Online casinos and sportsbooks around the world are seemingly giving away free cash to new players in the form of sign up offers (also called no deposit bonuses). How could an online business model succeed from giving away money for nothing? Is there more to these offers than what meets the eye? And if so, then what’s the catch? We’re going dive right into all of this and reveal how these bonuses work and why online casinos even offer them in the first place.
But before we get into the intricacies of no deposit offers, let’s answer the question – are win real money for free offers great deals or straight-out scams? Well, first things first, there are certainly some online casinos out there that are unscrupulous and rife with various scams. Having said that, while it may seem almost too good to be true that you can win real money for free, this is indeed a sweet deal many popular online casinos offer to their loyal and newcomer customers. And after doing a fairly good amount of research, we found that NoDepositFan is certainly your go-to site to get your hands on bonuses like these.
Why Online Casinos Offer No Deposit Bonuses
To understand no deposit offers, the why question is important to consider. Why do online casinos offer players the ability to win real money for free? The online gambling industry was estimated to be worth $66.72 billion in 2020 and is likely to touch $158 billion by 2028. This is a multi-billion-dollar industry around the globe and the competition is cut throat. In order to attract players and capture the market, online casinos are forced to come up with lucrative bonuses, simply offering a bonus when a new player makes his or her first deposit simply does not cut it anymore. This is where the no deposit bonus comes into the picture.
The no deposit bonus is highly effective in two ways. Firstly, it is a great way for the online casino to attract players onto their websites and secondly, it increases the chances of a visitor signing up with the casino and becoming a registered member.
Even though the no deposit bonus is a free bonus in the sense that the player does not have to spend any money to receive the incentive, the player still has to sign up with the casino to receive the bonus. This is exactly what the casino wants. They want you to get one foot in the door.
Why Players Like No Deposit Bonus Offers?
For the player, a no deposit bonus offers a lot of value. Firstly, it is completely risk free since you don’t have to spend any money to get it and thus you cannot possibly lose any money either. Secondly, with the no deposit bonus, you get a chance to test out a brand-new casino and play games for free (with the possibility of being able to win even more real money). Why would you not want a no deposit bonus? All you have to do is sign up with a casino (which usually takes only a minute or two) and you get your bonus right away.
Is the Free Money Really Free?
Let’s consider a hypothetical example of a typical no deposit bonus. Sign up with casino XYZ and receive a $10 no deposit bonus. Basically, you are getting $10 for free, however, you cannot actually cashout the $10 just yet. When you sign up with the casino, $10 is credited to your account. If you were to visit the cashier section of your casino account, you would notice that the $10 is added to ‘bonus balance’ and not to ‘real money balance’. What you should know is that you can only withdraw funds listed under ‘real money balance’.
Let’s take the same example a little further, let’s assume you used your $10 bonus balance to play a game and you ended up winning $50. This $50 is also added to your bonus balance and hence you cannot withdraw it. So, how can you withdraw these funds? Well, in the vast majority of cases, these funds are only unlocked for withdrawal if and when the player fulfills the wagering requirements associated with them.
What are Wagering Requirements?
Wagering requirements are a standard online casino or online sportsbook bonus condition. The wagering requirements define how much of your own money you must deposit and wager through at the website before the bonus funds are available for withdrawal. These requirements are usually expressed as a multiple of the bonus value itself.
For example, if the wagering requirement is 20x the bonus amount and the bonus amount is $10. It implies that in order to withdraw the $10 bonus, you will first have to deposit and play through ($10 x20) $200 of your own money.
So, there you have it, free money bonuses are certainly free but if you wish to pocket the bonus money, then there is a catch. A high-value no deposit bonus should have low wagering requirements.
The next time you see an offer where you can win real money for free, make it a point to read the bonus terms and conditions, so that you understand its actual worth and value.
