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Free Spins Bonus Offers Explained: What’s the Catch?

Public Group active 2 years ago

Free spins are some of the most popular casino promotional systems out there. We explain how they work and if there’s a catch with using them.

You will find all the basics of gambling site promotional policies, focusing on the particular case of bonus spins. By the time you are done reading our in-depth article, you will know how to find, claim, use, and convert bonus offers into actual hard cash.

Our discussion divided into three main areas is all it takes for you to understand and use free spins bonus offers to your most significant advantage.

Free Spins: What are they?

Like any promotion hosted by an online casino, these bonus offers are marketing systems meant to attract or retain customers.

The working principle

They essentially hinge on a well-established approach in the iGaming industry: the operator agrees to provide you with promotional credit for playing on their platform for free.

Promotional is the keyword, as the funds from your initial play with bonuses have certain conditions before cashout.

The most important restriction

Naturally, gambling site operators must ensure that they do not lose funds due to their marketing practices. While the possibility of generating real funds through extra spins remains an incentive, it is significantly offset by the promotional conditions. The wagering requirements represent the one restriction that has the most notable effects.

Once you have used your spins and accrued some funds, you must use their real money equivalent several times before converting the promotional winnings. The rollover is often non-trivial. The current standard for the global online casino market is 35x the winnings.

Why do they work?

Add to it that you can only wager the funds on specific games and in ways that do not allow for better strategies. Your chances to make a profit once the wagering is done are greatly reduced. But they are still not zero. This extra strata of uncertainty and possibility add to the overall appeal of free spins.

If the staggering growth, with a CAGR of 11.5%, tells us anything is that well-established promotional practices like bonus offers remain an attraction for gamblers, regardless of all limitations. Extra spins are and will be household appearances in the current industry. This makes it even more crucial for your experience to understand their basics.

Where and how to find free spins

The average gambler will not have any difficulties finding such promotions. Most casinos host such promotional offers. However, you can access platforms like CasinoAlpha to find a catalogue of analysed free spin bonuses. However, not all spin bonuses are equal and finding a worthwhile offer takes some effort and expertise from professionals. This reason is why we recommend using a curated database.

The areas to consider

The first concern when choosing free spin bonuses is the number of rounds, overall value, and the games they are playable on.

Bonus spin batches vary between ten, up to one or two hundred. There is no general policy here, but as a rule of thumb, the more spins you get, the more restrictions they are subject to.

Bonus value for extra rounds is more complicated. You are likely to encounter two situations:

1. The operator imposes a set value per spin depending on the site, ranging from $0.1 to $0.5. Then, the total bonus amount equals the round value times the number of spins.

2. There is no specified value, but the promotional policy specifies betting limits for free spins. There is no general bonus value here since you can variate the bet per extra spin.

As for game eligibility, as you expect, spins are playable on video slots. But, you should not expect to be allowed to play with your bonus on any title in the catalogue.

Bonus limitations to certain games play into the overall restrictions that lower the risk of monetary loss on the side of the platform. Operators will allow you to use your credits on games that minimise the possibility of accruing a large promotional bankroll.

RTP plays into it all

The best way to describe the overall funds a game provides to players is the return to player rate. In short, this is a theoretical value that denotes the fraction of a gambler’s bankroll a game returns in the long run.

It is formulated in percentages. The closer the value comes to 100%, the lower your overall losses, at least statistically speaking.

In the case of slots, whose RTP ranges from 80% up to 99%, operators will generally restrict the use of extra spins to titles with a return to player rate of around 95 to 96%. Given the current market, the value is close to the average.

Claiming procedures

This area depends on the nature of each bonus. Is it a no deposit promotion for new players, or is it granted to existing platform users?

In the first case, the claiming process implies that you register with the gambling site and possibly provide a promotional code. You will do so during the sign-up process or once you are a valid user through a dedicated promotional tab.

Note that in most jurisdictions, you must verify your account before being able to play altogether. Send your documents in time, as KYC verifications can take a while to complete.

Other claiming conditions may apply if the free spins are awarded to existing accounts. For instance, some platforms require you to use a certain amount of funds during a stated time or add a new card for further payments.

It goes without saying that you should read the claiming policy for the free spins carefully so that you are not caught on the wrong foot.

If you have followed all steps and the platform systems failed to activate the promotion on your account, you should notify the customer support team. Not receiving your bonus spins would be a breach of consumer rights.

How to best use free spins

You now know the basics of finding, claiming, and using casino bonuses for slots. But how do you make the most of them on the platform?

You should start by dropping the idea that you are guaranteed to win something once you have utilised the spins and completed the conditions. It is not impossible, but certainly, it is unlikely.

What free spins are really about

Instead, you should shift the perspective around promotions, regardless of their presentation in advertising materials.

Free spin bonuses are an opportunity to try out the site functionalities and game catalogue. If you are a pre-existing customer, you should see them as a possibility to play on without spending money immediately.

Make the most of them

In this sense, you should prolong the time and scope of the bonus utilisation. The first step towards this is respecting the stated rules for opting in and playing through. Take your time to enjoy the experience and keep a keen eye on the site specifics.

The result of this process depends on your luck. You may accrue a bankroll or not. If you do, feel free to participate in the subsequent wagering.

Naturally, you should do so moderately. Since the rollover will require you to use real finds, consider whether you want to spend the funds on the platform. Don’t take the locked bonus funds to be enough reason to commit to the gambling site.

Commitment is the right word since you will often generate fewer funds than you add.

An example of returns

Say that you claim free spins amounting to $10. They are playable on slots with a (better) 98% RTP and have a wagering condition of 35x on winnings.

From the RTP, we can conclude that, on average, you will make $9.8 in (promotional) winnings. Taking the wagering requirements means you must use 35 times this value, or $343.

If you decide to use the funds on the same type of games with 98% return to player rates, you will get (real money) returns of $336.14 (98% of $343) by the time you complete the playthrough.

The winnings are unlocked as cashable funds. So in the best-case scenario, with standard returns, you would have $345.94 in your cashable account. In other words, you made a little under $3 in net profits.

The model’s limits

This would naturally happen only in an imaginary model. You can lose more than 98% of your wagered funds or make less than $9.8 from free spins.

Additionally, you would need to add $343 and spend the time playing the whole sum during a stated time.
We have also considered a 98% RTP slot, which is among the better options and standard wagering.

A conclusion

Even given the best situation and assuming that you are willing to complete the wagering and manage to do so in the most favorable way, the returns are minimal.

Thus, do not consider free spins a moneymaking system worth exploiting. Use them as intended and assume that they mainly grant you a trial period with no guaranteed profits associated.