What casino bonus terms are
Bonus terms are the rules of a promotion. They define how much you must stake before the money is yours, what you may stake it on, how much you may win, how long you have to do so, and whether you are even permitted to participate.
They constitute an agreement. By clicking claim, you accept the terms as published at that very moment, and every casino we have read reserves the right to void a bonus should the terms be violated. That makes the terms document more important than the banner by a wide margin, because the banner cannot take anything away from you and the document can.
The clauses are the same at every casino. Once you know the ten below, any set of bonus terms takes about five minutes to read properly.
Where the bonus terms are published
Almost never as part of the promotion. In fifteen full terms reads for our reviews, the useful numbers were in a separate document every time.
| Document | Usually found via | What it holds |
|---|---|---|
| The promotion page | The banner or the promotions tab | The match percentage, the ceiling, the spin count |
| Bonus terms | The footer, or a small link on the promotion | Wagering, basis, contribution, max bet, win cap, expiry |
| General terms | The footer | Eligibility, restricted countries, account rules, dormancy |
| Excluded games list | Usually inside the bonus terms | Individual titles that count for nothing |
| Payments page | The footer or the cashier | Methods that do not qualify for a bonus |
Based on the fifteen casinos whose complete terms we have read for the reviews on this site.
There are two common issues here that you can anticipate. First, the bonus terms and the general terms are in conflict, and one casino on this site publishes a general clause of 40x alongside a specific clause of 4 days on the same page. Second, the figure is simply absent. CoinCasino offers a 200% match up to $30,000 and publishes no wagering requirement for it on the promotion page, the bonus terms, the general terms or the promotions index, as our CoinCasino review sets out clause by clause.
The ten clauses that decide what an offer is worth
Here they are in the order of most cost. The first four set the price, the next three set the limits, and the last three determine whether you are eligible in the first place.
| Clause | What it does | Range across our reviews |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Wagering requirement | The multiplier you must stake before withdrawal | None to 60x |
| 2. Wagering basis | Whether it applies to the bonus or to bonus plus deposit | 16 of 88 use the expensive basis |
| 3. Game contribution | How much of each stake counts | Slots 100%, live 50% down to barred |
| 4. Clearing window | How long you have before the bonus expires | 48 hours to 60 days |
| 5. Maximum bet | The stake cap while a bonus is active | Around 2 to 10 per round |
| 6. Maximum cashout | The ceiling on what bonus play can pay | 1x to 10x, or none published |
| 7. Excluded games | Titles that count for nothing at all | Up to 741 entries at one casino |
| 8. Qualifying deposit | The minimum that triggers the offer | 55 of 88 publish one |
| 9. Excluded payment methods | Deposits that do not earn the bonus | Commonly e-wallets, sometimes crypto |
| 10. Restricted countries | Where the offer is unavailable | One casino bars 171 countries |
Ranges taken from the 88 casinos in our database and the fifteen whose terms we have read in full.
The four clauses that set the cost
These four multiply together. Dealing with any one of them in isolation gives you a number that is almost always wrong, usually by at least a factor of ten.
- The wagering requirement is the multiplier on the banner. 40x is the most common figure in our database, held by 33 of the 88 casinos. On its own it tells you almost nothing, which is why the wagering requirements guide starts with the deposit and works up.
- The basis is what the multiplier is applied to. 35x on a 100 bonus is 3,500 of turnover. 35x on bonus plus a 100 deposit is 7,000. The printed figure is identical, and 16 of our 88 casinos use the expensive version.
- Game contribution decides how far each stake moves you. Slots count 100% everywhere we have read, and everything else varies wildly, so a 4,000 requirement can quietly become 80,000 of actual stakes. The game contribution guide sets six published tables side by side.
- The clearing window decides whether any of it is possible. A 48-hour clock on 8,000 of turnover is a different product from a 60-day clock on the same figure, and both exist on this site.
The one calculation worth doing: multiply the bonus by the requirement, apply the basis, divide by the contribution rate for the games you play, then divide by the days you have. That gives you the daily staking the offer actually asks for. If that number looks unreasonable, the offer is unreasonable, whatever the headline says.
