Forbidden games in bonus wagering
Every player has surely noticed a rather lengthy list of games excluded from wagering in the bonus terms and conditions. What are the so-called forbidden games and why can’t you wager bonuses on them?
The term forbidden game might be somewhat misleading - namely, you can play the games you want with an active bonus. Unfortunately, however, spins rolled on certain slots do not contribute to wagering the deposit bonus or winnings from free spins at all. And if the goal is to "beat the casino" and walk away with bonus winnings, it’s wise not to give the online casino any edge.
In the terms and conditions, the wagering of games is often marked as a percentage. If a slot contributes 100% to wagering, a €5 bet directly reduces the amount to be wagered by €5. If the contribution is, for example, 50%, that same spin only reduces the total amount by €2.5. Players should therefore be very careful about which games are worth spinning for wagering.
Why can’t bonuses be wagered on all games?
The bonuses offered by online casinos are already an additional expense for gaming sites from the outset. Although bonus money is not real money for you (at least before wagering), the casino still has to pay any potential winnings out of its own pocket. The same applies to free spins and other offers.
Bonuses always leave a dent in the wallets of online casinos - so why are they given out? The competition in the industry is so fierce that casinos must grab players' attention and stand out from the crowd. Various bonus offers are a very good way to achieve this.
For this reason, bonuses come with wagering requirements and other conditions. The risk associated with offers is attempted to be minimized in various ways, and forbidden games are just one method. If a casino allowed you to wager bonuses on any games (even in table games with nearly 99% return rates), the risk would become far too high.
Casino bonuses are a balancing act on a knife's edge, and the scales have been tipped a bit more in favor of the online casino. And since it is a benefit they provide, this can be allowed - of course, in the name of moderation.
Return Rate
The first term players should learn when discussing games excluded from wagering is the return rate. The concept has many different names, and you will surely often encounter the English abbreviation RTP (return to player).
The return rate indicates the theoretical payout of a game based on millions of spins. The closer the number is to 100%, the easier it is to win from the game in theory. You might notice that we have already used the word "theoretically" twice? Because the return rate is calculated based on an enormous number of spins, it cannot be directly applied to individual players.
In practice, it works like this: if the return rate of a game is 97% and you bet €100, you will end up with €97. However, this does not mean that every player will lose €3, as few of us spin 10 million times on a single game. But on a theoretical level, a 97% slot generates a 3% profit for the casino.
Among the forbidden games are precisely those slots whose return rates hover around 98%. Because it is easier to win more in the long run, they are too risky for wagering.
Game Volatility
The second important term is game volatility (or variance). While the return rate indicates how much a game pays back in the long run, volatility determines the risk level of the game. Each slot is specifically defined as having low, medium, or high volatility.
- Low volatility: wins are distributed more often, but they are slightly smaller. Suitable for players who do not want to take too much risk.
- Medium variance: the number and size of wins are relatively similar. You don’t take too much risk, but there may be a slightly longer time between wins.
- High volatility: wins are given out less frequently, but there are many big wins among them. These are the so-called "go big or go home" games.
Once again, casinos tend to shy away from high variance games for wagering - especially when combined with a high return rate.
Most Common Forbidden Slots
Unfortunately, no game provider is immune to this curse, as nearly every provider has at least one game on the list. On the other hand, if a game provider has not added any high return rate and variance game to their offerings, it’s best to steer clear.
There are several hundred forbidden games in total, but we will list the players' favorites here. These are the slots you might accidentally play during wagering.
- Blood Suckers 1 and 2
- Dead or Alive
- Extra Chilli
- Jammin Jars 2
- Starburst XXXtreme
- 1429 Uncharted Seas
- Immortal Romance
- Jack Hammer 2
- Viking Runecraft
However, we want to remind players that different casinos have different rules - and some sites have a significantly longer list of forbidden games than others.
Live Games and Jackpot Games in Wagering
Aside from forbidden games, spins placed on slots contribute 100% to wagering - but this does not apply to other games. On some gaming sites, spins played on games other than slots may sometimes meet the requirements at, for example, 20%, but this is very rare.
A good rule of thumb is that table games, video poker, and jackpot games do not contribute to the player's claimed bonus at all (0%).
Somewhat unusually, scratch cards do contribute 100% to wagering, but they are not found at nearly every casino.
But what about live casinos? In live tables, return rates can rise to as much as 99%, so generally, live games contribute very little (5-20%) or not at all to wagering.
Always Check the Terms and Conditions
The golden rule for wagering a bonus or winnings from free spins is as follows: always carefully review the rules and conditions attached to the offer. We discussed forbidden games in this article, but unfortunately, they are just one pitfall that an experienced player can stumble into.
Always check first what the time allocated for wagering the bonus is. Most casinos require wagering to be completed within 30 days, but some sites have been encountered that only give 7 or 14 days for the process. So make sure you don’t exceed the time limit and lose potential winnings.
Next, you need to check what kind of stake you can use to wager the bonus. As mentioned earlier, the casino wants to reduce its own risk, and thus the bonus cannot be wagered with, for example, a €100 stake. The most common maximum stake is either €5 or €10.
And last but not least, the player must check the amount of money subject to wagering. Fair online casinos require customers to wager only the bonus, but on some sites, the requirement also applies to the deposit - and in this case, the process becomes significantly more difficult.