The Offer You See Is Not the Offer You Get
A player lands on the Cooked promotions page and sees a headline: a welcome package, free spins, cashback. The natural reading is that this is what the operator is giving away. The correct reading is that this is what the operator is offering on conditions, and the conditions are the offer. The headline number is not a payment. It is the maximum possible value of a transaction whose real terms are written further down the page, in a section most players scroll past.
This article is about how to read that page. It does not state what Cooked offers, because the only place those numbers are binding is the page itself. What it does is identify the five items that decide whether any promotion is worth claiming, explain why each one matters, and tell the reader exactly where on a promotions page each item is normally stated. A reader who checks all five before clicking a claim button will not be surprised later. A reader who checks none of them will be.
What a Promotions Page Governs
A promotions page is a contract in miniature. The operator is not giving the player money; it is giving the player a conditional claim on money. The claim becomes real only when a series of conditions are met, and each condition is a place where the claim can fail. The page governs the lifecycle of that claim: how it is created, what must happen before it can be converted into a withdrawal, and what ends it.
Mechanically, a promotion works like this. The operator credits something to the player's account: bonus funds, free spins, or a cashback amount. That credit is not withdrawable. It sits in a separate balance, or it is tagged as restricted, and it only becomes withdrawable cash when the player completes a wagering requirement. The wagering requirement is a multiplier: the player must stake a certain multiple of the credited amount before the remaining balance converts. While that requirement is unfinished, the money is not the player's. It is a loan with a task attached.
Everything else on the page is a modifier of that core mechanism. Which games count toward the requirement, and at what rate. How long the player has to finish. Whether there is a ceiling on how much can ever be withdrawn from the promotion. Whether the player's own deposit is locked into the same requirement. Each of these modifiers changes the value of the offer, and each is stated somewhere on the page or in a linked terms document.
The Five Items That Decide What an Offer Is Worth
Not every line on a promotions page matters equally. A reader can ignore the marketing copy, the images, the countdown timers and the exclamation marks. Five items carry nearly all the economic content. They are listed below, with why each can change the value of the offer and where on the page the reader normally finds it.
| Item to confirm | Why it can change | Where it is stated |
|---|---|---|
| Wagering multiple | This is the number of times the bonus, or the bonus plus deposit, must be staked before withdrawal. A higher multiple means more of the player's own money is exposed to the house edge before any withdrawal is possible. The difference between a low and a high multiple can be the difference between an offer worth claiming and one that is mathematically negative. | In the terms section of the promotion, usually under a heading such as "Wagering" or "Playthrough". Sometimes printed directly under the headline offer, but the binding version is in the full terms. |
| Basis of the multiple | The multiple applies to something. If it applies to the bonus only, the player must stake the bonus amount a certain number of times. If it applies to deposit plus bonus, the player must stake a much larger sum. This single line can double or triple the total staking requirement without changing the headline percentage at all. | In the same terms section, usually in the same sentence as the multiple. The wording is typically "the wagering requirement applies to the bonus amount" or "to the deposit and bonus combined". |
| Eligible games and weighting | Not all games count toward the requirement equally. Slots commonly count fully; table games may count at a reduced rate or not at all. A player who claims a bonus and then plays a game that does not count will make no progress toward the requirement, and may even void the bonus entirely. | In a section headed "Eligible games" or "Game weighting", often in a table or list within the promotion terms. |
| Time limit | The wagering requirement must be completed within a set period. If the player does not finish in time, the bonus and any winnings from it are removed. A short time limit makes a high multiple effectively impossible for most players, regardless of the headline offer. | In the terms, usually near the wagering requirement. Sometimes stated as a number of days from the moment the bonus is credited. |
| Maximum cashout | Even after the wagering requirement is met, there may be a ceiling on how much of the remaining balance can be withdrawn. Any amount above that ceiling is deleted. A promotion with a low maximum cashout is worth at most that ceiling, no matter how large the headline bonus appears. | In the terms, under a heading such as "Maximum withdrawal" or "Cashout limit". Sometimes stated as a fixed amount, sometimes as a multiple of the bonus. |
These five items are not independent. A low wagering multiple with a short time limit may be worse than a higher multiple with a long one. A generous game weighting with a low maximum cashout may still be unattractive. The reader's job is to read all five together and ask one question: after the requirement is met, what is the most cash that can leave the account, and how much of the player's own money must be staked to get it.
What the Headline Percentage Hides
The most prominent number on any promotions page is the match percentage: the operator will add a certain percentage of the player's deposit as bonus funds. That number is real, but it is not the value of the offer. It is the size of the loan. The value of the offer is what remains after the wagering requirement, the game weighting, the time limit and the maximum cashout have all been applied.
Consider what a match percentage does. It increases the amount the player must stake before withdrawing, because the wagering multiple applies to a larger base. It also increases the amount the player can lose while chasing the requirement, because staking more money exposes more of it to the house edge. A high match percentage is not a gift; it is a larger conditional claim with a larger task attached. The player who reads only the percentage has read the least informative line on the page.
