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The four numbers that decide what a casino bonus is worth
“100% up to €200” can mean four completely different offers, and the difference never shows up in the banner. It shows up in the terms page most players never open. Four numbers on that page decide whether the bonus is worth chasing or worth ignoring: the wagering multiple, the game weighting, the maximum bet allowed while the bonus is live, and the expiry window. This is check two from the doorstep test, and it is one you can run against any live offer in a few minutes, before a card is anywhere near the site.
The four numbers
- Wagering multiple
- How many times the bonus, or the bonus plus deposit, must be staked before a withdrawal is allowed
- Game weighting
- What share of a stake on a given game counts towards that wagering
- Max bet while active
- The ceiling on a single stake while bonus funds sit in the balance
- Expiry window
- How long there is to finish the wagering before the bonus is removed
1. The wagering multiple
This is the number in the banner's small print, usually written as “35x” or “wagering requirement applies” with the figure a click away. Multiply it by the bonus amount and the result is the total value of bets that must be placed before any of that money, or any winnings from it, can be withdrawn. The detail worth checking is what the multiple applies to. Some terms wager the bonus alone. Others wager the deposit and the bonus together, which roughly doubles the real target for the same headline multiple.
2. Game weighting
Not every stake counts the same towards that target. Slots commonly count in full. Table games, live dealer tables and video poker are commonly weighted far lower, sometimes ten percent or less, and some titles are excluded from counting at all. A wagering requirement that looks easy on paper can be nearly impossible to clear on a bonus if the only games you actually enjoy are weighted low or excluded outright. The weighting table is usually a separate list from the headline terms, and it is worth reading before assuming the multiple applies evenly to whatever you play.
3. Maximum bet while a bonus is active
Most bonus terms cap the size of a single stake while bonus funds form any part of the balance, commonly a few euro per spin or hand. The cap applies even if the balance is much larger than that. Breaching it, deliberately or by accident, is one of the most common reasons operators cite for voiding a bonus and any winnings attached to it. Anyone who likes to place occasional larger bets should treat this figure as a hard limit, not a suggestion.
The cap also interacts with the other three numbers rather than sitting apart from them. A low max bet paired with a high wagering multiple forces a large number of individual stakes to clear the requirement, which stretches the exercise out and makes the expiry window tighter in practice than the number of days alone would suggest. Terms rarely spell this interaction out. Reading the four numbers together, not one at a time, is what turns four figures into an actual estimate of how much play the offer demands.
4. The expiry window
A deadline to clear the wagering, commonly somewhere between seven and thirty days from the moment the bonus credits. Once the window closes, unused bonus funds are typically removed, and terms vary on whether any winnings earned along the way are removed with them. A generous multiple attached to a short window can be harder to clear in practice than a stricter multiple with a longer one, because the clock, not just the arithmetic, becomes the limiting factor.
A worked example
The figures below are not from a real operator. They are round numbers, picked only to make the arithmetic easy to follow, and the same four steps apply to any real offer with its own numbers dropped in.
A deposit of €50 gets a 100% match, so a €50 bonus. The terms set the wagering multiple at 30x, applied to the bonus amount only. That is a target of €1,500 in qualifying stakes (€50 × 30) before a withdrawal is possible. Slots are weighted at 100% and one particular table game is weighted at 10%. Playing only slots, €1,500 in stakes clears the target. Playing only that table game, the same €1,500 target needs €15,000 in actual stakes, because each euro wagered there only counts as ten cents towards the requirement. The terms also cap the stake at €5 per spin or hand while the bonus is active, and set a 7-day expiry from the moment the bonus credited.
Wagering applied to the deposit plus the bonus, rather than the bonus alone, is worth checking for specifically. On the example above, wagering the full €100 (deposit and bonus together) at the same 30x would set a target of €3,000, double the figure that a reader skimming just the multiple would expect.
The same offer, one number changed
| What changes | New figure | Stakes needed to clear it | What it means |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baseline offer | 30x, slots 100% | €1,500 | The starting case, playing slots only |
| Wagering multiple raised | 30x → 45x | €2,250 | Half as much again, for the same €50 bonus |
| Weighting narrowed | Slots 100% → table game 10% | €15,000 | Ten times harder if the games actually played are weighted low |
| Expiry shortened | 30 days → 7 days | €1,500 | Same target, a quarter of the time to reach it |
Only one figure moves in each row. The stakes-needed column shows how disproportionately that one change can move the real difficulty of an offer that reads identically in the banner.
Where to find the four numbers before you deposit
- Look for a page usually called bonus terms, promotion terms or T&Cs, separate from the general site terms and often linked in small text under the offer itself.
- Search that page, or use your browser's find function, for the words wagering, weighting, max bet and expire. All four should exist somewhere on it.
- Check whether the wagering multiple is stated as applying to the bonus alone or to the deposit and bonus combined. This is the single detail most likely to double the real target.
- Check the date at the top or bottom of the terms page. Bonus terms change often, and a page with no date is a page you cannot confirm was current when you read it.
- If any of the four numbers is missing rather than just hard to find, that is itself the finding.
- Screenshot the terms page with the date visible once you have found all four. Terms can and do change after an offer launches, and a screenshot is the only record of what the page said when you read it.
What a fail looks like
The four numbers exist but are spread across separate documents that do not cross-reference each other. The weighting table is missing entirely, so there is no way to know what a stake on your preferred game is actually worth towards the requirement. The expiry window is not stated in days at all, only as “bonus expires per standard terms” with no further detail. Or the terms carry a line reserving the right to change any of these numbers after the offer has already started, without saying how a player already using the bonus would be told. Any one of these is enough to treat the offer as unverified rather than declined, in the sense of the scorecard used across this site: unread terms are not the same finding as bad terms, but they carry the same practical result until someone reads them.
What to do next
- Open the bonus terms page for the specific offer, not the general site terms, before depositing anything.
- Write down the four numbers in one place: wagering multiple, what it applies to, the weighting for the games you actually play, the max bet, and the expiry in days.
- Run the arithmetic from this note against those figures. If the effective target for your games is unclear or looks nothing like the headline offer, that is the answer.
- Before checking bonus terms at all, confirm the operator holds a real licence — see how to check a casino licence from Ireland. A generous bonus from an unlicensed operator is not worth reading the small print for.
- Once terms look acceptable, check the way any winnings actually come back out — see reading the withdrawal rules before you deposit, the next check on this site.
18+ only. If chasing a wagering requirement is starting to feel less like a game and more like a job, that is worth a look at the tools and signs on the responsible gambling page before depositing any further.