Online casino bonus terms in the US
Every state has its own bonus rules. We read each casino’s terms, one state at a time.
How clear are the terms? Our 0 to 10 score
This score rates how easy a casino makes it to find, open, read and understand its bonus terms. It doesn’t rate how good the bonus is. We score each offer in the state where it’s available.
| Easy to find | 0 to 2 | |
| 2 points if the full terms are linked from the offer. 1 point if we only found a promotions page or a path to the bonus policy. | ||
| Easy to access | 0 to 2 | |
| 2 points if anyone can open the full terms without an account or the app. 0 if they need a login. | ||
| Easy to read | 0 to 2 | |
| 2 points if the full terms are readable and well organized. 1 point if at least 1 real rule of the offer is readable. | ||
| Easy to understand | 0 to 2 | |
| 2 points if the terms clearly explain the main restrictions. 0 if they contradict each other. | ||
| Complete terms | 0 to 1 | |
| 1 point if we could check every important condition. | ||
| Current and consistent | 0 to 1 | |
| 1 point if the terms are valid today and don’t contradict each other. | ||
- 9 to 10
- Very clear
- 7 to 8
- Fair
- 5 to 6
- Needs improvement
- 3 to 4
- Hard to check
- 0 to 2
- Very hard to check
Why we test AI on purpose. Players ask ChatGPT about bonuses before they sign up. So we check whether it can read the casino’s own terms. If it can, its answer can come from the casino’s real terms. If it can’t, it answers from promo sites, which often don’t explain a bonus’s real conditions.
We give 0 for anything we can’t check. A low score doesn’t mean the casino is illegal, or that a person can’t read the page. A high score isn’t a reason to gamble.
Read a bonus in 30 seconds
Ask yourself 4 things, in this order. Is my deposit locked? How much do I have to bet? Which games count? How long do I have? The answers are all in the terms. If one’s missing, that tells you something too.
Casino bonus terms, explained
- Sticky
- Your deposit and the bonus are lumped together. You can’t take your deposit out until you finish the wagering.
- Non-sticky
- You play with your own money first, and it stays yours. The bonus only kicks in once your money’s gone.
- Wagering
- How many times you have to bet the bonus before you can cash out. 15x on a $100 bonus means $1,500 in bets.
- Wagering base
- What the 15x is based on: the bonus alone, or the bonus plus your deposit. The second one doubles what you have to bet.
- Weighting
- How much each game counts toward the wagering. At 50%, a $10 bet only counts as $5.
- Max cashout
- A limit on how much you can cash out from bonus winnings. New Jersey bans it once you’ve met the terms.
- Max bet
- The biggest bet you can place while the bonus is active. “Blocked live” means the casino won’t take the bet. “Voided” means it takes the bet, then cancels your winnings later.
- Expiry
- How long you have to finish the wagering before you lose the bonus and what you won with it.
- T&Cs
- The terms and conditions: the rules of the offer.
What a 15x wagering requirement really costs
Say you deposit $100 and get a $100 bonus. At 15x on the bonus only, you have to bet $1,500. At 15x on the bonus plus your deposit, it’s $3,000. Play a game that only counts 50%, and you’re looking at $3,000 and $6,000. Same 15x, 4 very different bills.
| Bonus only | $1,500 | |
| Bonus plus deposit | $3,000 | |
| Bonus only, 50% game | $3,000 | |
| Both, 50% game | $6,000 |
Sticky or non-sticky, in one example
Same $100 deposit, same $100 bonus. You win $50 on your first few bets. Non-sticky: you were playing with your own money, so you can cash out $150 and walk away from the bonus. Sticky: it’s all one balance, and nothing comes out until you finish the wagering.
Our benchmark
| Sticky bonus | Non-sticky | |
| Wagering | 10x or less | |
| Our own bar, not a legal limit. | ||
| Wagering base | Bonus only | |
| Weighting | 100% | |
| At 50%, you bet twice as much. | ||
| Max cashout | No cap | |
| Max bet | Auto-blocked | |
| Expiry | 30+ days | |
| A short window turns it into a race. | ||
| T&Cs | Shown upfront | |
Green is our benchmark. It’s our own standard, not the law, and it’s the same in every state.
How we rate a bonus
5 verdicts, from best to worst.
- A good deal
- All 8 terms meet our benchmark.
- Good, with a catch
- At least 1 term falls short, but none fails.
- Good, N terms missing
- The casino doesn’t publish every term, so we can’t give a final verdict.
- 1 term is poor
- At least 1 term fails our benchmark.
- Nothing readable
- We couldn’t read any of the casino’s terms.
5 warning signs in bonus terms
- Terms you can only see after you log in.
- A promo period that’s already over.
- A max bet that cancels your winnings instead of just blocking the bet.
- A long list of excluded games.
- Terms that only load with JavaScript, so no assistant can read them.
We found most of these in New Jersey.
Same casino, different terms
A casino licensed in more than one state files separate bonus terms in each. The match, the wagering, the games that count and the expiry can all change from one state to the next. So an audit only applies to the state it covers. Check the page for the state you’ll be in when you play.
| Filed first | 5 days before launch | |
| 8 items minimum | Required by law | |
| Winnings | No cap once you qualify | |
| Wording | Clear, plain language | |
| Canceling | You see the amounts first |
These are New Jersey’s rules. We’ll add other states as we publish their audits.
The same in every state
You have to be 21 and physically in the state when you play. See which casinos are licensed in your state
Why ChatGPT has to read the terms
Players ask ChatGPT about a bonus before they sign up. But the assistant can only answer from what it can actually read. When a casino builds its terms with JavaScript, or blocks AI tools, the assistant never sees them. It answers anyway, using affiliate sites, old copies or another state’s offer. That’s why every audit checks whether AI can read the terms. If it can, you can check them just by asking.
Casino bonus FAQ
- Is a lower wagering requirement always better?
- No. A 15x bonus that locks your deposit can cost you more than a 20x bonus that doesn’t.
- Can I play in a state I don’t live in?
- Yes, as long as you’re 21 and in that state when you play.
- Why do other sites list different numbers?
- They often copy each other. Only the casino’s own terms settle it, so that’s all we read.
- Does the same casino offer the same bonus everywhere?
- No. Each state gets its own set of terms.
- Why can 2 documents show different wagering requirements?
- They may cover different bonuses or different versions of the terms. Always check which document a number comes from.
- Which terms apply to my account?
- Check the state, the company named in the terms and the date of the document. Read the general terms and the bonus terms together.
Corrections from casinos
When a casino helps us get its terms right, you’re the one who wins. You get the real terms, not a guess. AI assistants get them too, so their answers get better. That’s why we ask every casino to check our audits.
If a casino sends us its published terms, we check them and fix the audit right away. A casino can correct a fact. It can’t buy a verdict or change one. We only change a term when the casino’s own published terms back it up, and nobody pays us for anything.
Do you work for a casino? Contact us
Who wrote these audits
Nobody can keep up with every casino’s terms on their own. There are too many, and they change too often. So AI helps us with the reading, but an editor checks every page before it’s published. The criteria, the benchmarks and every final check are P. Szreder’s work.
Affiliate disclosure. This site contains no affiliate links. The day that changes, we’ll say so.