Casino terms and conditions - What you need to know
When you do anything online, you are bombarded with all these terms and conditions you must agree to, and online casinos are no different. They all have specific rules you must follow so you can play. Some are boilerplate, and others are obvious rules, but on this page, you can find the terms and conditions that are important to understand.
Online casino terms and conditions are a lot to take in. A long document filled with legalese doesn't really qualify as a page-turner, especially if the concepts are somewhat unfamiliar.
Let's go over the basic online casino terms and conditions that you need to know and keep an eye out for.
Table of Contents
What are online casino terms and conditions?
Casino terms and conditions are a set of rules that you, as a player, must follow so you can use the casino. They are clearly presented on all casinos and can often be found in the footer of a casino page.
Online casinos are businesses that handle money and deal with gambling, so they are bound by licenses and laws. The online casino licenses are strict, and there are requirements for what players can and can't do.
Don't cheat, don't abuse software bugs, don't try to break the casino, and so on. These are rules that we all know and can easily abide by. There is nothing new about them.
Online casino terms and conditions usually detail:
- Casino processes (how the casino conducts its affairs on the website)
- Player account procedures
- KYC ("know your customer") procedures
- Deposit and withdrawal procedures
- Gaming rules
- Bonus rules
- Prohibited activity
- IT notices
- Intellectual property rights
- Personal data processes and privacy information
- Company information
Out of all these terms, below are the rules people often need help with.
KYC process - Verifying Your account
The first thing casinos ask from you is that you provide them with information on who you are. Your name, address, email and phone number are the common ones. This is all part of the KYC process, or Know Your Customer.
You must provide the casino with accurate information. This is an extremely important rule; breaking it means the casino will delete your account and won't even return your money. A casino might lose their gambling license if they let anyone play with just any fake name.
It is done to prevent underage gambling and money laundering. It may be annoying for some players, but it is a thing you just have to do. If you try to find a no KYC casino that doesn't care who you are, they are likely not going to care if they pay you any winnings back.
Here is what a generic document uploader looks like. It shows which documents are needed and what you can send them.
When the casino asks for them, send the required documents and get your account verified. Just head to the document uploader page in your account settings or follow the casino's instructions.
When you have sent the files, the casino will manually check them. This can take anywhere from one our to a couple of days.
Verifying documents that the casino requires:
- Proof of identity - This can be any official identifying document that proves your name and age. A passport or a driving license is commonly accepted.
- Proof of address - Utility bills and official letters are accepted here. They need to be fresh and show that your name and address match the ones you gave.
- Proof of deposit - Here, the casino wants proof that you are the owner and in control of the deposit method used. A picture of the card with your name on it or a screenshot of the online banking method is accepted.
With all these documents, you have now proven who you are, how old you are, that you live where you say you do and that the money you are using is yours. If you play often or want to try out different casinos, you can use the same files on other casinos. Only the utility bill must be from within three months.
UK casinos can do some verifications automatically. This is why some casinos may not need to ask for proof of your address or name. They check the public registries, and if they match, you might be good to go with just that.
Deposit and withdrawal rules
Rules for depositing and withdrawing money from your account are important to read, as they can vary from one casino to the next. And this is one of those things that is worth checking out beforehand so you know what is expected from you.
Some casinos limit the number of withdrawals you can do in a day or in a specific time frame. If you go over them, they start charging you a fee for extra withdrawals or just cancel the request.
There is also a limit on how little and how much you can withdraw in one go. Casinos don't like paying out only a quid or two, as the cost of doing that gets quickly out of hand. That is why you see minimum withdrawal limits of £10 or £20 on casinos.
Casinos also limit the maximum withdrawal per transaction. If you win a lot, for example, £20,000, you have to spread it out over multiple withdrawals. A common limit is £10,000 per month. VIP players and loyal customers can get higher limits on their accounts. Progressive network jackpots are excluded from this rule.
Deposits, on the other hand, are much easier on casinos. Those also have minimum and maximum limits. They can be quite small, which you can see on our low deposit casinos page, and the maximum depends on the chosen deposit method.
If you deposit large amounts or too often, the casino will perform financial checks to make sure you that you don't have a gambling problem or are an at risk player.
Bonus rules and regulations
Bonus rules and regulations are terms that cover how casino bonuses work, what you can do with them and how you can eventually withdraw them.
If you ever hear from a player who had issues with casino bonuses, then this is probably where they did something wrong. Bonus rules are strict, and if you break them, the casino will quickly revoke the bonuses you got.
Here are the common rules for bonus offers. When you want to take a bonus offer from a casino, check these first:
- Minimum deposit - How big your deposit has to be so you get the bonus.
- Bonus code - A code you must put in when depositing so the casino knows which bonus offer to give you.
- Wagering requirement - How many times you need to wager the bonus so it turns into real withdrawable cash.
- Withdrawal cap - After all the wagering, what is the maximum amount you can withdraw from the bonus.
- Maximum bet - When you wager, the casino may limit the bet size you use. This includes all additional bet boosters and extra costs.
- Game limitations - Some games can not be used to wager a bonus. If you play these games with your bonus, you may lose it.
- Game weightings - Playing some games may only wager your bonus by a little. For example, table games may only be worth 10% of the bet.
Of all these rules, the maximum bet is the one people break the most often. When you go to withdraw your wagered bonus, the casino staff will check your bets, and if you went above the limit, they will take it all away.
The wagering requirement is also a confusing rule for new players. It just means you must use the bonus to play on the casino and not just withdraw it immediately. This rule determines how much you have to play before you can withdraw your bonus funds. You can read more about this rule on our bonus wagering page.
For example, here are two casinos that have very different bonus terms, especially considering their wagering. On the left, Pokerstars has a remarkably low wagering requirement and no limits on how much you can withdraw from the offer. Happy Tiger on the other hand, requires you to play a lot more with your bonus money before it turns into real cash. They also have a cap on their bonus wins. A large cap, but a limit nonetheless.
| Bojoko rating | 4.4 |
|---|---|
| 1st deposit bonus | 100%/£200 |
| No deposit bonus | 100 free spins |
| Min. deposit | £20 |
| Wag. req. (bonus) | 15x (B) |
| Wag. req. (spins) | 15x |
| Max cash out | Unlimited |
| Bojoko rating | 3.4 |
|---|---|
| 1st deposit bonus | 100%/£150 + 14 bonus spins |
| No deposit bonus | - |
| Min. deposit | £20 |
| Wag. req. (bonus) | 40x (D+B) |
| Wag. req. (spins) | 40x |
| Max cash out | 10x the initial bonus |
Bojoko helps you spot problematic rules
Everyone knows that people will not read the full terms and conditions document from start to finish when they go to a new casino. It is page after page of the same old same old.
This is actually where we come in. When we review online casinos, we check the rules for any strange or unusual terms. Picking a highly-rated casino site, you can be sure that their terms are generally better.
Here are the five online casinos on Bojoko that have the highest overall rating.
When you read our casino reviews, you can see that we highlight all the terms that deviate from the norm and may cause issues for players. This includes abnormal limitations or bonus terms that are way too strict.
For example, if a casino's deposit bonus has 60x wagering, we let you know that this is the case and also mention that 60x is a much bigger requirement than on most UK casinos. The same goes for things like high minimum withdrawal limits, high deposit requirements, an abnormal list of games you can't play with your bonus and so on.
If you want to play it safe, you can check out our list of the 10 best UK casinos and choose from them.
We here at Bojoko promote safe and fair gambling. This means that the casinos must be fair to their customers as well.
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