One of the reasons many people enjoy gambling online is the myriad promotional offers available. By claiming different bonuses, free spins, and other casino incentives, players can enjoy extra funds with which to play their favourite casino games and, hopefully, rack up very generous wins.
However, as virtual casinos tend to offer various promotions, it is always best to do your research and choose the incentive that will serve your needs best. In addition to checking the benefits each promotion offers, it is advisable to read carefully the terms and conditions of bonuses. You may often see that some games are excluded from casino promotions. This means you will not be able to wager bonus funds on those titles, nor will you be able to meet wagering requirements by playing them.
If you are wondering why bonuses do not apply to certain casino games, you should keep in mind that not all titles are created equal. There are a few reasons that make certain games unsuitable for casino bonuses, and we will try to cover all possible scenarios. That way you will be able to determine whether it is worth redeeming a particular bonus to play your favourite casino titles.
Bonus Wagering Requirements
If you were simply given a casino bonus to have some fun, playing any game you enjoy, there would be no game restrictions imposed by virtual casinos. However, remember that online casinos provide incentives to their members with the aim of making a profit. That is why almost any type of casino promotion comes with certain wagering requirements.
To put it simply, you receive casino bonuses to play games, but you are not allowed to withdraw any accumulated winnings until you have played through the bonus amount several times. Once you have wagered the bonus funds enough times, you will be able to withdraw your winnings. In addition to telling you how many times you must stake the bonus amount, there may also be restrictions on the games you can play with bonus money.
Typically, online casinos will list each game’s wagering contribution either in the General Bonus Terms and Conditions section of the website or in the specific bonus conditions of the promotion. Of course, titles with a 100% contribution are the best options on which to use your bonus. In most cases, only bets on slots will fully count towards the completion of the bonus turnover.
The games that are most commonly excluded from bonus use, or that have a reduced contribution, include:
Lower house edge options
Since a lower house edge indicates that games give players higher chances of winning, most casinos will have such titles excluded from bonus promotions or will reduce their contribution to bonus wagering.
Table games
Titles typically excluded from bonus offers include roulette, blackjack, craps, and baccarat variations. Such table games are usually very popular with players because they have much lower house edges than slots. Typically, these games are preferred because they often require both skill and luck. This is why many interactive casinos exclude table games from bonus promotions or apply reduced wagering contributions.
Progressive titles
Progressive games are also typically not included in casino promotions, and players cannot use their bonuses to wager on progressive titles. Because progressive jackpots grow through contributions from real-money bets, you will not be able to contribute to the prize pool by wagering bonus funds.
Specific slots
While slots are usually the games that contribute 100% towards meeting wagering requirements, certain slots are often excluded from those you can use bonus funds on. These are usually high-volatility, high-RTP titles. Just like table games, they give players better chances of bigger wins, so casinos prefer to exclude them from bonus offers.
Live casino games
The main reason why live-dealer games are excluded from bonus deals is the high possibility of players negotiating with others and making counter bets, allowing them to meet wagering requirements much faster.
Is It Better to Play Slots with Reduced Contribution?
As we have discussed above, many virtual casinos will either exclude high-RTP slots from bonus offers or reduce their contribution to bonus wagering. While there are usually plenty of slot variations that will have your bets count 100% towards the bonus staking, many players wonder whether they are still better off sticking to high-RTP titles despite the lowered contribution.
To help you decide which betting strategy is better, we will give a few examples illustrating the contribution of high-RTP slots.
Let us take, for example, the NetEnt slot Blood Suckers, which is often excluded from casino bonus promotions. The slot has 98% RTP, which means the house edge is only 2%. If you have redeemed a £200 bonus with wagering requirements of 35x the bonus amount, you will need to wager £7,000 to be able to withdraw your winnings. If we multiply the amount you are supposed to play through by the house edge, your potential losses are estimated to be £140 (7,000 x 0.02). Deduct that from the bonus you have received and you will still enjoy a profit of £60.
If you are allowed to play the same slot, or another title with the same high RTP of 98%, with a contribution to bonus wagering reduced to 20%, you will have a very different experience. If you again redeem a £200 bonus, with wagering requirements of 35x but choose to play a slot with a 20% contribution, you will actually need to meet wagering requirements of 175x. That means you will need to bet £35,000 before you can withdraw your winnings. Multiply that by the house edge (0.02) and you will get potential losses of £700. As you can see, this is nowhere near the profit you could make if the game had a 100% contribution.
