The UK market has been going through several changes in 2020 – 2021, with various player safety focussed measures being introduced.

Possibly the most notable change has been the ban on gambling with credit cards. A big change for the operators which no doubt represents an overall positive change for the industry. The ban should stop players from running up credit card debts.

Other changes have come about to how slot machines must display bonus money and real money balances in a clear separate way, how machines must not ‘celebrate’ losses by way of sound effects, and many other subtle changes.

Switching to the subject of welcome packages, this is another area in which the landscape has changed. It seems that 2021 marks the full on come back of the free spins (or extra spins) deal.

We’ve seen entire networks of sites and swathes of brands such as these ones here introduce ‘free spins’ welcome packages in a bid to try and entice new players to join their sites.

On the face of it, these deals seem to represent a no-brainer decision for players, a something for nothing situation.

Whilst it’s true that these deals won’t cost the player any money, it may turn out that the deals are somewhat less fruitful than initially hoped. If disappointment is going to kick in, it’s probably going to be due to certain terms and conditions that may be apply to the offer.

At The Trends Next, we’ve decided to put together a list of the most commonly seen terms and conditions, which can apply to the free spins welcome offer deals, like the ones Bingo Paradise lists.

Kicking off the list, we’ll start with Wagering Requirements. This should probably be the term that you train your eyes to look for before signing up to a new brand. Fortunately wagering requirements should be set out in the significant terms that relate to the offer – meaning the operator has a duty to present these terms prominently alongside the offer.

Wagering requirements are usually presented as ‘10x’, where the ’10’ means wager by 10. In this scenario, it would mean that in order for bonus money won from the free spins rounds to be converted into real withdraw-able money, it would have to be wagered 10 times. Can you see how this term significantly lowers your chances of converting your bonus funds into real money balance?

Next up, Maximum Wins. Again these terms will almost certainly form part of the brands significant terms and therefore should be easy to spot. Maximum wins literally limit the amount that you can win from a free spin. The limits can be on a per spin basis or they can apply collectively to a free spins round.

The final term that we suggest you be on the look out for is the time limit term. It’s probably not a big issue for most players as we believe most of you will want to redeem your free spins as soon as your account is open. However, for those that delay, if this term is present your free spins may have an expiry date.

Overall Free Spins (or extra spins) can be a great incentive to sign up to a new site. The point of this article isn’t to detract from this, but rather to make you aware that all free spins welcome deals are not equal and it’s therefore important to get familiar with the types of terms and conditions and wagering requirements that may apply to these deals.