What Does Actual Bonus Value (ABV) Mean?

What Does Actual Bonus Value (ABV) Mean?

The Actual Bonus Value (ABV) gives online casino players an opportunity to easily assess the expected return from an online casino bonus. ABV means the actual value of an advertised casino bonus. Do you actually get $5,000 for free with a 100% match bonus up to $5,000? In short, no. So, how much do you get? That’s what the ABV will tell you.

Defining Actual Bonus Value (ABV)

Actual Bonus Value (ABV) is a metric created by us at Great.com to make it easier to compare and understand the value of online casino bonuses. The metric takes into consideration the different bonus restrictions, the eligible games for the bonus, and many other unique and specific requirements.

For example:

Let’s say “Casino A” has a 100% match bonus up to $100 and “Casino B“ also offers 100% match bonus up to $100. At first glance, these online casino bonuses look the same, but that’s why you need to look deeper — because the bonus terms might differ a lot.

Let’s Casino A has 5x wagering requirements, while Casino B has 20x wagering requirements. Now, it seems like Casino A is a lot better than Casino B, but that’s not necessarily true.

Maybe Casino A has restrictions that only allow the bonus to be wagered on low payout slots, while Casino B allows you to play the bonus on any game you want. Now Casino B might be the better option.

All of these variables are considered in our calculation of ABV. We have read the terms & conditions and done all the math, so you don’t have to.

ABV is the fastest way to determine if a bonus is good or bad. Just look at an online casino’s ABV — the higher it is, the more valuable the bonus.

Takeaways:

• Two bonuses with the same face-value offer can have drastically different requirements.
• The wagering requirement (play-through) is one of many factors to consider.
• ABV gives you a simple number that tells you how valuable a bonus is.

How Do We Calculate ABV?

We look at lots of factors when calculating ABV, but we will make the process easy for you to follow. We have different ways of calculating ABV depending on what kind of bonus it is and depending on what we want to compare. Let’s start by looking at the different kinds of ABV that we use.

ABV100

“ABV100” is our main metric. We use this formula to compare deposit bonuses for the average player —or what the typical gambler is interested in. The “100” in the name stands for $100 which means the value of a bonus if a player deposits only $100.

It doesn’t matter if the bonus says 100% up to $500, 50% up to $250, or 200% up to $100, we will still do the math with $100 because it’s a common amount for a first depositing player to risk. It also makes casino bonuses more comparable regardless of if they offer 100% up to $100 or to $1,000.

ABVmax

“ABVmax” is our highroller metric. This formula we use to compare the biggest casino bonuses for the players who want to bet more than the average player or who have higher bankrolls.

The “max” in the name stands for maximum, meaning that when we compare bonuses using this metric, we always count with the largest deposit possible to get the highest bonus amount. If the bonus says “100% up to $500” we will do the math on a $500 deposit. If the bonus says “100% up to $1,000”, we will do the math on a $1000 deposit.

ABVnodep

“ABVnodep” is our no-deposit bonus metric. This formula is being used when we want to compare bonuses that don’t require a deposit at all (free casino bonuses). The “nodep” in the name stands for “no deposit”, meaning just that — you can exercise the bonus without wagering any money. Here we don’t use a deposit amount at all when we compare.

ABV for Match Bonuses, Free Spins, and Cashback Bonuses

There are also variations for how we calculate the ABV depending on what kind of bonus is offered. We use slightly altered versions of the formula if it is a match bonus, extra free spins, or a cashback bonus.

No matter what kind of bonus a casino offers, the ABV will be able to tell how generous the bonus offer is, and you will be able to compare a match bonus with a cashback bonus by just looking at the ABV.

ABV100 for Match Bonuses

ABV100 is our main metric, it is the bonus metric that plays the most important role in our total casino ranking and is the one most of our top lists are based on.

Step 1 – Bonus Amount

We start by looking at what bonus is being offered. With what percentage does the casino match the bonus, and up to what amount. Since this is the ABV100 metric, we only account for how much bonus you would get on a $100 deposit.

Example:

Terms and conditions say that the casino offers a 100% bonus up to $500.

Formula:

• Deposit amount = D = $100
• Match percent = M = 100%
• Total Bonus = D*M = TB = $100

Step 2a – Wagering Requirements

We read the terms and conditions to find the wagering requirements.

Example:
Terms and conditions say the wagering requirements are 10x. That becomes the second part of our formula.

Formula:

• Deposit amount = D = $100
• Match percent = M = 100%
• Wagering requirements = W = 10

Step 2b – Bonus Only or Bonus Plus Deposit?

We check if the casino accounts for wagering requirements on the bonus only or on the deposit plus the bonus. This makes a big difference.

Example:

Let’s say “Casino A” offers 100% bonus up to $100 and has 10x wagering requirements on the bonus only. We deposit $100 to get the $100 bonus. Now, we need to wager the $100 bonus 10x = $100 * 10 = $1,000 before satisfying the wagering requirements. The total wagering requirement is $1,000.

