No Deposit Bonuses Can Give You an Opportunity to Test a Site before You Deposit
One of the most coveted bonuses for an online casino is the no deposit bonus. You don’t have to dish out any money to play, so you can get a feel for the casino without ever opening your wallet. However, most of these bonuses come with strings attached, such as the amount of play you have to make to get the entire bonus or the number of times you have to run the money through to do the same or take the funds and run.
Some no deposit bonuses come directly from the casino, but most of them come from affiliate websites. Often these sites show a number of different casinos and the “specials” that are offered at each. Researching the rules of the bonus can be easy, if the casino affiliate posts the rules, but you may have to go to the casino site to find all the information. Many times affiliates that offer these bonuses offer several others and have their own requirements before you can take the next bonus. For instance, the bonus may be $25 given in $5 increments with the requirement you “run” the $5 through a number of times before you get the next $5. If you run out of money before you do, the balance sits waiting and you can’t take any other freeplay bonuses from the site.
When you open an account with a casino to take a freeplay bonus, you probably won’t be able to get another one from any other affiliate site. Most of the freeplay bonuses are for new guests, so you won’t be eligible. That’s another reason to check many different places to make sure you have the best deal. Sometimes the devil is in the detail, so check all the regulations and rules before you sign up or you might miss a better deal from a different casino affiliate that offers either more money or has fewer restrictions.
All these freeplay or no deposit bonuses have some type of requirement, especially when it comes to withdrawing the funds. Almost all of them will require you to run through the money a specific number of times, which is known as a rollover requirement. That means you have to have to make wagers where the total is a specific multiple of the free play or no deposit bonus given. If you were given $50 in increments of $10, you might have to rollover the first $10 as many as 40 times, or make wagers amounting to $400, to get the next $10. That’s not impossible, if you’re betting $1 on slots each spin and win multiple pots, it can actually be pretty easy to do.
Other rollover requirements may have to do with the total amount of no deposit bonus. The casino may require you to roll it over a specific number of times, but in order to withdraw any funds; you have to make a deposit. You can certainly understand why casinos have many different rules and regulations when it comes to withdrawing funds. It would be a losing proposition if people signed up just to get the bonus and then withdrew the funds immediately.
Some of the no deposit bonuses also require you to play specific games until you’ve cleared your funds with the rollover requirement. You may be able to use the funds to play slots, but not video poker or blackjack, for example, since video poker and blackjack have lower house odds, making them more lucrative to the player. Sometimes, just as in live, brick and mortar casinos, you can play games with a lower house edge, but you don’t get as much credit toward the rollover requirement. While it’s important to choose the bonus and casino wisely, always keep in mind that freeplay or no deposit bonuses cost you nothing, so if you win anything or can play for a while, you’re already ahead of the game.