The true cost of online casino bonuses
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How much does free money cost?
Whatever type of casino bonus is on offer - 1 hour free play, 100%
match, 200% match, sign-up bonus - it eventually comes to a point
where you have to release a sum of money from the bonus account
into your real money account.
And this is where it starts to cost. In order to 'unlock' the bonus amount, you'll have to wager ie risk some of your own - often many times more than the bonus is worth.
It's all stated quite clearly in the bonus terms and conditions, but it's not always as easy to understand as you might like.
How to calculate the cost of a bonus
There are three important elements in understanding how much a bonus will cost you:
1. the wagering requirement
2. the game contributing percentage and
3. the game's house edge.
Whatever type of casino bonus is on offer - 1 hour free play, 100%
match, 200% match, sign-up bonus - it eventually comes to a point
where you have to release a sum of money from the bonus account
into your real money account.
And this is where it starts to cost. In order to 'unlock' the bonus amount, you'll have to wager ie risk some of your own - often many times more than the bonus is worth.
It's all stated quite clearly in the bonus terms and conditions, but it's not always as easy to understand as you might like.
How to calculate the cost of a bonus
There are three important elements in understanding how much a bonus will cost you:
1. the wagering requirement
2. the game contributing percentage and
3. the game's house edge.
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BASICS
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The wagering requirement
A bonus's wagering requirement is the number of times the deposit plus bonus amount must be wagered before the bonus is released. It varies by bonus and by casino, but on average it's between 15 and 30 times - eg Bodog is 15x and Spin Palace is 30x.
Game contributing percentage
The contributing percentage is the amount that each individual game counts towards the overall wagering requirement. Think of it like a multiplier: if the wagering on a game only counts as 50%, in effect you have to wager twice as much.
For slots players, the contributing percentage is normally 100%, so the wagering requirement stays at the basic level.
The difficulty starts with games like Baccarat, Blackjack and Roulette. For those games, each casino has its own opinion, but generally the contributing percentage will be 50% or less.
Take Blackjack, for example, where at Microgaming casinos the percentage is just 10%. What this effectively means is that the wagering requirement is actually 300x (100 / 10 x 30).
One casino that doesn't try to trap you in this way is Bodog (see ad opposite), where all games count 100% towards the wagering requirement - which itself is only 15x. Credit once again to Bodog - this is another reason why it's our number 1 recommended casino. (Visit Bodog)
House edge
In simple terms, the house edge is the percentage of total bets taken that the casino expects to keep in the long term. So in a game with a house edge of 2%, the casino will expect to make an overall profit of 2%.
All games have a house edge, ranging from less than 1% in some Blackjack variations to over 50% in some of the worst Keno bets.
The exceptions to this are the four games at Betfair's Zero Lounge which, as the name suggests, have NO house edge.
A bonus's wagering requirement is the number of times the deposit plus bonus amount must be wagered before the bonus is released. It varies by bonus and by casino, but on average it's between 15 and 30 times - eg Bodog is 15x and Spin Palace is 30x.
Game contributing percentage
The contributing percentage is the amount that each individual game counts towards the overall wagering requirement. Think of it like a multiplier: if the wagering on a game only counts as 50%, in effect you have to wager twice as much.
For slots players, the contributing percentage is normally 100%, so the wagering requirement stays at the basic level.
The difficulty starts with games like Baccarat, Blackjack and Roulette. For those games, each casino has its own opinion, but generally the contributing percentage will be 50% or less.
Take Blackjack, for example, where at Microgaming casinos the percentage is just 10%. What this effectively means is that the wagering requirement is actually 300x (100 / 10 x 30).
One casino that doesn't try to trap you in this way is Bodog (see ad opposite), where all games count 100% towards the wagering requirement - which itself is only 15x. Credit once again to Bodog - this is another reason why it's our number 1 recommended casino. (Visit Bodog)
House edge
In simple terms, the house edge is the percentage of total bets taken that the casino expects to keep in the long term. So in a game with a house edge of 2%, the casino will expect to make an overall profit of 2%.
All games have a house edge, ranging from less than 1% in some Blackjack variations to over 50% in some of the worst Keno bets.
The exceptions to this are the four games at Betfair's Zero Lounge which, as the name suggests, have NO house edge.
The casino bonus trap
The casino bonus trap is this:
the wagering requirement, contributing percentages and house edge
combine to ensure that your betting is at a level where the expected
loss is greater than the bonus amount.
Gambling without a bonus, your expected loss (ie the amount you should be prepared to lose)
can be calculated as:
Expected loss = Amount wagered x House edge
(eg if you bet 2000 on a game with a 1.5% house edge, you should expect to lose 30)
Gambling to release a bonus, the amount you have to wager is dictated by the wagering requirement and the game percentage, so:
Amount wagered = (Deposit + Bonus) x Wagering requirement x (100 / Game %)
In other words,
Expected loss = ((Deposit + Bonus) x Wagering requirement x (100 / Game %)) x House edge
Example Blackjack bonus
Say you've taken up a 100% match bonus of 50 to play Blackjack
(House edge is 0.5% or 0.005)
Your expected loss is therefore:
((50+50) x 30 x (100 / 10)) x 0.005
which gives you a figure of 150.
