The casino is a place of excitement, mystery and romance. Many a Hollywood film features a scene in a casino, further enhancing the allure of the gaming tables. But you don’t have to go to a physical casino to enjoy the thrills of playing high pay-out slots and other traditional casino games. The wonders of the internet bring the casino to you.
The online casino market is a crowded one with many big names and smaller outfits vying for your custom. Where do you begin, and what do you look for when choosing the casino you want to play with? That’s what we’re going to look at in this brief article. More specifically, we’re talking about free spins bonuses on online slots, and how you can make them pay. Let’s get down to business!
What are spins bonuses and how do you claim them?
If you’re familiar with physical slots, you’ll find the video versions to be pretty impressive. These slots follow the same idea as those in the real world and pay out real money too. Many games you’ll find at your local casino are replicated online, but the best online casinos feature slots that are tailored for the digital player. These come with hidden mini games within, but most interesting of all are free spins bonuses.
Free Spins bonuses come in many forms. The first example you will most likely see when you start browsing a casino as a potential place to play for money. Many casinos offer you free spins before you sign up. Why do they do this? It’s to entice you to create an account and deposit money, and to play further. It usually works as follows:
The casino displays an offer of a set number of free spins for you to try out the game. Generally you will be required to play one specific slot with these spins. You play the spins and, should you win, you open an account, and any winnings are yours to claim (there will be T&C’s covering this, which we will explain later). Then you sign up for an account and they give you further bonus spins as a reward.
An example: leading online casino Leo Vegas has, at the time of writing, an introductory offer of 200 free spins: 20 before you deposit money, and the remaining 180 at the point of your first deposit. We think this a decent deal and it’s typical of those from the market leading online casinos.
Be aware that you are not limited to the number of casinos you can sign up with, and spin bonuses are not the only enticement to create an account. Many casinos will match your first deposit – some your first three or four – and we cover this elsewhere. So, where’s the catch with spins bonuses? There’s not a catch as such – these are genuine free spins on a slot or select slots of the casino’s choice – but there are routines you need to understand before you play.
Understanding the terms and conditions with free spins
The online casino wants you to play so they can make money. They’re not going to give you 20 free spins as above and let you simply walk away with the winnings. There’s a routine called ‘wagering requirements’ that you have to go through in order to free up those winnings for withdrawal. How does this work? We’ll try and explain it in the simplest of terms for you.
The wagering requirement is the casino’s way of protecting themselves. If they simply gave everyone who visited the site 20 free spins and then let them withdraw any winnings they wouldn’t last long! The wagering requirement is an amount that you have to play before you can withdraw what is left.
For example, for those 20 spins there may be a 30x play-through or wagering requirement on those spins. Say you win $50 off those 20 spins. You then have to play 30 times the value of the free spins to free up that $50 for withdrawal. In other words the winnings are yours, but you have to deposit some money and play for real to collect it.
This sort of wagering requirement also applies to other bonuses, so it’s worth checking out the wagering requirements at every casino you choose play. Let’s see if we can sum things up.
Are free spin bonuses real?
No casino gives away anything for nothing. They want you to play so they can make a profit. Yet, when all is said and done if you play your 20 (for example) free spins and decide the casino is not for you, you’ve lost nothing. If you win and you want to join, there’s a bonus pot waiting for you that is an added incentive to create an account. It’s a win-win situation for both you and the casino, so research online casinos carefully for the best free spins bonuses and enjoy your online slots.
Story by Brian Thomas
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