The first thing to know is that spins refers most often to spinning the reels on a slot game.
Think of it as taking the casino for a spin, checking out its functionality and ease of use, or trying out a new game that you haven’t tested before. Our free spins guide will steer you through the different ways that free spins are offered to new and existing players.
This is the easiest way to get free spins. It is also one of the very few guaranteed ways to getting the free spins bonus. New casinos are generous with spins for one big reason, which is to do with attracting and growing the customer base. Every free spins welcome bonus will require a user to sign up with the site, and once an account has been created, users get access to the full casino.
By giving the player a chance to try out some of the slots without risking any money, while also applying some conditions that protect the casino, the site is likely to obtain a new customer. If the registration required the new user to give identification details, the casino can get to work verifying the account so that the player is ready to use real money once the free spins have run out.
For the player, the free spins in free casinos offer two benefits. One is that the player gets to test out the casino for responsiveness on his or her devices, the quality of gameplay, as well as how generous and frequent the payouts are. That makes it easy for the player to decide whether to pay up and put a stake in a few games, or leave the casino all together.
The second advantage of free spins is that they give an opportunity to enjoy games for free. Granted, many players will only fully love a gaming experience if they have money staked and are looking to win, but at times one just needs to relax and unwind without the pressure of losing money. Free spins from new casinos make it easy for that to be done. Think of it as going for a test-drive in a brand-new car – don’t be reckless, but enjoy the experience even if you have no intention of buying.
Free spins as offered by new casinos are usually time limited. The idea behind this is to strike while the iron is hot. Human beings can have a short attention span, so if the casino does not encourage new players with a bit of urgency, they may lose the new user to another website. Making the games time-limited ensures that new members will have to try the slot games out sooner rather than later.
Another way through which to get free spins is when a casino is offering new games. In this situation, free spins will be offered to existing players to try and persuade them to stake in the new game. Casinos offer free spins for new games for the joint purposes of promotion and data collection. They want to learn how they can optimise the game for different devices as guided by real user experience. You as the player are the real user. The casino needs you to help them improve their game.
The player benefits from early experience with new games. That means the player gets a head start with games that are yet to fully hit the market. Think of it as getting to the private screening of a new movie before it hits theatres on full release. In this way, the casinos and games developers can be sure to get some early feedback on the newly-released game and use this initial data to make adjustments and improvements.
The majority of online casinos do not create their own games. Instead, they lease them from big-name game developers. The reason for that is concentration on key competency; in other words, stick to what you’re good at. An online casino is better off spending time and money on creating a great online gaming environment and platform, rather than creating the games itself. Also, an online casino would not be able to outcompete experienced and heavily-funded game development companies.
Where a casino has a non-performing game, it is losing money. That is because that game has been paid for already; the developer is earning money that the casino isn’t making from users. To try and increase the revenue from such games, the casino can decide to allow free spins on the game. That creates attention and might even beget the casino new users. Sometimes a game is not getting played because it’s unknown. When a casino puts it on it free spins list and markets that, attention will be raised and hopefully so will gaming.
In a market where there are new slots released so frequently, making a free spins offer on one slot will boost the visibility of a game and hopefully gain it new users. If, after the free spins offer is over, the game has not acquired and new regular players, the casino knows that this is probably not a game worth keeping on its roster.
Apps are the new way for online casinos to reach gamers on mobile devices. Apps are more valuable to gaming casinos than browsers when it comes to gaming. The reason is that apps provide data that is highly personalised and insightful. For that reason alone, casinos are prepared to offer more free spins to app players. Players get free spins when they install the app regardless whether they were existing players who used to typically play on PC. Players habitually get more free spins in the game than browser players.
Now we come down to the question of whether free is really free. Well, to an extent, it is. The spins themselves do not require the payment of any money, but for them to be real gameplay and not just a free-play simulation, there must be a chance of making some free spins winnings. We have looked at what’s in it for the casino, but most players will want something a bit more than just the chance to try out a game for free. The good news is, it is possible to make a profit from free spins, but the casinos have made it a bit harder to do so. They do this by way of wagering requirements, also known as turnover or playthrough requirements.
This means that if you were to win €10 on your free spins, with a wagering requirement of 20x, you would need to keep playing until €200 worth of spins had been played. Only then could you claim any profit left. Sometimes, the casino will let you use free spins winnings as casino cash for the rest of the games in the casino. So, always check the bonus requirements before you start, so that you know what to expect.
