Demystifying Wagering Contribution at Online Casinos

Do you know you risk losing your opportunity to convert a casino bonus to real money if you play games with a low wagering contribution? 

You must wonder how wagering contributions work if you are a casino rookie. How can I find the relevant information about an online casino’s bonus offer, whether it is a welcome bonus or other bonuses for existing users?

By the end of this article, you will know what wagering requirements represent and be very grounded on how they work.

• Wagering Contribution: In-Depth Analysis
• Why is Wagering Contribution Important? 
• How To Find Wagering Contribution Requirements
• Best Games for Wagering Contribution: Pokies
• CasinoAlpha’s Alternative: Try No Wagering and Match Deposit Bonuses

Wagering Contribution: In-Depth Analysis

Wagering contribution is a weighting that reflects what portion of bets in certain games contribute towards completing any wagering demands tied to casino bonuses. 

While this is easily confused for wagering requirements, they are not the same. 

The wagering requirement is a part of the terms and conditions of a bonus that tells you the value of bets you are required to place before having access to the bonus winnings. For many casinos, the value of bets varies. However, you are likely to find most bonuses tilting within the 40x wagering requirement to 50x wagering requirement range. 

Low wagering bonuses like 25 or 30x wagering are the standard on the NZ market.

Example

Now, it is common knowledge that slots contribute 100% to the wagering requirement of most casino bonuses compared to other games. Let’s assume you place a $20 bet on a slot in a bid to contribute to the wagering requirement of a bonus. The whole amount is counted towards the wagering.

However, placing that $20 bet on a game that contributes 10% to the wagering contribution would be counted as $2.  You must also find the real value of a bonus to start your calculus from a secure point.

Why is Wagering Contribution Important? 

The essence of paying attention to the wagering contribution of a bonus cannot be overemphasized. Your ability to beat wagering requirements of the bonus amount within the validity period is tied to the type of games you play. 

Now, let’s assume you are awarded $100 in bonus amount based on your first deposit, and there is a 20x wagering requirement on the bonus money. This means you need to wager $2000 to be able to withdraw the winnings from the bonus.

If you play games that contribute 10% to the wagering contribution according to the bonus terms and you bet $2000 within 7 days, this will be counted as $200 towards the wagering contribution. 

To fulfil the wagering requirement by playing a game with such a low wagering contribution, you would have to spend $20,000. This puts you at risk of losing the bonus and its proceeds entirely because you will likely spend less within the validity period.

Playing games that assure 100% wagering contribution is the best way to go, as they help you spend less and save time towards meeting the bonus’s wagering requirements.

How To Find Wagering Contribution Requirements

To find the wagering contribution attached to a promotion, bonus, or free spins, follow the steps below:

• Login to your account at the casino;
• On the homepage, click on the bonuses or promotion tab;
• On the promotions page, you will find all the casino bonus offers available;
• Select the offer that is of interest;
• Read the terms and conditions of the offer; there you will find details on the validity period, maximum cash-out details of the free spin winnings, and minimum deposit;
• Scroll down to the section to find the table that emphasises the wagering contribution of the games;
• Now you know the wagering contribution of the category of games available at the online pokie site;

For some online casino platforms, it tends to be easier to find information about the wagering contribution than others.

Following the steps above, you can narrow down the wagering contribution of an online casino bonus and other essential terms and conditions attached to the promotion.  

Best Games for Wagering Contribution: Pokies

It is commonplace to find that at most online casinos out there, slots are often the best types of games to fulfil wagering requirements of bonuses. This is because pokies contribute 100% to bonuses (whether free bets, first deposit bonuses, or any type of bonus). Thankfully, most casino games feature more slots than other games, which works in your favour in some way.

We highly recommend that you not just spin reels but also find pokies bonuses and sites with high RTP games to give you the best edge at winning.

Type of Games That Don’t Fully Count Towards Wagering

 The table above demonstrates the percentage of other types of games besides slots contributing to the wagering requirements. Looking at the table, it is evident that Video Poker and Bingo have the most negligible wagering contribution generally among casino games. 

In simple terms, if you would need to spend $400 to fulfil the wagering requirement when playing slots when you play live dealer games, you would be required to pay $4000 to meet up to the equivalent.

If you are playing Bingo under the same wagering requirement conditions, if you spend $400, that would be counted as $20. That means you must spend $8000 to meet the wagering requirement.

You can find live dealer casino sites with special bonuses that offer better wagering for all live games, but you will have to dig a bit. Essentially, Blackjack casinos and other games, you tend to spend more and longer trying to meet the wagering requirements because of their low wagering contribution. 

When you consider how long it might take you, you see you risk losing out entirely on the bonus funds as these offers usually have a validity period. This further reinforces why slots are generally the best type of games to play when trying to meet the wagering requirements of casino bonus offers.

CasinoAlpha’s Alternative: Try No Wagering and Match Deposit Bonuses

In line with our expert’s opinion, Adina Minculescu, deposit match bonuses have better terms for live dealer games and a broad range of pokies to try. 

Our specialists also recommend no wagering bonuses that assure better wagering contributions for games other than slots. However, they are usually less than 20%.

In the grand scheme of things, you are on the safer side when you just stick to slots, as the wagering contribution remains 100% for all casinos’ bonus offers.