The dictionary definition of the word ‘wagering’ is as follows:
“An agreement under which each bettor pledges a certain amount to the other depending on the outcome of an unsettled matter.”
Really, that’s just a fancy way of saying that wagering means betting.
So you could wager £5 that Not Too Shabby will place in the 3:15 at Doncaster, or you could place a £10 wager on Manchester United winning the Premier League.
Used another way; if you bet that New Zealand will beat England in the 1st test at Lords, you would be wagering on the Black Hats to steal victory away from home.
So in the same way that a wager is a bet, or a punt, or a gamble, wagering is betting, or punting, or gambling.
Any time you stake money on the outcome of something that is yet to happen, you are wagering.
Wagering Requirements
One thing that might be a bit confusing here is the frequent use on betting sites of the term ‘wagering requirements’. These are to do with the terms behind an offer or bonus.
It’s more often seen with online casino offers but does apply to bookmakers too sometimes, and to make the rules less dense to read quickly, the term ‘wagering requirements’ is often shortened simply to ‘wagering’.
For example you might see an offer that comes with terms and conditions that look something like this:
“Money back as bonus if first bet loses. 3x wagering on bonus amount at minimum odds of 1.40 (2/5)”
This is telling you the bonus amount must be wagered 3 times at a certain minimum risk level before that bonus money and any winnings become withdrawable cash. Until that point it is essentially play money.
It’s basically giving the bookie or casino a fair chance to win the money back, making the customer work harder for their free winnings.
It’s not overly complicated it just means that the word wagering can be used to simply mean a bet, or to mean the requirements behind an offer, so you have to read it in context.
