On the arithmetic alone, almost never. A bonus is not money. It is money you are allowed to keep only after you have staked it a fixed number of times, and the house takes a cut of every one of those stakes. Price that cut and the offer usually costs more than it pays.
Here is the whole sum. A bonus of 100 euros wagered 35 times means 3,500 euros of stakes. A common slot returns 96 percent, so the house keeps 4 percent of everything staked. Four percent of 3,500 is 140 euros. You were handed 100 and the clearing cost you 140.
That gives one number worth memorizing. Divide 100 by the wagering multiple and you get the house edge you can afford. At 35 times the bonus you can afford 2.9 percent, which means a game that returns 97.1 percent. The lowest requirement anywhere on this site is 35 times, and the highest is 80.
Every figure below comes from the terms of the casinos I review, read out of their own pages. No casino has paid to appear here or to soften what the table says about it.
What the Return Would Have to Be
Each row is a wagering level that actually exists in the terms I have read. The last column is what a game would need to return before the turnover stops costing more than the bonus is worth.
| Wagering on the bonus | Casinos at this level | Turnover per €100 of bonus | Return you would need to break even |
|---|---|---|---|
| 35x | 3 | €3,500 | 97.1% |
| 40x | 9 | €4,000 | 97.5% |
| 45x | 1 | €4,500 | 97.8% |
| 60x | 3 | €6,000 | 98.3% |
| 70x | 13 | €7,000 | 98.6% |
| 80x | 1 | €8,000 | 98.8% |
The last column is 100 divided by the wagering multiple, subtracted from 100. It is the return a game would have to pay before the turnover costs less than the bonus is worth. A common slot returns 96 percent.
Read the bottom rows first. A requirement of 70 times the bonus needs a game returning 98.6 percent, and no slot on any lobby I have opened pays that. Those offers cannot be cleared at a profit on average, whatever the headline says.
The Check That Takes Ten Seconds
You do not need a spreadsheet. Take the wagering multiple, divide 100 by it, and compare the answer to the house edge of the game you plan to use. If the edge is larger, the bonus is a cost rather than a gift.
A 96 percent slot has a 4 percent edge, so it needs a multiple below 25 to make sense. Nothing on this site is written that low. That single comparison tells you more than any ranking of headline percentages.
Where the Arithmetic Gets Worse
The multiple is only the start. Three clauses push the real cost above what the table shows, and all three sit well below the banner.
The maximum bet rule comes first. Most casinos here cap you at five euros a spin while a bonus is live, so a 1,000 euro bonus at 35 times means 7,000 spins at the ceiling before anything can leave the account. Break the cap once, even by accident, and the operator can void the bonus and the winnings with it.
Game contribution comes second. The low edge games look like the smart way to clear a requirement, until you read how much of each stake counts. Playfina counts 5 percent of a table game stake, so clearing through blackjack takes twenty times the turnover. National Casino counts table games and live dealer games as nothing at all.
The cap on winnings comes third. Many terms limit what bonus money can release to a small multiple of the bonus, which cuts off the one outcome that would have justified taking it. You keep the downside in full and only part of the upside.
When Taking It Still Makes Sense
There are real cases, and I would rather name them than pretend the answer is always no.
Cashback paid as withdrawable cash is the clean one. It arrives on money you have already lost and carries no turnover, so none of the arithmetic above applies to it. The reload and cashback page lists who pays what.
A no deposit offer is the second. It costs nothing to accept, so even a heavily capped one cannot lose you money, as long as you treat it as a look at the lobby rather than a route to a withdrawal. The ceilings are on the no deposit bonuses page.
The third is narrow. If you were going to deposit and play that amount anyway, and the requirement sits at the bottom of the range, the bonus buys you a longer session for the same money. That is a real benefit, and it is not the same thing as profit.
What I Do Myself
I decline the welcome bonus and deposit without it. My balance stays withdrawable from the first minute, there is no ceiling on what I can stake, and no clock running against me. When I want the ranking anyway, because the question is which offer costs least rather than whether to take one, it is on the casino bonuses page.
How I Price a Bonus
I read the requirement out of the operator’s own terms rather than the banner, and I record whether it applies to the bonus alone or to the deposit and bonus together. The second version costs twice the turnover for the same headline, so this page counts it as double. Where the terms refuse to publish a figure, the casino is left out of the table rather than guessed at.
Where to Go Next
If the answer for you is yes, these pages price the offers rather than rank the headlines.
FAQ About Whether a Bonus Is Worth It
Are casino bonuses worth taking?
On the arithmetic alone, rarely. Divide 100 by the wagering multiple to get the house edge you can afford. At 35 times the bonus that is 2.9 percent, and a common slot keeps 4.
How do I work out what a bonus costs?
Multiply the bonus by the wagering requirement to get the turnover, then multiply the turnover by the house edge of the game you will clear it on. That figure is the average price of the bonus.
What wagering multiple would actually be fair?
Below about 25 times the bonus, a 96 percent slot stops losing money on the turnover. Nothing on this site is written that low, and the low wagering bonuses page shows where the floor really sits.
Does playing blackjack to clear a bonus help?
It looks like it, because the edge is under one percent, but table games usually count a fraction of each stake toward the requirement. Playfina counts 5 percent, National Casino counts nothing at all.
Why does the maximum bet rule matter so much?
It sets how long clearing takes and how much variance you are allowed. Most casinos here cap you at five euros a spin, so a 1,000 euro bonus at 35 times means 7,000 spins at the ceiling.
Is a no deposit bonus a better deal?
It costs nothing to take, which makes it the one offer with no downside, but the ceiling on what it can pay is the tightest in the terms. The no deposit bonuses page has the numbers.
What about cashback?
Cashback paid as withdrawable cash carries no requirement, so the arithmetic on this page does not apply to it. That is why it is the only promotion type I would take without reading the terms twice.
Can I just take the bonus and cash out a win?
Only up to the cap. Many terms limit what bonus winnings can release to a multiple of the bonus, which truncates the one outcome that would have made the offer worth it.
What happens if I decline the bonus?
You play with your own money, with no turnover requirement, no bet ceiling and no deadline. Your deposit stays withdrawable at any moment, which is worth more than most people price it at.
How often are these figures checked?
Every wagering multiple here comes from a review that carries its own last checked date, and the terms are read again rather than copied from my notes. The full working sits in each casino review.
Who Wrote This
I came to this from finance, which is probably why I read a bonus the way I read a contract. The percentage on the banner is the offer. The multiple twelve pages down is the price, and the price is the only part that is binding.
I am responsible for everything published here. Every figure on this page was read out of an operator’s own terms, and if one of them no longer matches, write to me.
18+. Gambling can be addictive. The arithmetic on this page describes an average over many stakes, not what will happen in one session, and it assumes you clear the requirement on the game you named. Every wagering figure comes from a full review on this site, and each review carries the date it was last checked. Terms change without notice, so read the current version inside your account before you deposit. If gambling has stopped being entertainment, free and confidential help is available in Slovenia through NIJZ.