How long the bonus terms give you
This is the clause most commonly missed, and it varies more than any other. Across the fifteen casinos whose terms we have read in full, thirteen mention a clearing window and it ranges from 48 hours to 60 days, with a median of 7 days.
| Casino | Time to clear | The clause beside it |
|---|---|---|
| Beazt | 60 days | Other bonuses expire 24 hours after issue if unclaimed |
| Betroom 24 | 30 days | No wagering to race, so the window is nominal |
| Banzai | 20 days | Welcome free spins last 24 hours |
| 7Bit | 14 days | Several weekly offers must be activated within one day |
| BetFury | 14 days | Plus 7 days to activate it in the first place |
| Bets.io | 7 days | Must be activated within one day of being issued |
| Sportbet.one | 7 days | 31 days to activate, then all other bonuses expire in 24 hours |
| GG.Bet | 5 days | Automatically voided after that unless the promotion says otherwise |
| SpinLander | 5 days | A deposit promo code expires in 48 hours |
| Slotoro | 5 days | A 60-minute window on the best version of the first rung |
| Fairspin | 4 days | 3 days for free spins, on the same page |
| JetTon | 96 hours | Published in hours rather than days |
| Quickz | 48 hours | Free spins last seven days, outliving the bonus itself |
Each window read from that operator's own bonus terms during its review, dated on the review page. Two of the fifteen reviewed casinos name no clearing window in the documents we read.
Three patterns come out of that table.
- The clock starts on activation. Almost every set of terms we have read counts from when the bonus is activated. Depositing on a Friday and starting on Monday can cost you a third of a five-day window.
- Free spins run on a separate clock. Banzai gives 20 days on the bonus and 24 hours on the spins. Quickz does the reverse, with 48 hours on the bonus and seven days on the spins. They are two deadlines, the terms treat them separately, and our free spins guide covers the drip-feed that shortens the second one further.
- There is often a clock before the clock. BetFury gives 7 days to activate and then 14 to clear. Bets.io gives one day to activate. Sportbet.one gives 31 days to activate the welcome pack and 24 hours for everything else it issues.
Just because a window is short does not make it bad. Betroom 24's 30 days sit on an offer with no wagering at all, so the window is unimportant, while JetTon's 96 hours cover only 1,500 of turnover. What matters is the window in the context of the requirement, which is exactly how our low wagering casino bonuses page ranks them.
The clauses that void a bonus outright
Separate from the ones that make a bonus expensive, a handful can cancel it and everything it has won. They are all in the terms we have read.
| Clause | What triggers it |
|---|---|
| Exceeding the maximum bet | One round over the cap, even by accident. The most common voiding clause on this site |
| Opposite betting | Covering both sides of a table, such as red and black, or player and banker |
| Bonus feature buys | Purchasing a slot bonus round with bonus funds where the terms forbid it |
| Duplicate accounts | More than one account per person, household, device or IP address |
| Irregular play | A discretionary clause. Wording varies and it is rarely defined precisely |
| Withdrawing early | Requesting a cashout before the requirement is met usually removes the bonus |
The max bet cap is the one that catches most players, because it is easy to breach without noticing and the consequence is total. Our max bet rule guide lists the exact cap each reviewed casino publishes, and they are lower than most players assume.
The irregular play clause needs an explanation. It is purposely vague, and if a player complains, a licensed casino has to justify using it to its regulator, while an unlicensed one does not. That difference is the strongest practical argument for checking who regulates a site before depositing.
Who the bonus terms exclude before you start
Three clauses can disqualify you before a single spin. None of them are on the banner.
- Your country. Restriction lists are long and they change. SpinLander bars 171 countries and Fairspin excludes 24 of the 27 EU member states. A site loading normally where you are does not mean the bonus is available to you.
- Your deposit method. E-wallets are the usual exclusion, and at some sites specific crypto routes are too. The clause is often on the payments page rather than in the bonus terms.
- Your deposit size. 55 of the 88 casinos in our database publish a qualifying minimum, which means the rest leave it to the promotion or to the cashier. Our 10 minimum deposit casinos page collects the ones that publish a low, explicit figure.
The consequences of getting this wrong are much worse than missing the bonus. A deposit made from a restricted country can result in a closed account and a withdrawal that has to be disputed, which is much more trouble than a forfeited match.
Sticky and non-sticky bonus terms
This distinction rarely uses the word sticky, so it has to be spotted from the wording.
| Type | What converts to cash | How the terms word it |
|---|---|---|
| Non-sticky, cashable | The bonus and its winnings, once the requirement is met | "becomes withdrawable cash", "converts to real money" |
| Sticky | Only the winnings above the bonus amount | "the bonus amount is deducted", "the bonus is not withdrawable" |
When it comes to sticky bonuses, the headline is worth less than it reads, because the bonus is a playing chip rather than money. One casino in our database publishes no wagering requirement at all and makes the bonus sticky instead, which is a cleaner deal than it sounds as long as you know which one you have accepted.
