Free Play Signup Bonuses

You’ve probably been told that you can’t get something for nothing, and in most cases, that advice rings true. But giving away free play as an incentive for players to sign up for accounts has become one of the most popular promotions at many real money Internet casinos, and they offer exactly what it sounds like: free cash, you can use in order to play without putting up any of your own money.

These free play bonuses may not always be the best option for you, but they can be the fastest and easiest way to get started at new casino site. Even if they come with restrictions or harsh requirements, they never require you to put any of your own money on the line – and that’s a tough deal to beat.

How They Work

Free play offers work similarly to more traditional Internet casino bonuses, though with some obvious differences. Typically, to take advantage of these deals, you’ll simply need to open a new account – no credit card information or other financial details are necessary.

A typical free play bonus works like a larger version of a no deposit promotion. Instead of a small amount of money that you can use whenever you like, these offers give you a much larger bankroll to play with: perhaps as much as $1,000 or more. The catch is that you will only have a limited amount of time to use these funds: you might only have 30 minutes or an hour to do the best you can with your free money, after which it will be gone forever.

Restrictions

Operators of gaming sites would be putting themselves at a high level of risk if they simply gave away money to use on their games without any protection. As such, you’ll find that most of these free play deals have some restrictions on them that are designed to allow you to have a chance of walking away a winner while still ensuring that you won’t bankrupt the site owners in the process.

The most common way in which this is done for these offers is by only allowing you to take any winnings you make in the form of a bonus. In other words, you won’t be able to simply cash out after finishing up your free play period. Instead, you will likely get any winnings as a 100% match on a future deposit that you’ll need to make in order to continue playing.

These bonuses are pretty straightforward if you’re familiar with other online casino promotions. They tend to come with standard provisions, such as a wagering requirement before you can make withdrawals, and many will only allow you to play slots or other limited games during the promotional period.

However, many sites simply put a max cash out amount on the freeplay. So regardless of whether you win $50 or $50000 in your allocated time, the max cashout remains the same, normally in the $100-$200 range.

Alternative No Deposit Offers

You may have noticed that these free play deals sound similar to “no deposit” bonuses. This is true, though a typical no deposit offer is much smaller: sometimes, you’ll only get a few dollars to play with. The difference is that those promotions will allow you to keep your winnings (at least up to a certain point), and can eventually be cashed out, and are generally not time restricted like a free play offer.

Not all of these no deposit promotions are designed to give you cash. In some cases, you may instead find that you have been given some free spins on a slot machine. This will usually restrict you to playing on a particular game, but you’ll still be able to win real money on your spins without having made a deposit.

Like the bonuses described above, these offers often come with similar restrictions, including maximums on what you can win and a wagering requirement before you can cash out. If this game is a jackpot machine, there may be exceptions that allow you to win the jackpot if you are so lucky, while still capping any other wins.

Free spins on certain slots are another similar promotion.

Deciding Which Offer to Take

Because these unique promotions are very different from traditional Internet casino bonuses, players often have difficulty figuring out which type of welcome package to take. The answer will depend largely on what your goals are, as well as your budget.

Free play offers are a great way to try out a new site, especially if you’re willing to take some risks. Since you can’t keep all the money anyway, it’s worth trying to secure a very large bonus: you can be riskier than you would ever be with your own funds, in the hopes of getting the kind of package the casino would never willingly offer you. This means making big bets with your play money, and (if you have the option) playing the most volatile games possible in the short period of time you have to spend that cash. Should you fail, you’ve lost nothing; even if you want to make a deposit later, there’s probably a solid (and more traditional) first deposit bonus you can take instead.

No deposit bonuses are generally good for two types of players. First, they are clearly the cheapest way to try a new site without making any sort of commitment. For the player who just wants to check out a new site, but wishes to do a little more than just try out play money games, the free play bonus is the way to go.

Naturally, these offers are also perfect if you don’t have the means to make a deposit, or if you don’t have the money to gamble with. In these cases, getting something for nothing from an operator is a great way to jump into the Internet gaming world without any risk, and the cap on how much you can potentially win isn’t really a downside: after all, you’ll probably feel lucky to have the chance at winning anything at all!