A bonus is a contract with four numbers in it. If you know all four, you know what the offer is worth. If you know only the headline, you know nothing.
The four numbers
1. The wagering multiplier. How many times you must turn over the bonus (sometimes bonus + deposit) before withdrawing. 40x on a $200 bonus is $8,000 of turnover.
Check whether it is “40x bonus” or “40x bonus + deposit”. The second is twice the work on a matched deposit, and the difference is one word.
2. The expiry. Days to complete the wagering. Seven is common; three is aggressive. $8,000 of turnover in three days is a demanding pace at any sensible stake.
3. The maximum bet while a bonus is active. Usually $5 or equivalent. Exceed it once — including a single spin at a higher stake — and the casino can void the bonus and everything it produced. This is the most common reason a cleared bonus is cancelled, and it is almost always the player’s own oversight rather than bad faith by the operator.
4. The cashout cap. Some bonuses cap what you can withdraw at a multiple of the bonus — 25x is typical for high-percentage offers, and no-deposit bonuses are often capped at a flat amount like $50. Win more and the excess is removed.
Worked example
A “200% up to $1,000” offer, 40x wagering, 3-day expiry, 25x cashout cap. You deposit $100:
- Bonus: $200. Balance: $300.
- Turnover required: 40 × $200 = $8,000
- At $2 per spin, that is 4,000 spins in three days
- Maximum withdrawal from the bonus: 25 × $200 = $5,000
Four thousand spins in seventy-two hours is roughly six hours of continuous play at a normal pace. Possible, but only if you intended to play that much anyway. If not, the bonus expires and takes its winnings with it.
Now the same deposit with a “100% up to $500” offer at 35x with 30 days: $100 bonus, $3,500 turnover, a month to do it. The smaller headline is the better offer for almost everyone.
Game weighting
Not every game counts equally toward wagering:
| Game type | Typical contribution |
|---|---|
| Slots | 100% |
| Crash games | 0–50% (often excluded) |
| Roulette | 10–20% |
| Blackjack | 5–10% |
| Live dealer | 0–10% |
| Video poker | 0–10% |
Clearing $8,000 of wagering on blackjack at 10% weighting means $80,000 of actual bets. Individual high-RTP slots are often excluded outright — check the excluded games list, which is usually a separate page from the bonus terms.
The no-deposit special case
No-deposit bonuses look like the best offers and are the most tightly capped. A $7 no-deposit bonus at 20x with a $50 maximum withdrawal is a genuinely reasonable one — you can clear $140 of turnover in a sitting. A 40x no-deposit bonus with a $50 cap is a marketing exercise.
Treat no-deposit offers as a free look at a casino, not as a source of winnings.
Are bonuses ever worth taking?
Sometimes, under conditions:
- Wagering at 35x or below
- Expiry of 14 days or more
- No cashout cap, or a cap well above what you would realistically win
- Maximum bet you can comfortably stay under
- Slots weighted at 100% and the games you actually play not excluded
If an offer fails two or more of those, decline it. Playing without a bonus means your deposit is yours — withdrawable at any moment, with no maximum bet clause and no clock.
That option is always available and is frequently the better one.
Before you claim
Screenshot the terms on the day you claim. Bonus terms change, and the version you agreed to is the one that governs your bonus — but only if you can show what it said.