Everyone is looking for that exhilarating win while playing at an online casino, whether that’s from the spin of a roulette wheel or a slot machine. Seeing the account balance get topped from a good win is always an exciting moment, but once the dust has settled, the next thing to think about is how to get your hands on the balance.
Having a predetermined plan of what you are going to do can help with getting to enjoy the winnings. A withdrawal strategy can be set for use on any online casino, and applied to winning from anything, whether that’s racking up small incremental successes to big returns from free spins no wagering bonuses numerous online casinos provide to their customers.
What Is a Withdrawal Strategy?
A withdrawal strategy is a plan for how much you take out of an account and when. Having one helps to ensure that the money actually does get out, because there are potential setbacks to not having a withdrawal plan.
The first is simply procrastinating, as by keeping the winnings sitting in the account, they are more likely to be used as a stake again. This is particularly true when a player is on a losing streak, as there’s more temptation to avoid withdrawing to chase losses.
Another potential issue is the time it takes to withdraw. A transaction request will first sit in a pending state, and some operators allow for the cancellation of the request before it’s processed. If a player is impatient or triggered by losses, cancelling the transaction is a way to potentially eat into the money that was about to be withdrawn.
Dealing With Limitations
Some online casinos may set withdrawal limits — often daily, weekly, or monthly — which cap how much you can cash out over a given period. These limits vary by site, and things like your VIP level or account verification status can also affect them.
That said, in regulated markets like the UK, casinos aren’t allowed to cap how much you can withdraw from your own balance and winnings. They also can’t limit the number of withdrawals in a way that blocks access to your funds. Some might charge a small fee to cover processing costs, but you should always be able to get your money when you need it.
How Much to Withdraw?
Knowing how much to withdraw is subjective, as gambling is a volatile pastime, and all players will deal with winning and losing streaks. It’s difficult, therefore, for a player to say they will withdraw a set amount every time.
A better approach is to determine a percentage of the balance. For some, that could be a more conservative 75% of the balance at the set withdrawal day, while others may be happy with 50% or maybe 20% if the bulk of the money is intended to go back into play anyway.
Percentage of X-Amount
Instead of making the withdrawal percentage from the account balance, a more detailed approach is to apply it to every win of a certain amount. An example is withdrawing 100% of every win above £100, or 70% of every win above £200.
This method avoids relying on single big wins and gives you more flexibility. Just make sure you’re aware of any fees or wagering terms tied to bonuses or recent deposits — they can affect when and how much you’re able to withdraw.
A similar strategy is looking at the percentage of profits. If £100 was the budget for a session, and $50 in profit was earned, then a percentage of the £50 profit would be set aside for a future withdrawal.
It is also worthwhile taking a separate approach in regard to the initial deposit amount. A lot of players like to withdraw their initial deposit amount as soon as they’ve wagered it, often with a percentage of profit on top.
Thresholds
Another approach is to look at thresholds and set targets. If a deposit to an online casino account was £100, for example, then the strategy could be to set a threshold at £200. This would mean that a cash out happens on any amount that goes above it. This is a riskier way to handle things because it’s dependent on there being enough there to withdraw, which could take a while to accumulate.
Consistency Is Key
There is a lot of advice around about how to manage a bankroll at an online casino. But setting a withdrawal strategy is largely overlooked, leaving people just to get their winnings at random, or when desperate for whatever balance is there.
The determining factor of the strategy will be the individual’s gambling preferences, but one rule that flows between all of the different withdrawal strategies is consistency.
There’s no point in setting a plan and ignoring it, and remember that the goal of such a practice is to ensure that at least some of the profits end up on your side instead of being gambled away again.
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