Mia's Online Casino Journey

I played my first freeroll to find out firsthand if they are.

A couple of days ago, I entered my very first freeroll slots tournament online. Playing in one of these tournaments is something I’ve been considering doing for a few weeks now (which you know if you’ve been following my Mia’s Online Casino Journey in Canada blog).

Here, I’ll explain my freeroll tourney experience as well as provide a bit of info about what freerolls are, in case you’ve never played this type of slots tournament before and are interested in learning a little more about them. 😃

What is a freeroll slots tournament, and are these slots tournaments free?

A freeroll slots tournament is a time sensitive slots-based tournament that you can enter for free. This means that you do not have to spend any of your money (buy-in) to join. Usually, non-cash prizes, such as free spins, are the reward for winners of these slot tournaments.

Freeroll slots tournament participants are given free spins that they are to play through all at once on a specific game. Any wins from these spins are converted into points that count toward the player’s position on the leaderboard. The more a player wins, the higher their point value and the higher their leaderboard rank. If a player is in one of the prize positions by the end of the tournament, they will win the prize that corresponds with their winning position on the leaderboard.

How do freeroll slots tournaments work?

• You join a freeroll by clicking the designated button that gives you access to the tournament.
• You are given a predetermined number of free spins (e.g. 10 spins) at a set value (e.g. $1.00).
• You claim and play these spins on a selected slot game within a specific time period.
• Any wins you achieve with your spins are converted into points.
• These points count toward your ranking on the tournament leaderboard.
• If, by the end of the tournament you place in one of the prize spots (e.g. one of the top five positions), you win the corresponding prize (e.g. 1st place = 50 Free Spins).

That’s all there is to it. Freeroll slots tournaments are easy to join and they cost nothing to play.

What is the difference between a freeroll and buy-in slots tournament?

Quite simply:

• Freeroll tournament – You don’t pay to enter or play. Prizes are usually non-cash rewards.

• Buy-in tournament – You pay a buy-in fee (e.g. $1) to take part in the tournament. A portion of this fee goes toward the tournament’s cash prize pool. The top prizes are usually cash.

Just like a freeroll slots tournament, with buy-in tourneys you will also receive a set number of spins at a predetermined value to play on a designated slot game. Also, like freerolls, any wins you get from your spins are converted into points that determine your leaderboard rank. You can only get cash winnings from a buy-in tournament if you are in one of the top prize positions on the leaderboard by the end of the tournament.

Wins from spins are never awarded to your player balance in either tournament: Any wins that result from tournament spins are converted into leaderboard points. These wins are never cash paid to your player balance.  The only way to win a tournament prize (cash or other reward) is to be in one of the prize positions by the end of the tournament.

My first freeroll slots tournament(s) experience

I logged into my online casino account and headed over to the slots tournament section, which PlayOJO calls “Reel Spinoffs.” From there, I was shown all the tournaments that were available (or had already ended) for the day. These include both buy-in and freeroll tourneys.

As you can see in the screenshot above, each tournament runs for a certain amount of time. For tournaments that are active and that can be joined, you can see how many players are currently taking part. For upcoming tournaments, you can see the countdowns for when they’ll begin.

I joined the Daily Freeroll 1, about 13ish minutes before it ended. Typically, the later you join the tournament, the more players there are. The more players, obviously the higher the competition.

Once I clicked the “Join” button, I received a message that said I’d be able to claim my Rewards (the free spins for the tournament) once I received a notification that they were available.

This notification was sent to my email.

The email informed me that I had 10 Tournament Spins for Daily Freeroll 2 Spinoff (which I found odd since I joined the Daily Freeroll 1 – which by the way is the freeroll my spins actually counted toward – weird, but whatever).

I was also informed that the spins had no cash value and count toward only my leaderboard rankings. Once I clicked the “Claim Now” link in the email, I was taken back to the casino where I found the tournament spins waiting in my rewards section.

As you can see in this screenshot (above), the freeroll slots tournament spins I received had to be used within 23 hours and 59 minutes or they would expire. I used mine immediately.

Once I clicked “Claim”, the tournament slot opened. For this tournament the game was GVG’s Spinning Wilds online slot.

Before you start your spins, you go through one last verification step where you confirm if you want to use your free spins now. If you click “Yes” the spins are activated. If you click “No” you’ll lose them and won’t be able to claim them again for that tournament. Obviously, I clicked “Yes”.

After this point, the game loads and your free spins automatically activate and will play through until they are finished. Any wins I got – as previously mentioned before – were converted into points. By the end of the spins (which I think took maybe one minute, if that, to play through), my total win was a lousy $1.00! 😆 This earned me a total of 100 points and I think an initial ranking of #747.

Once the tournament was over 12 minutes later, I ranked #766 out of the 915 players who took part. That rank is so bad, you don’t even get the thrill of seeing your name posted in the leaderboard, which only shows the players in the first 200 positions LOL!

Are freeroll slots tournaments rigged?

Given this was my first ever freeroll slots tournament, my poor score combined with the fact that I was given the option to continue playing the game (if I clicked “OK”) with my real money balance or the option to deposit once my spins were finished, had me confused.

I was like, “Wait…are they implying that if I play the game with my balance now that I can buy more points and boost my ranking on the tournament board?”

I’ll admit, for a moment, in my newbie confusion I honestly wondered, “are slots tournament rigged?” I did a bit of digging online and couldn’t quite find a clear answer, so I decided to ask a question about it on Reddit, but didn’t get a response. Not one to give up on the search for answers, I decided to play in a second freeroll to see if the outcome would be any better.  To my surprise, it was.

Once available, I joined the next freeroll, Daily Freeroll 2 (…even though this time around PlayOJO awarded me spins for Daily Freeroll 1, again, weird, since the spins points I got counted toward the Daily Freeroll 2 leaderboard, but whatever).

I went through the same claiming process and got 10 Free Spins for Spinning Wilds. This time when my spins finished (again took like a minute or less), I won $4.70 (470 points).

Since I started earlier in the tournament, my rank was higher #66 (because there were fewer players). While I knew I wasn’t in the running for one of the prize positions, it was still fun to see my player username on the leaderboard!

By the end of the tournament, a total of 869 players had taken part, and my final rank was #425. Not bad, all in all. Much better than my initial #747 rank. 🤣

So, are freeroll slots tournaments rigged? Ultimately, I’ve come to the conclusion that, no, freeroll slots tournaments are not rigged (okay, at least if you play them at a legitimately licensed Ontario online casino). Once you’ve gone through your spins, the casino simply gives you the opportunity to play the game for real money. At that point, any wins you accumulate would be sent directly to your bankroll as normal (and any losses would deplete your bankroll like normal).

Only the spins you’re given for the tournament are what count toward your rank on the leaderboard. Whether you rank high or not merely depends on how lucky you are when you play.

Are freeroll slots tournaments worth it?

Absolutely, I think freeroll slots tournament are worth it. Why?

• They cost nothing to join
• They are quick to play
• You have a chance to win something

Plus, they are a great way to get a feel for how slots tournaments work. So, if one day down the road you want to take part in a buy-in tournament, you’ll have a better understanding of how they work and what to expect. Just like playing free slots, I’m sure freerolls could also help you to develop and hone a slots tournament strategy.

Personally, I think freerolls are a lot of fun, and I’m looking forward to playing in my next one to see how high I’ll rank.

What about you? Have you played slots tournaments online? If so, are you a freeroll slots tournament or buy-in slots tournament kind of player?

Until next time, good luck and have fun!

Mia 👩‍💻

*All links and images in this post are for information purposes only.