Are ‘Free’ Spins’ Really Complimentary?

Posted by Harry Kane on Friday, June 19, 2020

Picture the scene; you’ve just registered with a brand new casino platform, having been enticed by an eye-watering welcome bonus. This just happens to include 10 free spins on your favourite slot game, creating an opportunity to optimise the value of individual wins.

However, it’s fair to surmise that not all free spins have been created equal, as some may require you to make an initial deposit as part of the overall welcome bonus. There are other considerations and potentially hidden costs too, and it’s important to factor these in before making an informed decision that helps you to make the most of your bankroll.

So, are ‘free’ spins ever really complimentary, and are they actually too good to be true? We’ll explore this in the post below, while pointing out the key things to look out for when appraising an individual offer.

What Are ‘Free’ Spins?

In simple terms, ‘free spins’ often refer to a finite number of spins where you aren’t required to pay.

So, if you’re awarded 10 free spins on a specific slot game such as Starburst, you’ll have 10 consecutive and complementary spins where any winnings are either sent directly to your bankroll or a separate bonus account (we’ll have a little more on this later).

In most cases, operators will offer anywhere between 10 and 50 free spins as part of no deposit or deposit-match bonuses. At the same time, their deployment will usually be restricted to one or a select grouping of slots, with titles such as Starburst and Book of Dead amongst the most commonly listed.

These titles are telling, as operators will tend to target low variance slots with relatively high return-to-player (RTP) rates, enabling players to recoup relatively frequent (if modest) base game wins.

It’s also important to note that free spin offers are made available for a limited time period, which will vary depending on individual terms and conditions.

For example, you may have a period of seven days in which to use the total number of free spins. Conversely, the spins may be released in stages over the course of a week, affording you to 24 hours to deploy a smaller number of spins.

Deposit vs. No-Deposit Spins – The Key Considerations

This brings us neatly onto the distinction between no-deposit and deposit match spins, which refer to the wider terms of a specific welcome bonus and impact directly on the inherent nature of the offer.

In the case of no-deposit match spins, these are added automatically to your account once you’ve completed your registration and verified your identification (although you may have to opt-in manually in some instances).

As the name and the process suggests, this means that you won’t have to credit your account with any of your hard-earned money to unlock the free spins, making this a genuinely complimentary bonus that isn’t dependent on an upfront investment.

The same cannot be said for free spins that are associated with a deposit match offer, where you’ll have to credit your new account to a predetermined minimum level to qualify. For instance, an operator may offer new players a 100% deposit match up to the value of £150, in addition to 10 free spins on the Book of Dead slot.

However, you’ll usually have to make a minimum deposit of at least £10 to be eligible for the bonus offer, with this threshold increasing incrementally in terms of the total value of the promotion.

In this case, the free spins portion of the bonus cannot be accessed without making the requisite deposit, and this undoubtedly changes the nature of the offer and its associated value proposition.

What About Wagering Requirements?

Aside from this distinction, there are other factors that change the fundamental nature of free spins bonuses and their underlying value proposition.

The most striking of these relates to wagering requirements, which are presented as multipliers that represent the total number of times you need to play through a bonus before being allowed to withdraw any associated winnings.

Although we’ve seen a recent trend of operators removing wagering requirements from specific bonus offers, it’s still common for brands to apply multipliers of between 20x and 50x the total value of a bonus in the modern age.

In the case of free spins, the wagering requirements will usually be applied solely to the value of your winnings (which will be presented as a cash prize). So, if the bonus has wagering requirements of 30x and you win £100 using the free spins, you’ll be asked to play through £3,000 before withdrawing your winnings.

This undoubtedly puts an entirely different spin on the concept of a free spins bonus, as your subsequent liability in terms of future wagers means that you may end up wagering significant amounts to withdraw a relatively small cash prize.

As we’ve already said, there is a growing number of operators that continue to buck this trend by removing wagering requirements from their promotions (particularly those involving free spins).

Take PlayOJO, for example, which continues to adopt a no-nonsense approach to welcome bonuses and recurring promotions. More specifically, it has removed wagering requirements from its free spins promotions, ensuring that any cash prizes generated can be withdrawn immediately and without any additional expenditure.

However, it remains rare to find an operator that offers no-deposit free spins promotions that are completely devoid of wagering requirements, so any bonus of this type that you come across is likely to incur some hidden or understated costs.

The Last Word

As we can see, free spins can offer considerable value to players, depending on the operator in question and the precise terms and conditions associated with the bonus.

However, the use of the word ‘free’ is mostly misleading in this context, as in most instances qualifying players will either have to make an initial deposit to access the spins or play through a significant amount of cash in order to withdraw any associated winnings.

The key is to treat each offer on its own individual merits, primarily by reading the small print and associated T&Cs in detail before making an informed decision.

This will allow you to identify and subsequently calculate any hidden costs, and factor these into your current and future bankroll.