Obviously, players love no wagering bonuses because it’s almost like receiving free money without any expectations in return. Having said that, casinos cannot always offer such conditions and even when they do, the bonuses are limited to small amounts such as $10 or $20. Furthermore, there could be other terms and conditions imposed such as a “max cashout limit” to mitigate the risk of bonus abuse. No wagering bonuses are highly valuable and rare, but they certainly do exist.
Wagering requirements often prove to be the bottleneck on your way to gaining profits from an online casino bonus. Most casino players would agree that these requirements are the biggest challenge to overcome when trying to cashout a casino bonus.
Let’s Get Down to Basics
So, what exactly are wagering requirements and why do they stifle the value of an online casino bonus so much? To understand this, we first need to ask the question – why do they even exist in the first place? Given that online casino players are not fans of such restrictive conditions, wouldn’t casinos do better off without them? Well, there are a few casinos that sometimes totally get rid of them, hence the availability of no wagering requirements casinos.
Wagering requirements dictate the amount of money a player needs to wager at the casino before cashing out bonus funds or winnings obtained from bonus funds.
If there were no wagering requirements, a player could sign up with a casino, claim a bonus, cash out the bonus and simply bid farewell and pocket the profit. Needless to say, this is not a good business model for the casinos. In order to prevent such bonus exploitation or bonus abuse, casinos impose conditions, to ensure they won’t make substantial losses and go bankrupt.
Wagering requirements are either defined in the casino terms and conditions or the bonus policy of the casino. They can differ from one casino to another and also from one bonus to another. There are even time limitations that dictate how long you have to complete your said requirements. Failure to meet these outlined conditions within the stipulated time results in the bonus being forfeited.
A Simple Example
Consider this bonus: Receive a 100% match bonus up to $100 on your first deposit
Let’s assume the wagering requirements here are 45x bonus amount and the time limit for completion is 10 days from when the bonus is received.
Now, if you go ahead and sign up with the casino and make a first deposit of $50, then you’ll receive an additional $50. When you check your cashier, you will see that your real money balance is $50 and your bonus balance is $50. Your total balance, ergo, is $100. However, you can only cashout real money balance and not bonus balance. In order to convert bonus balance to real money balance and then cash it out, you will need to complete the wagering requirements. In this case, the they’re 45 times the bonus amount.
Therefore, the amount you need to wager to unlock your $50 bonus and withdraw it is = 45 x $50 = $2250. What else? You need to wager $2250 from your own pocket within 10 days or your $50 bonus is automatically forfeited.
$2250 is a significant amount of money just to withdraw $50. It’s no wonder players hate wagering requirements. This is why many get really excited at the mention of low or zero wagering bonuses.
Casinos that Offer No Wagering Bonuses
As the name suggests, a no wagering bonus is a bonus where there are no wagering requirements imposed.
So, if the above example was a no wagering bonus (instead of 45x wagering requirements), it would mean that once you receive your $50 bonus, you could withdraw the $50 right away. No need to wager $2250. No need to wager even a single dollar.
Remember, zero wagering requirements doesn’t automatically mean no restrictions whatsoever. Actually, fulfilling the outlined conditions might make it even harder to cash out on that bonus you’ve had your heart (and wallet!) set on. Now, whether you’d like to pursue such no deposit casinos or opt for ones with standard wagering requirements is entirely up to you.
Common Types of No Wagering Bonuses
Like we mentioned at the start, when casinos offer no wagering bonuses, the bonus amount is usually quite a modest sum of money. So, don’t expect to be handed hundreds of dollars without any obligations. Below, we’ve listed the common variations of this bonus:
No Deposit Bonuses: These are free bonuses issued to a new player simply for signing up for an account. They could be a small amount of money or a few free spins.
Cashback Bonuses: Casinos will sometimes issue cashbacks to players that have lost money over the prior week. The cashback is a percentage of the net loss.
Match Bonuses: The casino rewards you with a bonus that is equal to a certain percentage of the deposit you just made.
VIP Bonuses: Loyal players maybe treated to exclusive VIP bonuses that can sometimes be free of wagering requirements.
Disclaimer:
- As per the Public Gambling Act of 1867, all Indian states, except Goa, Daman and Sikkim, prohibit gambling
- Land-based casinos are legalized, with certain guidelines, in Goa and Daman, as per the Goa, Daman and Diu Public Gambling Act 1976
- Land-based casinos, Online gambling and E-gaming (games of chance) are legalized in Sikkim under the Sikkim Online Gaming (Regulation) Rules 2009
- Only some Indian states have legalized online/regular lotteries as per and subject to the conditions laid down by state laws. Kindly refer to the same here
- Horse racing and betting on horse racing, including online betting, is permitted only in a licensed premise in select states. Kindly refer to the 1996 Judgement by the Supreme Court Of India here and for more information
- This article does not endorse or express the views of Qrius and/or any of its staff.
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