Free Spins Bonuses? We Got You, Bro!

What Exactly Are Free Spins Bonus Offers?

We can’t blame you if wanted to claim an online casino bonus of, say, 25 free spins, only to realize you can’t cash in your winnings. There’s more to them than meets the eye. So what are free spins exactly? Well, one thing is certain – they’re not free money!

While you can get extra spins without paying a single dime, it’s generally rare to get ANYTHING from online casinos without making a deposit first.

You may not be required to pay directly for these perks, but something has gotta give. That’s why they’re called free spins BONUSES – they act as a little something extra.

Get past this misconception and it’s all smooth sailing from here on out. After all, there are advantages to free spins. If you are lucky, you may even be able to make a profit from them.

Types of Free Spin Bonuses

Because slots are widely accessible and easy to play, most of the promotional offers come in the form of free spins bonuses. Click on them and chances are you’re directed to create an account. But before you accept those terms, this question should always come to mind: What type of a free spins bonus is it, to begin with?

The First Deposit Free Spins Bonus Offers

Most online casinos offer something extra for the very first deposit. It usually comes in the form of a percentage boost (50%, 100%, 150%, etc.) after making a real money deposit. In some cases, casinos offer free spins with each deposit, consisting of about 20, 25, or even 50 free spins. Receiving free spins only for your first deposit bonus is a pretty lousy deal.

Online Casino Free Spins Paired With Other Deposit Bonuses

They usually serve to supplant a second deposit, monthly/weekly deposit, or a reload deposit bonus. Free deposit bonus spins are complimentary treats, although each new deposit may feel less valuable than the last in this regard.

Simply put, you can’t hog the free spins. This depends on the generosity of the online casino.

Daily or Monthly Free Spins Bonus Offers

The best online casinos often provide a daily or monthly dose of free spins to keep things exciting. On average, a small deposit bonus is enough to get you about 20 free spins.

Acquiring Free Spins Bonuses Via Bonus Codes

Sometimes, in order to claim free spins bonus, you may need to attain a bonus code. Even though this seems redundant, using them gives way to greater promotional offers.

There’s a sea of online casinos that display the bonus code on their homepage, prompting players to create an account. FYI, we usually list out every single bonus code in our reviews.

In order to use bonus code free spins properly, you are obliged to create an account and enter it on your account page. Bonus codes are displayed in capital letters—for example, 100 Free spins on Starburst, Use Code: FREESPINS100.

Sometimes bonus code free spins are sent directly to a player’s email so it may be a good idea to subscribe to certain online casino newsletters.

VIP Free Spin Bonus

A lot of online casinos feature a VIP program that provides more free spins than usual. Again, this largely depends on how generous a casino is. Note that, in order to become a VIP, you need to make frequent deposits at the casino. Make sure you check the benefits of each online casino before you start climbing the VIP ladder.

Claim Free Spins By Playing Casino Games

Some online casinos give out free spins bonuses after playing other free games at their casinos. These free spin bonuses act almost like daily login rewards in mobile casino games. Simply log into your casino account, play a free game and you might just earn a few free spins.

OK, so what’s the catch? The catch is the modal verb MIGHT. While there is a chance of winning a couple of free spins, you probably won’t be able to get them every time you play the casino game.

Few of the casinos we reviewed used this method. The casino rewarded chances of winning free spins at the end of the month. Basically, if you logged in every day of the month, you had the most chance of winning free spins at the end. Then again, even if you logged in every day, it wasn’t guaranteed that you would actually win anything.

As you can see, all of these free spin bonuses have one thing in common: They all require some sort of deposit with an adequate casino payment method before you actually get them. Do you see now what we meant when we said that free spins aren’t actually free? But we’re not done yet. There is one more type of free spins bonus that deserves a section of its own.

Using Free Spins With No-Deposit Required

This is pretty much the closest you’ll get to receiving free money for the slot machines. The free spins no deposit bonus means getting free spins without depositing any real money beforehand. All you have to do is create an account at the online casino (maybe enter a bonus code) and you’ll have a few free spins already added to your account.

The only problem: No-deposit free spins are extremely rare. 

Statistically, about every 20th online casino we review features a free spins no-deposit bonus. Online casinos simply do not want to give anything away for free. We even like to joke about how the no-deposit bonus is just a myth at this point. Finding a no-deposit free spins bonus is hard, but finding good free spins no deposit bonus is next to impossible.

A Free Spins Bonus Isn’t Universal

Before you get any bright ideas about using those free spins on your favorite slot game, know that free spins casino bonuses normally work with just one specific casino game. Sorry to burst your bubble. Even if a casino hosts thousands of slots, those 50 free spins are only good for one game.

