Free spins or a deposit match, which is actually worth more

Deposit matches are quoted in pounds and free spins are quoted in spins, which makes them awkward to compare. Convert both to the same unit and the ranking often flips.

Put the spins in pounds

Every free spins offer has a spin value buried in the terms, usually between 10p and 20p. Multiply it out:

• 100 spins at 10p = £10 of stakes
• 150 spins at 20p = £30 of stakes

That is the nominal value. Next to a £300 deposit match it looks trivial, and if both carried the same terms it would be. They rarely do.

Then apply the wagering

A deposit match nearly always carries a playthrough. Free spins sometimes do not.

Take a £300 bonus at 20x on bonus only. To convert it you stake £6,000, and the house edge takes its cut of every one of those pounds. At a 4% edge you would expect to hand back around £240 of that turnover on the way through.

Now take 150 wager-free spins at 10p. The £15 of stakes is smaller, but whatever comes out of it is cash. Nothing is deducted, nothing is capped by a playthrough, and you can withdraw it the same day.

The £300 offer is still worth more in expectation. It is not worth twenty times more, which is what the headline implies.

The clauses that decide it

Are winnings cash or bonus funds? This is the question. Spins that pay out as bonus funds are a deposit match wearing a costume, and they inherit the same wagering. Spins that pay cash are a genuinely different product.

Is there a winnings cap? Wager-free spins usually carry one, often between £50 and £100. That ceiling is the price of the missing wagering requirement, and it is a fair trade for most players.

How many slots? Spins locked to one title are worth less than spins you can spread across six, because you are stuck with whatever that game’s volatility does to you.

How are they credited? Fifty a day for three days is worse than 150 at once. Miss two days and you have lost two thirds of the offer.

A rough rule

If you are depositing near the cap of a match offer and intend to play through it properly, the match wins. If you are depositing the minimum, or you know you will not clear a four figure turnover requirement, wager-free spins are usually the better deal despite the smaller number.

Read them side by side

The comparison only works if both offers are described the same way. Our listings pull the wagering, minimum deposit, expiry and withdrawal speed out of the terms for every offer, in the same four fields, so two offers quoted in different units can still be read against each other in a couple of seconds.