Terms and Conditions
Now if you’ve already read our in-depth guide to Canadian casino bonuses you’ll know our number one piece of advice – don’t sleep on the terms and conditions.
In truth, free spins probably have fewer conditions to worry about than other offers. If you have 5 free spins for a specific slot, it means you get to play that game 5 times for free. Simple.
Things start to get a little more complicated when you win, however. The most important thing to establish is whether your winnings are paid out in cash or whether there are some restrictions attached – as is usually the case with free spins.
You can read more about bonus cash and wagering requirements in our full guide to slot bonuses, but the basic idea is that you can’t always withdraw money accrued from casino bonuses right away. Instead, you need to gamble with it a certain number of times before it becomes like regular cash. This is known as wagering requirements, turnover or playthrough. Casinos impose these restrictions to protect themselves from losing too much money on bonuses. Basically they make a calculation – in this case based on how much players could potentially earn off of free spins – and adjust the wagering requirements accordingly so that they don’t end up losing money overall.
Wagering requirements vary from casino to casino, and also from bonus to bonus within the same site. No deposit bonuses for example tend to have stricter wagering requirements than other bonuses for example.
Since every casino is different, it’s up to you to check what (if any) wagering requirements are attached to the money generated from free spins.
For example, imagine you claim 10 free spins which include 30x playthrough requirements (a fairly typical figure). You run through your spins and end up winning on three of them, a $20 win, a $50 win and a $10 – so you’re left with $80 generated from the spins.
Before you can withdraw any of your winnings, you’ll need to place bets totalling $2,400 (80×30 = 2,400). Only then will your money become real cash and ready to be withdrawn.
Wagering requirements are the most important condition to consider and the most impactful on the overall value of your bonus, but there are others to be aware of. Free spins are very often subject to restricted markets, or more precisely to restricted games. That is, you may only use your free spins on a specific game or games.
Often this is clearly advertised – “Sign Up Now For 30 Free Spins on Starburst!” – but sometimes it’s not specified until you do a little more research. Sometimes your free spins are available for a selection of games and sometimes for one game only. Make sure you check it out.
There are also time limits attached to free spins. You normally have a fixed amount of time to use them – maybe a week or so – and a fixed amount of time to complete the wagering requirements on any winnings.
All of the conditions mentioned in this section will be explained clearly – although you’ll probably need to open up the small print! Terms and conditions are how casinos cover themselves, but as long as you read them carefully and never just sign up for a bonus based on the headline alone, you’ll be fine.
Why are Free Spins Tied to Specific Slot Games?
When accepting free spins offers, you might have realised that most of these are often tied to specific slot games and you will often not be able to choose just any slot to use your spins on. Whether it’s for no deposit spins or a regular free spins bonus – the slot that they can be used on is set by the casino. You might have more than 1 option, but you can’t just pick any slot machine you want.
Online casinos usually do this for several reasons: to boost interest on certain slot games which may have been ‘forgotten’, to promote new games and because they might have made a deal with a software provider to increase advertising of their games.
Thankfully, the best Canadian casinos will give players free spins on the most popular slots with CA users.
Some of the most common eligible slot games include the following:
And the list goes on. But by and large, those are the usual suspects. For sure, you can never use free spin bonuses on a progressive jackpot slot.
Once again, when all is said and done – it is still massively worth it to claim your free spins bonus and make the most of it on the eligible game.
Additionally, a lot of modern slots have free rounds in-built into the gameplay. Imagine triggering a free spins feature while using your free spins bonus! An absolutely magical combination.
Why Choose a Free Spins Bonus?
Everyone loves free spins, and we are no exception here at Playcasino. We did a quick office poll to ask each member of our team what their favorite thing about free spins is. Here’s what we came up with:
- Ehhhh…. They’re free?! Sorry to be obvious, but everyone loves getting something for nothing. Some gamblers are constantly on the lookout for an edge, for something extra to improve their chances of winning. With free spins, you get that value handed to you on a silver platter – and unlike many other casino bonuses they require no financial outlay on your behalf.
- Free spins give you the chance to play more games, and especially to try out games you otherwise may never end up playing. We’re huge fans of making the most of everything on offer at casinos, and we love discovering new games. Free spins are often the gateway to do just that.
- Compared with other bonuses (in particular no deposit bonuses) the wagering requirements attached to free spins tend to be fairly reasonable. It means if you do end up winning money you hopefully won’t have too hard a time turning it into real money.
- Free spins are inherently inclusive: they are great for brand new players and those who just want to dip a toe into online gambling without worrying about losing money while they learn the ropes, but also for regular casino gamblers.
What Are the Downsides of a Free Spins Bonus?
We always want to give you a balanced view at CasinoTrust, so while we were at it we asked our experts if there’s anything they don’t like about free spins. Here’s what they came up with:
- Sometimes you just want to bet your own money with no wagering requirements or other strings attached. Using free spins is great in terms of saving money, but it means if you do happen to hit a massive win you don’t get immediate access to your winnings. Compared with betting in cash, it’s more complicated.
- It rather depends on the casino, but sometimes the terms and conditions attached to free spins just make them too awkward to be really valuable. High wagering requirements, short time spans, complicated opt-in processes – all of these have the potential to ruin a bonus. Avoid this by understanding them well in advance.
- Because free spins are often only available on selected slots, alternative welcome bonuses are arguably more useful if you intend to play a lot of different types of games.
Are free spin bonuses worth it?
Overall, free spins are definitely worth it. At the end of the day, you’re risking very little in the chance to cash out thousands of dollars when that slot hits a win. There’s few other opportunities in the world of online gambling to get something for essentially nothing.
But, before taking advantage of your spins, there are a few things you should know. There are common terms and conditions that come with every spins bonus:
- You still have to complete wagering requirements on free spins (even no deposit spins)
- The value of the spins is fixed, and is usually below the C$1 value
- The free spins can only be used on specific (eligible) slots chosen by the casino itself, not on any slot of your choosing
