Terms and Conditions of No Deposit Bonuses
Online casinos aren’t all that keen on giving away free money, so they saddle their bonuses with terms and conditions. While these always present a significant barrier to players looking to make a withdrawable return from a bonus, this is particularly true of no deposit bonuses, since the financial outlay comes entirely from the casino. Here are the T&Cs players are likely to encounter with a no deposit bonus.
Wagering Requirements
If you’re new to online gambling, you’ll need to get up to speed on wagering requirements – a condition of most casino bonuses that determines how many times players must wager a bonus before they can cash out any winnings. Also known as playthrough requirements, wagering requirements are calculated by multiplying the bonus a certain number of times, usually somewhere in the region of 25-40x.
Let’s say a casino has offered a no deposit bonus of $10, with a wagering requirement of 30x. Players receiving this offer will need to wager a total of $300 ($10 x 30) before they can request a withdrawal. While 30x requirements are an industry standard, players may find that no deposit bonuses come with much tougher requirements, given that it’s the casino itself fronting the cash.
Time Limits
Both wagering requirements and the bonus as a whole usually come with a time limit. This can range from days to months, but if the clock runs out, any outstanding bonus funds will become null and void.
Winning Caps
Winning caps are the most unsubtle of limitations to a bonus, restricting the amount players can win on any one offer. Although this sounds like an impediment, you could consider winning caps not as an irritation, but as a handy on-site limiter following a decent run of luck.
Available Games
Not all games will be eligible to play with bonus funds, so be sure to check your favourites are available before opting in. There may be a handful of video slots unavailable to play with bonus funds, as well as some table and live dealer titles.
Game Weightings
Perhaps more troublesome than restricted games are game weightings – a mechanism that limits the contribution of certain wagers to the overall wagering requirements. Most wagers on video slots will be weighted at 100%, meaning that any bets you make on the reels will contribute to the requirements in full. Other games may be weighted as low as 5%. Online casinos tend to include table and live dealer games in the category of lower contribution games.