Slot Machine Freerolls – A Good Deal or a Waste of Your Time

One good thing about online slots is that they allow you to enjoy fun games for free. Most internet casinos let you try their games without betting any real money. The only problem with this, though, is that you can’t win anything if you don’t risk something. But slots freerolls differ in this regard, because they do give you a chance to win money without taking risk. Furthermore, freerolls offer the opportunity to build a bankroll for free.

Slots freerolls sound great on this surface. However, there are drawbacks to consider before you devote much time to playing freeroll tournaments. I’m going to discuss the pros and cons of freerolls and offer advice on whether or not they’re worth your time. But first, I’ll cover the basics of these tournaments and how to find and play them.

What Is a Slots Freeroll?

A slots freeroll is a tournament that you can enter for free. No entry fee is required, and you have a chance to win real prize money.

If you’ve played slots tournaments before, then you’ll have little trouble getting adjusted to freerolls. All you do is spin the reels for a designated time and try to earn as many credits as possible. The goal is to collect more credits than other players in the freeroll and work your way up the leaderboard. Most of these tourneys pay the top 3-10 finishers.

How Do You Enter a Slots Freeroll?

The first step to playing a slots freeroll involves finding an online casino that offers them. Luckily, this is an easy task since many gaming sites feature freerolls. You can visit a site and look at their tournament lobby to verify that they indeed have freerolls. Once you confirm this, you’ll need to register for an account.

This is a simple process that involves entering details like your name, username, password, and email. Once you’re finished with account registration, you need to agree to the terms and conditions. You’ll also be asked to visit your email and verify the account. This is the final step before you’re eligible to play in these tournaments.

Visit the casino’s lobby and look for an upcoming freeroll that you can enter. Simply click on the event and choose the register button. The last step is to be ready for the freeroll start time and play the tournament. Once your round is finished, you’ll know your score and rank on the leaderboard.

Different Types of Slots Freerolls

All online slots freerolls have the same basic elements that I discussed before. But these events can differ based on entry requirements and whether or not you’re allowed to rebuy.

Open Entry w/ Rebuys

The most common type of freeroll is an open entry event with rebuys. These tournaments allow any member of a casino to register for and play the event. This is great from the perspective that you don’t need to have any special loyalty status to play. Instead, you simply need a valid account and to be ready on time.

A rebuy means that you can play these same freeroll again by purchasing extra chips. Here’s an example on how this works:

You play an open freeroll and earn 500 credits.
This ranks well below the top leaderboard scores.
You purchase more chips for $1 and play another round.

You certainly don’t have to rebuy when your round is finished. You may even get lucky and win money without doing so.

However, rebuys are nice way to take extra shots at qualifying for a payout if you fail to win anything the first time. What’s more is that the rebuy element adds more strategy into the equation. You need to figure out how many times it’s worth rebuying into an event. The prize pool will go a long way towards helping you make this choice.

For example, a $50 freeroll with a $25 top prize isn’t offering much value. You wouldn’t want to waste much money using multiple rebuys in such an event. But a $200 freeroll with a $100 top prize is a different story. You might consider a few rebuys in this case fora small cost.

Open Entry w/ No Rebuys

Another popular freeroll type is an open entry tournament with no rebuys. These are nice for players who want to be on equal footing with their opponents without spending money. Everybody has the same chance of winning open entry freeroll without buy-ins. You don’t have to worry about another player having superior odds just because they’re willing to spend big on rebuys.

The downside, though, is that there’s little strategy involved with these events. All you do is play your round and hope to get lucky. The casinos themselves don’t benefit much from these tournaments either. They aren’t making anything off rebuys and are completely giving away free money.

VIP Tournaments

A VIP freeroll requires you to be at a specific status in order to play. As long as you meet the casino’s required loyalty level, you’ll be able to compete in these events.

Here’s an example on how one of these tournaments works:

A casino is offering a $1,500 freeroll.
This tourney is only open to Gold level players.
You must have achieved 1 million lifetime comp points to qualify for Gold status.

