Man In Suit Emptying PocketsI’d be the first to admit it: I’m a sucker for a good mobile casino promotion. I’ve signed up to countless casinos on the promise of a decent no deposit bonus, and often return to sites if they run a reload bonus, but one thing I’m always careful to do before jumping feet first into accepting a bonus is check the small print. Where there’s ‘free’ money to be had, there’s undoubtedly also a rabbit warren terms and conditions to make sure casinos don’t get taken for a ride. In this post we’ll run through the most important things casinos don’t put in the headlines when advertising bonuses.


 

You’re Not Going To Keep What You Win

Ok, maybe you’ll strike lucky, but chances are, you’re going to fall victim to wagering requirements. If you’ve ever interacted with a mobile casino, like… ever, you should know what wagering requirements are by now. They’re the stipulations in the terms and condition of a bonus which dictate the number of times you need to wager the value of the bonus you’ve received, before you can withdraw any of your winnings.

The logic is pretty simple: if casinos were to offer free cash, and simply let you take it, their businesses would crumble in no time, so wagering requirements make sure player don’t necessarily have the opportunity to withdraw all the cash advertised in the promotional material. That makes sense from the casinos’ point of view, but for us it’s kind of a pain in the arse.

To cover yourself as much as possible, aim for mobile casinos with wagering requirements of 30x or less. Some, like mFortune, have very low wagering requirements of 1x, meaning you keep what you win, but these casinos are few and far between. If you are playing at a casino with high wagering requirements, there’s also a couple of other things to bear in mind…

 

Only Some Games Count For Wagering Requirements

Jurassic Park Mobile Slot iPhoneYeah, that’s a real sting, right? So not only are you going to have to wager through your bonus multiple times its value, that wagering isn’t even going to count on the majority of games at the casino. Most casinos say that wagering only counts towards these requirements if it’s done on slots (which have a higher house edge), while others will actually specify a list of games which you can use towards your wagering requirements.

I’ve spoken to too many people who have come unstuck on this, happily wagering away on a slot, expecting a decent payout at the end of it, only to discover all their time and effort was worth nothing, because they weren’t playing on a game that counted. Always, ALWAYS make sure you have a solid idea of the games which you should be playing to make sure your wagers count.

 

There Are Limits To The Amount You Can Win from Bonuses

Bag of Money IconHave you heard of conversion limits? Maybe you have, but you’d be surprised quite how many online and mobile gamblers don’t know that there’s a very limiting ceiling in place to make sure you don’t win all that much when playing with bonus cash. Conversion limits do exactly what they say on the tin – limit the value of the conversions you can make out of bonus cash.

Usually set about 4x the value of the bonus, this is another way casinos protect themselves against the luck of players, and honestly, there’s no real way around them. You just sort of have to live with them, and although 4x might not sound like much, if you have a £100 bonus, that’s actually quite a lot of money you could be pocketing at the end of it.

 

You Have to Act Fast

Mobile Phone With Pound Signs On DisplayOne of the most common things to find in the small print of bonuses at mobile casinos is a clause that tells you that you have 7 days to use the bonus cash, before it becomes forfeit and you lose ALL OF IT. I’ve been burned by this before. This doesn’t just mean you have to use the bonus cash once, oh no, this means you have seven days to meet all the wagering requirements, otherwise it’s bye bye bonus.

Given everything I’ve mentioned above, it can actually take a pretty long time to meet wagering requirements, especially if they’re upwards of 50x, so you really need to plan in the time before accepting a bonus. What you don’t want to get in the habit of doing is leaving it to the last minute and having to make huge, risky wagers in order to meet your requirements.