One of the main reasons why so many players prefer online casinos to land-based ones is bonus promotions. At pretty much every online casino you can easily double, triple, or even quadruple your initial deposit by claiming a match deposit bonus.
This way you will have a much higher starting balance and you can place bigger bets on the casino games. In return, you can hit bigger payouts and end up with a big withdrawal.
But the main problem with claiming bonuses at online casinos is the wagering requirement which comes with pretty much every promo.
The wagering requirement is a term attached to pretty much all promotions. The casino will happily add bonus funds to your account, but to make a withdrawal you need to wager that amount a certain number of times.
FOR EXAMPLE
You deposit $100 at a casino and claim a 100% match deposit bonus. This means that you now have a total of $200 to play with. But the wagering requirement for the bonus money is set at 30 times. This means that you will now need to wager a total of $3,000 (30 x $100) to clear the wager. Once you do this the bonus money is converted to cash and you are free to make a withdrawal.
The wagering requirement depends on the casino in question and whether you need to wager only the bonus amount or your initial deposit as well.
This is why most experienced players target bonus promotions with a low wagering requirement attached.
This way the bonus amount will be easy to wager and you have a much better chance to make a successful withdrawal.
When a bonus is claimed every player wants to clear the wager and make a real money withdrawal. This is the end goal of every deposit you make at the casino, so beating the wager is kind of what it’s all about.
But every experienced player will tell you there’s another thing to consider in addition to beating the wager. That is to keep most of your bankroll or even increase it if you can, while you’re playing to clear the wager.
This is very important especially after you hit a big win, but still, have a long way in clearing the wager.
FOR EXAMPLE
You hit a payout of $5,000 on some slot with the initial $200 bankroll you have from the bonus above. The wager is only $3,000 so you’re going to clear it either way. You can play any game you want on any bet you want and you’ll still have a minimum of $2,000 to withdraw.
For many players that’s a hefty amount, but why not keep the full $5k or even increase it if you can. This is why it’s crucial to have a strategy in place to clear as much of the wager as you can while keeping as much of your bankroll in place.
Here are a few ways how you can do just that:
With this strategy, you need to turn away from slots and play low house edge games. The obvious choices can be video poker, roulette, blackjack, craps, etc. With these games, you have the best chance of winning and eventually clearing the wager.
Still, we have to point out that this strategy comes with several flaws and is recommended for experienced players only. The first disadvantage to this strategy is simply the fact that most casinos do not allow these games to be played with bonus funds or the wagering contribution is very low.
At most casinos, only 5-10% of your bet counts towards the wager when you play video poker, roulette, or blackjack. In most cases, you are also allowed only to play the electronic variants run by an RNG, instead of the live dealer games. So, if you play the maximum allowed $5 per hand bet on these games, only $0.25-$0.50 will count towards the wager.
Also, to play pretty much any of these games you need to learn how to play the game, learn all the rules, and apply the best strategy to avoid high losses in the long run. This is why most players who use bonus promos at online casinos choose to play slots.
Video slots are the obvious choice when it comes to beating the wagering requirements for several reasons. The most obvious one is that all bets on slots contribute the full 100% towards the wager. So, a $5 bet will clear $5 of the total wagering requirement.
Another reason is simply that slots are very easy to play. You just need to set your bet, hit the spin button, and watch the reels go. Slots are run by a Random Number Generator, so it all comes down to luck whether you lose or win.
But even with slots, there are two basic strategies you can apply to make sure you keep most of your bankroll, while successfully clearing the attached wager. Below we will explain both in detail.
This is a basic strategy that works great for clearing even enormous wagering requirements. The trick here is to target low variance slots, preferably with a high Return To Player value, on higher bets.
Why? Well, the answer is quite simple.
These low variance slots produce frequent payouts which are smaller in size. Most of the time you win 1-5 x the stake, which in truth is not a lot. But these wins come every few spins your bankroll doesn’t sink a fast and you can even get ahead over a number of spins.
The trick here is also to change slots after a while. Once you see that you’ve wagered a hefty amount or are in plus it’s a good idea to stop and try another slot.
Despite their low variance, you can still lose on these games, especially when you play on higher bets. So, by making a list of slots where you can play 100 spins per session on a $5 bet you can easily clear the entire wager with only 6 games.
The chances are you will be down anywhere from $500 to $1.000, but you can also come on top for the same amount.
This is a riskier strategy than the previous one, but the result can be a much higher withdrawal. Usually experienced players take this road as they know which slots to target and what to expect. The goal here is to target high variance slots which can pay big.
As you may already know these slots can produce mega payouts, but they don’t land as often.
The idea behind this strategy is to play on medium or low bets in the range of $0.30 - $1.5 for a longer time. On these slots, you need to put in a big number of spins before you can expect a good bonus round to land and bring a big payout.
Usually, experienced players will tell you to play up to 500 spins or even more. This way you have a good chance to hit a big payout in the bonus round. You can win enough to cover your losses or win even more to make a bigger withdrawal.
Of course, high variance slots are very tricky to play as they can eat a lot of balance in a short time, without paying anything decent in return. This is why it’s highly recommended to use this strategy with caution. The end reward can be high, but you can also lose a huge chunk of your initial bankroll.
In addition to all of the above you also need to factor in your luck. Slots are games of chance and even on table games, you need some luck in addition to skill to land the right hands. So, players that are feeling lucky and are on a roll simply follow their gut.
We’ve seen gamblers playing a slot for the first time and hitting a million-dollar jackpot and experienced players losing thousands. The bottom line is if you’re lucky and, on a roll, you can easily beat the wager and win more, regardless of which games you play and the strategies you use.
Now that you have a better understanding of how bonuses and wagering requirements work all that’s left is to choose a bonus promotion and try your luck.
You can choose any casino from our list and create an account. They are all reputable brands, personally tested by our casino experts.
You will find a long list of great bonus promotions to choose from, fit for every type of player. Play the games that suit you the most and with some luck on your side, you can be well on your way to some big wins.
