

You may feel inclined to avoid the above problems by just betting big. Place three $1,000 bets on very safe wagers, and that $3,000 requirement is done within minutes, right?

Sadly, the casinos thought of this one, too. Most casino bonus money has a maximum stake that’s considerably lower than the site’s usual limit. This forces you to play through the money in smaller chunks. Due to how RTP and expected value in casino games works, this ultimately means less of the bonus money will “survive” to see your wallet.

Moreover, some casinos impose “minimum odds”. Basically, you have to have a chance of losing. For instance, you can’t just cover every number in live roulette and play through the money with no chance of losing any of it. Some casinos outright forbid such play and will consider it a breach of their terms and conditions.

Cashable vs Non-Cashable Bonuses

A cashable casino bonus means that you can withdraw the bonus money as soon as the wagering requirements are met. It’s nice, clear-cut, and generally the best type of casino bonus. Sadly, it’s not the only one.

Non-cashable or play-only bonuses actually deduct the bonus amount from the total if you try to withdraw. You can take the bonus and use it to play casino games. However, if you try to withdraw, everything you received as a bonus is removed from your balance.

For example, let’s say you got a $100 as a matched, non-cashable bonus with a $100 deposit. You play for a while and are left with $190 of the $200 total. The casino will remove the $100 bonus if you withdraw, leaving you with only $90.

So what if you turn a profit using bonus funds, you may ask?

Let’s use the example above, but assume you made a $50 profit with the bonus, leaving you with $250 in total. Once you deduct the non-cashable bonus, you’re left with $150 – your deposit plus the winnings. Yes, you can withdraw the $50. However, you are statistically highly unlikely to ever get to that point.

In other words, try to find only cashable live casino bonuses. Non-cashable ones are just a fancy way of playing casino games for free but never turning a profit.

Other Terms

We’ll point out a few other important terms and conditions in casino bonuses before we wrap up.

Sticky Bonuses – Sticky bonuses basically prevent you from withdrawing any money from your initial deposit unless you complete the wagering requirements. These often appear much more generous than non-sticky bonuses, but we don’t recommend them. In practice, sticky bonuses will likely just mean you’ll lose both your deposit and your bonus before you actually get to withdraw anything.
Maximum Winnings – Some bonuses, especially cashable ones, often have maximum winnings. For instance, winnings earned with bonus funds can be cashable – but only up to, say, $100. Any profit you make beyond this limit is lost once the bonus expires.

Conclusion and Recommended Live Casino Bonuses

If you’ve read our casino bonus guide, identifying high-quality offers should be easy. Except for the fact that you’ll have to read through long, dull terms and conditions.

There’s an easier way, of course. Our list of top casino bonuses lists these terms and conditions in a clear, short, and digestible manner.

To save you the trip, we’ll list some good offers below to get you started. Good luck – and always read the fine print!

No Wagering 13% Rakeback

Create your account on Gamdom and automatically claim 13% rakeback for the first week after registration on all games. 18+ only. Please gamble responsibly. Full T&Cs apply.

100% up to €140 on 1st Deposit

Deposit at least €20 and play with €40. 888 Casino doubles down on your first deposit. 18+ only. Please gamble responsibly. Full T&Cs apply.

100% up to €100 New Player Bonus

Deposit min. €10. Max. bonus €100. 30x wagering (game weighting, table coverage and max. bet rules apply) on deposit and bonus to make the bonus balance withdrawable. Time limits and T&Cs apply.