Bonus Money Rules
When it comes to online casino accounts, players often wonder about the difference between their cash and bonus balances. Both appear on the account screen, but the withdrawal button normally reaches only the cash balance. Here’s why.
Cash Balance is Funded and Funds Withdrawals
The cash balance is where a player’s total deposits are credited, along with any winnings made while playing with those funds. Deposits, in turn, represent money the player transferred from their own account, or money automatically credited by a deposit bonus or no-deposit bonus after the player meets the associated wagering requirements. Winnings made on pre-bonus deposits, and winnings made on bonus money after wagering requirements are met, flow back into the cash balance as per standard rules. When a player cashes out, they have access to everything in the cash balance by definition.
Bonus Balance is Promotional and Conditional
By contrast, the bonus balance represents promotional funds credited by an account's active casino bonuses. Typically, when a player’s cash is exhausted, the casino will first deduct from bonus funds. From there, bonus funds can be considered “locked” cash.
These promotional funds cannot be withdrawn in their own right; they turn into withdrawable cash only once the wagering requirement attached to them has been met. Until that happens the bonus inflates the number on the account screen without adding anything the withdrawal button can reach. ## Why Bonus Funds Are Normally Non-Withdrawable The main reason is that once a bonus is credited, casino terms generally lock it in through a wagering requirement. This specifies how many times the player must play through the bonus before withdrawing any winnings arising from those funds. For instance, a $200 bonus with a 10x wagering requirement means a player must do this amount in bets: $200 x 10 = $2,000
To play through the entire bonus, players must complete $2,000 worth of casino bets with that accepted balance. Fall short of this, or meet it through winning money, and the casino can treat the original bonus funds as cancelled, or forfeit the bonus.
What Happens at Cash-Out for Bonus Money
When a player withdraws, casinos generally handle bonus funds one of two ways. One set of bonus funds becomes available for withdrawal once wagering conditions are met. The process is detailed in the bonus terms. The other model keeps bonus money out of the cash balance entirely, removing it when the player cashes out, as treated as non-withdrawable promotional item.
Play the Bonus Balance Correctly. The most important takeaway is that the withdrawal button in cyber-casinos has direct access only to a player’s cash balance. Bonuses come with their own wagering rules, and can often always only be withdrawn when converted into cash balance funds by wagering. Some bonus structures may even transfer the bonus from the bonus balance to the cash balance once wagering is complete, while others regard the bonus itself as removed at withdrawal, or as a non-cash balance to spend down.
For these reasons, players should always make sure they’re signing up to a bonus that works for them, and keep in mind that not all online casino deposits and payouts happen purely on the cash basis.
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Written by the IGCS DeskExplanatory desk covering online casinos, sportsbooks and the money that moves through them. We do not rank operators and we do not take bets: every page here is meant to answer one question and then get out of the way.
