No deposit poker bonuses are the easiest way to get started on your online poker playing experience, without putting a dent on your pockets. Of course, you can also try out freeroll poker or download free mobile poker games, but these won't give you the "real" poker experience as they are mostly practice games.
No deposit bonuses, on the other hand, give you free credits to play actual, competitive poker slots and keep winnings. Naturally, the no deposit poker credits are quite low compared to reload and match bonuses, and cannot be withdrawn immediately.
On the upside, they give you a zero-risk path to building a decent online poker bankroll that you can subsequently employ to play more lucrative slots and keep winnings.
No deposit bonuses in poker are often confused with freeroll poker, probably due to the illusion that they both give out free money to players. The two are however extremely different from each other and serve completely different purposes.
To put it simply, a freeroll is a type of tournament organized by a casino or software promoter that carries a real money prize pool.
Participating players often take on each other in a progressive elimination system. In the end, the best players make it to the money spots (and keep winnings), which usually have no withdrawal limitations.
Poker sites hold freeroll either for marketing purposes or as a way to "reward" their players while also increasing user engagement within their sites.
On the other hand, no deposits are the bonuses you get when you create an account with a given online casino, and even before you make your first deposit. In some cases, these bonuses activate automatically while in others, you need to use the casino-provided bonus code to claim the stipulated bonus.
Depending on the casino in question, no deposit credits can also be locked to a certain slot, or be open to a wider selection of slots.
Further, the bonuses are primarily given to new players, although some casinos do sometimes tweak things around and give out no deposit credits across the board. No deposit offers are mostly geared towards attracting new players and as a promotional tool to show how "generous" the casino is.
While they may be said to have similar roles in a casino, freerolls and no deposits are unique in their own ways, and are sometimes included together in the welcome package.
No deposit poker bonuses typically average $25-$30 and have play-through requirements of between 20 and 50 times the bonus amount.
While most players would definitely prefer if these bonuses didn't come laden with conditions, casinos would incur heavy losses if they gave away free money to everyone who joins their platform. The wagering requirements simply serve as the sweet middle spot at which both sides get away satisfied.