Read and Understand the Terms and Conditions
No deposit bonuses guarantee the opportunity to play for free, yet looking for the best terms is the only way to ensure success. The more reasonable and advantageous the bonus terms are, the more likely you are to increase your winnings.
Here is what we are looking at to help you walk away from a no deposit bonus with cold cash in your pocket:
- Understanding how wagering requirements work for you and why low wagering requirements are always better
- Maximum bets you can cash out
- Bonus Amounts
- Eligible Games
We’ll delve further into each one of these below.
Go For Low Wagering Requirements
Wagering requirements are multipliers specifying the amount you must play to convert a bonus to real money. This multiplier is applied to the bonus sum and can range from 20x to 70x depending on the casino you are signing up with.
If you’re looking out for no deposit bonus offers, it’s always best to go for bonuses with low wagering requirements. This is because it will take you a lesser amount to play to convert your bonus money to real money.
Here is an example of this:
| Bonus A | Bonus B |
|---|
| Wagering Requirement | 30x | 50x |
| Bonus Amount | $10 | $10 |
| Calculation | $10 x 30x = $300 | $10 x 50x = $500 |
| Playthrough Total | $300 | $500 |
Bonus A takes $300 to play through whilst Bonus B takes $500, which takes longer to convert into real money wins and cash out. For this reason, Bonus A is a better option to consider than Bonus B.
Therefore, the lower the wagering requirements, the easier and quicker the chances of converting your bonus to cold cash.
Go For High Cash-Out Amount
Most bonuses have a minimum cash-out amount. This means you have a win cap on the amount of winnings you can cash out. So if you win a total of $150 and the maximum bet limit you can cash out is $100, even though you have won $50 or more, you cannot cash out more than $100.
It is thus important to check the win caps of the bonus you’d like to go for. The higher the win cap the better. If you win $150 and the maximum win cap is $300, then you are within the limits of the maximum cash out and you can withdraw all of your winnings.
Calculate the Bonus Amount Against the Wagering Requirements
Are bigger bonus amounts better? Not always! Ideally, you look at the bonus amount with the wagering requirements attached to the bonus to understand how much you need to play through to convert your bonus credits to funds you can cash out.
While a bonus lower than $15 might not be worth your time, it is always best to calculate that multiplied by the wagering requirements accompanying the bonus terms.
Let’s consider the example below.
| Bonus X | Bonus Y |
|---|
| Bonus amount | $15 | $20 |
| Wagering Requirement | 30x | 30x |
| Playthrough Amount | $15 x 30x= $450 | $20 x30x=$600 |
So in the case of Bonus X, even though the bonus amount is smaller, it will take less to play through and convert the bonus into cold cash.
Choose the Right Game
Can the selection of games you go for contribute towards walking away with real money in your pocket? The answer is a big fat yes!
Be Wary of Game Weighting Percentages
Not all casino games will contribute 100% of your stake towards your wagering requirement. Most table games only contribute around 10% of your bet whilst the majority of slot games contribute 100% of your stake.
The following example shows the importance game weighting percentages have when completing wagering requirements.
Let’s say you have Bonus X.
Bonus X: a $10 bonus that comes with a 30x wagering requirement. This means that $10 x 30x = $ 300 to wager.
| Slots | Table Games |
|---|
| 100% Game Weighting Percentage | 10% Game Weighting Percentage |
| With every $1 you play an equal $1 is subtracted from your wagering requirement. | With every $1 you play, only $0.10 is deducted from your wagering requirement. |
| Bonus X | You play 300 spins at $1 each. You divide the wagering requirement by the amount deducted on every $1 you play. $300/ $1 = $300. | You need to divide the wagering requirement by the amount deducted on every $1 you play. $300/$0.10= $3000. |
As you can see in the example, slots are much more efficient when it comes to fulfilling the wagering requirements than other games that have a much lower game weighting percentage.
Check the Eligible Games in the Bonus Terms
The Terms and Conditions also determine the games you are excluded from when it comes to bonus wagers. If certain games are excluded from the bonus terms, then you will not be allowed to transfer your bonus bets to these games. Always read the terms and conditions to determine which games these are.
Go For High Return-to- Player Games
Another strategy to adopt is to select games with high Return-to-Player percentage. This determines how much of your stake is returned as winnings over a specific time. RTP percentages vary from 94-99%.
If a game has a 96% Return to Player percentage, this means that $96 out of every $100 is returned to players as winnings over time. Games with high RTP are considered to have from 97-99% of Return-to-Player percentage.
- Lower Wagering Requirements will help you play through the wagering requirements quicker enabling you convert your winnings to bonus money with more efficiency.
- Higher Win Caps will allow you to cash out all of your winnings rather than just a portion of them.
- Look at the Wagering Requirements to understand if the Bonus Amount is worth your while.
- Do not forget to check your game weighting percentages. These can determine how long it will take you fulfill the wagering requirement and by how much. The lower they are the longer it will take for you to play through them.
- Check the Terms and Conditions to understand the games you are eligible to play with the particular no deposit bonus.
- Games with a high RTP will have a high amount of the stake returned to players as winnings over time.