Casino Bonus Wagering Requirements and TermsSticky vs. non-sticky bonuses, max cashout, restricted games, and expiration windows
A “100% up to $500” headline tells you almost nothing about what a bonus is actually worth. The real number lives in the terms and conditions, assembled from five mechanics that all interact with each other: the wagering multiplier standing between you and a withdrawal, whether the bonus itself is ever cashable or just play money, a possible ceiling on what you’re allowed to win with it, which games actually count toward clearing it, and the deadline for finishing before it’s all forfeited. This page breaks down each of those five pieces on its own terms, with worked examples and the ranges typically seen across the industry, so the fine print stops being a black box. Last reviewed September 2026.
Jump to: Wagering requirements · Sticky vs. non-sticky · Max cashout · Restricted games · Expiration windows · Glossary · FAQ
Wagering requirements, and what the multiplier is really multiplying
A wagering requirement (also called a playthrough requirement) is a multiplier applied to a bonus that sets how much you need to bet — not win, bet — before any bonus-related funds become withdrawable. A “30x” wagering requirement on a $40 bonus means $1,200 in total wagers ($40 × 30) before the bonus money and any winnings from it can be cashed out. Every real-money bet you place counts toward that $1,200 running total, win or lose, until the total is reached.
The multiplier applies only to the bonus amount. A $40 bonus at 30x requires $1,200 in wagers, regardless of how much you deposited. This is the more common structure at crypto and offshore casinos, and it’s the easier of the two to calculate.
The multiplier applies to the bonus and the triggering deposit combined. A $40 deposit plus a $40 bonus at 30x requires $2,400 in wagers ($80 × 30) — double the bonus-only version at the same headline multiplier. B+D terms show up more often at regulated US operators. Always check which format applies before comparing two offers by their multiplier alone; a “20x B+D” offer can require more total wagering than a “30x bonus-only” offer on the same deposit size.
Two bonuses with an identical “30x” requirement can take very different amounts of real play to clear, because not every bet counts at full value toward the total — that’s game weighting, covered further down this page. A 30x requirement cleared entirely on slots (100% weighting) takes far less real wagering than the same 30x cleared on blackjack (often 10-20% weighting).
Wagering requirements vary a lot by bonus type, since each type carries a different level of risk for the operator. Ranges commonly seen across the industry:
The most common bonus type, and generally the lowest wagering range, since you’ve put real money on the table alongside the bonus.
Wagering applies to whatever you win from the spins, not the spins themselves — a wide range depending on the slot and the operator.
The highest range by a clear margin — the operator is giving away funds with no deposit attached, so the requirement is set high to limit its own risk.
Far lower than other bonus types, since cashback is compensating for money already lost rather than handing out fresh funds.
Sticky vs. non-sticky bonuses
This is the mechanic that decides whether the bonus amount itself is ever money you can withdraw, and it’s one of the least-explained terms in the entire bonus landscape.
A sticky bonus is added to your balance and can be played with, but it’s never itself withdrawable — it “sticks” to the account as a phantom credit used purely for wagering. When you go to cash out, the casino subtracts the original bonus amount from your balance first; only the amount above that (genuine winnings) gets paid. Example: a $50 sticky bonus grows your balance to $200 through play. The $50 phantom bonus is deducted, leaving $150 as your withdrawable winnings. If your balance had instead dropped to $30, there’s nothing to withdraw — the bonus simply funded the play and produced no surplus.
A non-sticky bonus converts into real, fully withdrawable cash once the wagering requirement is cleared — the bonus amount itself becomes part of your cash balance, not just a tool to generate separate winnings. Using the same numbers: a $50 non-sticky bonus that grows your balance to $200 through play means the entire $200 is withdrawable once wagering is met, including the original $50.
Non-sticky is more valuable on paper, since the bonus principal is recoverable rather than being spend-only capital. Sticky bonuses aren’t necessarily a bad deal, though — they’re common on higher-percentage match offers and can still add meaningful bankroll to play with, you just shouldn’t expect to ever withdraw the bonus figure itself, only whatever you build on top of it. The terms page (not the promo banner) is the only reliable place to find out which structure applies — casinos rarely advertise “sticky” or “non-sticky” as a headline feature.
Max cashout caps
A max cashout is a ceiling on how much of your bonus-funded winnings can actually be withdrawn, independent of the wagering requirement. You can clear the full wagering requirement and still only be paid up to the cap — anything won above it is forfeited, not carried over or paid out over time.
Expressed as a flat number — “max cashout $100” — regardless of how large the bonus was. Common on no-deposit bonuses and free spins, where the operator wants a hard, predictable ceiling on giveaway risk.
Expressed relative to the bonus — “max cashout 10x the bonus amount.” A $25 no-deposit bonus with a 10x cap means a $250 ceiling, scaling with the offer size rather than being fixed.
Some deposit-match bonuses — especially larger ones where you’ve put up real money — carry no cap at all. This is generally the most valuable structure and worth specifically looking for when comparing otherwise-similar offers.
Max cashout matters most on no-deposit bonuses and free spins, since those are pure giveaways with no deposit to offset the operator’s risk — deposit match bonuses are less commonly capped, and when they are, the cap tends to be set much higher relative to the bonus size.