In other words, the amount you have to gamble in order to release the 50 bonus should, on average, incur a loss of 150!
This is the true cost of an online casino bonus and a clear indication of why you should think carefully before taking up an online casino's bonus offer.
The casino bonus trap is this:
the wagering requirement, contributing percentages and house edge
combine to ensure that your betting is at a level where the expected
loss is greater than the bonus amount.
Gambling without a bonus, your expected loss (ie the amount you should be prepared to lose)
can be calculated as:
Expected loss = Amount wagered x House edge
(eg if you bet 2000 on a game with a 1.5% house edge, you should expect to lose 30)
Gambling to release a bonus, the amount you have to wager is dictated by the wagering requirement and the game percentage, so:
Amount wagered = (Deposit + Bonus) x Wagering requirement x (100 / Game %)
In other words,
Expected loss = ((Deposit + Bonus) x Wagering requirement x (100 / Game %)) x House edge
Example Blackjack bonus
Say you've taken up a 100% match bonus of 50 to play Blackjack
(House edge is 0.5% or 0.005)
Your expected loss is therefore:
((50+50) x 30 x (100 / 10)) x 0.005
which gives you a figure of 150.
In other words, the amount you have to gamble in order to release the 50 bonus should, on average, incur a loss of 150!
This is the true cost of an online casino bonus and a clear indication of why you should think carefully before taking up an online casino's bonus offer.
Do you recommend any bonuses?
Betfair's 100% bonus up to £100 (see ad opposite) has a wagering requirement of 45x but Blackjack counts 100%. The expected loss on a £100 deposit would therefore be -
(100 + 100) x 45 x (100 / 100) x 0.005
which equals 45. On a deposit of £100, that's a healthy profit of £55. (Visit Betfair)
Bodog's bonus has the advantage of only 15x wagering and no contributing percentages, but as the sign-up deal is only 10% of your deposit and you have to wager both deposit and bonus, it means you're risking 10 units of your own money for each 1 unit of bonus. In the Blackjack example, a deposit of 1000 would give you a bonus of 100, with an expected loss of 82.5 - still a small profit of 17.5, so worth considering. (Visit Bodog)
Rushmore's 200% Blackjack bonus seems quite attractive at 200% and with 45 times wagering. The expected loss on a $100 deposit (and $200 bonus) is 67.5, leaving you with 232.5, but it's a play only bonus ie you can't cash in the bonus, just the winnings, so you're actually only left with 32.5 out of your initial 100.
The 1 hour free play bonuses are useful in that they give you a flavour of the casinos without having to risk anyof your own money. They're a good way to try out systems and strategies for selected games. But once your hour is up, you're back with a basic bonus with wagering requirements and contributing percentages, so all the above applies.
We recommend using them as a taster of the casinos that offer them, but don't see them as a 'free' money bonus.
If you're a slots player, any of the Microgaming casinos (Spin Palace, Purple Lounge, Captain Cook's, Ruby Fortune) will give you a decent bonus with only 30x wagering required.
Betfair's 100% bonus up to £100 (see ad opposite) has a wagering requirement of 45x but Blackjack counts 100%. The expected loss on a £100 deposit would therefore be -
(100 + 100) x 45 x (100 / 100) x 0.005
which equals 45. On a deposit of £100, that's a healthy profit of £55. (Visit Betfair)
Bodog's bonus has the advantage of only 15x wagering and no contributing percentages, but as the sign-up deal is only 10% of your deposit and you have to wager both deposit and bonus, it means you're risking 10 units of your own money for each 1 unit of bonus. In the Blackjack example, a deposit of 1000 would give you a bonus of 100, with an expected loss of 82.5 - still a small profit of 17.5, so worth considering. (Visit Bodog)
Rushmore's 200% Blackjack bonus seems quite attractive at 200% and with 45 times wagering. The expected loss on a $100 deposit (and $200 bonus) is 67.5, leaving you with 232.5, but it's a play only bonus ie you can't cash in the bonus, just the winnings, so you're actually only left with 32.5 out of your initial 100.
The 1 hour free play bonuses are useful in that they give you a flavour of the casinos without having to risk anyof your own money. They're a good way to try out systems and strategies for selected games. But once your hour is up, you're back with a basic bonus with wagering requirements and contributing percentages, so all the above applies.
We recommend using them as a taster of the casinos that offer them, but don't see them as a 'free' money bonus.
If you're a slots player, any of the Microgaming casinos (Spin Palace, Purple Lounge, Captain Cook's, Ruby Fortune) will give you a decent bonus with only 30x wagering required.
Are casino bonuses worth taking up?
Bonus promotions are a way to attract new players to the casino. They're not really designed for serious gamblers. It's important to remember that you don't have to take out a bonus in order to play at any online casino. But if you do, make sure you know exactly what's required of you - before you start to play!
Bonus promotions are a way to attract new players to the casino. They're not really designed for serious gamblers. It's important to remember that you don't have to take out a bonus in order to play at any online casino. But if you do, make sure you know exactly what's required of you - before you start to play!
