
What Does Playthrough Mean?

Schedule
- What Does Playthrough Mean?
- What is Playthrough?
- Why Do Casinos Have Playthrough?
- Which Playthrough Requirements Should You Look For?
- Not all Playthrough is the Same
- Different Games Contribute Differently to Bonus Playthrough
What Does Playthrough Mean?
Casino promos are crucial to having a top-notch casino experience. They can double your deposit and give you free spins only for signing up with a casino site. Even when you use up that sign-up bonus, the casino will continue to reward you with new bonuses on your every visit.
However, bonuses are subject to playthrough requirements, which you will see for all the provided bonuses. Name it free spins, no deposit bonuses, or reload bonuses, you have to wager it in a certain number of times to cash it out. You may wonder how playthrough requirements work. Fortunately, Casino Rocket is here to explain everything you need to know about it.
What is Playthrough?
Playthrough tells you the amount of wagering you need to complete to get your bonus credits. This is why casinos often refer to playthrough as wagering requirements.
Let’s say a casino offers to match your first deposit up to $100. It does this with a 100% deposit bonus and to get this bonus; you will need to complete a 5-time (5x) playthrough.
This means that if you deposit $100, you will get $100 in bonus credits courtesy of the casino. However, before you unlock the bonus, you need to meet the 5-time wagering requirement. In other words, you will have to bet $500 (5 x $100) before the casino gives you $100 in bonus.
Why Do Casinos Have Playthrough?
You can think of wagering requirements as to insurance policies for the casino. They ensure that the casino rewards only those customers that play at the casino. In doing so, it also discourages players who are only looking to capitalise on easy bonus money and then run.
And while it is better to get bonuses without playthrough, you shouldn’t avoid promos just because they have them. Just ask yourself, why do you go to a casino? You go there to play their games.
So a casino telling you that before you get that bonus, you have to play a little first isn’t all that bad. After all, you would have played on those games anyway even without the bonus and accompanying playthrough.
Moreover, all bets that you place while playing will count towards you completing the wagering requirements. This means that both your losing and winning bets will be taken into consideration.
If you are a good casino player, you can easily benefit from this. You can play to win while also contributing towards meeting the playthrough.
Which Playthrough Requirements Should You Look For?
The rule with wagering requirements is the less of them there are, the better for you. You should always look for bonuses that come with fewer playthrough requirements, even if that means less bonus money.
Let’s say that you can choose between these two bonuses:
- 100% match deposit bonus up to $500 with a 10x wagering requirement;
- 100% match deposit bonus up to $1,000 with a 20x wagering requirement.
Of the two bonuses, the second one looks much more enticing. Most gambling beginners would likely choose it over the first one. However, if they do this and go for the up to $1000 bonus, they will pick the worst of the two promos.
Let’s explain why this is the case. If you choose the first bonus and you deposit $500, you will get $500 in bonus credits. To get the bonus, you will have to bet $5,000 as the bonus comes with a 10x playthrough requirement.
On the other hand, if you choose the second bonus and you deposit $1,000, you will get $1,000 in bonus funds. However, to get that bonus amount, you will have to bet $20,000.
As you can see, even though the second bonus looks two times better, it is two times worse. So what does this tell us?
It’s pretty simple. You shouldn’t judge a bonus just by the amount it will match your deposit by. A crucial factor in the quality of a bonus is the playthrough it comes with too. Both of these things should be taken into consideration when choosing a bonus.
However, be careful. The match amount of $500 or $1,000 is always written in capital letters when a bonus is advertised. Nevertheless, that’s not the case with the playthrough.
You have to go through the bonus terms and conditions to find out the wagering requirements. These are in small print, and if you don’t read them, you will make a big mistake.
Not all Playthrough is the Same
While you are reading the terms and conditions of a bonus, you should also check for another thing. This is the type of playthrough you will have to meet.
There are two types of playthrough that you should know about:
- playthrough on the bonus amount;
- playthrough on the deposit and bonus amounts combined.
Understanding the difference between these two is as important as knowing the wagering requirements that bonuses come with.
As a rule of thumb, promos that only require that you meet the playthrough on the bonus amount are better. For instance, compare these two bonuses:
- 100% deposit match up to $100 (10x bonus playthrough);
- 100% deposit match up to $100 (10x deposit + bonus playthrough).
Let’s say you deposit $50 on each of these two bonuses. Both of the offers will give you $50 in bonus credits, but the first one will be easier to activate.
To get the first bonus, you will have to wager $500 (10 x bonus). However, to get the second one, you will need to bet $1,000 (10 x deposit+bonus).
Different Games Contribute Differently to Bonus Playthrough
Lastly, you should also know that not all casino games contribute equally to meeting a bonus playthrough. Games that have higher Return to Player (RTP) percentages and where there is less house-edge involved usually contribute less towards meeting wagering requirements.
Let’s say you have to meet a 10x wagering requirement on your $100 bonus (you have to bet $1,000 to activate the bonus). This is how casino games might contribute to you meeting those requirements:
- Slots 100%
- Roulette 20%
- Poker 10%
- Blackjack 5%
This means that if you bet $1,000 on pokies, you will complete the playthrough and get your bonus. However, if you play that same amount on Blackjack, you will only complete $50 of your $1,000 wagering requirement.