Restricted games and contribution rates
Not every bet you place counts the same amount toward a wagering requirement, and some games don’t count at all — or worse, can void the bonus entirely if you play them while it’s active. This is game weighting (or “contribution”), and it exists because different games have very different house edges: a game where the player has close to even odds would let a wagering requirement be cleared with almost no real risk to the operator, so those games are weighted down or excluded outright.
Almost always full contribution — every dollar wagered counts as a full dollar toward the requirement. This is why bonus terms are usually written with slots in mind as the default game.
Commonly weighted around half value, since well-played video poker variants can carry a return to player above 99%.
Weighted low because the house edge is small — a $100 blackjack bet might only credit $10-20 toward the requirement, meaning it takes far more real wagering at the table than the headline multiplier suggests.
A large share of operators exclude these entirely from contributing to wagering — check the terms before assuming a live-dealer session is making any progress toward clearing a bonus.
Reduced contribution and outright restriction are two different things. A low-weighted game still counts toward wagering, just slowly. A restricted game is one the terms specifically prohibit playing at all while a bonus is active — doing so can flag the account for “bonus abuse” and result in the bonus and any winnings being voided entirely, regardless of how much wagering had already been cleared. The list of restricted games varies by operator and often targets specific low-volatility or near-even-odds titles rather than whole categories, so it’s worth checking the terms for a named list rather than assuming a game is fine because it’s not a “table game” in the traditional sense.
Expiration windows: how much time you actually have
Bonus terms usually run two separate clocks, and mixing them up is one of the most common ways players lose a bonus without realizing it was ever at risk.
Many bonuses — especially ones tied to a signup or a promo code — have to be claimed or activated within a short period after becoming eligible, commonly anywhere from 24 hours to a few days. Miss this window and the offer disappears before wagering even begins.
Once active, the wagering requirement itself has to be fully cleared within a set number of days — commonly somewhere in the 7 to 30 day range, though some operators extend this to 60-90 days on larger deposit bonuses, and some crypto casinos apply no expiration at all to certain offers. This is the clock that actually matters for whether unfinished wagering gets forfeited.
If the clearance window closes before wagering is complete, the remaining bonus funds and any winnings generated from bonus play are forfeited. Your original deposit — money that was never part of the bonus — is unaffected and remains withdrawable as normal, since it was never subject to the bonus’s terms in the first place.
A common mistake is spreading small, cautious bets across the full clearance window to limit variance, without checking whether that pace can actually clear the requirement in time. A $1,000 bonus at 35x bonus-only requires $35,000 in total wagering; against a 14-day clearance window, that’s roughly $2,500 a day in turnover just to break even on the clock — not accounting for any game weighting below 100%. Doing the daily-turnover math against the actual expiration date, before deciding on a betting pace, avoids losing an otherwise-clearable bonus to the calendar rather than to the games.
Casino bonus terms glossary
Casino bonus terms FAQ
Lower is generally more player-friendly, and it’s worth comparing bonus-only offers against bonus-only offers, and B+D against B+D, rather than mixing the two formats — a 20x B+D requirement can mean more total wagering than a 30x bonus-only requirement on the same deposit. Deposit match bonuses in the 20-40x range are typical; anything well above that, especially paired with a short clearance window or heavy game restrictions, is worth weighing against the bonus’s actual dollar value.
No — that’s the defining feature of a sticky bonus. Clearing the wagering requirement unlocks your balance for withdrawal, but the original bonus amount is subtracted first. Only genuine winnings above the bonus figure are ever paid out; the bonus itself stays “stuck” as play capital, never cash.
The remaining bonus balance and any winnings generated from bonus play are forfeited. Your original deposit is unaffected, since it was never part of the bonus in the first place — only the bonus funds and bonus-derived winnings are at risk from expiration.
No. Slots commonly contribute at 100%, video poker is often weighted around 50%, table games like blackjack are commonly reduced to 10-20%, and live dealer or progressive jackpot games are frequently excluded entirely. A bet on a low-weighted game only credits a fraction of its value toward the requirement.
No, they’re different restrictions. Max cashout caps the total amount you can withdraw from bonus-funded winnings. A max bet limit (common in bonus terms too) caps the size of any single wager placed while a bonus is active — placing a bet above that limit can itself void the bonus, separate from any cashout cap.
Yes. Restricted games are explicitly prohibited while a bonus is active — this is different from a game simply being low-weighted. Playing one can be treated as a bonus-abuse violation, voiding the bonus and any winnings built on it, regardless of how much wagering had already been completed.
It’s more valuable in the sense that the bonus principal itself becomes withdrawable, whereas a sticky bonus’s principal never does. That said, sticky bonuses are still functional bankroll for play and are common on higher-percentage offers — the distinction matters most when comparing two bonuses of similar size, where the non-sticky one carries strictly more upside.
Not worse exactly, but they typically come with the tightest terms across the board — higher wagering requirements (commonly 40-70x versus 20-40x for deposit matches), lower or fixed max cashout caps, and shorter clearance windows, since the operator is extending funds without any deposit to offset the risk. They’re still free value with no money down, just value that comes with the strictest strings attached.
This page explains common industry conventions for bonus terms, but every operator sets its own numbers — wagering multipliers, game weightings, cashout caps, and clearance windows all vary by casino and even by specific promotion. Always check the actual terms and conditions attached to a bonus before opting in, rather than assuming any figure on this page applies to a specific offer.