Bookmakers want people to visit their websites for whatever reason they can. That is a simple truth of the business model. The reason being that if you go to their site for one reason, the chances are high that you’ll choose to place some bets whilst you’re there. Maybe you’ll have a look at some In-Play markets or perhaps you’ll take a look at the upcoming Premier League fixtures. It is possible that you’ll go the attached casino and have a go of the roulette. Whatever you choose to do, you’ll be spending money, so companies like Paddy Power offer things such as the Wonder Wheel to get you onto their site in the first place.
What is the Wonder Wheel?
In case you haven’t seen it, it is worth offering a quick explanation of what the Wonder Wheel actually is. It is essentially a game that is free to play, giving you the chance of winning a prize. Paddy Power customers can play the game once a day, with the outcome being decided by a Random Number Generator. The wheel is made up of three segments, with the segments then broken up into sections that each have a symbol within them. The symbols are as follows:
- Up Arrow
- Down Arrow
- Football
- Pants
- Thumbs Down
- Box with a Star
- Cash
- Scratchcard
If you land on the upwards pointing arrow then you move onto the next segment, which will spin and give you another symbol. If you land on the up arrow again then you’ll progress to the third segment, whilst if you land on the downwards pointing arrow then you’ll go back to the previous segment, which will spin again. If you land on the thumbs down symbol then it means you haven’t won anything. If you land on any of the other symbols, meanwhile, then it means you’ve won some sort of prize.
Prizes on Offer
The prizes on offer on the Paddy Power Wonder Wheel are varying in nature. Easily the best one to win is the cash, which gets paid into your account almost immediately. The free scratchcards allow you to play one of Paddy Power’s scratchcard games, which is obviously much less fun when it’s done digitally than if you had a physical scratchcard in front of you. The bonus expires within 24 hours and you have to wager any winnings once in order to be able to withdraw them. Obviously the point of this ‘prize’ is to encourage you to spend your own real money playing scratchcards, so do be aware of that if you win it as a prize.
Free spins are much the same as the scratchcard bonus, inasmuch as they allow you to play some free spins on one of the slot games offered in Paddy Power’s casino. They are also designed to get you to spend your own money on the slots, which is something you’ll want to avoid doing. The free spins don’t have a wagering requirement attached to them but they do need to be used within two hours, so if possible you’re best using them as soon as you’ve won them. If you get a free bet on the sportsbook then you’ll have seven days to use it, with a 1x wagering requirement being in place on that as well in order to withdraw winnings.
The other prize that you might end up getting is a game bonus. This must be accepted from the promotions page, launching an eligible game as a result. As you can imagine, the eligible games change all the time so there’s no point in us listing them here. There is also a 1x wagering requirement on game bonuses, whilst the expiry on them stands at 24 hours. Whichever prize you get, it is what it is and it can’t be exchanged for cash or anything else. There are a few other rules that you should read the terms and conditions about, but generally speaking the various prizes are exactly what they appear to be.
The most important thing to remember, which is why we keep re-iterating it, is that Paddy Power use this loss-leader in order to encourage people onto their website in the hope that they will spend money whilst they’re there. The Wonder Wheel itself is a decent promotion that you can take advantage of, just don’t spend any money that you weren’t already planning on wagering.