Let’s face it, casino ads are trying to give you free money. Or what they want you to think of as free money, in order to get you playing. Often the illusion is shattered when you see that you’ve got to put down a deposit of at least as much as they are offering you in order to get that free money (more on that below) – so what about the situations where the bonus definitely says ‘No Deposit’? Surely a no deposit bonus at an online casino is too good to be true
Who is eligible for Online Casino No Deposit Bonuses?
Many online casinos will give members cash bonuses, free spins, free plays, etc, without linking those bonuses directly with how much money is deposited into their account. However, the Online Casino will usually not offer these bonuses to accounts that have had money in and are now inactive. This is because once you have created an account, online casinos try to incentivize making deposits. So the people who are offered No Deposit Bonuses tend to be players who haven’t opened an account with that particular online casino yet.
What really is an Online Casino No Deposit Bonus?
The good news is – it pretty much is actually free cash.
The bad news is – it’s going to have a lot of strings attached, and it’s probably not going to be that much cash!
The idea is to get you registered, playing, and having fun! There would be a lot of risk to the casino if they were simply giving away free money, people could sign up thousands of times, withdraw their no deposit bonus and put that Online Casino straight out of business! In order to avoid this kind of scheme, most online casinos have a few tricks up their sleeve when they give this stuff away, and like always, it’s in the fine print.
What are the usual terms & conditions for Online Casino No Deposit Bonuses?
If you’ve ever thought about online casinos, dreamt about them, or even realized that you’re crazyaboutcasino.com (!) – you’ve also thought about the terms and conditions attached. There’s always T&Cs, Gs.
No Deposit Bonuses are particularly packed with terms, and also can come with conditions. Not just for how you spend and play with the No Deposit Bonus itself, which can be:
- – linked to certain new games that the casino is trying to promote
- – not valid for the higher payout ‘jackpot’ games you might really want to play
- – limited to a certain ’coin size’ – e.g. a $25 no deposit bonus, with a coin size minimum of $5, meaning you only get 5 plays, rather than 25 or 50 if you could use it for $1 or 50 cent coins
But because it is literally free money, the online casinos tend to put Terms and Conditions onto the winnings from using your No Deposit Bonus also, which can be frozen into your account until a) turnover criteria are met, i.e. you’ve wagered a certain amount online with this casino, overall, before you can withdraw your winnings or b) you do actually make a deposit!
So even though online casinos offer no deposit bonuses, that can mean that it’s ‘no deposit’ to play, but not ‘no deposit’ to withdraw.
What’s the difference between No Deposit Bonuses and Deposit Bonuses?
Both of these kinds of Online Casino Bonus payments are very commonly used to attract new players to the sites. The first and most obvious difference is that one requires you to deposit money onto the Online Casino site before you’re eligible for the Bonus, whereas the other does not. However, No Deposit Bonuses tend to be one-off benefits, and have arguably more terms and conditions attached. Deposit bonuses can really extend your play and give you, as a player, more freedom and choice in terms of the games you want to try. The winnings that you accumulate with the bonus payment cash are also usually yours to withdraw or continue to play with as you prefer. To use a technical term, you’re ‘Buying In’ to the online casino, and they give you more options as a result.
That doesn’t mean that No Deposit Bonuses are worse, by any means, as you can definitely still win big, as long as you make sure you understand the terms and conditions, and it’s a chance to get a feel for the online casino as a new player, for free, while having fun! Just make sure you know the difference and what it is you’re able to do with the bonus payment and winnings before you get going!