A Complete Guide to the No Deposit Bonus

No Deposit Bonuses are one of the greatest incentives to play in online casinos. They almost all offer them, and it’s easy to see why players love them! But not all No Deposit Bonuses are as simple as they seem.

Each online casino will change the exact No Deposit Bonuses they offer all the time, to compete with each other in the crowded marketplace. That’s a good thing by the way! It can seem confusing, but rather than breaking each individual bonus down, read our guide to how the most common ones work, and what to watch out for – they almost all follow these patterns!

What is No Deposit Bonus?

A No Deposit Bonus is an incentive offered by online casinos to entice players new and old to play on their site. Specifically No Deposit Bonuses aren’t tied to the player putting their own cash on the line, or even paying into the site at all. They can be free cash to play with, free time to play or free spins, but the key is that you don’t have to put any of your own money down.

The most popular No Deposit Bonuses are free spins and free bets. Mostly these are offered by casinos to prospective players before they make their first deposit. In rarer cases there are bonuses that aren’t linked to making the first deposit but other actions within the casino. These are technically ‘No Deposit’ Bonuses, as they’re not linked to deposits, and you should treat them the same way. They exist to attract new customers or reward loyal ones!

The key to making the most of a No Deposit Bonus – be aware of the terms and conditions, and don’t see a No Deposit Bonus as simply free money – use a No Deposit Bonus as free losses!

Most common types of No Deposit Bonus

Free Spins

We say ‘spins’ because a lot of the most popular games in online casinos are slot machines – check out our guide to playing casino slots online. A Free Spin is a No Deposit Bonus play, usually on specific games that favour the house.

The winnings from that spin are also then still tied to the casino. But you can continue to play with them!

Free Cash

This type of No Deposit Bonus is much more straightforward in terms of play. Some casinos offer quite a high No Deposit Cash Bonus, but be aware of the terms! Any Free Cash No Deposit Bonus that’s above around 30 Euros will come with a lot more strings attached than those below that marker. If you’re looking to collect the bonus, play a little and withdraw as much as possible, consider trying 2 or 3 30 Euro casinos rather than 1 or 2 50 Euro ones!

Free Play

This is the least common of the classic No Deposit Bonuses. Essentially you can just play at the casino for free for a period of time! Any and all of your winnings during that period are considered bonus payments, just like you’d taken a Free Cash Bonus, so they will be subject to T&Cs. Free Play No Deposit Bonuses are really fun, but there’s usually a lot more limitations put in place by the casino to make sure they don’t lose too much money to people who haven’t paid!

So Are No Deposit Bonuses Really Free Money?

Partly yes, partly no. Something for nothing is always technically free money. Remember though, that any No Deposit Bonus is an investment by the casino into you as a player, so they’re planning to win it back from you, with interest!

A better way to look at it is a free sample of play at that casino. Use these bonuses at a number of our top rated sites to see which online casino works the best for you, before committing any real cash.

The Small Print

Make sure you’re aware of the Terms and Conditions you’ll need to satisfy to qualify for a No Deposit Bonus, as well as what’s required of you to then withdraw that money into your own account.

The Most Common Terms & Conditions on No Deposit Bonuses are:

• Registering within a certain timeframe (e.g. “Christmas Bonus – register in December)
• Registering from a specific country (e.g. UK/Spanish/Mexican players get a free $25!)
• Only 1 account per person (this is to stop people just playing with bonuses, then registering another account! We say, if you don’t want to deposit at that casino, try a new one!)
• Withdrawing cash too soon will forfeit the no deposit bonus (they want you to keep playing!)
• Number of bets made with the bonus earnings before a withdrawal is allowed (this can range from 20 to 70 bets! Make sure you know how much you’ll need to play with your earnings before you’re able to withdraw it, as every new bet is likely to reduce your funds!)
• All No Deposit Bonus play needs to be done within 14 days of opening an account (if this is a condition, they want you playing a lot, in a short time. If you can’t do that, look at a different casino!)

No Deposit Bonuses are a great tool to help smart players test out new online casino sites. Make sure you know what’s going on and you can use them to your advantage today!