Have you ever found a new online casino that is offering a free chip with no deposit needed? Of course you have. And it looks extremely tempting, doesn’t it. But ask yourself this question: are those free casino bonus chips really that free?

To answer that question, first you need to understand what a casino is offering when they advertise “free chips”. This is not actually money that’s free, what it really means is “free casino credits” which is a horse of a different color than free cash.

All free casino chips are is, in effect, play money that you can use to try out a casino. The free chip itself can never actually be cashed out. One example: a brand new online casino offers you a $100 free chip. You play at the casino and get this $100 up to $200 before deciding that you should cash out while you still can.

So, even though the balance in the cashier section of the casino says ‘$200′, you can only cash out $100 of that. The other $100 is the non-cashable free chip. Worse still are the wager requirements that are always associated with casino bonuses. Wager requirements are set by each online casino and mean that you have to wager a multiple of the bonus cash before you can cash out any winnings. These multiples are usually between 20 and 40 times the bonus amount.

Other rules that can also be included in a casinos “free cash” advertisement is “only applicable games count towards wager requirements”. This means if you use the free chip to play games not approved then any wager you do does not count.

Make sure you carefully check every casinos terms and conditions to be certain which games count towards the wagering requirement for the bonus chip you are using. There is one other factor involved when playing a ‘free chip’ and that is: what is the maximum cashout for that bonus.

Many free chips now have a limit on how much real cash you can win from their no deposit bonus. This limit could be as little as $50. That would mean that no matter how much you win, you would only be able to cashout $50.

All online casinos should cover this in their terms and conditions and we strongy suggest our make sure you know these rules before accepting a “free chip” offer.

So, just how free do you think that ‘free chip’ really is?

Jim Haines regularly writes on online casinos and you can find his Paradise 8 Casino review along with many others at http://www.usa-players-welcome.com