ShareCasino bonuses always sound great, but they typically come with a lot of strings attached. That's not a bad thing. At the end of the day, we're talking about a mechanism designed to allow you to try a gaming platform with minimal risk. You're not actually expected to pocket the several hundred dollars listed in the advertisement. Casinos, after all, are not famous for making people rich.
That said, a discerning gamer should look beyond the headline amount and read the terms carefully. When comparing crypto casino bonuses, wagering requirements, withdrawal limits, and game restrictions matter far more than the size of the advertised reward.
In this article, we take a look at the difference in value between a no wagering casino bonus versus a 50x bonus.
Casinos With Great Bonuses
What Is a No Wagering Bonus?
A no wagering bonus is any offer that is available immediately with no required action on your part. For example, a free spin, a redo, or a small credit.
The actual raw dollar value tends to be lower, but the conditions are friendly enough that you can use them with no real concern over the fine print.
What Is a 50x Wagering Bonus?
A 50x wagering bonus is an offer that requires the player to wager 50 times the value of their bonus before they can withdraw the money.
In other words, if you get a $100 bonus, you'll need to place $5,000 worth of bets before you can withdraw any of the money. The amount in these offers tends to be higher, but the terms are a little more punishing.
Note that 50x is not necessarily the only option. For example, you might find 10x, 20x, or 30x arrangements.
That said, the goal that the platform has in mind here is pretty transparent. They're hoping to give you money, but then get it back, and probably with interest, as quickly as possible.
The Real Value Math
There is an actual formula you can use to determine the value of an offer that has wagering requirements. It looks like this:
Total wagering required × house edge percentage
For example, a $100 bonus wagered on a game with a 3% house edge looks something like this:
$5,000 wagered × 3% = $150 in expected cost.
This means that the real value of the offer is negative $50. In other words, while trying to claim the offer, you might wind up spending about $50 of your own money.
The only consolation there is that it's quite possible you would wind up spending more in a non-bonus-supported 50-bet run.
In this math, obviously, a small bonus with no strings attached is worth considerably more than a big one with lots of strings attached.
That doesn't mean betting requirements are always a losing proposition.
How Betting Requirements Can Still Work in Your Favor
In situations where you're able to use bets on games with a low house edge, you can still move the needle in your favor. That's something you want to investigate on the front end, however, because many offers that have wagering requirements will also specify what games you can play.
That said, if you can use the money on a game with a 1% edge, like blackjack, you can have a much higher statistical chance of breaking even or even coming out ahead.
Another way of thinking of it, of course, is that you are already going to be making 50 bets eventually. In this case, you're just making at least some of them with house money.
Hidden Catches on Both Sides
No wagering bonuses have a few shortcomings of their own. Most prominent is simply the fact that the expected amount of value tends to be modest, sometimes negligibly so. They may also exclude the game that you're hoping to play.
A 50x bonus, on the other hand, can wind up costing you money in the long run, as we've already said.
In all cases, it's important to read the fine print and know what you're committing to.
Which Should You Choose?
For most casual players, the no wagering bonus system is going to be your best bet. If you're not the kind of person who routinely makes 50 wagers, who makes large numbers of wagers, you probably don't want to have to do so just to withdraw your own money.
Closing
Sometimes a little too much attention is paid to casino bonus offerings. Don't get us wrong. They can be good fun but at the end of the day, they’re only one small part of the overall equation.
You want to choose a platform that has games you love, a friendly interface, and a smooth withdrawal/deposit process. Everything else will take care of itself.
