The multiple is not the cost
The playthrough multiple — the “10x” in a promotion’s headline.
- Read as
- A 10x requirement means playing through a balance ten times, so it costs roughly a tenth of it.
- Actually
- The multiple sets how much must be staked, not what that staking costs; the cost is the multiple multiplied by the house edge and divided by the contribution rate, which can exceed the balance entirely.
A requirement of m on a balance B demands credited wagering of R = B × m. At a contribution rate c, the amount that must actually be staked is T = R ÷ c. The house edge h is charged on T, not on B.
So the expected cost as a fraction of the balance is m × h ÷ c. At m = 10, h = 4% and c = 1, that is 40% of the balance — four times what the intuitive reading suggests.
Drop contribution to 20% and the same headline multiple demands five times the staking: m × h ÷ c = 10 × 0.04 ÷ 0.2 = 200%. The requirement is expected to consume the balance before it is met. Nothing in the headline changed.
The multiplier that exhausts a balance in expectation is m* = c ÷ h. At full contribution and a 4% edge that is 25x. Requirements at or above m* have no survivable expected balance, and the calculator reports none rather than printing a negative one.
None of this models maximum-bet rules, excluded games or time limits. Breaching any of those can void a requirement regardless of the arithmetic, so a figure here is a floor on the difficulty, not a complete account of it.
The method behind this figure
Playthrough requirement — playthrough v1.0.0. Its formula, assumptions and limitations are published in full on the methodology page.
Related: Playthrough calculator, Playthrough rules, Game contribution, Glossary