It seems that online casinos have always managed to find a way to attract a large number of players. They do this by having an extensive library of games, trendy titles, rewarding jackpots, expertly designed websites, and probably the biggest magnet of them all — bonuses.
Casino bonuses come in many shapes and forms. They usually offer extra funds to players after they make the first deposit on the website. Sometimes you can get cashback opportunities, while some bonuses don’t require a deposit at all and allow you to gamble right away. However, one particular type of casino bonus comes in the form of so-called free spins.
Free spins give players an opportunity to spin the reels of a video slot game without negatively affecting their balance. Using these spins on a slot game comes with no risk whatsoever; the rounds you win on increase your total earnings, while the ones you lose on have an effect as if nothing has happened.
Note that free spins work only for video slots and no other games. While there’s a lot of spinning in roulette and some other casino games, this kind of bonus is not designed for them.
At first, free spins seem like a simple enough concept, but there’s a lot more to learn about them, especially if you’re a novice gambler that has never played online casino games before. You shouldn’t worry, though, since we are here to give you an extensive beginners guide into the world of free spins.
In this article, we will explain all you need to know about this type of casino bonus, how it works, how to acquire it, why it is so popular, and most importantly — how to win real money with it. Let’s start!
What Are Free Spins and How Do They Work?
If you have never played video slots before, here is how they work:
You deposit a certain amount of money into your account and select the desired slot title. Each spin costs you a portion of your balance, and you have the freedom of choosing your coin size (the value of your bet for each spin). If you land the right combination of symbols on the reels — you win. The size of your reward depends on the value of symbols that you connected, which is specified in each game’s paytable. If you lose, however, the money that you wagered goes away and you need to spin again.
By offering free spins for a certain slot game, an online casino gives you a chance to spin the reels a predetermined number of times without any risks of losing. Your spins might not be the winning ones, but you won’t lose a dime.
These should not be confused with free spin bonus rounds that a lot of slot games have. You can win free spins in the game itself by landing a specific set of symbols. However, spins that the casino offers will be rewarded to you right away and won’t come with any such requirements.
Once you use all your free spins, you can continue to play the game regularly. If you happened to win some money while using your bonus, you might not be able to withdraw it right away, because the bonus might have some wagering requirements that we will talk about a little later on.
No Deposit Free Spins
Essentially, there are two ways in which you can unlock your casino free spins. Usually, you will have to make a deposit before the operator releases the bonus into your account, but some casinos are generous enough to give you the spins right away after you register on their website. These are called no deposit free spins.
Spins which are rewarded to you after you deposit are not really “free”, as you still need to fund your account with real money before they are given to you. No deposit spins, on the other hand, are real risk-free bonuses that you can use without reaching for your wallet first.
While this kind of bonus is usually rewarded to you after you create an account on a certain casino site, there are other ways in which you can acquire them. For example, some online casinos have loyalty programs through which they reward their most frequent visitors. Spend some time on the website playing different kinds of games, and you will be in for some great rewards.
Also, no deposit free spins can come to you periodically, at the beginning of each month, for example. You will get a message from the operator saying something like “Hello, we added some extra spins for you to use on your favorite video slots. Enjoy!”.
Deposit Free Spins
Unfortunately, not all online casinos are so generous as to give you free spin bonuses without asking for something in return. The most common kind of free spins are the deposit ones, or the ones you can unlock only when you fund your account with some money.
Be careful though, as these spins are released only if you deposit a specified minimum. For example, a casino might include free spins bonus in their welcome package. You will usually find the information about this welcome bonus on the front page, and it would say something like “new customers only — deposit $10 and get 100 free spins!”. So, if you deposit only $5, you won’t get 50 spins, since $10 is the minimum amount.
Of course, you can always deposit more than the specified minimum. However, the number of free spins that will be given to you will remain the same. These bonuses are usually not rechargeable, meaning that you can only get them once as a part of the welcome deal and that you won’t be able to reuse them after you deposit again.
Always make sure to properly unlock the bonus. If you deposit the minimum amount and do everything right, you will still need to navigate to your account and activate the bonus. Also, be careful with the time of using the bonus. Free spin bonuses are usually time-limited, so find all the bonus terms and conditions to understand the rules surrounding its use.