Sometimes, you’ll get a choice between a few games but after you’ve made your choice, things are set in stone. This is mainly because casino sites like to promote their newest games, so they match them with the free spin bonus. Also, it’s important to note that free spins have an expiration date. In other words, don’t hang onto your free spins for too long. Each free spins bonus is usually valid for at least 24 hours, which is more than enough time to use them all up.

So What’s The Catch?

So, when all is said and done and when you consider all the limitations, free spins seem like a good casino bonus, don’t they? When you think about it, if you are planning to deposit some real money into an online casino, a free spin bonus only sweetens the deal. Even if you don’t care at all about slot games, it’s nice to have a few free spins around.

Who knows, you may even win real money by using those 50 free spins, right? Well, yes. You can win real money but there is one more catch. The same catch is present in every single casino bonus:

The Wagering Requirements

We say this in all our bonus guides and we’ll say it here: Always check the wagering requirements before you get excited about a casino bonus! This includes free spins bonuses, too.

You know how some deposit bonuses offer you 100% deposit bonuses for your real money deposits? They literally specify that if you deposit $100, you’ll have $200 at the casino. So what’s stopping players from depositing $100, getting the bonus offer, and then withdrawing $200? The wagering requirement.

Let us burst the bubble: When you receive a casino bonus, the bonus amount needs to be wagered a certain amount of times before it turns into real money. Otherwise, it’s practically worthless.

So how many times do you have to wager your bonus amount? Anywhere from 1x to up to 150x. We’ve only seen one USA casino that offers a 1x wagering requirement, which is an ultimate bro move. However, we’ve also seen quite a few casinos that have 150x, which is absolutely abysmal.

The reasonable wagering requirements usually go from 30x to about 50x.

Here’s an example: Let’s say you deposit $100 and get a bonus of another $100. Now you have to wager those $100, let’s say, 30x. $100 x 30 = $3000, meaning you have to roll over $3000 to claim those $100 for yourself.

Does it sound like a bad deal? Believe it or not, that’s a player-friendly wagering requirement. Try doing that with 100x wagering requirements and you’ll see how bad these free spins bonuses really are.

Wagering requirements for free spins

The same rules apply to free spin bonuses. When you use all of your free spins, you have to wager your winnings – no matter how small the number of spins was before they turn into real money.

Confused? We get so, too. Don’t worry, experience is the best teacher. Most deposit free spins have 30x up to 50x wagering requirements, which is fine. Free spins no-deposit bonuses, on the other hand, are a different story.

Generally speaking, the wagering requirements for free spins casino no deposit bonus are steep. Almost impossible. We’ve seen gambling sites claim to offer the best no deposit free spins bonuses, only to find the wagering ranges from 100x up to 150x, which is absurd.

Limited Winnings For Free Spins

Of all the free spin casino bonuses limitations and catches, this one is probably the most tolerable one. When getting your free spins from a deposit, casinos will place winnings limitations on your free spins bonus. So if there is a limit of $30 on your free spins bonus, you can only win that much.

The reason why we prefer these over the regular free spin bonuses is that they tend to have a lower wagering requirement. Yeah, casino free spins with limited winnings can have wagering requirements from 1x to up to 5x (from our experiences). Heck, sometimes, they may require no wagering at all.

Rating Free Spin Casinos: What Makes Them Good?

1. Check and see how much you have to deposit in order to get the extra spins. While the probability of receiving an additional 50 free spins for your first deposit might sound tempting, remember that it may not necessarily be worth it. We advise that you weigh your options before claiming that sign up bonus.
2. Check and see which game the free spins are for. If the bonus says “20 free spins on Starburst, Use code: 20STAR” don’t expect to get 20 free spins on the Boon of Dead. Free spins are usually exclusive to one game in particular.
3. Know the limited winnings (if there are any) and that you can use up all of the casino free spins while they are valid. Remember, they can expire.
4. Check the wagering requirements. We can’t stress this enough. Even 1,000,000 free spins will be worthless if you have to wager them 150x. Don’t forget that no deposit free spins generally have worse wagering requirements than those with limited winnings.

So a good free spin bonus would look something like this:

• Free spins with deposits: 100 free spins on Book of Dead, WR 15x
• Free spins reload bonus: 25 free spins on the Dog House, Use code: 25DOG, Max winnings: $20, WR x 3
• Or the fabled, Free spins no deposit bonus, 20 free spins, Use code: WELCOME20, WR 1x, Max Winnings $10

Even though they are hard to find, there are good free spin offers out there! Check out our curated list above for important details!