Casino.net study: nearly all UK casino brands now set bonus wagering at or below the 10x cap

Almost every British online casino brand has moved to the UK Gambling Commission's bonus wagering limit, according to a snapshot from the Casino.net Research Lab. The cap of ten times, set out in Social Responsibility Code 5.1.1, came into force on 19 January 2026.

The lab reviewed 297 welcome offers recorded on 5 October 2026, of which 148 belonged to 128 brands still trading in Britain. Among the 117 trading brands that state a wagering requirement, 115 are at or below 10x. Fifty-nine sit exactly at the limit, 34 ask for 1x and 21 attach no wagering at all. Only one brand falls between 2x and 9x. Two brands still display figures above the cap, one at 50x and one at 60x. The lab has not named them and says a figure above the limit could point to a breach or to an outdated record in its own database, with both cases queued for checking against operators' terms.

Casino.net's Head of Product, Katya Vasileva, said ten times had gone from being a ceiling to being the default, describing the market as a switch with three positions: nothing, once, or the maximum the law allows.

The lab also compared the trading brands with 56 brands that have since closed in Britain and still have usable terms. Exited brands had a median wagering requirement of 35x, against 10x for those still operating, and only 39% of their headline offers were within the cap, compared with 98% today. Vasileva cautioned against reading this as cause and effect, noting that brands leave markets for many reasons.

Offer structures have changed as well. The median cash bonus fell from £90 to £50, and the share of brands leading with cash dropped from 57% to 27%. Free spins with no wagering rose from 9% of exited brands' offers to 53% of trading brands' offers. Free spins feature in 87% of headline offers, 91 of the 128 brands give spins without cash, and the typical package is 100 spins.

The study found gaps in the short-form terms. Excluded payment methods appear for only 36% of brands and the maximum bet with bonus funds for 56%. Some 75% of brands count blackjack and roulette at zero towards wagering, and 82% do so for live dealer games.

The cap was criticised when the Commission announced its promotions overhaul in March 2025. BetBlocker founder Duncan Garvie called the limit catastrophically bad and warned it could push players to the black market. The snapshot does not measure offshore play, so it cannot resolve that debate. The dataset is published under a CC BY 4.0 licence.