No Deposit Bonuses

Welcome to another of our in-depth casino guides by Ed Roberts and this time he is delving into the world of no deposit bonuses. A semi-professional gambler and online casino researcher, Ed is one of the panel of experts who contribute their knowledge of the UK casino scene to GamblingInformation.com. Continue reading..

What is a No Deposit Bonus?

Many casinos offer a no deposit bonus as a great way to encourage new players to take a look at the casino offering and to try out some of the games available, at no risk to themselves.

“No deposit” means there’s no need for you to put down any of your own money whilst receiving credit on your account in the form of free spins, casino chips, or other methods of being able to play for free.

However, the old saying “there’s no such thing as a free lunch” is, of course, true – and many of the no deposit bonuses available come with terms, conditions and restrictions attached, and sometimes confusing jargon or industry speak.

In this guide, we’ll give you the inside information on what to look out for in terms of a no deposit casino bonus. At GamblingInformation.com our experts are constantly looking for the best no deposit bonuses with no hidden small print, and the best chances of being able to keep hold of a big cash win. We monitor the terms and conditions of no deposit casino bonuses to make sure our list is the most up-to-date and gambler-friendly in the business.

Here’s our current pick of the best no deposit casino bonus we’ve found so far.

 

Best No Deposit Casino Bonuses March, 2024

Mr Green Casino
25 Free Spins NO DEPOSIT + 200 Free Spins on 1st Deposit + 100% deposit bonus up to £/€100
ComeOn Casino
20 Free Spins NO DEPOSIT + 100% deposit bonus up to £/€25
Casumo Casino
EXCLUSIVE 30 FREE SPINS NO DEPOSIT WAGER FREE + 100% up to £300
Karamba Heroes
25 Free Spins NO DEPOSIT + 100% Deposit Bonus up to £/€200
BGO Casino
10 Free Spins no Deposit (UK only) NO WAGERING + 100% up to £200

UK No Deposit Casino Bonus

No deposit bonuses are becoming more and more popular with online casinos aimed at the UK market. These work in exactly the same way that bricks and mortar businesses use discount vouchers or free samples – they are designed to encourage you to “come on in” and try out the casino.

At GamblingInformation.com, our panel of British casino experts is always looking out for the most attractive deals for our readers based in the UK.

For UK casinos you will need to open a free player account, which usually means providing some personal details and verifying that you have a valid email address. Once the account is confirmed and opened, you’ll then see your no deposit bonus listed in your player account, available for your use.

This is usually ready either immediately or within just a few minutes of successfully opening your account.

One thing to remember – this bonus “money” is almost always never available to be simply withdrawn as cash. A great way to think of it is like receiving a discount voucher from your favourite High Street shop – you won’t get very far if you try and use the voucher in another store! And it’s the same with the no deposit bonus on your account. You can only use it for gambling on casino games or slots at the place you opened your account.

Some bonuses can never be cashed out, and some require you to meet certain conditions before they become available to withdraw.

We make it easy to find a no deposit bonus casino UK gamblers can take full advantage of.

No deposit bonus types UK casinos

The “sticky bonus” – these can never be cashed out. Your bonus “cash” will stay in your account until you’ve either used it all or it reaches an expiry date. When either of these occurs the bonus disappears from your account, never to be seen again. Any winnings you generate using your bonus stake can either be withdrawn as cash in some cases, or they will be subject to a further wagering requirement before you can do so.

The “non-sticky bonus” – this type of bonus can be cashed out, but usually after you’ve met the conditions that were stated when you were given the bonus at the start. These bonuses usually have “wagering requirements” before you can get at them as cash.

No Deposit Bonus No Wagering Requirement

A wagering requirement is known in some casinos as a “play-through” requirement. What this means is that you must bet your bonus a certain number of times before it can be withdrawn as real cash into your bank account.

The average wagering requirement used to be around 40 times – that is you need to bet your bonus amount 40 times over. If your bonus cash was £10, you need to wager 40x£10= £400 as a minimum.

A recent trend has seen some casino bring their wager requirements down to 35x, 20x or even lower. This is great for gamblers, and at GamblingInformation.com we’re always hunting out the best no deposit bonuses with the lowest wagering or play-through requirements for you.

What’s exciting about the wagering requirement is that as well as blowing the bonus well before you hit the play-through amount, you could also hit a big winning streak and end up with a big pot that you’ll be able to take out in cold hard cash!

No Deposit Bonus Casino Game weightings

Often, when awarding a no deposit bonus, casinos will restrict you to a certain number or type of games that you can use the bonus to play with.

The most common is to restrict you to playing your bonus on one particular slot, or to a small group of slot games. Scratchcard or similar types are also popular as bonus play games.

This is because these are totally random, with no skill element, and a high level of volatility. In other words, these type of games can bring up long losing or winning streaks. If you hit a losing streak, then it’s great for the casino. But if you hit a winning streak it can mean big bucks for you.

To avoid being too restrictive, some casinos allow you to wager through your bonus on a large variety of games, but they “weight” how much each game counts towards the wagering requirement.

Slots, scratch cards and similar game types usually count in full towards the requirement. Table games like blackjack, roulette, or baccarat usually count less than 25% towards the requirement. In other words, if you bet your bonus only on blackjack you would need to bet 4 times as much than if you had bet it all on slots.

Summary

So, in conclusion, a no deposit casino bonus should be seen as a fun way of being able to try out a new casino “for real”, rather than an opportunity to cash in some free money!

However, this isn’t a bad thing because it enables you to try out everything a casino has to offer, including its cashiering systems and customer support, before you give them any of your own hard-earned money.

But remember, when you open an account using one of our welcome bonus no deposit required casino links you can be assured that if you do hot that big winning streak, you’ll know exactly how much of the cash you can withdraw into your account.

Make sure you always read the terms and conditions of any no deposit bonus before you sign up to ensure you’re not disappointed. The easiest way to do this is to read GamblingInformation.com as we have hand-picked the best no deposit bonuses out there, and we give you clear information on any requirements. Our exclusive sign-up links will often give you additional bonuses you can’t get anywhere else, so it’s always worth keeping up to date with our reviews.