Free spins are the same mechanism in a different wrapper. The spins themselves have no cash value; they are wagers placed on the player's behalf, and the winnings from them become bonus funds subject to the same wagering requirement as any other bonus. The number of spins is the headline. The value of the spins is whatever survives the requirement, the game restriction and the cashout ceiling.
Cashback offers invert the direction. Instead of crediting money up front, the operator returns a percentage of losses over a period. The conditions are different: the cashback may be credited as withdrawable cash or as bonus funds with a wagering requirement; it may apply only to certain games; it may have a minimum loss threshold or a maximum cashback amount. The same five items apply, but the reader must also confirm whether the cashback is real money or another conditional claim.
Where Each Item Is Stated on Cooked's Page
The promotions page itself is usually a summary. It shows the headline offer, the key conditions in abbreviated form, and a link to the full terms. The full terms are where the five items are stated, and that is the document the reader must open before claiming anything. A promotions page that does not link to full terms is a page that is not telling the reader enough to make a decision.
The wagering multiple and its basis are normally in the first block of the terms, because they are the core of the offer. The eligible games and their weighting are usually in a separate section, sometimes as a table. The time limit is often in the same block as the wagering requirement, or in a section on general bonus rules. The maximum cashout is sometimes in the promotion-specific terms, sometimes in a general promotions terms page that applies to all offers.
If the page does not state one of these items, that absence is itself information. A promotion with no stated wagering requirement is not a promotion with no requirement; it is a promotion whose requirement is stated elsewhere, or one whose terms are incomplete. The reader who cannot find the multiple, the basis, the game list, the time limit or the cashout ceiling should not claim the offer. The absence of a term is not the absence of a condition; it is the absence of the reader's ability to evaluate the condition.
The same applies to the page as a whole. If Cooked's promotions page shows an offer but links to no terms at all, the reader has no way to know what the offer is. The correct response is not to claim it and hope. The correct response is to treat the offer as unevaluable and move on.
Why These Items Change Between Visits
A promotions page is not a static document. Operators change offers, and they change the terms attached to them. A wagering multiple that is true today may be different next week. A game that counts fully toward the requirement this month may be removed from the eligible list next month. A maximum cashout that applies to one promotion may not apply to the next one with the same headline.
This matters because the reader's memory of the page is not the page. A player who claimed a bonus six months ago and remembers the terms is not reading the current terms. The only version that binds is the one on the page at the moment of claiming. The reader who relies on a remembered multiple, a remembered game list or a remembered cashout ceiling is making a decision on data that may no longer exist.
The practical rule is to read the terms every time. Not once per operator, not once per account, but once per claim. The five items are cheap to check and expensive to miss. A player who spends two minutes reading the terms before claiming a bonus has spent two minutes to avoid a surprise that could cost the entire bonus and any winnings from it.
What the Page Cannot Tell You
A promotions page, even a complete one, cannot tell the reader whether an offer is worth claiming. It can only state the conditions. Whether those conditions are acceptable depends on the reader's own bankroll, the games they play, the time they have and their tolerance for risk. A promotion that is unattractive to one player may be acceptable to another.
What the page can tell the reader is whether the offer is legible. A complete terms section makes the offer legible: the reader can compute, or at least estimate, what the offer is worth. An incomplete terms section makes the offer illegible: the reader cannot know what they are claiming. The promotions page is not a recommendation. It is a disclosure, and the reader's job is to read the disclosure before acting on it.
There is also a category of information that no promotions page contains: the expected value of the offer. The house edge on the eligible games, the variance of those games, the probability of completing the wagering requirement with a positive balance - none of these is stated on the page, and none can be derived from the five items alone. The reader who wants that calculation must bring it themselves, or accept that the promotion is a wager on top of a wager.
FAQ
What is the single most important item on a promotions page?
The wagering multiple and its basis, read together. These two lines determine how much the player must stake before any withdrawal is possible, and they are the items most often misread. A multiple that applies to deposit plus bonus is a much larger requirement than the same multiple applied to bonus only, and the difference is stated in one sentence that many players skip.
If a promotion does not state a wagering requirement, does that mean there is none?
No. It means the requirement is either stated in a linked terms document or the promotion is not fully disclosed. A reader who cannot find the multiple should not claim the offer. The absence of a stated requirement is not a benefit; it is a gap in the reader's ability to evaluate the offer.
Do free spins have the same conditions as a deposit bonus?
Generally yes. Winnings from free spins are usually credited as bonus funds and are subject to a wagering requirement, a game restriction, a time limit and a maximum cashout, just like a deposit bonus. The spins themselves are not withdrawable; only what survives the conditions is.
Why do the terms change between visits to the promotions page?
Operators revise offers and their conditions regularly. A promotion may have the same headline but different terms from one month to the next. The only terms that bind are the ones on the page at the moment of claiming, so the reader should read them every time rather than relying on memory.
This page is an independent summary of what a promotions page covers and how to read one; it is not published by Cooked and states no figure or status for the operator, whose own promotions page and linked terms are the only binding source for any offer.
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