The Clock Desk / The countdown
Expiry and the credit moment
What the countdown is measured from
A countdown needs a start, an end and a convention for the day in between. The terms usually give the length and the unit and leave the start to be inferred, which is where a 30-day window turns into 29 days 23 hours 59 minutes or into a deadline on a date you did not expect.
Account spec
- Advertised
- 30 days from credit
- Credited
- 1 March 00:00 UTC
- Delivered
- 29 d 23 h 59 m
- Conditional
- no, in sample G
the boundaryThe instant the account's day is measured from. On the samples it is 00:00 UTC, which is a different wall-clock moment for every reader.
the countdownWhat a window is measured from and whether day one counts. A window advertised as 30 days delivers 29 days 23 hours 59 minutes on the sample.
the calendarThe working-day clock money moves on, with its cut-off, its weekends and its holidays. One working day covered 87 hours 30 minutes on the sample.
Direct answerA countdown is measured from the moment the credit is recorded, in the operator's zone, and the day of the credit almost always counts as day one. A window advertised as 30 days therefore delivers 29 days 23 hours 59 minutes, and its deadline is one instant that reads as 31 March for a reader in UTC+13 and 30 March for a reader in UTC-8.
Sample C - the 720-hour window, at four points
day 1, at credit: 720 h 00 m left, 0% burned
day 7.5: 540 h 00 m left, 25% burned
day 22.5: 180 h 00 m left, 75% burned
day 29.5: 12 h 00 m left, 98.4% burned
Sample C - the countdown, resolvedcredit 1 March 00:00:00 UTC
length stated 30 days
day 1 1 March, so the 30 days are 1 March .. 30 March
expiry 30 March 23:59:59 UTC
elapsed 30 March 23:59:59 - 1 March 00:00:00
= 29 d 23 h 59 m 59 s = 719 h 59 m 59 s
burn rate 100% / 719.9997 h = 0.1389% per hour
local deadline, three readers
UTC+13 +13 h -> 31 March 12:59:59
UTC+0 +0 h -> 30 March 23:59:59
UTC-8 -8 h -> 30 March 15:59:59
two of the three readers act on 30 March, one on 31 March
three clock times, none of them midnight
What pauses a countdown
The answer on the sample is nothing, and that is the point worth knowing. A countdown is a property of the credit, and on 40 invented terms pages (sample G) none suspends the window for inactivity, for a pending verification, for a maintenance window or for the player being asleep. Three conditions do change the arithmetic, and each is stated separately in the terms when it applies.
- a suspension
- If the account itself is suspended while a check runs, some terms extend the credit window by the length of the suspension. Others do not, and the credit can expire during a check the player did not ask for.
- a withdrawal request
- Requesting a withdrawal while a credit is live often forfeits it immediately rather than at expiry, which turns the countdown into a deadline that moves to now.
- a game excluded from contribution
- The window does not pause, but the rate at which the requirement is met can be zero on some games, which is a wagering condition rather than a time one.
The rate that matters more than the lengtha window of 720 h and a requirement of 15,000.00 staked
to finish inside the window you must stake
15,000.00 / 720 h = 20.83 per hour
at 400 spins an hour 20.83 / 400 = 0.052 per spin
on the sample's 2.00 stake at that spin count,
the requirement needs 7,500 spins
across a 720-hour window that is 5.2 spins an hour
the window is generous and the stake rate is not the binding constraint
the binding constraint is whether you play at all
How to read a countdown
- Find the unit and the length. "30 days" and "720 hours" are the same length and different conventions.
- Find what starts it: the credit, the first log-in, the deposit, or the claim. On the sample it is the credit, which is the commonest and the least controllable.
- Find whether day one counts. If the terms say "within 30 days of", it does.
- Convert the end to your own clock before you plan anything, and note whether the operator states a zone at all. On sample G, 9 of 40 pages do.
- Check whether anything pauses it. Assume nothing does unless a sentence says so.
- Check whether a withdrawal forfeits it, because that replaces the countdown with a decision.
Not the same as a wagering requirement. How much has to be staked, and what each game contributes, belongs to the bonus-terms desk (cycle 8 of the series). This page is only the clock the requirement sits inside.