This also relates to the win cap. A sticky bonus with a low maximum cashout is a very limited offer no matter how high the match percentage, and the max cashout guide shows how far those ceilings spread on the same 100 deposit.
Bonus terms red flags worth walking away from
A high requirement is expensive and honest. These are the ones to look out for.
- The requirement is nowhere. If four documents can be read without finding a multiplier for the offer you are being sold, that is a decision rather than an oversight.
- Two documents disagree. Different figures on the same site mean you have no way of knowing which one gets applied to your account.
- The terms are unreachable. A promotion with no link to its own rules, or a rules page that returns an error, gives you nothing to hold anyone to.
- The exclusion list is unbounded. Wording that lets a casino add excluded games at will, with no published list, makes the contribution table meaningless.
- No named regulator. Every clause above is only as good as the body that enforces it. 39 of the 88 casinos in our database name no regulator at all, and only 16 publish a number you could take to a register, which our guide to checking a casino licence lists in full.
Reading bonus terms in five minutes
You do not need to read the whole document. Six searches inside it will give you everything that matters.
- Search the page for x or times to find the multiplier, then read the words around it to find the basis.
- Search for contribut to find the game table.
- Search for max to catch both the maximum bet and the maximum cashout.
- Search for days or expire for the window, and check whether free spins have their own.
- Search for excluded for the games and the countries.
- Save the page. It is the only record you will have if a clause changes later.
Five minutes on a document is a reasonable price to know what a bonus costs. Every review on this site is that exercise done in full for one casino, and the guides index covers every single clause on its own. The longer version of the same exercise, and what it found in our own data, is in how we check bonus terms.
Bonus terms questions
The clauses that pertain to a bonus once you claim it: wagering, basis, contribution, max bet, max cashout, the time period and eligibility. They are published separately from the promotion, and they bind you as published on the day you claim.
Among the casinos we have read in full, published time frames run from 48 hours to 60 days, with a median of 7 days. The clock normally starts on activation. See the published windows.
The wagering basis. Two casinos could both publish 35x and one of them cost double, because 35x on bonus funds and 35x on bonus plus deposit are different figures. Of the 88 casinos we studied, 16 use the costly variant.
Yes. When you claim a bonus, the terms are effective as published at that moment. A licensed operator is answerable to its regulator if published terms are applied unfairly, which is where a licence earns its keep.
One where the bonus amount is never withdrawable and only the winnings above it convert. The terms rarely say sticky, so look for the wording used to indicate that bonus funds are deducted on withdrawal. See the comparison.
Most documents include a general statement allowing changes, though the version in force when you claimed normally governs your bonus. Nothing tells you when a clause changed, so saving the page is the only record you get.
In a separate bonus terms or promotion rules document, usually linked from the footer of the main page. The general terms are a different document, and both can carry clauses that affect a bonus.
Terms that cannot be found, terms that contradict each other, and discretionary clauses with no definition. A high requirement is expensive but honest. An unpublished requirement is the red flag.
Read next
- Wagering requirements explained - the first clause on the list, worked through from the deposit up with both bases.
- Game contribution rates - the clause that turns a 40x requirement into 800x on the wrong game.
- All casino bonus guides - one page per clause, each with the figures the reviewed casinos publish.
About the author
Ana Petrescu
Bonus terms editor, CasinoFinderHub - Bucharest
Reading bonus terms is most of my job. The clearing windows on this page came out of fifteen full documents read for the reviews, and putting them in one table was the first time I saw how far apart they sit.
The clause I would tell anyone to check first is still the basis. It is one word in the middle of a sentence, it doubles the cost of an offer, and almost no comparison anywhere shows it. Everything else on this page is easier to spot once you are already in the document looking for it.
Play safely
The honest summary of this page is that most bonuses appear to be worth more than they actually are, and a few are entirely worthless. It costs nothing to decline an offer, and it leaves your deposit under your own control with no clock attached to it.
Set a deposit limit before you claim anything. Free, confidential help is available from BeGambleAware, Gambling Therapy and Gamblers Anonymous.
18+ Gambling is for adults only. Online casino play is not legal everywhere, so check the rules where you live before registering anywhere.
Every clearing window on this page was read from that operator's published bonus terms during its review, between June and August 2026, and each review carries the date. Casinos amend these documents without notice, and the version live when you claim is the one that applies to you.