What are Wagering Requirements and How does it work?

If you’ve tried a hand at gambling on any online betting site, you must’ve come across wagering requirements of some kind. Although they’re not really all that difficult to understand, they can certainly leave people confused. This is because these wagering requirements are designed to be preventative, even if they’re not always logical.

What is a wager?

To understand wagering requirements, it’s important to first know what is meant by a wager. Simply put, a wager is essentially a bet you place on something. It is the amount of money you can put at stake in each gambling event. The amount transferred or deposited by a punter is understood as a wager for that particular event.

A wager can be placed for a dice game, horse racing, round of cards, sports betting, or any other form of gambling event. It can be at stake collectively throughout the day or for each individual round.

Wagering Requirements Overview

You now know that the wager is basically another term for a bet. If you want to cash out winnings from betting events, you need to understand wagering requirements first. We’ll explain it with the help of an example.

Whenever you win a sports bet, poker game, or any other game, you are given a reward by the online betting site. However, the amount won doesn’t come in the form of real money straight away. This might sound alarming and even disappointing to you, but it’s true for all betting sites.

So here is what happens. Any of your gains or rewards from gambling are first transferred into your account in the form of numbers, and not money. To convert this digital money into real money, you would have to fulfil certain conditions. These conditions are the wagering requirements. They state the minimum number of multipliers a bettor has to pass.

Wagering requirements essentially refer to the terms and conditions section of an online betting site. It explains what you need to do if you want to withdraw your winnings from your online betting account. If these wagering requirements are not met, your winnings would not get converted into real money and will eventually be forfeited.

How Wagering Requirements Work

Now, we come to our next question, which is about how wagering requirements work. Wagering requirements are usually different for different types of bonuses. If yours is a cash bonus, you would have to bet through some specific multiplier before you are allowed to withdraw bonus funds and related winnings.

For instance, let’s say you have £100 in your betting account, and £50 from that is the bonus funds. If you want to cash out these funds, you would first have to fulfil the wagering requirements. This wagering requirement will state how much you need to bet in order to withdraw money from your account.

Wagering requirements for online sports betting bonuses can range anywhere from 1x to 50x. To complete these requirements, you would have to wager the bonus funds the required number of times. Let’s take another example to understand the same.

You joined an online sportsbook that provided you with a welcome offer in the form of a risk-free bet. When you placed a £100 bet and you lost it, the sportsbook refunded the same amount in your account in the form of betting credits. However, this amount is tied with a 1x wagering requirement. To turn these funds into real money for cashing you, you would have to wager the credits 1x (one time).

4. Calculating Wagering Requirements

The wagering requirement states how many times you would have to match the bonus value before you can obtain it. It is usually shown as ‘x’ (times) the amount of bonus offer. If, for instance, your wagering requirements for a £10 free bonus is 10x, it means you’ll have to match it 10 times to encash the winnings.

To meet this wagering requirement of 10x, you would have to spend £100 on the online betting site. At the end of it, you’ll be able to cash out the winnings from claim the ‘free’ money from the betting site.

There is a very simple formula you can use to calculate your wagering requirements. All you have to do is put in the numbers to retrieve the baseline. Here is the formula –

(Bonus Amount) X (Wagering Requirement) = Total Bet

Let’s assume you deposited £50. Your match-deposit bonus is £50 and the wagering requirement is set at 30x. The calculation with the formula would look something like this –

(£50) X (30) = £1500

Depending on the bookmarker, you might be given a sticky bonus. This means that your initial deposit will also be included in the wagering requirements, and the formula will be changed into –

(Bonus Amount) + (Initial Deposit) X (Wagering Requirement) = Total bet

This means that the new calculation would be: (£50) + (£50) X (30) = £3,000.

Although these numbers seem high at first, they are not that difficult to meet. The winnings from the bonus money can be used to make wagers. If you can make these wagers smartly, you would be able to fulfil the requirements. You might even have some leftover at the end of it.

5. Why do wagering requirements exist?

Wagering requirements might seem like a bane of your existence in the world of online betting. However, these are not just designed to obtain more money from the players. There is a legitimate explanation for why these wagering requirements exist on most gambling sites.

Wagering requirements became more mainstream with the rise of online casinos. The origins of online casinos and sports betting are closely tied to criminal activity. This is why these online sites are scrutinized closely by the government.

Most online betting sites and casinos keep these wagering requirements as a failsafe to prevent money laundering activities. If it was simple to put money in and withdraw it at the same time, it would have made it easier for criminals around the world to launder millions at a time. Although wagering requirements might seem inconvenient, they are necessary to comply with the anti-money laundering regulations.

Wagering requirements are also necessary to encourage people to play more. They prevent players from simply taking advantage of the bonuses. After all, online betting is not just about getting money for free, and where’s the fun if you don’t play a little.

6. How to avoid wagering requirements

By now you know that every online betting site and casino has some form of wagering requirements. However, avoiding the hassle of these wagering requirements in both the short and long run is dependent on you. Here is how you can do it –

1. Take Advantage of Bonus Offers

Most online betting sites and casinos provide some bonuses and welcome offers like wager-free spins to entice you. You can use these bonus offers to withdraw your winnings from the online account. Although these winnings might be small, they will be free, allowing you to forego the headache of dealing with wagering requirements.

It’s important to be careful with online sites that make you deposit money to obtain the winnings from your account. This is not the norm.

2. Choose Your Online Betting Site Carefully

When it comes to online betting sites, it’s important to choose the ones which offer you the best chances of winning. If you do a quick Google search, you’ll find that there are many reviews and ratings for online betting sites which are being put up daily. So it’s important to do some research and exploration before you join any online betting site.

Make sure that the betting site you choose is licensed. Look out for sites that specify the legality of their operation. These are the betting sites you would want to wager with, since they will not abuse wagering requirements or anything else for that matter.

3. Read the fine print

Reading the terms and conditions is possibly the most boring part for any punter. However, making sure that you are familiar with the T&C will prevent any heartaches in the future. A good online betting site will state all the terms and conditions, including the wagering requirements, for the players.

If you have some queries about the wagering requirements, you can also contact customer support. If a site requires you to forego your bonuses to make the withdrawal, it could be a big red flag.

7. FAQs on Wagering Requirements

a. What Does 10x Wagering Requirement Mean?

Wagering requirements are fairly simple to understand. A 10x wagering requirement means that you would have to put 10 times the amount of a bonus as a wager to withdraw your winnings. For instance, if your bonus is £10, you would have to wager £100 to cash out your winnings.

b. What does no wagering mean?

'No wagering' is a type of bonus in which you don’t have to meet any form of wagering requirements. In this case, you can collect winnings from a bonus as soon as you get them.

c. What is a sure-fire way to beat wagering requirements?

The best way to beat wagering requirements is by placing more bets using your bonus amount. Do this until you reach a specified amount. Once this is done, your bonus money will be converted into real money for easy withdrawal.