The betting industry has increased in competitiveness. Different online sports betting and casino platforms have rolled out various measures to sway the ever-enthusiastic sports fanatics to their side.
Some of these attractions to pull in new customers include offering free bets, free spins, and bonuses for new and existing bettors.
But then, bookmakers are not charity organizations bankrolled by the United Nations. They have to stay profitable.
Considering this, they can’t just throw free bonuses at just any bettor, which such bettor can immediately withdraw. Therefore, bookmakers usually peg a condition to their bonuses.
This is the wagering requirement.
What are wagering requirements, and how do they work?
Before extensively discussing what wagering requirements are, let us fundamentally talk regarding what a wager is.
A wager is simply the bet of money. This is the amount that a bettor is willing to risk to win a higher amount, dependent on the outcome of a game.
By setting a wagering requirement, the bookmaker is expecting you to make a predefined number of wagers with the bonus they give you.
These conditions must be fulfilled before such bonuses can be withdrawn from your betting account.
Where do you find such requirements, you may ask?
In every betting platform potential bettors are made to check the terms and conditions box.
This signifies that the bettor has studied the rules associated with that offer and is comfortable with them.
Agreeably, these terms and conditions are very long to read. As a result, a greater percentage of potential bettors are not patient enough to read them.
Instead, they scroll to the end and check the box, ultimately agreeing to whatever the betting platform demands.
These betting platforms are privy to this knowledge and capitalize on it by including certain demands in their terms and conditions.
So, they make the attractive part, that is the bonus offers visible in their advertisements but hide the wagering requirements in the terms and conditions.
Is this outrightly scandalous?
No, it is just smart marketing. It is the responsibility of the enthusiastic bettor to check out these wagering requirements before checking the box – not the bookmaker’s.
Do your due diligence, researching Meta Reviews to know which bookmaker has fair wagering requirements and which requirements are too high for you.
A practical demonstration of how wagering requirements work
Let us assume an arbitrary online betting platform offering new users a 100% deposit bonus of up to $300 via a designated promo code FREEXYZ.
But more than this, the bookmaker sets a 3X wagering requirement.
This means that if a new bettor registers with that betting platform using the promo code FREEXYZ and makes a deposit, the bettor can get a maximum deposit bonus of $300.
In addition, the bettor can only withdraw their accrued earnings if they wager that $300 three times. In other words, they need to wager a minimum of $900 before withdrawing the winnings.
A simple formula to understand wagering requirements is thus: Wagering Requirements X Bonus Amount = Wager Amount
Are there other requirements associated with claiming and withdrawing a bonus?
Apart from the number of times that a bettor must wager, there are some other conditions that the betting platform insists must be fulfilled before bettors can either get their bonus fund or withdraw the earnings.
These conditions include:
- Minimum deposit: This is the minimum amount that a bettor should deposit before they can receive or withdraw their bonus funds or earnings. Most betting platforms peg their minimum deposit at $10.
- Minimum odds: Most betting platforms fix their minimum odds at -250. This means that bets with odds lower than -250 won’t count as a requirement to withdraw your earnings.
- Sports Market: Different betting platforms stipulate specific sports markets that a bettor can bet on that will count.
- Time Limit: These free offers do expire following certain days. As a result, if a bettor does not fulfill all the wagering requirements within the stipulated time, the betting company will withdraw the free offers.
Conclusion
Sometimes, betting platforms can be shady as they split between attracting new bettors and making enough profit. This is why they include wagering requirements in their free offers, but usually will not publicize them.
However, taking out time to meticulously read the terms and conditions is one of the most important betting tips that a bettor should always consider.
This is because, once you agree to it, you are binding on all the platform demands.