The wagering requirement
A bonus with a 30× wagering requirement means you must wager 30 times the bonus (sometimes 30× the deposit + bonus) before it’s withdrawable. A $200 bonus at 30× is $6,000 of required turnover.
Every dollar of that turnover is exposed to the house edge — so clearing it has a real, predictable cost.
Pricing the grind
Expected grind cost = total wager × house edge of the game you clear it on. Clear $6,000 on a 1% game and you expect to lose about $60 getting there.
Compare that to the bonus: if the bonus is worth more than the expected grind cost, the offer is positive expected value. If the requirement is huge or you clear it on a high-edge game, the cost can exceed the bonus — a trap.
How to tilt it in your favour
Clear bonuses on the lowest-edge eligible game, check whether the requirement applies to bonus-only or deposit + bonus, and watch for max-bet rules. Small differences in these terms swing the EV from positive to negative.
Never accept a bonus blind. Plug the numbers into the Bonus Calculator first — it tells you the total wager, the expected cost, and whether it’s +EV before you lock up a cent.
Open the Bonus Calculator →