The money · do the sums before you take the offerUpdated 24.09.2026
Bonus and wagering: what the 150% costs in stakes
A new casino without a Danish licence has the biggest offer in the window, because it is the only thing an unknown site can compete on. The offer is not free money. It is an amount that has to be wagered a given number of times, and the sum takes a minute.
The welcome offer is the price tag in a market where the customer does not know the name. That does not make it a bad offer. It means it should be read as a price and not as a gift.
The arithmetic
The wagering requirement is the number of times the amount has to be played through before it can be withdrawn. It is one number, and it turns the rest into mental arithmetic:
| Bonus | Requirement | Stakes before withdrawal |
|---|---|---|
| 500 kr. | x30 | 15,000 kr. |
| 1,000 kr. | x35 | 35,000 kr. |
| 2,000 kr. | x40 | 80,000 kr. |
| 1,000 kr. + a 1,000 kr. deposit | x35 on both | 70,000 kr. |
The last row is the one that surprises people. Some operators calculate the requirement on bonus plus deposit, and then the same number is suddenly double. The words in the terms are «bonus» against «bonus and deposit», and they usually stand in the same sentence as the multiplier itself.
The four lines that decide it
The multiplier is only the first of four. The other three decide whether the requirement can be reached at all.
Maximum bet. A cap per round while the bonus is active. Break it once and the bonus and everything it has won can be voided. It is the line most people lose on, and it is always written as a small amount.
Game contribution. Slots typically count in full, while table games count a fraction or nothing at all. A requirement of 35,000 kr. where your game contributes ten per cent is in reality a requirement of 350,000 kr.
The deadline. Seven, fourteen or thirty days. A seven-day deadline on a requirement that takes thirty is not an offer, it is a formality.
The cap on the winnings. Many bonuses have a maximum for what they can pay out, however well it goes. It usually stands further down than the other three.
When it is better to say no thanks
A bonus makes sense if you were going to play that amount anyway and the requirement is reachable within the deadline. It does not make sense if you are playing for less than usual, or if you expect to withdraw within a couple of days: an active bonus locks the balance, and that is the most common reason a withdrawal is refused. See withdrawals for what else stands in the way.
There is no shame in declining it. On most sites it is a single choice in the cashier, and a balance with no bonus attached can be withdrawn whenever you like.
What is worth more than the welcome offer
For somebody who plays regularly and spends time in the game selection, cashback or rakeback is usually worth more than a one-off bonus. It is a share returned from every session, it rarely carries a wagering requirement of the same size, and it can be withdrawn. A new casino often has the biggest welcome offer and the weakest loyalty programme, because the first is built to recruit and the second to retain — and a new place has nobody to retain yet. More on what new means on new casinos.
Five minutes before you click yes
Find the multiplier, find whether it applies to the bonus or to bonus plus deposit, find the maximum bet, find the game contribution and find the deadline. Those five numbers are always in the bonus terms and never in the banner. If you cannot find them, that is an answer in itself — and one of the points on warning signs and on the checklist.