Offshore welcome offers look huge next to UK ones because nothing caps how much an operator may advertise. A “£3,000 package” is usually a percentage match split over several deposits, locked behind conditions. It is not money you can withdraw.
This page shows how to turn those conditions into a figure in pounds, so you can decide in a couple of minutes whether to accept.
Three terms to find first
- The multiplier. Somewhere around 35× to 45× is common offshore. Anything under 30× is better than usual. Find out whether it multiplies the bonus alone or the deposit and bonus together, because that doubles the work.
- The stake cap while wagering. Often £5 a spin. Going over it, even once, normally cancels the bonus, and refused withdrawals trace back to this more than any other rule.
- The cashout limit. Free-spin and no-deposit offers often cap what you can withdraw at 5× to 10× the bonus, however much you win.
Step one: what is being multiplied
A multiplier needs a base, and offers use one of two. Take a £50 deposit matched 100% at 40×:
| Base | Sum | Play required |
|---|---|---|
| Bonus only | 40 × £50 | £2,000 |
| Deposit plus bonus | 40 × £100 | £4,000 |
One word in the terms doubles the amount you have to play. The advert will say “40× wagering” either way, so check the terms.
Step two: what that play costs
Wagering is turnover, and turnover has an expected cost you can work out: turnover × (1 − RTP). The RTP is the one the slot itself shows, which our slot RTP guide explains how to find.
| Turnover required | At 97% RTP | At 96% | At 94% |
|---|---|---|---|
| £2,000 | £60 | £80 | £120 |
| £4,000 | £120 | £160 | £240 |
| £6,000 | £180 | £240 | £360 |
| £10,000 | £300 | £400 | £600 |
Now compare with the bonus. The £50 bonus above, on the deposit-plus-bonus basis, carries an expected cost of £160 on a 96% slot. You would expect to spend more clearing it than it is worth. That is why most players never finish a wagering requirement, and why operators can afford to advertise offers this size.
Step three: which games count
Games contribute at different rates. A £10 stake on a game weighted at 20% moves the counter on by £2.
| Game type | Usual weighting | What £500 of play counts as |
|---|---|---|
| Slots | 100% | £500 |
| Slingo and scratchcards | 50% to 100% | £250 to £500 |
| Roulette | 10% to 20% | £50 to £100 |
| Blackjack | 5% to 10% | £25 to £50 |
| Live casino | 0% to 10% | £0 to £50 |
| Video poker | 0% to 20% | £0 to £100 |
The low weightings track house edge. A game with a tiny edge would let players clear bonuses almost for free, so operators shrink its contribution or exclude it. If you plan to clear a bonus, the terms are steering you towards slots.
The stake cap: the rule that sinks most withdrawals
Nearly every bonus limits your stake while wagering is live, commonly to £5. Break it once, even by mistake, and most operators remove the bonus and anything won with it.
It catches people for predictable reasons. Offshore there is no UK stake limit, so raising your bet takes one tap. A bonus buy priced at 100× your stake goes straight over the cap in a single click. An autoplay set running before the bonus landed is the other usual culprit.
- Take the cap from the terms themselves. It is sometimes £4, and sometimes a percentage of the bonus.
- Check whether a bonus buy counts as one stake. It usually does, so buying a feature is usually an instant breach.
- On games with several stages, check whether the cap is per spin or per round.
- Simplest of all: leave your stake alone until the bonus has cleared or been forfeited.
Other clauses worth reading
Cashout caps
Mostly found on free spins and no-deposit offers. If £10 of free spins carries a £100 cap, a lucky £1,500 run pays out £100 and the rest disappears.
Time limits
Bonuses expire, typically after 7 to 30 days. Ask whether the turnover fits the window. £6,000 of play in a week means around 430 spins at £2 every single day.
Which balance is used first
Some sites spend your real money before the bonus, so you can still cash out before the bonus is touched. Others spend the bonus first or lock both together. The second arrangement is far worse for you, and it is rarely mentioned up front.
Barred games
Jackpot slots and some high-RTP titles are often excluded while a bonus is active. Playing one can void the offer just as surely as going over the stake cap.
Following one bonus all the way through
Seeing the terms work together is clearer than reading them one by one. Say you deposit £80 and accept a 100% match up to £80 at 40× on deposit plus bonus, slots counting 100%, a £5 stake cap, 21 days to finish and no cashout cap.
- Starting balance: £160, of which £80 is yours and £80 is bonus.
- Play required: 40 × £160 = £6,400.
- At £1 a spin that is 6,400 spins, roughly 300 a day across the 21 days.
- Expected cost on a 96% slot: £6,400 × 4% = £256.
- Expected result: £160 minus £256 leaves you below zero. On average, you run out of money before the requirement is met.
Change a single term and the picture flips. At 20× on the bonus only, the play required is £1,600 and the expected cost is £64 against an £80 bonus. That is where an offer starts being worth something to the player rather than mainly to the operator's marketing.
Bonuses without wagering
Some operators skip the multiplier altogether. Maxxed lets new players pick 1 of 3 welcome packs: free spins, a free bet or cashback, each with no wagering and valid for 7 days. Offers like that are judged differently, on what you receive rather than on the work needed to release it. Our no wagering bonus guide covers how to compare them, and the Maxxed review has the details.
A checklist before you click accept
- Work out the cost. Multiplier × base = turnover. Turnover × (1 − RTP) = expected cost. If the cost is bigger than the bonus, say no.
- Keep your stake fixed while the bonus is active, so the stake cap can never trip.
- Prefer lower-volatility slots for clearing. Big swings are the main reason requirements go unfinished. Our volatility explainer shows why.
- Divide turnover by days. If the daily figure looks unrealistic, it is.
- Save a copy of the terms on the day you accept. Terms change, and a dated copy settles disagreements quickly.
- Withdraw once it clears. Carrying on with a cleared balance is how cleared bonuses turn into lost ones.
When saying no is the better choice
More often than not. Accepting a bonus turns money you could withdraw into money you cannot, and unless the multiplier is genuinely low that lock is worth more to the casino than the bonus is to you.
If you are depositing for an evening's play and would like to keep whatever is left, turn it down. If you were going to put thousands of pounds through slots regardless, a low-multiplier bonus can make sense. Be honest with yourself about which of those describes you.
If you joined GamStop because gambling had stopped being fun and started causing harm, keep the exclusion running. GamCare offers free, confidential support on 0808 8020 133.
Play with money you can afford to lose. Casino games are built to return less than is staked over time. Set a budget and use your account's deposit limits. Free, confidential support is available from GamCare on 0808 8020 133. More on staying in control.