Winning caps
Winning cap is not a common term, but it shows up especially when a casino has a generous free spin offer.
Winning cap is one of the least liked bonus terms among the players. It removes the possibility of you winning big.
Some rare casinos will also cut your free spins short if you have already reached the cap. For example, if you are awarded 100 spins with a ?20 cap, and you win those 20 pounds on your first ten spins. Then those last 90 spins will be removed and you just get to keep the ?20.
Minimum withdrawals
As with deposits, also handling withdrawals costs the casinos money. Besides, they’d rather see you playing that money instead of taking it home just yet. That’s why casinos have a minimum withdrawal limit.
As a UK player, you have the right to withdraw your real money balance at any time. However, if your withdrawal is below the minimum threshold, the casino can charge additional handling fees. These can be several pounds, which makes the fees swallow up a large portion of your withdrawal.
In the past, players were able to reverse a withdrawal and to essentially play with any money they had previously decided to withdraw. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the UK Gambling Commission prohibited reverse withdrawals. This measure aims to prevent players from betting away their winnings after they’ve requested a withdrawal.
Excluded banking methods
It is very common that casinos restrict some banking methods from deposit bonuses. eWallets like Neteller and Skrill are often listed as methods that can’t be used to collect bonuses. Also PaysafeCard is occasionally on the exclusion list.
There are a thunderkick software couple of reasons behind these restrictions. One is that eWallets offer the players a slight anonymity, which is against the KYC regulations. Your personal bank account or debit card is easier to connect to you and to know that it is really you using it.
eWallets have been often connected to bonus abuse. Players have used them to find loopholes in the terms and increase their chances of profiting from the bonuses.
Forbidden strategies and irregular play
Casinos often outline betting strategies that are explicitly forbidden in the bonus terms and conditions. Here are the most common ones, and even though not every casino bans them, you should be aware that using any of these strategies can be interpreted as foul play by casinos at their own discretion:
- Low-risk bets such as simultaneously betting on both red and black slots in roulette are forbidden with bonus money.
- You’re not allowed to use your bonus balance just to progress through levels in slots like Castle Builders, Devil’s Delight and Robin Hood.
- Using low-contribution games (e.g. table games) to grow your bonus balance and then switching to high contribution games to meet the wagering requirements is usually also forbidden.
With all these rules and restrictions, you might wonder if the casinos actually enforce them. Online casinos can and will fall back on the option of a strict interpretation of their T&Cs: if you break the rules even slightly, you lose your bonus money, deposit money and any winnings. It’s a scenario you definitely want to avoid!
That said, casinos might overlook minor infractions clearly made in error. You might get away with a single larger bet than the specified maximum if you immediately tell the customer support about it. Also, accidentally playing a few rounds of a wrong game might not result in you losing everything. However, casinos won’t let anybody gain an advantage from their kindness and will at least deduct the ill-gotten gains from your winnings.