The best thing about VIP freerolls is that they normally offer bigger prize pools than open entry events. The reason why is because casinos want to reward bigger players and are willing to give out free money to accomplish this goal.

The obvious downside to a VIP event is that you can only enter if you’re at the required status level. Going further, you may not be able to play these types of freerolls at all if none are available to your loyalty level.

Land Based Tournaments

Land-based casinos commonly mail/email free tickets to their slots tournaments. These are essentially freerolls, because you only need to show up with your coupon to enter. Land-based slots tournaments often feature prize pools worth $1,000 or more. The only cost is whatever it takes you to get to the casino.

You may also enjoy these events from the perspective that you’re playing slot machines in a brick-and-mortar venue. These freerolls are especially fun if you bring a buddy along. The main downside is that land-based slots tournaments aren’t as convenient as the online variety. You might have to drive an hour or more to the nearest casino, which reduces the value of the proposed freeroll.

Pros of Slots Freerolls

Freeroll tournaments exist for reason. Many people love playing in these events and having a chance at winning free cash. But there are other benefits beyond just how you can win money in freeroll tournaments. Here’s a look at the main benefits you can enjoy from these events.

You Don’t Have to Risk Anything

Casinos don’t usually offer you chances to win free money without getting something in return. But freerolls are perhaps your best shot at being able to earn free cash on the house.

I described earlier how registering for an account is the only barrier to entry. You’ll be able to play freerolls as long as you’re willing to complete this simple step. If you’re somebody who doesn’t like risking much money on slots, then you’ll appreciate being able to play these events without spending a dime.

Fun Way to Play for Real Money

Freerolls are nice from the perspective that you have an opportunity to win real money without risk. But they’re even better when considering that you can enjoy entertaining slots in the process.

Casinos base freerolls around their latest and/most popular games. This gives you the chance to try slots for free while still being eligible for prize money. You may later decide to deposit and play these games for real money. Or you can simply look for the next freeroll and enjoy a new game with another prize pool on the line.

Try Slots in a New Format

Perhaps you’re well versed in playing online slots tournaments. If not, though, you’ll appreciate playing slot machines in a new format. Slots tournaments are different from standard play, because you’re competing against other players rather than the house. The goal is to rack up more credits than everybody else.

One key to doing so is spinning the reels as fast as possible. You want the maximum amount of chances to build your bankroll. I suggest setting aside time where you can fully concentrate on a freeroll. After all, you don’t want anything distracting you from quickly spinning the reels.

Turn Prizes into a Bankroll

Chances are that you’re not interested in freerolls for the slots alone. You also want to win a piece of the prize pool and use these funds to earn more money. This is what’s great about slots freerolls in that you can turn small prizes into a larger bankroll. For example, you might win $5 and manage to run this payout into $20 or more. If you’re dealing with a small or even nonexistent bankroll, then freerolls maybe your only chance to accumulate a bankroll.

VIP Tournaments Can Offer Large Prize Pools

Earlier I discussed how VIP freerolls require you to have a certain loyalty status before you’re eligible to play. This is bad from the perspective that it bars you from playing these free tournaments until you reach the designated VIP level.

The good news, though, is that VIP freerolls also offer bigger prize pools than the average tournament. If you’re at a really high status, you may be eligible to play for prize pools worth thousands of dollars. I’ll don’t recommend working feverishly to increase your loyalty level for these freerolls alone. However, free tourneys with big prize pools are definitely a nice perk to holding a higher status.

Cons of Slots Freerolls

It may not seem like there’s any downside to taking free shots at winning slots funds. But there are definitely considerations you should take into account before becoming gung-ho about freerolls.

Poor Ratio of Entrants to Prize Money

Open entry freerolls don’t usually offer very big prize pools. Chances are, though, that you don’t mind when considering how you have a free chance to win money. But what really devalues open entry freerolls is the ratio between the prize pool and players. You’ll see hundreds or even thousands of entrants competing for a $50 pool.

Here’s an example to illustrate your expected value for the average open entry freeroll:

You register for a $50 freeroll.
1,000 players enter the tourney.
50 / 1,000 = 0.05
Your average expected value for this tournament is $0.05.

