Free Spins

If you don’t fully understand that yet don’t worry, we are going to highlight and explain the general terms that you need to look out for, but make sure you check the specific terms for the casino that you are taking the offer from yourself before signing up.

What are free spins?

Free spins are spins/hands on a slot machine that the casino gives you gratis when you sign up and/or opt in to a specific promotion.

They will likely choose one of their slots and allow you to ‘spin’ on those slot games as many times as the promotion states without deducting any money from your account.

You can still win money on them though, although getting hold of the winnings from free spins isn’t quite so easy.

No deposit v deposit free spins

A common offer attached to free spins is the deposit offer. With a deposit offer you will need to load your account with a specified amount of money in order to get your free spins. Once you’ve done this your offer will be triggered and then you can use your spins.

A no deposit option also exists, although it is actually much less common these days. It’s main function was just to get people to sign up, and when you do the casino will activate your account with free spins immediately without you having to deposit a penny.

The no deposit option is going to offer better value as the spins are truly free, but these promotions are understandably scarce.

When it comes to the deposit promotions, their value depends on the amount that you need to deposit. You ideally want the most free spins for the smallest amount of money deposited, as this will offer more spins at a lower cost.

Wagering requirements

As we stated at the start, there is very little in this life that is truly free and the casino industry is no different. Whilst technically you do get to spin on a slot for free, turning any winnings from these free spins into withdrawable cash takes work.

Most free spins offers will come with some sort of wagering requirement added to them, potentially on top of a minimum deposit. This will range massively with each bookmaker, so make sure you do your research and see what you are letting yourself in for.

A lot of casinos will require you to wager through the amount that you have won a certain number of times prior to being able to withdraw. These can also be known as playthrough rates.

For example, a casino might offer you 100 free spins, but they state you need to wager through any winnings 10 times before being able to withdraw. Let’s say that you win £50 from your 100 free spins. To withdraw this money or to shift it into your cash balance from your bonus balance, you would need to wager £500 at the casino:

10 x £50 = £500

Bear in mind that you don’t need to lose £500, but the sum of all the bets you make must surpass this amount. You could technically wager the same £10 over and over as you win some hands and lose some hands, with your balance see-sawing until you have wagered £500 worth of bets.

Having said all that, there are some casinos that will offer you no wagering free spins. This is where they give you a certain number of free spins when you sign up and then you get to keep any winnings you make from them no strings attached.

Whilst rare, these are starting to crop up more often than they used to. These types of offers do tend to come in place of casino bonuses a lot of the time though, so you run the risk of getting nothing at all for your welcome offer in exchange for the gamble of winning big with a number of free spins.

We are actually really big fans of these new promotions as it’s likely that the majority of people won’t clear their bonuses or winnings anyway, so this at least gives them a chance to win some cash before inevitably falling away.

Terms and conditions you need to note

We’ve stated a number of times that you need to be aware of the terms and conditions that can come with these types of offers.

It’s only fair then that we talk you through them – forewarned is forearmed and all that.

Here are a number of more common terms and conditions that you need to understand.

Maximum win

When you get free spins, you will be playing on real slot machines just as if you were playing with real money (some theorists claim the games play differently with free spins and pay out more than real-money games, but this is not the case). This means that there is a chance that you could win big or even win the jackpot if the game has one.

It’s for this reason that most casinos bring in a maximum win amount for each series of free spins that you get. This amount can vary for each game, and most start from around £10 and work their way up. You will often find that if free spins are the only promotion then the limits tend to be a little higher than if you are getting free spins and a casino bonus as well.

Deposit to withdraw winnings

Another common point to remember is that a lot of casinos will require you to deposit to withdraw winnings if you haven’t already. This is mainly to prove that you are who you say you are.

The deposit amount is usually just the minimum deposit at the casino, which often starts from around £10 and up. They won’t require you to play through this money, just simply make the deposit.

This is more to do with the law than the casinos, they legally have to carry out checks on all of their new customers before any money can be released.

Loss of winnings from free spins upon withdrawing

Casinos will not limit the number of times that you can make a withdrawal, but if you have winnings from your free spins that you’ve either not met the wagering requirements for or you are using to play with in the casino, then making a withdrawal might cost you these winnings.

This is a fairly regular condition but it can be a shock if you aren’t expecting it and you have been working hard to clear your wagering.

Most casinos will prompt you prior to making your withdrawal if you’ve any bonuses or wagering requirements outstanding, but some won’t, so you need to make sure you know where you stand.

Restricted Games

You’re going to find that you are limited to using your free spins on a handful of games at most, and sometimes only a single game is included. A really popular game at the minute is that of Starburst, which a lot of casinos are offering free spins on.

The reason they restrict your options is mainly down the mannerisms of the game. A lot of casinos will be looking for slots that have a low volatility, as this means that they can easily work out what sort of payout they can expect per player and per the number of spins that they give them.

The likelihood of someone winning big in a lower volatility game is much lower than if they were playing higher volatility games, but at the same time, they are going to have to pay out smaller wins more often.

It depends what sort of a player you are as to whether this is a good thing or a bad thing. Players who like their wins little and often will enjoy this; players who aren’t bothered about the small wins and just want to win the larger amounts will be less enthused.

Don’t let this make you think that you can’t still win big from the games that are selected, though, you can, and many people do, it’s just less likely than it would be with some of the other slots that are on offer.

How much are free spins worth?

The spins that you get are usually lined with the lowest value spin you can make on that slot. This means that they can start from as little as just a few pence per spin.

Some casinos will allow you to make adjustments to the number of lines that you play and the amount that you stake, although this will often count for more than one single spin.

For example, if you had 20 free spins on a slot game, you will only get to spin it 20 times if you play their lowest value spin, which means the least amount of money per spins and the lowest number of lines. If you decide to increase either the value of a single spin or the number of lines that you are playing, this will increase the number of free spins that you use.

Here’s is an example using 20 free spins on a hypothetical slot with 2 stake levels and 10 lines: