The term ‘Free Spins’ can be free spins offers associated with promotional offers, or in-game rewards for slots players. As its namesake suggests, Free Spins grant the online casino player a specified number of complimentary spins on a slot machine game, or group of slot machines. These promotional offers come with specific terms and conditions a.k.a. wagering requirements that must be met before you can cash out any winnings generated from the Free Spins. Most of the time, Free Spins promotional offers are presented to players in the form of a Match Deposit Bonus + Free Spins offer, or as a No Deposit Bonus.
When you surf the World Wide Web in search of Free Spins slots promotional offers, you will invariably find many different options such as:
Typically, the majority of slots qualify for Deposit Free Spins offers, but you can still choose carefully by selecting games according to RTP, variance, and theme. As a rule, players can expect Deposit Free Spins welcome bonuses at many online casinos. Deposit free spins offers are typically available for playing the most popular slots games such as Aloha! Cluster Pays, Starburst, Book of Ra, and many others.
There is zero risk of loss, since you’re not making a deposit. Once you have found the online slot machine games that you enjoy playing, you can use this type of free spins offer to pick your favourite real money slots. There are many entertaining free online slots games such as Cleopatra, Da Vinci Diamonds, 88 Fortunes, Jeopardy, Clue, Irish Magic, and Amazon Queen.
An example of a match bonus + free spins offer may read: Promo subject to a 30 X rollover + 5X on free spins wins. This means that you would have to wager 30 X your bonus + 5X the amount of your free spins wins. No doubt, the wager-free option is highly attractive to players wanting to enjoy top slots games. While rare, more online casinos are inching towards more player friendly wagering terms and conditions. There is nothing attractive about meeting a 40 X or 50 X wagering requirement on your bonus + deposit amount, or free spins offers.
Imagine if you win £20 with free spins with a 5X wagering requirement. You would have to wager that £20, five times before you can cash out any winnings. Players invariably have to deposit more money to try and clear the winnings generated off bonuses. It’s always wise to check yourself by weighing up the pros and cons of playthrough requirements. The risk-reward ratio must always be in your favour.
It goes without saying that free spins are only applicable to slot machine games. At first glance, this seems pretty obvious, but what about the Wheel of Fortune? European Roulette? French Roulette? or American Roulette? As you can tell, it's always in your interests to read the fine print. Often, free spins are limited to a set £ amount per spin, with a maximum winning amount from the free spins, for a specific duration (beginning/end dates), and on a specified slot machine game/s. It's a lot to absorb all at once, but it's necessary if you want to walk away a winner.
Fortunately, the reputable online casinos make it really easy to understand the playthrough requirements. It's not just free spins offers that are subject to wagering requirement; it’s every single online casino bonus. Even a no deposit bonus has wagering requirements if you win and want to cash out. As an example, consider a 100 free spins bonus with a 40 X wagering requirement. If the free spins are limited to £0.20 per spin, your total bonus has a value of £20.
Now, the 40 X wagering requirement only applies to your winnings. Once all your free spins are used up, the positive value in your account will have to be wagered 40 times before you can cash out any winnings. Let's say you win £100 and want to cash out your winnings. Not so fast! You will have to wager £100 x 40 = £4000 just to claim a bonus. You have to be incredibly lucky to walk away a winner without making a deposit at an online casino. If you don't meet the 40 X requirement by winning, you'll have to keep depositing money until that requirement has been met. In summary, players must consider the risk/reward with all free spin offers. You may be wondering if you can win really win real money from free spins slots games? Yes, you can. But it's a challenge.
There is another way to get free spins on slots games, known as the free spins feature. These in-game bonus rounds are awarded to players for forming specific combinations of symbols. Scatters are usually associated with triggering bonus rounds. When you land at least 3 or more scatter symbols on the reels, you will trigger a specified number of free spins. The more Scatters you land, the greater the number of free spins you receive. These free spins are not associated with any wagering requirements. If you opted for a bonus, that is subject to T&C.
Wild symbols are like jokers in a deck of cards. They substitute for other symbols to form winning combinations, and to activate bonus rounds. However, Wild symbols generally do not substitute for Scatters and Bonus symbols. In-game bonus rounds activated through wilds have the same effect as Free Spins, since you are getting additional play for free. You may win prizes, multipliers, or advance to higher levels of play with bigger prizes.
Stacked Wild symbols expand to cover the entire reel. They usually appear on consecutive reels, and can trigger additional spins. That means free spins for slots connoisseurs. Yet another type of wild which often forms on the reels is a Sticky Wild. This wild symbol stays locked in place on the reels for multiple rounds. It is sticky, since the other symbols around the sticky wilds will continue spinning, and you may form winning combinations. Once again, this serves the same purpose as a free spin on slots.
Microgaming Slots
NetEnt Slots
IGT Slots
Bally Slots
Novomatic Slots
Aristocrat Slots
Summary of Slots with the Most Free Spins
There are many ways to enjoy free spins with slots. As a new player, you’re in luck since online casinos offer free spins bonuses with or without a deposit. The specific free spins bonuses include No Deposit Free Spins, Free Spins Wager Free Offers, Play Money Free Spins Offers, Real Money Free Spins Offers, and Deposit Free Spins Offers. Each of these bonuses is designed to give players the opportunity to enjoy slots spins. There are other ways to experience free spins in slots. These include in-game bonus rounds, created by combinations of Scatter symbols and Wild symbols. Scatter symbols are famous for awarding players with free spins. When players land at least 3 Scatters, free spins are awarded. As the number of Scatters increases, so too does the number of free spins.
There are many slot machine games which offer varying amounts of Free Spins to players. These are provided by all the big-name software companies such as Aristocrat, Novomatic slots, Microgaming, NetEnt, IGT, Playtech, BTG, RealTime Gaming, and others. As a rule, the more free spins a slot machine game offers players (with Bonuses, Wilds, Scatters, Expanding Wilds), the lower the RTP. In-game free spins are not associated with wagering requirements, since they are won during the course of the game, and not awarded to start playing a game. Bonuses which offer players free spins are always laden with wagering terms and conditions. It's important to satisfy these requirements before you can cash out any of your winnings from free spins. On that note, conduct a quick risk/reward analysis to determine whether it's worth chasing down a bonus from free spins wins!