Spin City
You may have been wondering what slot game, or pokie as we call them in New Zealand, offers free spins? The answer to this can be a bit complex if you look at it carefully, though if you want an easy solution simply follow the link to get free spins on registration. In the remainder of the article we’ll explain all the necessary information regarding you spinning the reels of some pokie for free!
Free spins are spins you get on some pokie – or any pokie – that have a cash value attached to them, that the casinos are giving out as promotional tools. For example, you may be given 50 free spins worth NZ$0.20 each. This would mean you’re getting 50 x 0.20 = NZ$10 for free.
You never retain the cash value of the free spin itself, but only get to keep the winnings. For example, if you used a $0.20 free spin and the spin was a winning one, with a $1 win, you get to keep the $1 but not the $0.20. In other words, the free spins are non-sticky, they expire once you play them and you only get to keep the winnings.
After you’ve expended the free spins you were given, you will have ended up with some winnings. For example, if you played through 50 free spins worth $0.20 each you may end up with a total win of $9. This is the amount that you won and that is yours to keep – but you only get to withdraw it once you meet the wagering requirements. This is true for almost all free spins offers, though there are those where free spins are wager-free, which means you can withdraw money right away. Wager-free free spins are usually issued together with a deposit cash bonus.
The usual wagering requirement for free spins is 35x, which in the above example would mean that you have to wager $9 x 35 = $315 before you’re allowed to withdraw anything. If you were given free spins without a deposit, expect the wagering to be 45x instead.
A casino may choose to offer free spins in general, they’ll simply give you a certain number of free spins and let you choose the pokie to play them on. Or, as is common in recent times, the casino will issue free spins for one specific pokie in order to promote it and to have control over which pokie you’re playing. You will see free spins for a specific pokie when it’s a new pokie that just came out, or when a casino wants control and gives you free spins on a known popular pokie.
There are online pokies that are ineligible for free spins! The casinos like to protect themselves by excluding pokie that are known to pay well in the long run and pokies that are known to pay large prizes. Depending on the casino, the list of excluded pokies may range from a handful of titles to over 200 titles. You will normally see all pokies with RTP over 97% excluded from all promotions as the casino doesn’t like the reduced house edge that these online pokies bring to the plate.
When you have claimed a few free spins offers, you’ll see that very often the free spins will be given on a pokie by a popular provider in New Zealand, such as Pragmatic Play or one of the smaller providers such as NoLimit City.
It makes sense for casinos to offer free spins on popular pokies as that’s when the player is more likely to claim them. For example, free spins on Big Bass Splash will always be hugely popular and any player would be foolish to not claim that offer and get a chance to catch the big fish.
Somewhat confusingly, almost every pokie is calling its own bonus round free spins. For example, you land three Scatters and you trigger the free spins bonus round where you’re given 10 free spins. But this is not the free spins everyone is talking about, it’s the in-game bonus round that is usually the aim of every gaming session. These free spins will always have the same cash value as the spin that triggered them.
Most experienced players would agree that it makes more sense to play a high volatility game with your free spins than a low volatility game, because you want to give yourself a chance to win big with the limited number of free spins that you were given.
A high volatility pokie is a game that can be tight for a long time – produce a lot of losing spins – but that is known to pay big when the player gets lucky. You can tell by looking at the paytable, the game rules, the game mechanics and the game reviews. And that’s the pokie you want to be playing – the one that gives you that remote chance to win 5,000x your spin value if you get really lucky.
On the other end of the spectrum are the low volatility pokies, that never pay huge prizes but instead have the benefit of a perceived lower risk for the gambler. They appeal to the gamblers that have a goal to not lose much. These pokies tend to pay often and produce a lot of near-wins (spins that pay you back something but it’s less than your bet so you win and lose at the same time), and make you feel as if you’re not risking too much. Your balance doesn’t get reduced as quickly as with tight high volatility pokies.
If you used our example and played through 50 free spins worth $0.20 each, on a high volatility pokie you can hope to win, for example, 500x your bet and therefore get $100, while with a low volatility pokie you’re almost certain to only win a fraction of your total bet, it could be $7 or 8. It depends on your approach – do you want to keep a fraction of the $10 you were given, or have a chance to win $100?
Most gamblers agree that the latter is the better choice, as it doesn’t make much sense to go through the trouble of meeting the wagering requirements for a very small win. It’s better to claim a lot of free spins offers and give yourself a chance to win $100 with every one of them. One will be a winner.
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