Another thing we haven’t mentioned for both deposit and no deposit free spins is that they can only be used for certain games. A casino site might have hundreds of different video slots, but free spin bonuses are designed only for a portion of them. Again, always read the bonus T&C pages to learn the details.
Why Are Free Spins so Popular?
Free spins continue to be one of the most pursued online casino bonuses among slot players, and for a good reason.
Slots are by far the most popular online casino game, as you may have noticed that there are literally tens of thousands of them all across the web. Some players don’t like slots, which is okay, but the majority of gamblers absolutely love them. There are no complicated rules, they are extremely easy to play, and not a lot of things can top that feeling when you land the right combination and win a jackpot.
Knowing all this, casino sites often offer free spins in order to attract more customers to their website. So, on top of video slots being so fun, you will be having a chance to win real money by investing none of your own into the game. Another benefit of free spin bonuses is that they allow you to try new games. Sometimes, casinos will offer them as a way of promoting a brand new title on their website.
Can I Win Real Money with Free Spins?
Many players are skeptical when they read the word “free” on casino sites. They think that there must be some kind of a catch, which there is, but we will talk about that in a bit.
As far as the winning goes — yes, you can win real money while using free spins. Otherwise, they would be pretty pointless. As a matter of fact, not only can you win, but you also can’t lose while you are using them.
Each free spin that ends in a winning combination will increase your balance. The amount you can win depends on the symbols that appear on the reels, as well as the money that you have invested in that spin. More often than not, online casinos will limit your coin size for free spins. So, if the biggest coin size for a specific slot game is 250, the cap for free spin bets will be 50 or lower. Of course, this is only an example, and the bet limit rules differ with each casino.
Also, all the spins you get for free must be used in sequence, so you can’t use one and then choose to utilize the next one later in the game.
Online casinos can also put a limit on your total winnings. While you’re using the free spin bonus, you might be lucky enough to win $200, but if a limit is $100, that will be the amount which you will be able to withdraw later on.
Why Would a Casino Offer Players Spins for Free?
Casinos are a business, and like any other business in the world, they only have one goal — profit. So, why would they offer their customers something for free and give them a chance to rob them blind?
Free spins, just like any other casino bonus, are merely a promotion tactic. Casinos know that they will attract more players if their bonus is good enough. Then again, what profit can they make if all these new players play the games for “free”, especially when it comes to no deposit promotions?
Well, the truth is that bonuses are used only to lure players in. Some customers will simply stop playing after they have used their bonus spins, but the majority won’t. Instead, they will get hooked to playing the game and will start spending their own money soon enough. They might even win something with their free spins, but they will stay and play longer, giving the casino a chance to capitalize on their bad luck.
Another catch when it comes to free spins are the wagering requirements, which is what will talk about next.
Wagering Requirements
We have already said that a casino uses free spins as a promotion tactic to bring more customers to their website. Nevertheless, bonuses can still be costly for them, since players can win large amounts of cash without depositing any. To circumvent this risk, casinos have come up with something called wagering requirements, which are also known as rollover requirements, turnover requirements, or playthrough.
If you ever cared to read the full terms and conditions of a casino bonus, you might have stumbled upon a part that reads something like “the wagering requirements for this bonus are 20x”. This means that you must play through your winnings 20 times before you can actually withdraw them.
For example, if you win a total of $50 over the course of your free spins round and the wagering requirements for this bonus are 20x, you must keep spinning through your winnings until you reach $1000, and only then can you cash out whatever is left. To be clear, you don’t necessarily need to win $1000, you should only spin through it.
Of course, this was only an example, and the wagering requirements can sometimes be as low as 5x, while some greedy casinos put the playthrough on 50x or more.
Nevertheless, there are some casinos that offer free spins with no wagering requirements whatsoever. These spins are truly free and they come with no strings attached. Obviously, not a lot of casinos offer them, but the ones who do hope that it will pay off in the long run and that it will attract enough new customers who will eventually keep playing on their website.