A bonus screen on your phone shows a balance split into cash and bonus money, and the bonus part is the figure most players treat as spendable. It is not spendable in the usual sense, because a wagering condition sits on it until you play it through a set number of times. That single rule decides how much of the bonus you ever get to keep.
How to Claim the Offer
Claiming happens inside the app, and the order of steps matters because a missed step can leave the bonus unregistered on your account.
- Sign in to your account through the phone browser and open the promotions area. Confirm that the welcome offer is listed as active for your profile.
- Complete the account details the bonus requires before you opt in. Partial profiles often block the bonus from being attached at all.
- Select the offer and tap the opt-in control. This action is separate from the general sign-up and does not happen automatically.
- Make your first deposit while the offer is showing as active on screen. Deposits made before opting in count toward nothing.
- Leave the bonus code field empty unless the offer shows a code that applies to you. A wrong code can attach the wrong promotion.
- Open the bonus screen after each session and note the remaining wagering figure. The number moves down as you play eligible games.
- Keep your bonus balance untouched by withdrawal requests until the wagering is finished. Any cash-out attempt before that point is treated as a forfeit.
The claim process rewards patience more than speed. Players who opt in first and deposit second avoid the most common failure. The order of those two actions is what links the bonus to your account. A deposit made on its own is just a deposit. The system has no reason to tie an offer to it after the fact. Once the bonus is attached, your balance splits into two parts. The cash part behaves normally. The bonus part behaves under restriction. Every wager you place draws on the bonus part first in most setups. That means the wagering figure falls while your own money sits untouched. Some players prefer the reverse and want to know which part is consumed first. The bonus screen shows the split, so the answer is always visible to you. Promotions run for a limited window, and the wagering clock starts at the moment of opt-in. Games contribute to the wagering total at different rates, and some contribute nothing at all. A bonus played only on excluded games will never clear, however long you play. Keep the bonus screen open in a second tab while you play. Watching the figure drop confirms which games actually count for your offer.
What the Terms Mean
The table below sets out the main conditions in the order they affect your balance, with the point worth watching for each.
| Term | What it means | What to check |
|---|---|---|
| Wagering requirement | How many times the bonus must be played before it turns into withdrawable money | Which balance the multiplier applies to |
| Eligible games | Games whose stakes count toward the wagering total | Whether your usual games are on the list |
| Contribution rate | The share of each stake that reduces the wagering figure | How much of a stake counts per game |
| Maximum bet | The largest stake allowed while a bonus is active | Whether the cap applies to the bonus or the cash balance |
| Expiry window | The period after which unused bonus money is removed | When the countdown starts |
The term players misread most is the wagering requirement, because they apply the multiplier to their deposit instead of the bonus. The correct base is the one named in the offer, and applying it to the wrong figure makes the target look far smaller than it is. Contribution rates are the second trap, since a game can count fully, partly, or not at all. Maximum bet rules catch players who raise their stakes to clear the target faster. Expiry is the silent one, because nothing warns you as the window closes. Reading the Pointsbet app promotion screen before opting in tells you which base and which games apply to your account. That one look prevents most of the disputes that follow a bonus.
A Worked Example
The figures in this section are illustrative only and do not represent the offer on the PointsBet app. They show how the arithmetic works, not what the brand actually sets.
Take a deposit of 30 with a wagering requirement of forty times the bonus. The formula is bonus amount multiplied by the wagering multiplier. That gives the total stake you must place before any bonus money converts. Everything below follows from that one multiplication.
Assume the bonus equals the deposit, so the bonus is 30. Thirty multiplied by forty gives a target of 1,200 in total stakes. That figure is the amount you must wager, not the amount you must deposit. Winning along the way does not reduce it.
Now assume every stake goes on a game that contributes in full. At a stake of 1 per spin, the target takes 1,200 spins. At a stake of 2, the same target takes 600 spins. Higher stakes shorten the count but raise the variance.
Suppose instead you play a game that contributes at half rate. Each 1 staked then counts as 0.5 toward the target. The same 1,200 target now needs 2,400 in real stakes. The bonus has quietly doubled in cost.
