Root Score: how we rank casino bonuses by terms

It is not an average of vibes

Root Score is the mean of equal-weight attribute curves (match, amount, wager after B vs B+D, and win cap when listed), plus fixed latch rules — not a raw average of the printed figures. Affiliate commission never changes the order.

Each curve runs through fixed anchors, then the mean is rounded to one decimal. The latch rules are not a fifth vote you can buy. Ranking is not buyable. Commission does not move the score, and it does not move the Terms read date. A house with no scorable welcome shows No Welcome Offer instead of a number. Root Score is not a grade of licence, safety, or the casino as a whole.

1. Match percent on the deposit.
2. Maximum bonus amount.
3. Wagering multiplier, on the bonus only (B) or on bonus plus deposit (B+D).
4. Win cap, when the terms print one.
5. Latches: sticky or non-sticky wallet, and a pre-wager unlock when the terms print one.

The dated rows behind these scores are on the welcome terms archive. The ordered list is the bonus vault.

The inputs, in plain language

The score reads the first-deposit welcome we latched, not a package headline that adds later deposits together. Match percent. Maximum bonus amount. The published wagering multiplier. Whether that multiplier sits on the bonus alone or on bonus plus deposit. Whether the wallet is sticky. Whether a win cap is listed. Whether the offer unlocks cash in steps as you play the deposit, instead of parking a bonus balance.

Worked example: Verde’s first deposit

Verde’s latched first step is 120% up to €300, 40× on the bonus, non-sticky, with a maximum conversion of 5× the deposit. B+D is not printed. Those figures are on the card and in the score inputs.

Match at 120% scores 8.4. Amount at €300 sits on the line from €200 = 8 to €500 = 10, so it scores 8.666…. 40× on the bonus, non-sticky, scores 10 on wager. The no-cap mean of those three is 9.022…. A 5× deposit cashout takes at least 4 off that mean, which prints as 5.0. The same cut is not applied again on top of a retired 100% bonus-plus-deposit card.

The wager curve, stated once: 40× on the bonus or kinder scores 10 on wager. 50× scores 8.5. 70× scores 5.5. Above that the drop is steep. 25× on bonus plus deposit at 100% is 50× on the bonus. 35× on bonus plus deposit at 100% is 70× on the bonus.

Non-sticky is a lift, not a rewrite

Sticky locks the deposit with the bonus. You finish the wager or you forfeit both. Non-sticky keeps two wallets: you can take the cash and leave the bonus. After the wager curve, a non-sticky welcome adds 2.5, capped at 10. It softens a hard bar. It does not turn a 70× grind into a short one.

A win cap can only lower the blend

No listed cap does not raise the number. The mean is then match, amount, and wager only. A listed cap is its own attribute: about 5× on the bonus funds scores near 1, and a looser cap rises toward 10. The four-way mean is compared with the three-way mean, and only the lower figure is kept. A generous cap never inflates an offer that would have scored higher without one. A 5× deposit cashout is harsher than that bonus-multiple curve: it lowers the score by at least 4 points versus the same offer with no cap, and the floor does not put those points back.

Pre-wager unlock

Some offers never park a bonus balance. They unlock cash in steps as you play through the deposit. That structure does not lock the balance, so it is a 0 adjustment: not a deduction, and not the non-sticky +2.5. The floor of the scale is still 1. It is a different product from a classic match. The score records it only when that structure is in the terms we read.

The floor

If two or more attributes already sit at 10, and one of those inputs beats its 10-threshold by at least a fifth — 240% against a 200% match ceiling, €600 against a €500 amount ceiling, or a bonus-only bar at 32× or kinder — the score cannot print below 8. A tight bonus-multiple cap can pull the mean down. It cannot hide a large, clean welcome under a six. A 5× deposit cashout is outside that rescue: the drop of at least 4 points versus the no-cap blend stands.

Ranking is not buyable

Affiliate commission does not affect the order. Partner links can pay for the work of reading terms. That payment does not write Root Score, does not write the Terms read date, and does not buy a higher place in the list.

An exclusive badge, when a bonus is available through Bonusjungle and not as the operator’s public package, is only a path. It does not improve the terms and it does not change the score. Every offer is scored the same way.

The score is not the Terms read date

Root Score is the mean of those curves plus the latch rules. Terms read is the day we last read the published terms. It is not a cashier test, and we do not claim to have timed a withdrawal. A high score with a recent Terms read is more useful than a higher score whose terms we have not re-read. The dated fields are on the welcome terms archive.

Compare bonus terms side by side

Root Score puts every welcome offer on one scale, so you can compare offers by their terms rather than by the size of the banner. The bonus vault lists offers in Root Score order and shows for each one the headline offer (match and amount), the wagering multiplier and its basis (bonus only, or bonus plus deposit), win cap, max conversion, wallet type, minimum deposit, the Terms read date and the Root Score. The welcome terms archive holds the dated fields behind each card, so you can see what we read and when. For a fair comparison, check that two offers use the same wagering basis (bonus only, or bonus plus deposit) and the same wallet type, and look at any listed cap. For the wallet, a non-sticky bonus adds 2.5 to the wager score (capped at 10), while a sticky bonus or a pre-wager unlock adds 0. We treat a bonus as sticky unless its terms clearly say otherwise. Two offers with the same headline can therefore end up with very different scores once the cap and the wallet type are counted.