Reading the offers

How to read a welcome offer before you take it

A bonus is only as good as its terms, and the terms are where the interesting bits hide. This page is educational — no specific offers, just how to make sense of any of them.

Wagering requirements

This is the headline number to find first. A "35x" requirement means you have to stake the bonus amount thirty-five times before any of it can be withdrawn. On a £20 bonus that's £700 of wagering. The figure varies a lot between brands, and a smaller bonus with low wagering can be worth more in practice than a bigger one you'll never clear. Some offers also apply wagering to the deposit as well as the bonus, which roughly doubles the work — worth checking.

Game weighting

Not every game chips away at the requirement at the same rate. Slots usually count 100%, so a £1 spin moves you £1 closer. Table games and live casino often count far less — sometimes 10%, sometimes nothing — because the house edge is lower. If you mainly play blackjack, a slots-weighted bonus may be close to useless to you, however generous the number looks.

Maximum bet while wagering

Most bonuses cap your stake while a requirement is live, commonly around £5 a spin. Go over it, even once, and the operator can void the bonus and anything you won with it. This rule catches more people than any other, so it's worth knowing your limit before you start.

Time limits

Bonus funds expire. You might get seven days, you might get thirty, and anything left when the clock runs out usually disappears along with the winnings tied to it. If a requirement is steep and the window is short, do the maths on whether it's realistic before opting in.

Free spins and their winnings

Free spins are normally tied to specific games and a set spin value, and the winnings from them tend to land as bonus money with their own wagering attached, not as cash. There's often a cap on how much you can win from them too. None of that makes them bad — it just means they're rarely the "free money" the word suggests.

The sensible way to treat any offer

Read the full terms on the operator's site, not just the banner. Work out the real wagering, check the game weighting against what you actually play, note the max bet and the deadline, and only opt in if it still makes sense. And treat the bonus as a bit of extra play time, not a source of guaranteed return — because it isn't one.

For how this feeds into the way we read each brand, see how the site works.