Before I get into the ‘what it takes to win‘ section, you need to understand how these bonuses work in the first place. If you’re already familiar with them, skip ahead to the next section.
to make this as simple as possible, I’ll use a typical example. We’ll say an online casino is offering a $10 no deposit bonus at 80x WR, with a max $200 cash out limit. You may come across a lot of variable offers with higher or lower bonus credits, WR, and/or cashout limitations, or even no limitations.
Let’s examine each piece of this promotion in brief.
$10 No Deposit Bonus
This portion of the offer means you’re getting a free credit worth $10, and you won’t need to make a deposit before you can claim it; (i.e. no deposit required). All you have to do is sign up an account and follow the steps to redeem the bonus. While doing so, you’ll be given some very important information on eligible games and bet sizes. That is, what games you can use the bonus on, what size bets you can place.
Most no-deposit bonuses are restricted to slots only. Some will let you play other games, but with a reduced contribution to WR (more on that below). Bets will either be fixed at $1 per play, or capped at $1 per play (you can bet less, but not more).
80x Wagering Requirements (WR)
The WR denotes how many times you have to wager through the entire bonus amount before you’re eligible to cash out any winnings. It is perhaps the most important factor in no deposit bonus terms. If you’re claiming a $10 bonus with 80x WR, you’ll have to place $800 in eligible wagers before you can cash out. Let me say that again…
A $10 bonus with 80x WR requires $800 in bets.
If you’re betting exactly $1 per spin of the slots reels, you would need to be pretty darn lucky, and pretty fast, to build that bonus into a decent bankroll worthy of $800 in bets.
Let’s assume you can play more than slot machines. A typical blackjack game might only count 10% towards WR contribution. If that’s the case, you’re only contributing $1 to WR for every $10 wagered, which means you would need to place $8,000 in blackjack bets to clear the bonus.
Max $200 Cash Out
Many times – but not always – the casino will set a limit to how much you can win on a free bonus. Let’s say you start with $10, hit a few lucky spins, and maybe even win a nice four-figure jackpot. That’ll give you more than enough wagering power to keep spinning and clear the bonus. But once all is said and done, you only get to keep up to $200. So even if you finish with $5,000 in your bonus balance, $4,800 of that will vanish into thin air once you claim the $200 profit.
That brings me to the next bit of fine print…
You Must Deposit Before You Can Withdrawal
Wait, why do we have to deposit? I thought this was a no deposit casino bonus. Yes, you got the bonus, and got to use it, and potentially win money on it, without making a deposit. But you will have to make a deposit before you can cash it out. Sounds like a trick, I know, but there’s actually a reasonable explanation.
You have to verify your identity, proving you’re legally eligible to gamble at your age and on the website, before they can send you the cash. To do this, you have to make a deposit and go through the process of submitting ID verification documents. Most government regulators require this to prevent underage gambling, money laundering, identity theft, and other fraudulent behavior. Suffice it to say, it’s standard procedure.
The good news is, once your ID is verified, you get to cash out the money you won on the casino bonus, free and clear.
Now, let’s get back to the main topic…