You don’t stand to win much on average with these events. This makes them a poor use of your time when compared to regular tourneys.

Low Chances of Winning

Continuing off the last point, you don’t have very good odds of winning money into free tournaments. The ratio of entries to prize money makes it hard to win anything significant.

Here’s an example to illustrate how low your chances are of collecting a payout:

You enter a freeroll that pays the top 10 finishers.
3,000 players enter the event.
10 / 2,000 = 0.005
You have a 0.5% chance of winning any prize in this tournament.

Open entry freerolls with rebuys are somewhat different because they offer more prize money than non-rebuy events. Nevertheless, your return on investment is typically higher with a regular slots tournament.

VIP freerolls are a totally different story since the prizes are bigger. But you’re essentially paying to participate in these based on how much money you’re betting to earn/retain a certain loyalty status.

Average Prize Isn’t Worth Much

Another downside to freerolls is that the prizes aren’t normally worth much. At best, you’re looking at earning between $25 and $50 for winning an entire event.

Obviously it’s great if you do manage to win a freeroll and collect this type of money without assuming any risk. But again, your odds of winning something – let alone the entire tournament – are low. This definitely affects any dreams you may have of turning a small payout into bigger winnings. Chances are that whatever you win from a freeroll won’t last very long in the aftermath.

Rebuys Are Often a Necessity

You may hate the thought of rebuying into a freeroll. But this is usually a necessary evil in order to earn a payout. Sometimes it’s possible to collect a prize from your initial freeroll entry. However, the most realistic path to winning anything is using a few rebuys. Spending a dollar to rebuy into an event isn’t going to break your bankroll. But these fees can add up when you continue rebuying again and again.

Terms and Conditions on Winnings

Don’t expect to walk off into the sunset with freeroll winnings. Instead, casinos attach terms and conditions to these payouts so that you have to earn the free money afterward.

Here’s a sample scenario:

You win $5 in a freeroll tournament.
Wagering requirements on these winnings are 20x the amount.
You also need to meet the $10 minimum cashout before withdrawing anything.

This example shows that you must wager quite a bit before you’re eligible to withdraw the winnings. What’s more is that you also have to meet the minimum cashout. Casinos don’t like handing out free money. Therefore, they create more barriers before you can withdraw a freeroll prize.

Should You Play in Freeroll Slots Tournaments?

You should look carefully at the pros and cons discussed here in order to decide whether it’s worth playing freerolls. Your answer will differ from the next person based on what you value most.

Assuming you want the best chance to win money without spending anything, then freerolls are a nice way to do this. All you need to have is a valid account in order to participate. You’ll also appreciate freeroll tournaments if you want to try new games and/or experience a different format. Freerolls revolve around the latest and most popular games.

As for the format, tournaments are an excellent way to experience slots in a unique manner. Tourneys see you compete against fellow players rather than the site. You should also consider what setting you want to play a freeroll in. Both online and land-based casinos offer these events, which gives you two ways to enjoy freerolls.

I don’t suggest that you spend much time with free tournaments if you already have a large bankroll. You’re not going to win much in a freeroll and will most likely find it to be a waste of time. If you don’t have much money to gamble with, though, then these tourneys are the perfect way to play slots and at least have some chance of winning.

Conclusion

Getting started with slots freerolls is easy. Just visit an online gaming site and look for their tournament lobby to make sure they have freerolls. From here, register for and validate your account to become eligible for these events. You’ll then have the opportunity to win money in these free tourneys.

I sometimes play freeroll tournaments as a fun way to pass the time. But I don’t pour a lot of time into them when considering the low odds of winning and tiny payouts. However, you may find freerolls worthwhile if you’re just starting out with slots tournaments or online gaming in general.

Ideally, you’ll build your bankroll and be able to play slots in the regular format. Real money slots offer bigger prizes and more thrills than a freeroll. But if you’re like me, you may still find yourself going back to freerolls once in awhile to enjoy yourself.