What is a Wagering Requirement? How Bonus Playthrough Works

A wagering requirement (also called playthrough or rollover) is the condition attached to a casino bonus that says how much a player must bet before bonus funds, or the winnings from them, become withdrawable. A €100 bonus with a 30x requirement must be turned over €3,000 in bets. It is the mechanism that makes bonuses affordable for operators — without it, a bonus would be a gift of cash — and the most frequent source of player complaints and regulatory scrutiny.

How it works

The requirement is a multiplier applied to the bonus amount, or in stricter variants to bonus plus deposit. The player's bets count towards it according to game weighting: slots typically count 100%, while table games, live casino and low-house-edge games count 10% or less, or not at all, because they can be used to grind through the requirement with little risk. Most terms also impose a maximum bet while the bonus is active, a time limit, and a cap on how much can be won or withdrawn from the bonus.

Platform bonus engines track progress in real time, apply the weightings per game and decide whether a bet draws on real or bonus funds. Regulators in mature markets require the requirement to be stated plainly before the bonus is accepted; the UK bans requirements attached to winnings from real-money deposits and has pushed the market towards lower multipliers and clearer terms.

Why it matters for operators and suppliers

For operators, the multiplier sets the bonus's expected cost. At 96% RTP, a 30x requirement on €100 means €3,000 of expected turnover and about €120 of expected house edge, so most of the bonus is statistically recovered. Set it too high and the bonus stops converting; too low and bonus abusers arbitrage it. Bonus cost is the largest deduction between GGR and NGR, so wagering design shapes reported margins and affiliate payments.

For suppliers, bonus engines, CRM tools and fraud systems are largely in the business of managing wagering requirements: configuring them, tracking them and detecting the multi-account patterns that exploit them.

Example

A player deposits €50 and receives a 100% match bonus with a 35x requirement on the bonus only: €1,750 of wagering. Playing slots weighted at 100% with a €2 maximum bet, they reach the target after roughly 875 spins. With a 96% RTP the expected loss over that turnover is about €70, so on average the player finishes with around €30 of the original €100 balance withdrawable — and the operator has paid roughly €30 for the acquisition.

Frequently asked questions

The bonus amount must be bet 30 times before winnings can be withdrawn. A €20 bonus at 30x requires €600 of qualifying bets.

Because their house edge is low, a player could complete the requirement with very little expected loss, turning the bonus into near-free cash. Operators weight them at 10% or exclude them.

In most licensed markets the terms must be clear and fair; some regulators cap multipliers, require them to apply to the bonus only, or ban them on deposit winnings. Unlicensed sites often use much higher multipliers.