When looking for a casino to play in, one of the first things a player will pay attention to are the promotional offers and bonuses. There is almost no casino that doesn't offer some kind of welcome or deposit bonus.
Some of them look appealing but don't let that fool you and be sure to always check the terms and conditions because sometimes happens that you don't see a dime because the wagering requirements are crazy.
What Are Wagering Requirements
No one will ever give you anything for free especially not in the gambling world. Of course that promotions are there to attract new players by giving free money away, but the catch lies in the term and condition of the bonus. What do I mean? Well, when you claim a bonus and when you win some money it is normal you'll ask to cash out, but that's when you'll face a nasty little thing called wagering requirement.
This term represents the amount you have to bet after you claim a bonus, in order for you to be eligible to make a withdrawal of potential winnings. There is no common rule that says how big these requirements must be it all depends and they range somewhere between x12 and x60 of your bonus amount, your deposit or both at one fell swoop.
How To Clear These Requirements
You have to realize that when clearing the wagering requirement you are not playing to win as you would normally do, you are trying to get away with minimum losses which is why you should do your best to simply keep spinning the money in circle until you meet the wagering requirement. Be aware that the bulletproof strategies don't exist so do your best to keep the losses at the bare minimum.
The best way to do this is to choose those games that have small house edge like Blackjack for example. If you learn and apply the right Blackjack strategy then you will be up against the house edge of only 0.4%. Bear in mind that not all bonuses allow you to clear via Blackjack so you should check this way before you claim the bonus. Besides Blackjack, a good choice would be Baccarat, Hold Em, Carps or Video Poker.
Try not to have a lapse in judgement by choosing slots because it's the worst kind of choice you can possibly make, alongside with American type of Roulette and Caribbean Poker.
Playing Hints
It is important to remember to play on small stakes because that way you'll elude variance and avoid heavy loss from a potential bad run. The common opinion prevailing is that you should start wagering around 1%. You'll probably have the most problems with the time limit allowed to meet the requirements. Naturally, if your risk tolerance allows it, up your stakes so you can finish way faster than you initially intended.
Regardless of the stakes all you need to do is to hold on to your strategy and be disciplined and play on safe no matter what. If you hit a losing streak don't up the stakes at any cost because you most definitely won't win back what you lost because this can put the pressure on and force you to make mistakes you wouldn't usually do.
So the only advice I can give you is to keep calm, play safe and smart and you'll have no problem to clear all the requirements.