What Does 10x Wagering Mean?

Short answer: 10x wagering means you have to bet ten times the value of your bonus before you can withdraw any winnings from it. A £10 bonus with 10x wagering means £100 of total betting before the money is yours to take out.

That is the whole definition. But the detail is where people get caught, so here is the plain-English version of what it actually means for you.

The simple version

When a casino gives you a bonus, it almost never lets you just withdraw it. There is a condition attached called a wagering requirement, also known as a playthrough requirement. The number in front, the “10x,” tells you how many times you have to bet the bonus amount first.

So:

• 10x on a £10 bonus= £100 to wager
• 10x on a £50 bonus= £500 to wager
• 10x on a £100 bonus= £1,000 to wager

You are not losing all of that. You are betting it, win or lose, round after round, until the total you have staked adds up to ten times the bonus. Only then can you cash out whatever winnings are left.

Why 10x specifically?

Because as of 19 January 2026, that is the legal maximum in the UK. The UK Gambling Commission capped wagering requirements at 10x, so no UKGC-licensed casino can ask for more. Before that, requirements of 40x or even 65x were common, which on a £100 bonus meant betting £4,000 to £6,500. So if you see a UK casino advertising 10x, that is them offering the friendliest requirement the law now allows.

That is genuinely good news for players. But “10x” still does not automatically mean “good bonus,” for two reasons.

Catch one: the house edge eats your wagering

Every time you bet, the casino’s built-in edge takes a small slice. So wagering £100 to clear a bonus is not free, it has an expected cost depending on the game. On a typical slot, betting £100 might cost you around £4 on average. The bigger the wagering requirement, the more of these small costs stack up. That is the real price of clearing a bonus.

Catch two: not every game counts the same

This is the big one. A game’s weighting decides how much each bet counts toward the requirement. Slots usually count 100%, but table games often count 10% or 25%.

So a “10x” bonus you plan to clear on a game that only counts 25% actually needs four times the betting, turning a headline 10x into a real 40x. The number on the offer and the number you actually have to grind through can be very different.

So is a 10x bonus worth it?

Sometimes yes, sometimes no. It depends on the bonus size, the game, the house edge, and the weighting all together. The headline “10x” alone cannot tell you. That is exactly what our bonus calculator is for: put in the numbers and it tells you the real expected value before you deposit, so you know whether a 10x offer is actually worth taking or just looks like it. If you want the full checklist, our guide on whether casino bonuses are worth it walks through every number that matters.

10x is the best the rules now allow. Whether any particular 10x bonus is worth your time still comes down to the maths.

18+ only. Gambling can be addictive. Please play responsibly. If you feel you may have a gambling problem, visit BeGambleAware.org or call the National Gambling Helpline on 0808 8020 133. You can self-exclude from UK-licensed sites via GamStop.

This article is for information only and is not financial advice. Bonus terms change without notice, so always check the operator’s current T&Cs. Some links on this site are affiliate links: we may earn a commission if you sign up through them, at no additional cost to you. This does not influence our calculations or rankings.

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