Wagering Requirements Explained

What a wagering requirement is, how to work out how much you need to bet, what the UK Gambling Commission’s 10x cap changed, and how to tell whether a casino bonus is worth having.

▶ 1 min 31 sec🔊 With voiceover18+

About this video: Wagering Requirements Explained

We work through a real example: a £10 bonus with 10x wagering means betting £100. We play it through on a slot at 50p a spin, which takes 200 spins. On a 96% RTP slot that costs about £4 on average, so the bonus is worth about £6.

Then we compare the UK’s 10x cap, in force since January 2026, with the 50x terms that used to be common. On the same bonus, 50x meant £500 of bets and an average cost of about £20, more than the bonus itself. We also cover game weighting, time limits and maximum bets.

Read the transcript

Let’s look at wagering requirements, using a real bonus.

Say you deposit ten pounds and get a ten pound bonus. The bonus has ten times wagering.

That means you have to bet ten times the bonus, so a hundred pounds in total, before the bonus money turns into cash you can withdraw.

Let’s play a slot at fifty pence a spin. Every spin counts towards that hundred pounds, and after two hundred spins, the wagering is done.

On a slot with ninety-six percent RTP, wagering a hundred pounds costs about four pounds on average. So this ten pound bonus is worth about six pounds.

Since January twenty twenty-six, wagering on UK casino bonuses has been capped at ten times. Before that, fifty times was common. On this bonus, that would have meant betting five hundred pounds, which costs about twenty pounds on average. That’s more than the bonus itself.

It’s worth checking the small print too. Some games count less towards wagering, or not at all. There’s usually a time limit, and a maximum bet while the bonus is active.

So, three simple tips. Work out the total you need to bet, check which games count, or pick a no-wagering offer, where winnings are cash straight away. Our free wagering requirement calculator does the maths for you.

Set a budget before you play. You’ll find more guides at UKCasinoTips.com.

18+ only. Gambling can be addictive; please play responsibly. Free, confidential help: BeGambleAware.org or the National Gambling Helpline on 0808 8020 133.