Let’s look at “Casino B” instead. They also offer 100% bonus up to $100 and have a 10x wagering requirement, but they account for wagering on both the deposit and the bonus. Once again, we deposit $100 and get $100 bonus, but now we need to wager the $100 deposit and the $100 bonus 10x = ($100+$100) * 10 = $2,000 to satisfy the wagering requirements for this bonus.

As you can see, it’s crucial to know if the casino counts wagering on bonus only or deposit and bonus. This is the second part of the formula. Here we add a 1 if the wagering is only counted on the bonus, and a 2 if the wagering is counted on both bonus and deposit. In the formula below, we will continue with Casino A and BD = 1.

Formula:

• Deposit amount = D = $100
• Match percent = M = 100%
• Wagering requirements = W
• Bonus vs Bonus + Deposit = BD (1 if only bonus, 2 if bonus + deposit) = 1

The first part of the formula is “total wagering” and is counted W * BD. For example, if a casino says the wagering requirement is 10x, and they count both the bonus amount and the deposit amount. The formula for “total wagering” is 10 * 2 = 20.

Formula, step 1:

• Deposit amount = D = $100
• Match percent = M = 100%
• Total Bonus = D*M = TB = $100

Formula, step 2:

• Wagering requirements = W = 10
• Bonus vs bonus + deposit = BD = 1
• Total Wagering = W*BD = TW = 10

Step 3 – Top RTP Accepted

The third step is to account for what games are eligible within the conditions of the bonus. Some casinos only allow you to play a bonus on certain games where the return-to-player (RTP) is low. If you are forced to play on low RTP games only, the value of a bonus decreases significantly.

Example:

You need to wager $100 10x to clear your bonus. If you are restricted to play on a slot machine with low RTP, for example, 90%, the math for how much you will on average lose to clear the bonus:

• Amount to wager * (RTP ^ Total Wagering) = How much you will on average have left after clearing the bonus

This is where the math gets a little more complicated.

If you don’t like math, you can just focus on the numbers after the equal signs and you will understand the important part. Here’s how it would look with $100 to wager 10x on a 90% RTP slot:

• $100 * (90%^10) = $34.87

If instead there were no restrictions on what games to play, the best slots usually have about 98% RTP. The same formula would then be:

• $100 * (98%^10) = $81.71

As you can see, there is a massive difference in how much you would have left of your $100 depending on what games you were allowed to play. In our example moving forward we will use “RTPmax” as 98% which is the number used when a casino doesn’t give restrictions on games to choose.

Formula, step 1:

• Deposit amount = D = $100
• Match percent = M = 100%
• Total Bonus = D*M = TB = $100

Formula, step 2:

• Wagering requirements = W = 10
• Bonus vs bonus + deposit = BD = 1
• Total Wagering = W*BD = TW = 10

Formula, step 3:

• RTPmax = RTP = 98%

Takeaways:

• Pay attention to the wagering requirement.
• The advertised play-through (10x, 20x, etc.) is not always the actual play-through.

Calculations for ABV100

Now we have all the data needed to calculate the ABV100. Once again if you don’t like math this part might not be for you. If you do like math, like we do, then you will love this!

Formula:

• ABV100 = (D*M)*(RTP^(BD*W))

And using the numbers in our example above:

• ABV100 = ($100*100%)*(98%^(1*10))

Let’s break it down. First, we take the deposit amount (D) and the match bonus (M) and multiply them to get the total bonus amount (TB):

• Deposit = D = $100
• Match percent = M = 100%
• Total bonus = TB = $100*100% = $100

Secondly, we look at the total wagering amount required before you can withdraw winnings from that bonus, whether the wagering requirement is based on bonus or bonus and deposit (BD), and what wagering requirement is listed in the terms and conditions (W). This gives us the Total Wagering (TW) variable.

• Wagering requirements = W = 10
• Bonus vs bonus + deposit = BD = 1
• Total wagering = TW = 10*1 = 10

We can simplify the same formula by changing D*M to TB and BD*W to TW:

• ABV100 = (TB)*(RTP^TW)

Adding the numbers for TB and TW:

• ABV100 = ($100)*(RTP^10)

Finally, we add the third part — RTP (return to player). This is found partly in terms and conditions and partly in the eligible games.

If a casino doesn’t restrict which game we can play, there is usually a slot called “Blood Suckers” that offers 98% RTP and that’s the best statistical game to maximize a bonus. If it is restricted to a certain game, we will use the RTP of that game. In this calculation, we use 98% from the slot Blood Suckers.

With all numbers added the formula looks like this:

• ABV100 = ($100)*(98%^10)

And if we solve this equation the answer will be:

• ($100)*(98%^10) = $81.71

If we want to know how good the number $81.71 is as ABV100 we can look in the test score of our New Jersey online casino bonus test and we will find that $81.71 would place us in 3^rd place and the example casino that we have used is actually Caesars Casino NJ.