Ten times the bonus. Under Social Responsibility Code 5.1.1, paragraph 3a, the Gambling Commission’s licensees must not apply wagering requirements over a maximum of 10 times, so a £10 bonus can demand at most £100 of qualifying wagers. The cap has been in force since 19 January 2026, not the December 2025 date first announced.
This is an evergreen reference piece, not news: the answer to what is the maximum wagering requirement in the UK sits in the rulebook, and the rulebook is what this desk read. On 15 October 2026 we read the current text of SR Code 5.1.1, the Commission’s March 2025 announcement, its list of LCCP changes, its December 2025 blog for operators and its consultation summary on wagering requirements. The Commission licenses gambling in Great Britain; this post does not cover Northern Ireland, which was not checked.
What is the maximum wagering requirement in the UK? The Code’s wording
The Code lists what licensees “must not” do. First on that list, as served on 15 October: apply wagering requirements “over a maximum of 10 times”. It defines the thing being capped in one sentence: a wagering requirement “is where a customer is required to make wagers totalling a particular value for funds to become withdrawable”.
The next line is paragraph 3b. Licensees must not “include more than one type of gambling product (betting, casino, bingo, and lottery) within an incentive”. The two arrived together, and the Commission’s changes page describes them that way: a new paragraph 3a to limit wagering requirements, a new paragraph 3b to ban mixing products.
When did the 10x wagering cap start?
On 19 January 2026. The Commission’s announcement of 26 March 2025 runs under the heading “Bonus wagering requirements limited to ten” and says all changes come into force on 19 January 2026. That was not the original date. The page, last updated 24 July 2025, carries its own correction: implementation moved from 19 December 2025 to 19 January 2026. Any guide still quoting December is quoting the superseded date.
The changes page confirms the outcome rather than the plan: a new version of the LCCP “published with effect from 19 January 2026”.
What the Commission’s own example shows
The announcement prices the old position in one line: a £10 bonus with a 50 times requirement means £500 of play before winnings can be withdrawn. At the cap, the same £10 means £100.
The consultation summary shows how the figure was chosen. The options were a maximum of 1, 5 or 10 times. Most respondents considered 10 times the lowest appropriate threshold, and one operator supplied a breakdown showing 75 percent of its offers already sat within 1 to 10 times. That is a consultation record, not a rule; the rule is the Code.
Does game weighting still change the maths?
It can, since the Code text read here does not rule weighting out, and this is the column the headline multiple leaves out. Consultation respondents described offers at 10 times on slots, weighted at 50 percent for blackjack and 30 percent for roulette, so each £1 staked on roulette contributes 30 pence. Run through a £10 bonus, that example gives this napkin table. It is illustration, not any operator’s terms.
| Game and weighting | £1 staked counts as | Stakes to clear 10x (£100) | Stakes at the old 50x example (£500) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Slots, 100% | £1.00 | £100 | £500 |
| Blackjack, 50% | 50p | £200 | £1,000 |
| Roulette, 30% | 30p | about £333 | about £1,667 |
The scope matters, so it is stated plainly: the Code text read on 15 October caps the multiple and does not mention weighting. A 10x cap therefore limits qualifying wagers to ten times the bonus, not necessarily stakes. On the respondents’ roulette figure, that is roughly 33 times the bonus in money actually staked.
Are mixed-product bonuses banned in the UK?
Yes, under paragraph 3b. The Commission’s blog of 12 December 2025, by Senior Policy Manager Pradeep Rajania, says offers designed on the basis that a consumer plays different gambling products will no longer be allowed, and that the ban covers terms that are linked and shared. The same post says a £10 bonus the customer may use as they wish is still permitted, so long as the list of product categories is unrestricted.
Where this sits on Bonus Wire
Ontario took the other route, a test with no number, covered in is there a cap on wagering requirements in Ontario. The British reform programme behind the cap is in the consumer-protection era post, and the British rules read beside Ireland’s are in the two-regime audit.
Questions readers ask
What is the maximum wagering requirement in the UK?
Ten times. Social Responsibility Code 5.1.1 of the Gambling Commission’s Licence Conditions and Codes of Practice says licensees must not apply wagering requirements over a maximum of 10 times, and defines a wagering requirement as wagers totalling a particular value before funds become withdrawable. The rule binds the Commission’s licensees and has applied since 19 January 2026.
When did the 10x wagering cap come in?
On 19 January 2026. The Commission announced the cap on 26 March 2025 with a start date of 19 December 2025, then edited the announcement: the page, last updated 24 July 2025, records that implementation moved to 19 January 2026. The Commission’s list of LCCP changes confirms a new version took effect that day, adding paragraph 3a on wagering and 3b on mixed products.
Does the 10x cap apply to free spins?
Free spins sit inside the Code’s scope. The Commission’s 12 December 2025 blog on incentives says SR Code 5.1.1(1) uses a wide definition that captures free bets, free spins, sign-up offers and daily reward offers. The cap itself is worded around playing through bonus funds; this desk read no guidance on how the multiple applies to free-spin winnings, so this post does not state it.
Can UK casinos still weight games towards wagering?
The Code text this desk read says nothing about weighting either way: paragraph 3a sets the multiple and stops. Consultation respondents raised it, describing offers at 10x on slots weighted 50 percent for blackjack and 30 percent for roulette. On that example, a 10x requirement played on roulette needs roughly 33 times the bonus in stakes. The operator’s current terms are where any weighting table appears.
The cap fixes one number. The weighting table, and the rest of what prices an offer, still sits in the operator’s terms, so read the current ones before opting in. Bonus Wire publishes no bonus codes and runs no sign-up funnels. 18+; gamble responsibly, and if play has stopped being a leisure expense, begambleaware.org.