What the calculator works out
Wagering is the total value of bets you must place before bonus money becomes cash you can withdraw. Wins and losses both count towards it: a hundred $1 spins is $100 wagered, whatever happens to your balance along the way. The calculator turns an offer's terms into four plain numbers:
- Bonus credited. Your deposit times the match percentage, stopped at the cap.
- Turnover. The wagering base (deposit plus bonus at Fair Go, unless you switch it) times the multiple.
- Spins or hands. Turnover divided by your typical bet, if you enter one.
- Average cost. Turnover times the house's share. At 96% RTP the house keeps 4 cents of every dollar bet, on average.
The base matters as much as the multiple. Fair Go's 30x runs on deposit plus bonus, which doubles the bill compared with a bonus-only rule at the same multiple.
Example: one full WELCOME claim
Deposit $200, the most a single WELCOME claim will match:
- Bonus: $200, which hits the cap exactly.
- Deposit and bonus together make $400; multiply by 30 and you need $12,000 in bets.
- At $2 a spin, that's 6,000 spins.
- Average cost at 96%: $480.
The bonus is $200; the average cost of clearing it is $480. Taken at face value, the offer buys you a much longer session rather than extra money. Using Fair Go's own 97% figure, the cost falls to $360. That's still more than the bonus.
Example: $30 at 50 cents a spin
A smaller deposit, played slowly:
- Bonus: $30. Turnover: $60 × 30 = $1,800.
- Spins at 50 cents: 3,600.
- Average cost: $72, against a starting balance of $60.
When the average cost is bigger than the whole balance, the typical session runs dry before the wagering is finished. Some sessions will get there, because results swing, but you'd be backing the less likely outcome. Smaller bets stretch the session; they don't shrink the cost, because the cost depends on total turnover.
Free spins and bonus-only wagering
BUBBLE15's spins work differently. There's no deposit, and Fair Go's no-deposit page lists 60x on bonus winnings. To model it, enter what the spins won as the deposit, set the match to 0% and the multiple to 60. If the spins paid $20, that's $1,200 of betting before anything can be withdrawn, assuming the multiple applies to the spin winnings, which is the usual approach. Anything you clear is still limited by the $180 free-money cap.
The bet limit sets a speed limit
Fair Go caps every bet at $10 while a bonus is live, and a single bet over it can void the promotion's winnings. The calculator warns you when your typical bet is too high, but the rule covers each bet, not the average. It also means the full WELCOME claim above needs at least 1,200 bets, however fast you play.
About the RTP box
RTP describes how much of every dollar staked a game hands back over a very long run. Fair Go puts its pokie average near 97%; that number comes from the casino alone. Individual games vary, and one session can land far from any average. We default to 96% as a cautious middle ground; type in whatever you believe.
What it can't know
The calculator doesn't know about games that count less towards wagering, excluded games, time limits or caps on a particular offer's winnings. Those sit in each offer's own terms. Read them before you deposit, and treat the result as a price guide rather than a promise.
