Spotting Unfair Bonus Terms

Visiting and signing up to play at an online casino is easily done nowadays in many parts of the world. There are thousands of casino games to choose from, with many sites offering hundreds if not thousands of slots and other games to play.

Many casinos also offer bonuses, both to new and existing players. Many of these are great to claim and use, but of course, there are exceptions. Below, we’ll give some details about bonuses that are best left alone.

High wagering requirements

Let’s be clear here – most of the casino bonuses you find will have wagering requirements connected to them. There are a few exceptions, so you might occasionally find a bonus with no wagering and a cap attached to winnings instead. This cap will be for a certain amount of money, so anything won over and above that sum will be retained by the casino, while you can withdraw up to the imposed cap as per the rules.

You’ll see wagering requirements given as a multiplier, perhaps something like 10x or 20x the bet amount for example. Be wary of anything that comes in too high. If you see a bonus with wagering requirements set at 70x, that’s a bad bonus. It will be virtually impossible to reach those requirements, and you can only do so if you spend a lot of money playing the casino games on that site.

There are lots of sites with far lower and more attainable wagering requirements. Be sure to stick with those instead.

Vague rules over which games are eligible to play with the bonus

Few if any casinos will give you the ability to play any of their games when using a bonus. For example, it’s rare to find a bonus that allows you to play live casino games, unless the bonus is intended for that purpose. Similarly, we’ve visited many casinos offering bonuses to use when playing slots, but they do not allow play on the progressive jackpot slots. If this rule isn’t imposed, we advise you to avoid the progressive slots anyway. Winning a large jackpot would be unlikely, but if you did, it would be all but impossible to clear wagering given the figures involved.

A reputable casino will give clear rules about which games you can play and which ones you cannot play for the purposes of using a bonus. For instance, you might find a bonus providing you with four lots of 25 free spins. Each batch of spins might be granted on a consecutive day, with a specific named slot to play in each case. In another example, you might receive 100 free spins to use all in one go, but you have multiple slots to choose from when you want to use them.

Tough deadline for completing wagering

All casinos will impose a deadline for you to complete any wagering requirements given in the bonus terms. Some sites might give you seven days to complete the terms, and you might even spot longer deadlines than that. We’ve seen a few offers giving 28 or 30 days to complete the terms, for example.

When considering the wagering limitations for a particular bonus, consider the time limit you’re given as well. Some sites say you need to complete it within a couple of days, which is virtually impossible or will require spending a lot of cash very quickly. Avoid these and look for bonuses with a better time limit involved instead.

Check these elements as well whenever you’re considering a casino bonus

There are some rules involved with casino bonus deals that aren’t exactly bad, but they can be inconvenient. We’ll provide you with details of a couple of the most common ones below. Remember that these are not unfair – but you should certainly check whether they’re in play before you claim a bonus.

Game weighting for wagering completion:

Weighting is something you’ll often see with casino bonuses. The golden rule to remember here is that slot games usually have the highest weighting attached to them.

What is weighting, you ask? Well, it’s the term given to how big a contribution a game will make towards completing the wagering terms. Let’s say you receive $5 in bonus funds with 10% wagering requirements attached. This means you need to wager $50 in all to complete the requirements.

Now, you’ll often find the slot games contribute 100% towards wagering. This means 100% of every wager you make goes towards the wagering requirement. In contrast, table games usually contribute far less. You might be able to play some video poker too, but it may only contribute 10% towards wagering.

Let’s look at an example. We’ll assume you’re going to bet $1 per go on a slot game and on a video poker game. This means the full $1 bet on a slot game will be deducted from the wagering each time you play. In contrast, you’ll only contribute 10 cents towards wagering if you stick with video poker.

Suffice to say you should only play slots confirmed to give you the 100% figure when dealing with wagering requirements.

Limited payment methods for bonus claim:

Here’s another example of how you might be tripped up by a small detail if you don’t read the bonus terms. It’s not unusual for an online casino to exclude certain payment methods from a bonus deal. We’ve seen bonuses offered with most deposit methods but not on Skrill, for example. You’ve also got some crypto-specific bonuses that exclude all other methods.

As we’ve already noted, this condition isn’t unfair – it’s simply something to be aware of in case you happen to use the very method that doesn’t trigger the bonus.

Always read the small print before considering any casino bonus

You may have noticed that most casino bonuses are offered using a big headline. You might be invited to sign up today for a no deposit bonus. Maybe you can grab a 200% deposit bonus today when making your first deposit of just $10 or more. Both of those sound great, don’t they?

The trouble is – as we’ve seen here – the devil is certainly in the details. Every casino bonus should be accompanied by small print – the terms and conditions for that bonus. If it doesn’t, steer well clear. You won’t have any idea of how the bonus will behave or how you might fall foul of any rules the casino hasn’t chosen to share.

Of course, those instances are rare. In most cases, you’ll have information about the bonus you’ve found, all given in detail in the small print. Make sure you read it all, even though it’s likely the last thing you want to do. Bonus details are never exciting, but they should always be clear, understandable, logical, and as we have seen here, reasonable. If you’re unsure about anything or you find any unfair bonus rules involved, drop that offer and look for another casino to play at. There are lots to choose from, so there are honest and fair bonuses available for selected online casinos today.