You make a minimum required BTC deposit, which is normally at least .001 BTC, and the crypto casino will match that to some degree. This degree is normally expressed in terms of a percentage; 100% meaning you will get an equal amount, 200% that you will get 2 BTC for every 1 deposited, and so on.
There is also an upper limit to how much the crypto casino is willing to give away. With even the best BTC casinos unwilling to part with more than a full bitcoin. There are exceptions but beware that the bigger the bitcoin casino bonus the harder it usually is to turn it into an actual BTC that you can withdraw. Which leads us to what is called a “wagering requirement”.
A wagering requirement is attached to almost every single crypto casino welcome bonus. It is a rule that protects the casino from players coming in claiming the bonus and then leaving. Naturally no sane business will give away free money, and make no mistake, bitcoin casinos are no exception.
The wagering requirement is expressed in times (x) the received bonus bitcoin. 35x is industry standard. Let us demonstrate how it works with an example.
Example of BTC wagering requirement
In our BTC bonus list above you find a bonus described as 150% up to 1 BTC and decide to make a 0.1 BTC deposit.
You will now have 0.25 BTC. 0.1 from your deposit and 150% of 0.1, (1.5*0.1) added by the crypto casino.
The wagering requirement is usually applied to the recieved bonus amount (but beware of bonuses that also attach it to your deposit).
With a wagering requirement of 40x we need to wager 6 BTC ( 40*0.15 = 6) to fulfil the wagering requirement (be able to withdraw it to our wallet)
Is it even possible to clear a bitcoin bonus?
We load up an online slot with 96% RTP (Return To Player) and start playing. After wagering our initial 0.25 BTC we should in theory have 0.24 left (0.25*0.96). After wagering that 0.24 BTC we should have 0.2304 (0.24*0.96), and so on.
| Account balance | Total BTC wagered |
|---|
| 0.25000000 | 0.25000000 |
| 0.24 | 0.49000000 |
| 0.2304 | 0.72040000 |
| 0.221184 | 0.94158400 |
| 0.21233664 | 1.15392064 |
| ... | ... |
| 0.011234499 | 5.98037202 |
| 0.010785119 | 5.99115714 |
| 0.010353715 | 6.00151085 |
As we can see, when we hit a total of 6 BTC wagered we should have 0.0103... BTC left in our wallet. So, what is the point? We ran our account down from 0.25 to 0.01 for what?
We are gambling and that is still the case when we are playing with a bonus. RTP is a theoretical measurement, and we need to get lucky and hit a win somewhere along the road that pushes us above the fold. With the bonus we have gotten 150% more opportunities to do so.
Many times you will not clear the wagering requirement, but when you do it will hopefully make up for the times you didn't.
Sticky and No-sticky btc bonuses
At almost every crypto casino your bonus funds and deposits will be treated separately, and you will use your own money first. At any time you can withdraw your own funds and forfeit the bonus BTC on your account. This it called a "No-sticky bonus". Once the wagering requirement is fulfilled you will have full access to your bonus bitcoin. A detail to look out for in the terms and conditions for No-Sticky bitcoin bonuses is if wagering begins first when we start playing with the bonus - this makes it much harder to clear.
A "Sticky bonus" would instead not differentiate between bonus BTC and your deposited bitcoin. You would have 0.25 BTC to play for but you would not be able to make a withdrawal before you fulfill the wagering requirement (or you run your account to zero). The bonus and your deposit is stuck on the account.