What are Free Casino Bonuses?
Free casino bonuses are an incentive offered by online casinos to attract new players. In return for signing up to a casino, you will receive either free spins or bonus credits which allow you to play on a single game, or a selection of games.
There are two types of free casino bonus that you can claim without having to make a deposit:
You will receive bonus credits with a cash value (i.e. $10) in return for creating a new player account.
You will receive a number of free spins (i.e. 10 free spins) in return for creating a new player account.
If you would like to discover our full range of free casino bonuses, please refer to our 2021 No Deposit Bonus Guide.
Understanding the Terms and Conditions
Before we go over our tips and tricks, we have to go over the terms and conditions of no deposit bonuses. It is vital you understand these terms, for they have a direct impact on your chances of winning real money (as you will find out later).
Here are overviews of the most impactful:
- Eligible Games – You are only allowed to wager your bonus on a selection of eligible games
- Expiration Date – After a set period of time, your bonus will expire and your progress will be lost.
- Max. Cashout – Your potential real money winnings are capped up to a maximum amount.
- Game Contribution – Games with high odds may contribute less to the wagering requirements.
- Bet Limits – You must make bets that fall under a maximum value, i.e. you cannot bet all your bonus in a single wager.
- Wagering Requirements – You must wager the value of your bonus a number of times before you can withdraw your winnings.
Claim a Bonus with Low Wagering Requirements
One of the rookie mistakes made by new players is that they go for the biggest bonus. We do not recommend this. Rather, we recommend you claim the bonus with the lowest wagering requirements.
Here is a table that illustrates why this is essential:
| Value of Bonus | Wagering Req. | How Much You Need to Win |
|---|
| Bonus #1 | $50 | 70x | $3,500 |
| Bonus #2 | $10 | 10x | $100 |
As you can see, while you may get 5x more in bonus credits with Bonus #1, you have to win at least 35x more before you can withdraw your winnings. When you consider that there are also betting limits and an expiry date, it makes it highly unlikely that you could withdraw your winnings using Bonus #1. Due to this, Bonus #2 is clearly the superior option, even though on the surface it looks less spectacular.
Play Online Slots, Not Table Games
Seasoned players know that table games have far superior odds to online slots, so this may seem counter-intuitive. However, online casinos are also (funnily enough) aware that table games have superior odds, which is why they lower the game contribution of table games.
We can use another table to illustrate the impact of this:
| Amount Won | Game Contribution | Amount Contributed to Wagering Req. |
|---|
| Slots | $100 | 100% | $100 |
| Table Games | $100 | 10% | $10 |
As you can see, in this hypothetical example you would have to win ten times as much playing table games than you would slot games to fulfill the wagering requirements. The game contribution for table games can vary greatly, but it is rarely higher than 10%. In contrast, slot games rarely face any restrictions in terms of game contribution.
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Learn About Return to Player (RTP%)
Return to Player is a figure which determines how much you can expect to receive back from a slot machine over time. For example, if you play a slot game with an RTP of 97% and spend $100, you can expect to receive back $97 on average. Therefore, the higher the slot’s RTP, the more likely it is you’ll win.
Please be aware, however, that a high RTP slot does not necessarily guarantee wins. The RTP of slots is calculated using a large study group whose sessions last an extended period of time. Nonetheless, it does increase your chances.
Top Tip
You can discover the RTP of slot games by entering the title of the slot into Google following the letters R-T-P. We recommend you play on any slot with an RTP over 96% to have a reasonable chance of winning.
Use Expected Value (EV)
Expected Value (or, EV), is a mathematical formula which determines if an investment is likely to return a profit. While it is used primarily by investment bankers, it can also be applied to free casino bonuses. Here is the formula:
(Bonus Amount – (Wagering Requirement) x House Edge) = Expected Value
Let’s say you claim a no deposit bonus worth $10 with wagering requirements set at 15x. To win real money with this bonus, you would have to wager $150.
Furthermore, you intend to use this bonus on a slot game with an RTP of 96%, which means that the House-Edge is 4%. You could then place these variables into our equation:
Bonus Amount (10) – Wagering Requirement (150) x House Edge (0.04) = EV (4)
If your EV is a positive number (i.e. anything above zero), the bonus is likely to return a profit. If, however, it returns a negative number (any number below zero), the bonus is likely to return a loss. Our hypothetical bonus resulted in an EV of +4, which means you are likely to win real money with such a bonus.
Claim Multiple Free Casino Bonuses
One of the easiest ways to maximize your chances of winning real money with free bonuses is to claim many. The logic behind this is simple: the more you claim, the more chances you have to win. You can claim as many no deposit bonuses as you like providing you do not claim them at the same online casino.
It is important you do not attempt to claim the same no deposit bonus twice. Online casinos tend to restrict you to one bonus by noting your IP Address. If you are caught trying to claim the same bonus twice, you are likely to be blacklisted from the casino.
Our Top 5 Current No Deposit Bonuses
Now that you know the secrets to winning real money with free casino bonuses, why not give it a try? Here is a small selection of our top 5 current no deposit bonuses: