Welcome bonuses have become far more than mere promotional offers in the digital age, particularly in competitive iGaming markets across the globe.
Take Sweden, for example, where bonus offers are now utilised as tools with which operators directly target players and compete for a larger market share. This is also why you’re more likely to find a casino with no wagering requirements in Sweden (casino utan omsättningskrav in Swedish), with this providing an even greater financial incentive to players.
But what exactly are no-wagering casinos, and are they really as good as they sound?
What is a No-Wagering Casino?
As a general rule, online casinos caveat their welcome bonuses (and indeed some of their other offers) with so-called “wagering requirements”.
These are usually expressed as a multiplier of the total bonus value, which identifies a precise amount of cash that you’ll have to play through before withdrawing any winnings.
For example, let’s say that you sign up for a new casino that’s offering a 100% deposit match up to the value of £100, along with 100 free spins on the popular Book of Dead slot. This offer also features wagering requirements of 30x the value of the bonus funds, which must be met within the advertised timeframe (we’ll have a little more on this below).
So, if you deposit the minimum of £10 into your account, you’ll earn a further £10 with which to play, with the bonus balance subjected to the 30x wagering requirements.
You’ll then have to play through £300 before withdrawing any associated winnings, while also adhering to the full terms and conditions pertaining to game weightings.
Any winnings that you garner through your free spins will also be subject to the same wagering requirements. So, winnings of £5 would create a further playthrough requirement of £150, which will be added to your overall liability as a punter.
If we look at a no-wagering casino, however, this type of operator won’t apply any wagering requirements to your free spins or bonus winnings. As a result, you’ll be able to bet more freely with your cash and bonus balances, while any winnings that you garner will be immediately added to your account and made available for withdrawal.
No-wagering bonuses are usually exclusive to the casino vertical too, rather than sports or eSports betting markets.
In this respect, they’re relatively restricted, but they still offer clear and obvious value in a competitive marketplace.
Are No-Wagering Casinos Really as Good as They Sound?
In truth, there seems to be no end to the advantages to no-wagering casinos, from the direct benefits that they offer to players to the role that they can play in the drive to ensure that people gamble responsibly.
After all, no-wagering casinos and offers don’t compel players to play through more money after making an initial deposit, potentially reducing their spend and allowing for more thinking time between wagers.
However, there are some considerations to keep in mind when it comes to no-deposit casinos. Firstly, most offers of this type are relatively low value, as they eschew the popular deposit match structure in favour of a predetermined number of free spins.
So, instead of providing players with a deposit match offer of 100% or more and a fixed number of free spins, no-wagering casinos will limit themselves to a free spins offer on one or a small selection of games.
So, no-wagering casinos are far from ideal for high-rollers or frequent gamblers with a significant appetite for risk, while even on a fundamental level they lack the excitement of alternative sites.
Other than this, no-wagering casinos may still apply additional terms and conditions that impact on the value (or viability) of the welcome offer.
For example, they may impose a stringent cap on your free spins winnings, meaning that you’ll be able to win much more than your initial deposit. There may also be a strict withdrawal limit deployed by the operator, which could be higher than the value of your winnings and create a scenario where you still have to wager more to access your funds.
A no-wagering casino may also impose a time-frame in which the winnings must be claimed before they’re lost completely.
This is why you should also read the T&Cs at a no-wagering casino, so that you understand your full responsibilities as a player and make a note of any restrictions placed on your activity.
In general terms, however, no-wagering casinos are most suited to casual and social gamblers, who tend to wager relatively low amounts and are less preoccupied with chasing inflated returns.