A game that contributes nothing leaves the wagering figure exactly where it was. Players who spend a session on such a game see no movement and assume the bonus is broken. It is not broken; the game simply does not count.
Add a maximum bet rule and the picture changes again. If stakes above the cap void the bonus, then a run of larger bets can erase progress. The shortened count never arrives because the bonus is gone first.
Finally, note what the example leaves out. The real offer may apply the multiplier to a combined figure or to the deposit alone. Only the promotion screen shows which base applies to you, and the same multiplication then tells you the true target.
Withdrawing After a Bonus
Withdrawal is where bonus money either becomes yours or disappears. The wagering figure on your bonus screen is the gate, and it must read zero before a request has any chance.
Request a withdrawal while bonus money remains locked and the bonus is normally forfeited. Some setups remove only the bonus, others also strip winnings derived from it. Submitting early is the costliest mistake a player can make.
Once the wagering clears, the bonus converts into withdrawable balance. Check the split on screen before you submit, so you know which part is now real money. A request made in the right order avoids the forfeit entirely.
Identity checks usually run at the first withdrawal, and they can pause a payment. Have your documents ready before you need them. A stalled check is not a lost payment, but it delays the moment the money moves.
Winnings above any cap attached to the bonus may be trimmed at conversion. The cap is stated in the offer, and it applies to what the bonus produced. Knowing it in advance stops the surprise at the cashier screen.
Withdraw the full available amount in one request where the rules allow it. Splitting a request can trigger repeated checks and slow the whole process. One clean request after a cleared bonus is the simplest path.
How Free Spins Work
Free spins are a separate award from bonus cash, and they carry their own conditions. They arrive with a fixed value per spin and a fixed game attached.
Spins usually land on one named slot, and they cannot be redirected elsewhere. Using them on another game is not possible, so plan the session around that slot. The value per spin is set by the offer, not by your stake.
Winnings from free spins typically arrive as bonus money rather than cash. That means the wagering requirement applies to them too. Players who assume spin winnings are immediately withdrawable are the ones caught out.
The wagering figure for spin winnings may differ from the one on your deposit bonus. Treat them as two separate targets and track each on its own. The bonus screen usually lists them apart.
Spins often expire faster than bonus cash, sometimes within days of being credited. An unused batch simply vanishes when the window closes. Play them early rather than saving them for a quiet evening.
Some offers credit spins in daily batches instead of all at once. Check how many have landed before you plan a long session. A single batch played out is not the whole award.
Maximum bet and eligible game rules still apply while spins are active. The same mistakes that void a cash bonus void spin winnings. Treat every spin as part of the same restricted balance.
Traps to Avoid
Most lost bonuses come from a handful of repeatable mistakes, and each one has a simple defence.
- Depositing before opting in leaves the offer unattached to your account. Opt in first, then deposit, every time.
- Applying the multiplier to the deposit instead of the bonus makes the target look small. Use the base named in the offer and nothing else.
- Playing excluded games burns time without moving the wagering figure. Confirm your usual games contribute before you start.
- Raising stakes above the cap to clear the target faster voids the bonus. Keep every stake under the stated maximum.
- Requesting a withdrawal mid-wagering forfeits the locked bonus. Wait until the wagering figure reads zero.
- Ignoring the expiry window lets bonus money vanish unnoticed. Note the deadline at opt-in and play inside it.
- Treating spin winnings as cash leads to early withdrawal attempts. Track them as bonus money with their own target.
The pattern behind these traps is the same in each case. A player assumes a condition does not apply to them, or assumes the offer works in the way that suits them. Bonus rules are written to be read once and followed throughout the session. The wagering figure is the one number worth checking every time you play. If it is not moving, something about your game choice is wrong. If it is moving slower than expected, a contribution rate is at work. If it stops entirely while bonus money remains, a rule has likely been broken. None of these outcomes requires a support ticket to diagnose. The bonus screen shows the state of the offer in plain numbers. Read it before the session and again after it. A cleared figure and a clean request are the only two things standing between bonus money and your own balance. Players who treat the offer as a contract rather than a gift keep far more of what they win.