Friday, 15 August 2014

What is Playthrough?

Having been involved in online casinos for years and years and years, it doesn't always occur to me that the word 'Playthrough' (also known as wagering requirements) means absolutely nothing to everyone else. It is not even recognised by my email program, my browser nor my word processor as an actual word, yet not a day goes by that I do not use it.

First of all, playthrough is a withdrawal requirement. If you plan to cash out this is one of the requirements that need to be met before the casino will process a withdrawal.

Playthrough sounds self explanatory, so let's start with that. Playthrough means to play your bonus through, as in to place bets that add up to the value of your bonus. This is regardless of if you win or lose and regardless of how many bets you place to get to that value.

Source:casinosinternet.co
For example, you have a $25 free bonus. You place 25 bets of $1 each adding up to $25. Once you have made $25 worth of bets you have played through your bonus ONE TIME. If you decide to place $5 bets, to play through your bonus one time, all you need to do is place 5 bets of $5.

If you lost every single bet you would only be able to play your bonus through one time, but the chances of that are virtually zero. What happens in reality is that each bet you either win or lose. 4 times out of  10 on average you should win. The amount you win varies and adds some cash back onto your bank roll so that you can keep on playing.

Many casinos impose a 30 times playthrough on their bonuses. So the total value of all your bets needs to

add up to your bonus multiplied by 30 Let's use the $25 free example again. The casino has placed a 30 times playthrough on this. The total value of bets you need to place before you are able to consider a withdrawal would be $25 multiplied by 30 which is $750.

Now $750 worth of bets when you have only $25 in your account seems like a whopper amount. And this brings me toy very next point.

Why Do Online Casinos Impose Playthrough Requirements

If you have had the patience to read through the explanation about you will understand by this stage that a $25 comp will force you to place $750 worth of bets at the casino. That is a LOT of time at one casino. And this is what the casino wants, the casino wants you to spend more time playing with them.

Second, the only way you will really be able to keep playing at the casino with the same $25 free comp is if on a couple of your spins or one or two of your hands of blackjack you won a decent sum of cash. You won that cash playing at the casino that gave you the comp. That casino needs to somehow ensure that if you are going to continue playing, they want you to continue playing at their casino.

Fair enough!

Source: askgamblers.com


Point number three is that this money is free, it is for you to play with, but it is not your money. It is theirs. But they are prepared to give you any and all winnings if you win fair and square. The deal is not for you to take the $25 free cash and transfer it straight to your bank account and buy a couple of books from amazon.com. That would be great, for us, but it has to make sense for the casino to keep offering up free bonuses.

A Few Points To Remember About Playthrough


Before you take up a bonus at any online casino please read the terms and conditions for the bonus you are about to take. They should not be long winded and complicate, if they are expect that you may get swindled. Look for reference to playthrough:

- 30 times playthrough is average, anything less is low and more than fair. 50 is common for free money (though a little high) and 100 is ludicrous. The higher the playthrough, the smaller your chances of cashing out. In the case of a HUGE no deposit bonus such as $100 or more, this may be the case.
- A casino should never ask you to playthrough your own money (that is the deposit - and in the case of a deposit bonus). If they do, expect to see lower playthrough amounts such as 15 or 20. In the case of a 100% bonus a 15 times playthrough of the deposit and bonus amount is 30 times playthrough.
- And lastly, playthrough is not the only requirement to being able to withdraw. Make sure you understand what requirements you need to meet.

No comments:

Post a Comment