What Are Wagering Requirements?

Wagering requirements are a common term in the T&Cs section of an online betting promotion. It indicates how many times you have to wager through a bonus before you can withdraw any associated winnings.

Wagering requirements are often called playthrough requirements or rollover requirements. But, typically, “wagering” applies to online sports betting while “playthrough” applies to online casinos and poker sites. Rollover is used interchangeably and is relatively uncommon in the US.

How Wagering Requirements Work

A wagering requirement is how much you need to bet to withdraw all the money in your account. For example, if you have $100 in your account but $50 of that is bonus funds, you’ll need to complete the wagering requirement to cash out.

Wagering requirements can range from 1x to 5x for online sports betting bonuses. To complete the wagering requirement, you must wager the bonus funds (and possibly the deposit amount) that many times.

Let’s say you joined an online sportsbook with a risk-free bet welcome offer. You placed a $100 bet, and it lost, so the sportsbook refunded your account with $100 in free betting credits tied to a 1x wagering requirement. Those credits must then be wagered one time (1x) to turn them into real money for cashing out.

Real Examples Of Wagering Requirements

The BetRivers Sportsbook promo code BONUSPLAY gets new players a 100% deposit-match up to $500 with 1x wagering requirements. That means you have to bet the deposit and bonus amount 1x before you can withdraw all your funds. Click here to claim the deal.

That’s the most straightforward example. But wagering requirements can also depend on how you receive your bonus funds. At BetRivers, you get all your bonus money upfront. But our DraftKings Sportsbook bonus code link gets players a 20% deposit-match up to $1,000, which isn’t credited immediately. Instead, you receive $1 in bonus money for every $25 wagered. That means the offer itself has a 5x wagering requirement. If it were $1 for every $5 wagered, it would have a 1x wagering requirement.

At online sportsbooks, deposit-match bonuses and no-deposit bonuses are usually the only types of offers with a wagering requirement above 1x. If the sports betting app credits your account with bonus money as you bet or as part of its risk-free bet offer, the credits only need to be wagered one additional time to be turned into withdrawable money.

However, there are some additional terms and conditions related to wagering requirements that you should know about.

Other Wagering Requirement T&Cs

Wagering requirements are often tied to the following additional terms and conditions:

• Minimum Odds: Eligible bets normally have odds of -300 to -250 or longer. So, -200 odds would contribute toward the wagering requirement, but a line with -350 odds would not.
• Only Winnings Paid: When you bet with real-money and win, you receive your wager and winnings. But if you bet with bonus credits, you only receive your winnings, and the wager itself is gone. So if you bet $10 in bonus credits on a +100 line, you’d receive $10 as the total payout.
• Time Limit: Most introductory offers expire between seven and 90 days. If the wagering requirements aren’t met in that timeframe, the sportsbook will revoke the remaining bonus credits.

Each online sportsbook has its own terms and conditions for all promotions. Be sure to read them before opting into any deals.

Free Bet Vs. Betting Credits

Online sportsbooks offer bonuses in two forms: free bets and betting credits. Betting credits can be treated as cash in every way, except they’re tied to the other wagering requirements listed above. For example, if you have $100 in betting credits, you could place 100 $1 bets.

However, free bets are fixed bet sizes. If you receive a $25 free bet, that’s the size of the wager. You can’t receive a $25 free bet and place two $10 bets and one $5 bet. You must use the full amount at once.

But betting credits and free bets are both usually tied to 1x wagering requirements at online sports betting apps.