Casino Wagering Requirements: How to Convert Your Bonus to Cash

The best casino bonuses are ones with low wagering requirements. Why? Because it's easier to actually end of with withdrawable cash after playing through your funds. The more times a player need to bet the more likely it is to lose, and the wagering requirement is linked to the initial bonus funds not how much you currently have in your account.

What we mean by this is if you take $10 in bonus funds with a 5x turnover, you'll need to bet $50 total. If you lose a few wagers, you may only have $2 in your account, but still have $20 left before you complete the requirement. That is tough to do since you would need to bet quite a few times with a small amount to make it.

This is an often overlooked part of casino bonus wagering requirements, because it can turn a nice low 5x turnover into what feels like a 50x turnover. If you want to complete the playthrough requirement as quick as possible, slots almost always contribute 100% of the wager towards the turnover, but each bonus is different.

Typical game contributions look something like this:

• Slots: 100%
• Table Games: 20%
• Live Dealer, Blackjack, Baccarat, Roulette: 5-10%

Caesars Casino: Slot games 100%, video poker 50%, all other games, excl. craps 20%

DraftKings Casino: Slots, Lottery, Keno, Virtual Sports 100%; Blackjack, Other Table Games, & Select Slots 20%; Live Dealer Games, Video Poker, Baccarat, Roulette 10%.

FanDuel Casino: All games 100%

BetMGM Casino: Slots, Jackpot Slots, Scratch Cards, Fixed Odds Games, Virtual Games: 100%; Table Games, Roulette, Live Dealer (all games), Video Poker, Baccarat, Craps: 20%; Blackjack (non-Live Dealer only): 10%.

Still on the very low end of casino wagering requirements for bonuses, a 2x playthrough requirement has users bet their bonus amount in total twice before the winnings are converted to cash.

This isn't too bad especially if you like higher RTP games, and there is still a really solid chance you end up with a good level of winnings after playing through the bonus funds.

• a $100 bonus with 2x wagering requirement means you will need to bet $200 in total value* before winnings are yours to take home.

*dependent on game contribution rates

While there is a big difference between a 1x and 5x bonus playthrough requirement, wagering your bonus funds five times is still on the lower end, and is a nice plus for any casino bonus.

If you're really focused on profiting from the bonus rather than just testing out games, this turnover is where you will need to start considering RTP, volatility and game contribution more in order to preserve your funds as much as possible.

• a $100 bonus with 5x wagering requirement means you will need to bet $500 in total value* before winnings are yours to take home.

*dependent on game contribution rates

10x is starting to be the standard casino wagering requirement in the US, and while it is definitely more favorable to the casino, there is ample opportunity to end up with cash from the bonus.

Our recommendations would be to prioritise low volatility games, and play games that contribute in full to the turnover if you want to try and end up with cash - otherwise you can just enjoy the offer as a way to test out a new online casino!

• a $100 bonus with 10x wagering requirement means you will need to bet $1,000 in total value* before winnings are yours to take home.

*dependent on game contribution rates

Most online casinos that get to a 15x wagering requirement have excellent bonuses. Which makes sense since it's unlikely new players will end up converting much of the bonus unless they play smart. There is a ton of potential to win big here, but you will need to focus on how you play rather than just testing the waters.

Our recommendations are to prioritise low volatility games, and play games that contribute in full to the turnover, and keep track of how much you've bet if you want to try and end up with cash.

• a $100 bonus with 15x wagering requirement means you will need to bet $1,500 in total value* before winnings are yours to take home.

*dependent on game contribution rates

There are some quality casino sign up offers in terms of value at a 20x playthrough requirement, but it can be tough to see any significant profit. Playing smart can net you some cash at the end, but based purely on RTP it's unliklely to be that much after wagering your funds that many times.

We still always recommend claiming a welcome bonus even if the best part is to test out the casino or because you might get some free spins alongside a high turnover bonus.

• a $100 bonus with 20x wagering requirement means you will need to bet $2,000 in total value* before winnings are yours to take home.

*dependent on game contribution rates

30x turnovers can be very frustrating, and we really don't think they can be ranked particularly high up on our list unless the actual casino is great, the RTP is low, or there is a nice extra bonus like free spins or a no deposit bonus.

• a $100 bonus with 30x wagering requirement means you will need to bet $3,000 in total value* before winnings are yours to take home.

*dependent on game contribution rates

Obvious, but online casinos anticipate a lot of players not reading the fine print on their bonus, so they just play whatever games they like without considering the game contribution rate, or game exclusions. If you have a big wagering requirement, games that only put 10% of the stake towards completion just make it take forever to complete.

• Game contribution rate is the biggie for large turnover requirements, and an often overlooked factor in why players don't ever see winnings from bonuses. Online casinos like it when players play slots, since generally they lose more money, so slots will almost always have a 100% contribution ($1 in bonus funds wagered = $1 towards the turnover requirement). But games like blackjack and roulette tend to have a much lower contributions due to how much money players can win, so you may only see a 20% contribution, or even as low as 5% (20% means if $10 is wagered with bonus funds, only $2 will actually count towards the turnover, so you'll need to win five times more)!
• Game exclusions are the last major term to watch out for, since it may mean you can't play the games you like. Some casino bonuses only let you play a single game (usually for free spins), but most commonly a casino bonus with game exclusions will not let bonus funds be wagered on blackjack, baccarat, or craps since players win more there. You can still play them with bonus funds, but it wont count towards the turnover so it's pretty pointless if you're trying to win actual money at the end of it.

Look for games with a higher RTP, as you can expected a greater average payout to the player. Most are between 90-96%, but certain slots games can be a bit higher, and have full game contribution. The lower the house advantage the better off you'll be, and a little cushion from some wins can protect the bonus funds as you work through the turnover.

Similar to the above point, low volatility games are perfect to help improve your chances of walking away with some cash from your bonus. Volatility just refers to the differences in jackpot amounts, with high volatility games giving out infrequent but big wins, and low volatility games offering more frequent low value wins.

While the amounts you may win on any given spin are generally low (no massive jackpots), the little and often approach is more likely to net you an overall profit in the long run, even if it's not much. But keep in mind that to make a bonus worth it you really only need to get through the turnover with funds left, not necessarily with a big profit.