Free Spins Explained
As with all promotions, a free spins promotion is there as an incentive to attract players. They are just one of many tools at casinos’ disposals to help and attract new players or to keep existing members engaged. However, this doesn’t mean that they are not beneficial to players.
On the other hand, as with all forms of casino promotions, free spins do come with terms and conditions attached, and it is vital that you are aware of these before accepting the offer. The terms and conditions will differ depending on the casino you are playing at and the nature of the promotion, so it is important that you always take the time to read and understand that. If you fail to do so, you could find yourself in a difficult situation where you cannot withdraw any winnings and may even have your casino account frozen.
Free Spins Terms and Conditions Explained
Wagering Requirements
Imagine you are awarded free spins and hit a big win of €100. In this situation, the casino will have made a huge loss, and it is not a sustainable position. In order to balance this, casinos will nearly always impose wagering requirements on the winnings from free spins. This way, they are able to reward players but don’t run the risk of significant losses.
A wagering requirement is simply how much a player is required to wager before they can access their winnings. In the case of free spins promotions, the wagering requirements will usually be a multiple of the amount won from the free spins. For example, they may have wagering requirements of x10. This means that if you were to win €100 from your free spins, you would then have to bet €1000 before you are able to withdraw the money.
This may sound like a lot of money; however, you can use your winnings from the free spins to meet the wagering requirements, and hopefully along the way you will land even more winnings. This means that you will have the chance to fulfil the wagering requirements without having to make numerous large deposits at the casino.
Game Eligibility
There may be restrictions on which games you can use the free spins on. Be sure to check the terms and conditions so that you are aware of this before trying to use them. More importantly, there may be restrictions on which games you can use the winnings from free spins to play. If you try to play games that are not allowed by the promotional terms, then you may find that you forfeit all of your winnings.
Furthermore, when playing to meet wagering requirements, there may be different contributions from different games. For example, slots may contribute 100% to wagering requirements, which means that all of the money you bet on slots go towards them. However, games such as Blackjack may only contribute 10%, which means that for every €1 you bet, only €0.10 goes towards the wagering requirements. This is simply because games such as Blackjack have a much lower house edge and there is an element of skill involved, so the casino needs to ensure things remain balanced.
Winnings Caps and Time Limits
Occasionally you will find that that there is a limit on how much you can win from free spins. For instance, the casino may stipulate that progressive jackpots cannot be won through the promotion or that winnings are capped at a specific amount of money. There may also be time limits on how long the free spins are valid for and how long you have to fulfil the wagering requirements. You should make sure that you are aware of all of this when accepting a free spins bonus so that you are not caught out.
Bonus Abuse
There will nearly always be some terms and conditions relating to bonus abuse. The most obvious form of bonus abuse is opening multiple accounts to claim the free spins numerous times. This is nearly always explicitly forbidden. A more subtle form of abuse may be making huge bets with the winnings from the spins in order to try to hit bigger wins. To avoid this, casinos will often put a limit on the size of bet allowed with winnings, for example €4.
Identifying Good Free Spins Promotions
There is not really a huge amount that you have to look out for when examining free spins promotions. The most obvious thing to be aware of is which slots the spins can be used on. There is no point in accepting an offer that does not apply to any games that you are interested in.
The only other thing to be aware of is the wagering requirements and their associated conditions. Wagering requirements can vary from nothing up to around 50x (or even higher), and obviously, the lower they are the better for you.
Just make sure that you have fully understood the terms and conditions, and you should be able to find many excellent offers.
How to Claim a Free Spins Promotion
This will vary depending on the nature of the promotion. If it is a no deposit free spins offer, then the spins may be credited to your account as soon as you sign up for a casino. Of course, if the free spins are linked to a deposit, then you they will be credited once you have made the appropriate deposit.
Very often, you will have to enter a promotional code to claim the spins. This will normally be supplied with the promotion advert, whether on the casino website, in an email, or anything else.
The free spins will never be hard to claim, and once you have received them you can start playing with them straightaway.
To Conclude
Free spins are an excellent form of promotion for slots players. They offer a risk free way to play games, and can often lead to the discovery of new favourites. Just ensure that you have read the terms and conditions, accept the offer, and with a bit of luck, you will soon be celebrating some winnings.