Now, let us assume that you have claimed the same bonus, with the same wagering requirement, but you are playing a full-contribution slot with 94.96% RTP, making the house edge 5.04%. In that case, the wagering amount of £7,000 is multiplied by 0.0504, making your potential losses £352.80. As you can see, while the possible losses still surpass the bonus amount, they are significantly lower when you play a slot with a higher contribution but a lower RTP.
How to Get the Best Casino Bonus Experience
As already mentioned, some casino games are often excluded from bonuses as they can give players a bigger advantage while they are meeting wagering requirements. However, that does not mean you cannot have a great experience with the incentives you claim while playing at virtual casinos. To make the most of your online casino time, you should try to beat the wagering requirements. While you cannot fully avoid this bonus condition, there are certain ways to make this task more enjoyable and fruitful.
Choose bonuses with reasonable playthrough requirements
While this may sound obvious, online casinos have ways of enticing players into claiming bonuses with excessively high wagering requirements. Some offers will have their turnover requirements apply only to the bonus funds, but others will have you wager both your deposit and the bonus amount several times. That will significantly increase the real wagering you need to complete before you can withdraw your winnings. For that reason, you are advised to stick to offers that require you to wager only the bonus amount a certain number of times.
Stick to smaller but still rewarding promotions
While a 100% or even 200% match bonus that can award up to £1,000 sounds very tempting, it is better to redeem smaller offers. The reason is the massive wagering you will need to complete if you redeem a larger bonus. Although you will have more to play with, you might not be able to enjoy your winnings, as meeting even the lowest wagering requirement on a huge bonus can be quite burdensome. We therefore advise you to make a small deposit that will award a smaller bonus. That way you can still enjoy extra funds to play casino games, but you will have an easier time meeting the rollover requirements.
Choose games with a high contribution rate
If you are playing with a casino bonus, you will most likely wish to complete its wagering requirements as fast as possible. That is why you are advised to use your bonus funds only on games with a high contribution rate. In most cases, video slots are the games that will have a 100% contribution to meeting wagering requirements. That said, make sure to check the bonus terms and conditions first, as high-RTP slots tend to have lowered or no contribution to bonus wagering.
Opt for high RTP games if possible
As we already covered, online casinos tend to exclude high-RTP games from the list of titles you can play with bonus funds. That said, it is worth checking the bonus terms and conditions to see if any high-RTP games can still be played with your bonus. To give yourself a better chance of completing the wagering as fast as possible, you are advised always to opt for the games with the highest RTPs. Combine that with a 100% contribution and you will be able to make the most of your bonus play.
High volatility is also recommended
For those trying to meet wagering requirements, finding high-volatility titles is also recommended. Playing a high-volatility game means you have a better chance of landing a generous payout. Hitting a massive win of, say, 100x your stake can definitely help you meet the bonus playthrough requirements significantly faster. The only downside of playing high-volatility games is that big payouts may come after long losing streaks. However, as you are playing with bonus funds, you can afford to play more aggressively, hoping for a massive win after risking several losing rounds. If, however, you have redeemed a smaller bonus and do not enjoy making riskier bets, you are advised to stick to low-volatility games.
Switch to low-volatility games at the end
After you have almost reached your goal by playing high-volatility games, it is advisable to switch to options with lower volatility to finish off the wagering. Once you are close to completing the staking, you should not risk losing large amounts by playing high-volatility titles. After all, the main goal is to enjoy as much of your winnings as possible. By playing low-variance games, you will be able to finish the wagering requirements without risking too much money, ultimately ensuring a better profit at the end of your bonus play.
Conclusion
Casino bonuses are often among the factors that draw players to online gambling, offering them generous amounts to play their favourite casino games. However, keep in mind that casinos will not simply award players free money without making any profit from their wagers. In many cases, casino bonuses come with terms and conditions that can make offers seem less attractive.
More often than not, casino bonuses come with specific wagering requirements that must be met before players can withdraw their bonus winnings. This means the bonus amount often needs to be staked on casino games a certain number of times before it can be withdrawn.
Even though wagering requirements are a condition many players are willing to fulfil, what some fail to understand is that not all casino games are included in bonus offers, or, if they are, they have a reduced contribution. Bets placed on certain titles will therefore count only partially, or not at all, towards wagering the bonus amount. That is why it is always important to familiarise yourself with the bonus terms and conditions before you redeem an offer.
