No Deposit Slot Bonuses

No deposit bonuses differ from standard welcome bonuses. A no deposit bonus does exactly what it says it does, at least in the beginning. It will allow a player to claim a welcome bonus, without having to deposit any money of their own. So far, this all sounds rather pleasant, doesn’t it?

The whole point of welcome bonuses is to be able to check out the games at a site, and to play them for real money, without having to deposit any of your own. If you are content with the games they have to offer, you will sign up and make a deposit. But that is where no deposit bonuses are sometimes misleading. Some no deposit bonuses allow you to claim the winnings and use them straight away.

Others insist you make a deposit first, to unlock the winnings. Suddenly, the no deposit part of the bonus becomes a little foggier. These two types of no deposit bonuses are what I like to call “small deposit bonuses” and “big deposit bonuses”. Now, we will look at why that is.

The “small” no deposit bonus

“Small” deposit bonuses are those which have no time limit on them. The reason I call them small, is because they are seldom worth very much money. Generally speaking, these welcome bonuses only offer the player between $5 and $25.

You are free to use them on any games you want, and even though it is only a small amount of money, it will help you get a good feel for the casino site. What’s even better is that these small deposit bonuses are usually followed by a proper match deposit welcome bonus.

The “big” no deposit bonus

So what are the “big” deposit bonuses then? These are the types that offer you a positively eyeball-popping sum of money. In most cases, the player will only have a specific period of time to use up their entire no deposit bonus.

Make no mistake about this, you will need to use it all, and you will probably only have an hour to do so. Most casinos will offer you a slim-line version of their domain to use the bonus money on, although you will get anything from $500 up to $2,000 to spend.

After the time is up, you will be able to keep your winnings if you have wagered your entire no deposit bonus. However, there is a catch.

You will only be able to claim up to $100 of any winnings you do have, in most cases.  If you haven’t won anything with your bonus, some casinos will allow you to spin a Second Chance Wheel, to acquire some sort of welcome bonus.

Unlocking your no deposit bonus winnings

Now, for the technical part! The small deposit bonuses don’t generally have this, but the big no deposit bonuses most certainly do. If your winnings from the no deposit bonus are locked, you will need to unlock them.

The only way you can do this, is to make a deposit. Suddenly the “no deposit” part of the bonus seems like a bit of a fib. They will generally ask you to deposit between $1 and $20, although some can insist on up to $50. This deposit will often have no match deposit bonus attached to it (since your winnings are your welcome bonus), although it will still have wagering requirements.

Test drive the online casino, and pick your bonus wisely

The basic idea behind no deposit bonuses, is that before you deposit money into an online casino, you are able to test drive it. You can see what games they have; you can try them out, and see if the casino is actually going to be somewhere where you might consider playing in the future.

The best part of this deal is if you aren’t 100% satisfied, you can totally walk away. There are no strings attached to no deposit bonus deals, so if it’s not for you, you can leave. You won’t have lost anything either. Of course, if you do like what you see, and you want to continue playing, maybe a deposit is in order?

The choice of which no deposit bonus you go for is entirely up to you. Both have their pros and cons. The smaller no deposit bonus, doesn’t allow you to check out the site very much, but it does mean you claim a proper welcome bonus (in most cases) afterwards. The big no deposit bonus gives you plenty of money to trial the site, but no match deposit bonus. The choice is yours!

One word of advice though. Do keep an eye out on wagering requirements. Although small deposit bonuses don’t generally tend to have them, the big no deposit bonuses usually do. You may find that if this is the case, that big no deposit bonuses, ultimately aren’t anywhere near as good a deal as the smaller, no deposit bonuses are.