Many of the world’s top online lotto platforms offer clients bonus funds to subsidise their strategies, offering players more opportunities to win. It’s a broadly accepted idea in lotto strategy formation that you have to play often to win large. Bonus funds enable a player to leverage their account to do just that.
These bonuses are essentially non recourse loans, whereas the operator will purchase tickets at cost but with the retail face value paid into the player’s online account. What’s even better for the client is, these ‘loans’ are only required to be paid back if the client wins, the operator ultimately taking on a portion of risk (at wholesale value). Although these bonus funds don’t have any interest attached to them, there are rules for its use. The rule is called a Playthrough Requirement.
These rules are ultimately necessary to prevent player participation abuse. A practice where a dishonest player will create an account (or accounts) with the intention of making a deposit, then withdrawing the bonus money in the form of real cash without actually playing on the platform, or after making a minimal initial deposit.
The rules governing these bonus allocations are called Playthrough Requirements… there are no standardised industry rules for playthroughs, so they vary from platform to platform. The good news is that the fairest lotto agents have playthrough requirements as low as 1x the deposit + bonus amount. The bad news is that you can also find it as high as 30x or more.
What Are Playthrough Requirements?
The playthrough requirement is the number of times you have to wager your bonus before you can make a withdrawal. In most cases, the playthrough applies to your deposit + bonus added together, not just the bonus funds.
For example, a 5x playthrough requirement means you have to wager your deposit and bonus amount five times before you can withdraw. If you were to deposit $100 for a 100% deposit bonus, you would have $200 in your account.
With a 5x playthrough, you would have to bet $1,000 before you can withdraw the balance of your account funds.
That doesn’t mean you have to lose $1,000; it’s just how much has to be wagered. The goal at the end of the playthrough is that you have plenty of money left in your account to make a withdrawal.
However, if the bonus + deposit are lost, you’re no longer tied to the playthrough requirement when you make an additional deposit.
So, in this example, a 5x playthrough requirement is complete when you wager five times the bonus + deposit or lose all the funds in your account.
Which Bonuses Have Playthrough Requirements?
No-Deposit Bonus: Betting credits received by a player at the discretion of the lotto platform.
Deposit Bonus: The lotto agent matches a deposit by a certain percentage. For example, Giantlottos.com offers select players a welcome bonus of 100% first deposit match and often with no deposit limit cap.
Free Plays (casinos & lotto keno bets): A number of free-bets that apply to specific slot or keno games. Any money won from free-plays is usually considered bonus money that’s tied to a playthrough.
Which Bonuses Don’t Have Playthrough Requirements?
Comp Points: Ticket credits earned from placing bets or purchasing tickets as part of a loyalty program.
First-Deposit Bonuses: If a new player registers an account with a platform, a first-deposit bonus may be offered on signup. Sometimes this type of offer is limited by a maximum deposit amount.
Time Requirements
The number one overlooked addition to the playthrough requirement is the time requirement. You usually have to complete the playthrough within 90 days, but some lotto agents make you do it within 60 days or even 30 days.
If you want to squander the opportunity a lotto agent gives you their bonus offering, then don’t complete the playthrough in time… the remaining bonus balance may be reclaimed.
At the time of this article being published; the fairest client playthrough requirement is at Giantlottos.com. This lotto agent requires a 1x playthrough on their VIP bonuses. While additional terms and conditions may apply, no online lotto agent offers better bonus terms than this.
Can Playthrough Requirements Be Too High?
Yes, absolutely. Anything over 10x is probably not worth it, but it depends on your level and frequency of our play. If you’re planning on betting a considerable amount before you withdraw, even a 30x playthrough requirement could be worthwhile.
Consider how many lotto tickets you’d need to play to complete a 5X playthrough requirement… If the playthrough is 5x on a $100 deposit + bonus ($500), you’d be required to play 100 tickets at $5 a ticket. So, for example, playing the MegaMillions would require you to play 5 tickets per draw for 2 weeks to complete the playthrough requirement (MegaMillions has 2 draws per week). No problem.
What If You Change Your Mind About The Bonus?
You can usually opt out of the bonus after the fact. That may not be true for all lotto agents, but the vast majority will let you do it. You’ll just need to reach out to the lotto agent’s customer care.
Note, however, the rules will most likely require you to play through your deposited funds first, before the bonus funds. If you’re at that point when you request a cancelation, you’ll lose all the remaining funds in your account.
Even so, this might be a good move if you want to deposit again without a playthrough requirement. For example, perhaps you want to take up an additional lotto product offer, but the funds in your account are tied to an lotto agent’s bonus…
By opting out, you can take advantage of a new offer without feeling concerned about the playthrough requirement. You’ll also be resetting the time requirement.
The best thing to do is to make sure you want to meet the terms and conditions before you optin.
Conclusion
Being able to leverage on what is effectively ‘free money’ to play more often is key to maximizing your chances of winning a big prize, or several smaller ones, and it’s only available by taking advantage of bonuses. However, bonuses are just a form of loan which naturally, and like any form of loan, must also be paid back if you win. Before you play using significant bonus funds, we recommend that whatever type of game you play online, you must become familiar with your platform’s playthrough rule. This can vary from a very respectable 1X deposit + bonus fund playthrough to 30X playthrough.
If you are a whale (big spender) then even a 30X playthrough might be an acceptable rollover. However, if you can get a 1X playthrough with a very generous bonus, all the better. Just remember to read the standard terms of use before you commit to using bonus funds, and remember that there’s no such thing as a free lunch… Especially when there are hard costs the operator must bear to offer you a better chance of a big win!
