A wagering requirement is the amount you must stake before bonus funds or bonus winnings can be withdrawn. Since 19 January 2026 the Gambling Commission caps wagering requirements on promotions offered by operators licensed in Great Britain at 10 times the bonus, and mixed-product promotions are banned.
What a wagering requirement means
The requirement is usually expressed as a multiple of the bonus. A 10x requirement on a £20 bonus means staking £200 before the bonus, or anything won with it, can be withdrawn. Until the requirement is met, the bonus funds cannot be taken out. The figure is a total of stakes, not a total of losses, so the same money can be staked again and again as it is won and lost, but every stake counts towards the total only once.
Before these rules, requirements of 35x or more were common. On the same £20 bonus, a 35x requirement meant staking £700, which could take considerable time and a lot of play before any bonus money became withdrawable.
What the Gambling Commission changed
Two changes took effect on 19 January 2026:
- wagering requirements on promotions offered by operators licensed in Great Britain are capped at 10 times the bonus
- mixed-product promotions are banned
The Gambling Commission's rule caps wagering requirements; it does not ban them. An operator can still attach a requirement to a bonus, as long as it is no more than 10 times the bonus.
The ban on mixed-product promotions means a promotion cannot require play on one product to unlock a reward on another. For example, an offer can no longer ask a customer to bet on sports in order to receive a reward on casino games. A promotion can still be built around a single product, such as casino games only, or sports betting only, as long as the activity and the reward stay within that product.
Together, the two changes make offers easier to compare. The multiple can no longer climb above 10 times the bonus, and the activity a customer is asked to do sits within the same product as the reward. The rules cover promotions from operators licensed in Great Britain, so the cap and the ban apply to offers from those operators.
What still matters before claiming a bonus
Wagering is only one of several bonus terms that need to be checked. Beyond the 10x cap, other terms still apply:
- expiry dates, which set how long you have to use a bonus and meet its requirement
- game weighting, which sets how much play on different games counts towards the requirement
- maximum bet rules, which limit the stake allowed while a bonus is active
Reading these terms before claiming is the only way to know what a bonus really involves. A lower wagering multiple makes a bonus easier to clear, but a short expiry date or a strict maximum bet rule can still make it hard to use. A bonus is never free money, and no set of terms turns gambling into a way to make a profit.
Gambling is for adults 18 and over and costs money; UK players can set deposit limits, use GAMSTOP or call the National Gambling Helpline on 0808 8020 133.
