Whether you’re a seasoned bingo player or you’ve only just acknowledged the popularity of online bingo, there is a huge choice of promotions and bonuses available today, designed to entice new and existing players to join the fun. With so many tantalizing marketing messages and promises of free cash to play with, it can difficult to know which bingo operator to turn to, particularly as a complete newbie to online bingo. YouGov recently conducted an online report into what is driving the growth of the online bingo industry and found that it is appealing to millennials as well as older bingo ‘traditionalists’.

That’s why we’ve put this guide together to help educate beginner online bingo players about one of the most common and attractive promotions offered by bingo brands – no deposit bingo bonuses.

The basic premise about a no deposit bonus is that it allows you to start playing at a leading online bingo website – preferably one that has been in operation for several years, if not decades – without having to deposit any of your own funds. The number one benefit of this for beginner players is that it allows you to sample the interface of an online bingo operator without committing any money up front. If you don’t like the feel of it, you can simply play through your remaining bonus money and find another operator. You’re not contractually obliged to remain just because you’ve taken advantage of a no deposit bonus offer.

All that you need to provide an online bingo room that offers no deposit bonuses is your name, email address and proof of age. Of course, these iGaming brands will also place great value on having your contact details for future marketing purposes, so it is no skin off their nose to offer you some free bonus funds to mess around with.

In an ideal world, you will play with your bonus funds and actually win a real-money prize for a line or a house. These real-money winnings will be credited to your account, but they won’t be accessible until you’ve played through something called ‘wagering requirements’. These requirements will be stipulated in the terms and conditions of any no deposit bingo bonus. The craftiest online bingo operators will place unrealistic wagering requirements of 20-30x your initial no deposit bonus amount before being able to access and withdraw any winnings. To put this into context, if you were to accept a no deposit bonus from a bingo site that offered £10 free bonus funds to play with, along with a 20x wagering requirement, you would have to wager £200 in their bingo rooms before a penny is available to withdraw to your bank account.

It’s therefore important to keep a close eye on the terms and conditions of every available no deposit bingo bonus and carefully select those with the lowest wagering requirements. However, no deposit promotions are still more attractive than matched deposit bonuses that will offer bonus money matched to the amount of real cash you deposit into your new bingo account. A no deposit bonus is exactly what it says on the tin – no deposit needed and plenty of freedom to sample games and find the bingo rooms and room hosts that make you feel most welcome.