Terms and Conditions are often long, repetitive, and confusing. People famously jump straight to the bottom of the page and accept them when signing up for a service, without reading them first. When it comes to online casinos, this is a habit that needs to be changed as it can cost you time, patience and money.

Let’s simplify the T&Cs by highlighting the most important parts!

Why Is Understanding Terms and Conditions Important?

Understanding the terms and conditions that a certain online casino has in place will get you up to speed with the rules and processes. It also lets you know what you can expect before you start playing. And most importantly, it lets you see how fair the casino is and if it’s really the place for you.

Key Highlights To Watch Out For

Wagering Requirements

Before you can withdraw the amount you’ve won, you’ll need to meet the wagering requirements. This means that you’ll need to turn over your winnings a certain number of times before you convert it to real withdrawable money.

For instance, you might want to claim a welcome bonus with 40x rollover requirements. So, if you win €100, you will need to turn over €4,000 (40 x €100). If the wagering is too high, you may want to reconsider the offer— it might not be worth it.

The industry standard is between 30x and 40x and most offers you come across will be in this range. Of course, this can vary, so you may even find one with no wagering sometimes!

Time Limits

When looking at a bonus, pay special attention to how long you have to use it and meet the wagering requirements. This can be anything from a day to a month, depending on the offer in question. Most welcome bonuses have generous time limits: 14 to 30 days.

When it comes to ongoing or recurring promotions (like weekly reload bonuses or cashbacks), you may have just 24 hours to complete the bonus. So before you claim, it’s important to find out the time limits, otherwise your bonus will expire after the specified period has passed.

Bet, Win, and Withdrawal Limits

To avoid players hitting big wins after just a few bets or spins, then cashing out and never returning, casinos often impose bet, win, and withdrawal limits. This is an understandable practice, but sometimes the operator can be too strict.

Imagine you just claimed 50 free spins without checking the terms. At first, this seems like a generous offer but then you realise that the max bet is only €0.10 or that winnings are capped at €20. That doesn’t actually give you as much to play with as you anticipated.

When it comes to withdrawal limits, they can be specific to the promotion or come as a part of the casino’s general rules. They’re not as common in the first scenario, making online operators who regularly impose them more strict.

And in the second scenario, they exist for both the minimum and maximum withdrawal amounts. They usually depend on the payment method you’re using or the KYC requirements that the casino has in place. In some cases, these limits are changed depending on your loyalty level. All of this information is unique to the casino you’re visiting, so be sure to check out that section in the T&Cs or the site’s payments page.

Game Restrictions

Not all promotions are created equally, so always check what you can use your bonus for. A lot of casinos that offer multiple types of betting will have dedicated tabs in the promotions section:

• Slots
• Table Games
• Live Casino
• Sports

An additional point you need to pay attention to is if the promo is only valid for specific games. This is most common with slots, so those free spins you’re looking at might just be for Book of Dead or all games by Pragmatic Play, for example. Good offers of this type are the hardest to find for the reasons outlined above, but you can always click for the latest free spins and do the research yourself.

There are also offers that can be used across multiple products. Though it sounds fantastic that you can use your match bonus on live casino, table games, and slots, there’s a catch. More often than not, the wagering contributions will differ. So while you might be able to place bets on blackjack, it might contribute just 5% to the 30x rollover.

Location Restrictions

Most online casinos will block you from entering the site if you’re from a restricted location, but even if you can access it, be sure to check if you’re eligible to make an account. In some cases, there may be other location-based restrictions:

• No access to jackpot games
• No eligibility for some or all bonuses
• No accepted payment methods for your region

This can sour your experience and make the conditions for playing a lot tougher than they are for other locations. Restrictions like this are usually placed because of regulatory laws and operating licence requirements.

Payment Method Exclusion

As we already mentioned, sometimes payment methods that are available in your region may not be supported by the casino where you want to register. In other cases, the terms for a promo you want to claim may specify that the offer isn’t valid for deposits made with a specific payment method.

Looking out for this information allows you to determine how useful the bonus is for you and to make sure you’re choosing the right payment method.

KYC- Know Your Customer

To make sure player information is correct and the winnings are going where they’re supposed to, online casinos have KYC procedures in place. This means that you will need to verify your account before you make your withdrawal requests. The good news is that you usually only need to do this once (if you keep using the same payment method and your details don’t change).

The most common info operators request include:

• A form of ID- A driving licence, national ID, passport
• Utility Bill- Make sure your address, full name, and date of the bill are fully visible
• Bank Statement- The same details as above should be visible to verify that the account of the payment method you’re using belongs to you

Minimum Deposit Limits

To complete your account and claim offers, you’ll need to make a qualifying deposit. Most casinos have a minimum deposit rule and it can vary from bonus to bonus. For example, you may only need to deposit €10 to claim the welcome offer, but €20 to claim a reload bonus.

If you’re looking at offers that combine cash and free spins, double-check if there are different minimum deposit requirements for each part of the offer. This is also good practice for those welcome packages that span over multiple deposits.

Fees

If there are additional processing fees, you surely won’t find them on the casino’s front page. Instead, they will be listed in the T&Cs. Modern online casinos generally don’t impose extra fees for deposits and withdrawals, but this isn’t always the case.

Sometimes it’s just policy, while other times it depends on the payment method you’re using. So you may need to deposit 2% more than you intended when using Neteller, but there are no such fees with Skrill. Knowing what the fees are can help you make a better decision about what banking option you need to use.

Where Can You Find the Terms and Conditions?

The Terms and Conditions are most often linked at the bottom of the homepage. In a lot of casinos, they’re also listed on the dashboard in your account. Sometimes you can even find them in a sidebar menu that you need to navigate to.

If you’re unable to find them, it’s a good idea to message customer support and ask for a link. The ease of locating the T&Cs is also a good indication of how transparent the casino is, which can make it feel more trustworthy.

Types of Terms

General Terms and Conditions

The general terms are conditions can be found in the above-mentioned locations. They’re usually very long and divided into sections so that you can easily find the information you are looking for. These detail everything from the licencing to payments, the KYC procedures, and more.

Bonus Terms

If you’re looking for the terms of specific promotions, you can either find them in a section of the general T&Cs or on the offer page. They will tell you everything you need to know about who’s eligible for the bonus, what the time limits and wagering requirements are, and if there are any caps.

Conclusion

Terms and Conditions can often seem long, boring, and confusing. But, when you know what you need to look out for and why they’re important, you can navigate them more easily and see if the casino is the right one for you. Potential restrictions, time limits, turnovers, and minimum deposit requirements can all give you an indication of how fair the casino is.