Read and Understand Casino Bonus Terms and Conditions

The Most Important Casino Bonus Terms To Pay Attention To

1. Wagering Requirements - These are something that you really do need to look at before redeeming any special offer whether it's a no deposit promo or a signup offer. They are there to reduce online casino bonus abuse and they are called either wagering requirements or play-through requirements. These will always be located in the terms and conditions and they are different for every site. The typical requirement is between 20-30x. This means that you have to wager your free credits 20 to 30 times before you can withdraw them. Some sites will require that both your deposit and bonus be wagered. It sounds simple enough but it can get tricky when different games come into play. Slots normally count toward 100% of your wagering requirements but different games such as blackjack and roulette might only be up to 10% which means you need to read the requirements clearly to see what games you can play. There are some games that can actually void your winnings such as baccarat and sometimes roulette.

2. Excluded Games - These are games that you can't play and that won't count towards your wagering requirements. It is always wise to see what these are and to check whether or not they will void your winning before you begin playing. The most common games that are excluded from wagering requirements are baccarat, roulette and video poker.

3. Maximum Withdrawal - The maximum withdrawal pertains to the promotion claimed and it is the maximum amount of your winnings that you are allowed to withdraw if you meet your wagering requirements. You normally see this with free time offers, free spins and no deposit deals. It is very important to check on this before you begin playing because if you were to win a huge jackpot, you would only be able to keep the maximum withdrawal amount and that could be a big blow to anyone if they hit the jackpot.

4. Cashable or Non-Cashable Bonus? - A cashable bonus is an offer that will allow your free credits to become available for withdrawal once you have met the wagering requirements. Microgaming casinos use ClearPlay which is fantastic. With this type of offer your free cash is gradually converted to real money. Non-Cashable bonuses are often called phantom or sticky bonuses. These can never be withdrawn and can only be used to place bets on games. A phantom bonus disappears from your bankroll when you make a withdrawal. The sticky stays put until you lose it all.

It's unfortunate that so many online casino complaints could have been prevented if the customer understood the promotional terms and conditions. However, in some cases, the operator make finding these terms very difficult or even worse, they hide the terms until the player tries to withdraw their balance. This type of behaviour is unacceptable and earns certain operators a spot on the rogue casino blacklist. If you've had a negative experience with an online casino's promotional terms, we encourage you to share your experience with us and other visitors so others don't run into the same pitfall.