How to understand Terms and Conditions: The Definitive Guide

How to Understand Terms and Conditions

Whenever you open an account at an online casino, you will be required to tick a tiny box that states that you agree to the casino’s “Terms & Conditions”. 

In this article, we will show you exactly what those terms and conditions represent, why it’s important to always read them and how this can define your gambling experience at that specific gambling site. 

What are online casino terms and conditions?  

It doesn’t matter at which online casino you decide to play. Absolutely all of them will have a set of terms and conditions that each player must first agree on when opening an account.

You probably have seen that long document full of disclaimers that you usually just scroll down fast and click that box at the end without reading them. Those are the terms and conditions and in the online gambling world, it’s very important to read them.

In those terms and conditions, you will find different account procedures and limitations, the conditions for claiming bonuses and their completion, the KYC procedures, different rules for casino games, casino payment rules, and all sorts of legal information.

While the process of going through all of them may seem troublesome, especially if you do that at multiple casinos before picking one, it’s very important not to skip it by any means.

This is the only way to get a glimpse of how the particular gambling website operates and you can see potential red flags before getting started and regretting it.

Why are the terms and conditions necessary

These terms and conditions can be seen as a form of contract or agreement between the player and the casino operator. In this agreement, both you and the website are bound to meet certain obligations so both parties are protected in case of a legal problem.

It’s very important to mention that the best online casinos will have the terms and conditions formulated in such a way to benefit both parties, promoting the rights and interests of both the website and the customers.

Rogue casinos or some blacklisted casinos will try to take advantage of players and will have the T&C formulated in such a way that the casino can, in some way, abuse its customers without the risk of being prosecuted.

Where to search for the terms and conditions on an online casino 

On a gambling website, terms and conditions are always located on a separate page but can be accessed in a couple of ways. Try to look on the casino’s footer and see if there is a link there to lead you to the T&C page. 

Alternatively, you can find the terms and conditions section in the menu above or in a link located on the “about us” page. 

Another way to reach it is to try and open an account. Before you can open it, the casino will prompt you with the link to the terms and conditions and also with the acceptance box that needs to be checked to agree to them.

If there is no way to find the T&C page, you can contact customer support and ask them to provide you with a copy of the aforementioned terms and conditions or simply a link where you can read them.

It's important to mention that a casino that has nothing to hide will usually make the T&C pretty easy to access. If you are having trouble accessing them, even if you have checked everywhere, it means that once you found them, you might have to check them twice, including the fine print. 

What casinos’ T&Cs are all about

Online casinos have terms and conditions that cover a lot of areas because they are a way to mitigate the risk of prosecution for both them and their customers. Here are a couple of commonly encountered T&Cs.

Promotions and bonuses terms and conditions

Casino bonuses and offers are one of the main reasons why online gambling is so popular. They are a two ways street, benefiting both the gamblers who get extra money and the casinos that get extra customers.

However, since casinos don’t want their players to find ways to abuse those bonuses, which happens a lot of times as many gamblers try this, they have complex terms of usage and conditions for the offered promotions. 

Very often, the terms and conditions for bonuses are not located in the same place as the general T&Cs and are displayed instead tied to the bonus page. 

When you will read them, you will find a full explanation of what you have to do to claim the bonus and what the rules in place are. These are one of the most complex disclaimers and conditions you can find at an online casino because they include :

Wagering requirements

Playthrough requirements or wagering requirements represent the number of times you have to gamble the bonus before you can withdraw it along with the potential prizes. 

These rollover requirements are found in the Terms and Conditions section of the offer and will often be formulated as 10x, 15x, 25x, and so on.

The bonus timeframe

Each promotion has a certain timeframe in which you will have to complete all the rollover requirements. If you fail to complete them in the required timeframe, the bonus and the wins from it are void. 

Generally, the time windows will range from 1 day or week to 1 month at most operators, however, some exclusive bonuses or VIP offers can have longer timeframes and some time-limited offers may have wagering requirements that need to be completed in just a couple of days.

Minimum deposits

Most promotions will require you to make a minimum deposit to qualify for the bonus. If you don’t make the minimum deposit, you won’t receive the bonus. This condition does not apply for no deposits bonuses which require no upfront deposit.

Minimum wagers

This is one of the specific conditions and not all operators have it. Some bonuses will require a minimum wager to be taken into consideration for the wagering requirements completion. Any wager below that limit will not be taken into consideration.

Withdrawal limits

Even if you manage to score some big wins during your wagering requirements completion and you complete them, some gambling websites will have a maximum amount of cash that can be withdrawn. 

You don’t have to worry a lot about this one because, depending on the payment method selected, the limits are set quite high and most players never actually hit the upper limit. 

Win Caps 

Some promotions will come with a certain win cap that you can gain from gambling the bonus. Any amount of cash above that limit will be void and can’t be claimed.

Player’s Eligibility

Bonuses and offers are generally targeted to a certain category of players. For example, welcome bonuses, no matter if they are no deposit bonuses, free spins, low wagering requirements offers, or no deposit bonuses can be claimed one time only and restricted to new players that are just opening an account.

The second deposit offers are for gamblers that are making the second deposit, VIP offers are usually for veterans, and so on.

Games Restrictions and Contribution 

The gambling website operator may decide that the specific offer can only be played on certain casino games. Free Spins for example are always restricted to online slots and some go even further and can only be played at a specific slot. 

Wagers in other games will not be counted towards the completion of the playthrough requirements.

Payment Methods 

Not all casino transaction methods will be accepted for claiming certain deposits. You need to make sure that the bonus you are trying to claim doesn’t have a restriction on your favorite payment method.

KYC terms and conditions 

KYC stands for “Know Your Customer” and the whole process often represents the account verification process. All casino operators must follow the laws and are obligated to verify their players’ identities.

This process is necessary for multiple reasons. First of all the KYC process is placed to protect minors from gambling and to prevent players from abusing multiple accounts at the same gambling website. The second reason is to prevent organized crime and money laundering activities.

In the verification process, you will be required to provide a couple of papers and personal information like your name, a copy of your ID, passport, driving license, a utility bill, and sometimes a couple of payment information.

Casino payment methods terms and conditions

Nowadays there is a huge variety of casino transaction methods available that can fit every single players’ tastes and needs. Players can make deposits with credit or debit cards, wire transfers, prepaid cards, electronic wallets, mobile wallets, plenty of intermediate systems, and even cryptocurrency.

Because they are so many transaction options, not all casinos will be able to offer absolutely all of them. For each of these payment methods, casino operators will have a minimum and a maximum limit for deposits and withdrawals. 

To prevent money laundering activities, some gambling website operators might require you to wager the deposits before being able to make a withdrawal. If you don’t read the T&C and you are trying to make a withdrawal with such a condition in place, you might end up with your account being closed.

Finally, most payment methods will have some fees for either deposits, withdrawals, or even both. Be sure to find out what taxes are in place at that particular casino.

Final Words

To sum it all up, there are plenty of terms and conditions at every single gambling website and yes, it might seem overwhelming at first to try and find them and spend time to read them all. 

However, you need to do this because it can save you a lot of trouble in the long run.

While reputable online casinos will be relatively fair towards their players, that’s not always the case at every single gambling website and unfortunately, there are still some operators on the market that will try by any means to abuse or scam their players.