What is No Deposit Bonus
Written by: Filip Gromovic Reviewed by: Nashon Khamala
Read time: 8 minutes
No deposit bonuses are the most convenient offers for players, giving them great value virtually for free. As their name suggests, you can grab and use them without making a single deposit. Some players still wonder what are the benefits of no deposit bonuses, so our FreeSlots99 experts will show you their real value.
Understanding No Deposit Bonuses
Back in the day when online casinos were just getting started, no deposit bonuses were much more common. It was the perfect promo way of drawing in new players and keeping them loyal to a certain casino brand. However, as fancy new promos hit the industry, it was no longer that big of a deal.
These days, it seems they are making a return as the perfect way for casino brands to stand out in the competitive market. Naturally, a no deposit bonus never requires you to make a deposit or spend your own money. It’s usually a sign-up offer or a loyalty prize for frequent players.
These offers come in all shapes and colors, from free spins to free cash. If you’re still wondering how do no deposit bonuses work, the best way to show you is by explaining the different types:
- No Deposit FS – No Deposit spins are the most common type of free casino promotion, giving you a chance to try some new slots without breaking the bank. In fact, you don’t even need to spend your own bankroll since the casino will credit the spins to your account. While there is no deposit required, you’ll have to meet other bonus conditions, such as playing qualifying games or wagering FS winnings. Usually, you’ll only get to bet with a low chip size, mostly around $0.1 per spin.
- Sign-Up No Deposit Bonuses – These are only awarded to newcomers who recently registered as new players on the site. You can get it just for joining the site, and it’s usually either no deposit free spins, or free playing cash.
- Free Bonus Cash – Free cash is perhaps the rarest of them all, only being offered by top-tier casinos. While all players have their personal preferences, we’d say free bonus money comes with the highest value, since you can use it as you please and play your favorite games.
Key Traits and Features
Now that we’ve answered the question of «what are no deposit bonuses», let’s scratch beneath the surface to explain some of their key features. Being more or less free to use, you would say that these bonuses attract almost every casino enthusiast out there.
The truth is – not everything is so simple since you need to account for promo T&Cs and limits. In most cases, you will only get a low amount of free spins, such as 10 or 20 spins. Of course, some major casino brands may give you 50 or even 100 spins, but it’s pretty rare on the US market.
On the other hand, your spin value is often locked, and so is the qualifying slot selected by the operator. You can’t just go ahead and increase your chip size, and some players simply don’t find it interesting to use 10 FS at $0.1 per spin, even if it comes free of charge.
In the case of free cash, you’ll mainly be looking at something like $10 or $20. You can’t exactly expect to get $100 or more without any deposit being required on your end. But that all depends on how you look at it. The way we see it – no deposit offers are perfect for newbies to explore the games or even try some titles they otherwise wouldn’t with their money.
Sure, you can win some extra cash with these promotions. But, that’s not the main point. Their amounts are simply not high enough to lead you to massive wins, and they are often limited by the casino. That leads us to another important aspect of the question of «how does a no deposit bonus work» – their T&Cs.
Bonus T&Cs Explained
Instead of asking around about what is no deposit bonus, maybe you should be asking what’s the trick instead. All jokes aside, it probably sounds too good to be true if a casino gives you FS or free money for granted.
Well, now you know that operators secure themselves by making sure it’s not an amount significant enough for you to win huge amounts and then never come back. But, just in case, they also set some specific terms and conditions, including the following ones:
- Wagering requirements
- Qualifying games
- Maximum bet limits
- Maximum win limits
- Time frames
Wagering requirements are among the most common terms for using these offers. They refer to the rollover amount necessary for turning your promo funds into redeemable cash. For instance, if the wagering requirement is x30, and you get a $10 free cash bonus, that means you’ll need to spin through the amount of $300 to withdraw the funds. Or, to at least break the boundaries of other terms like qualifying games and play your favorite slots.
The matter of qualifying games is just as important for answering the question of «how do no deposit bonuses work», since you can’t just use them on any game as you like. That’s how the site keeps control over your potential winnings – by ensuring you can only play certain games. So, you can’t go for your favorite slot with x10,000 or higher max win but rather play low-limit slots.
Sometimes, the operator will just plainly limit your chip size, or even your overall bonus winnings to a certain amount. Or, you could be required to use them within a specified time frame, like 7 days from claiming the offer.
No deposit bonuses serve as crucial trust-building tools in regulated markets, with our data showing 72% higher retention rates among players who start with these risk-free offers.
Filip Gromovic, Senior iGaming Writer at FreeSlots99
Benefits and Limitations
For those still wondering what are the benefits of no deposit bonuses, the first one is pretty clear. You can simply use these offers to test some new slots. It’s pretty much like playing some new games here at FreeSlots99 – you can have fun and learn about the gameplay without spending a dime.
You can also use different no deposit promos to test different casinos. Since some features may only be visible to real site members, you can join and use a free boost to explore the available games, offers, and general rules of play.
It’s also possible to try some of the latest slot drops that have just arrived on the site, and perhaps still aren’t available for demo play. But, the biggest benefit of such promos is risk-free gaming. You can play some awesome slots without having to worry about your balance taking a hit.
On the other hand, some of their limits are pretty obvious. For one, you can’t expect to win as much money or get as many spins as with deposit promotions. Online casinos still issue the best offers to players who wager real money off the bat. You also can’t hope to win as much as you would with deposit offers, since free bonuses usually have more strict rules and limits.
In our opinion, the biggest limit is the fact that you can’t play releases by your preference. Instead, you have to settle for those designated releases as we’ve mentioned. Operators do it with a reason – to give you a glimpse of what’s ahead and make you keep on playing with real balance.
How to Use No Deposit Bonuses
Now that you know what is no deposit bonus, it’s time to show you how it works. As you can probably guess, every casino has specific rules for bonus activation. But, some common steps usually go for all, so here’s an overview of each:
Get a real account to check the offers
An obvious first step to take is to sign up and get started with a new account. Thankfully, you can just register without the need to deposit.
Look for available no deposit promos
You can go ahead and explore the promo section as soon as your account is up and running. Look for offers that don’t require you to make a deposit for activation to scale your options.
Check the bonus terms
Up next, you’ll need to read the T&Cs to see how do no deposit bonuses work in a certain casino. You should only go for promos with fair terms you can realistically meet, and not just get stuck in the loop trying to wager the funds for days.
Play the qualifying games to win
That’s it, the only step left at this point is to play slots or casino games designated as qualifying by the operator. You’ll get to keep your winnings or play other games after fulfilling the wagering requirements and other terms.
Looking at it like that, no deposit bonuses are probably the most fun you can have at a casino. They are free and require little to no work for you to grab them. You just need to play it smart and check the rules to make sure you’ll get some real cash out of it.
Filip Gromovic is a senior slots reviewer here at FreeSlots99 with over five years of experience evaluating the latest drops in the world of iGaming.
Being a slot fan himself, Filip approaches slot ratings just the way we like it – professionally, but also from a player’s standpoint.
That enables him to give his unbiased take on the slot’s features, gameplay and design, while only recommending top-tier releases to our readers.
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Having served FreeSlots99 for more than 5 years as a senior content editor and reviewer, Nashon Khamala has extensive knowledge in game slots and iGaming.
His membership in the Editorial Freelancers Association helps him deliver content that reaches both editorial excellence standards and an engaging information level.
By using his expertise in slots games combined with player-focused analysis, Nashon delivers a professional evaluation of slot features and player experiences in his reviews.
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