Tournaments in Canada

Casino tournaments are the other way to get something extra here: you play the slots you were going to play anyway, your bets earn points, and if you finish high enough on the leaderboard you get a prize. There's nothing to claim in the cashier and no code to enter.

We usually have five or six competitions running at the same time. Some of them are ours, like the weekend races and the Sunday event, and some are provider campaigns that run across a lot of casinos at once, which is where the really big prize pools come from. On this page we explain how the different kinds work, how points are counted, what you need to do to qualify and how the prizes are paid out.

What Kind of Tournaments We Run

Before the list, it helps to know that not every event on the page works the same way. We run three different formats, and the one you're looking at changes what you should do to score well.

Leaderboard races. A set period, a list of slots, and a table of players ranked by points. Prizes go to the top places.
Prize drops. No table and no ranking. Random prizes fall on qualifying spins while the campaign is live.
Series. Several rounds under one name, each with its own start, finish and pool, often with a bigger final round at the end.

What's Running Right Now

Prize pools and dates change from week to week, so the list below is an example of what we usually have on. The tournaments page itself shows the total prize pool across everything running at that moment (at the time of writing it was over C$3,000,000 in cash plus close to 700 free spins), and every card has its own countdown. The page is also split into three tabs, Current, Upcoming and Previous, so you can see what is live now, what is about to start and what has already finished.

Tournament	Type	How often
Spin Express Weekend	In-house leaderboard race	Every weekend
Big Sunday Blast	In-house leaderboard race	Every Sunday
Jewelry Paradise Series	Series of linked events	Several weeks
Million Drops	Prize drops on selected slots	Seasonal
Pragmatic Drops & Wins	Provider network campaign	Monthly rounds
Spinoleague	Provider network campaign	Long season

The first three are run by us, so the prize pool is split between casino players only. The last three come from the game studios and the pool is shared with players at other casinos, which is why the totals look enormous (tens of millions in some cases) while the individual prizes are more normal.

How Slot Tournaments

Every casino tournament has three things: a list of games that count, a period when it runs, and a way of turning your play into points. Once you know those three, the rest is just playing.

Points and Leaderboards

Most of our slot tournaments rank players by win multiplier rather than by how much they win in dollars. In other words, if you bet C$1 and win C$200, that's a 200x round, and it counts the same as a C$10 bet that returns C$2,000. This is done on purpose so that someone betting a dollar a spin can still finish near the top.

Other events count points per bet, where every qualifying spin adds points and bigger bets add more. The exact rule is written on the tournament card itself, so it's worth reading before you start rather than assuming it's the same as last week's event.

The HolySpin leaderboard updates while you play. You can see your position, the number of prize places and how far you are from the next spot without leaving the game.

Prize Drops

Prize drops work differently. There's no leaderboard, no competing against anyone. During the campaign, random cash prizes drop to players who are spinning the eligible slots, so it's possible to land one on your very first spin of the day. Pragmatic's Drops & Wins is the best known example, and there are usually a couple of other drop campaigns from other studios running alongside it.

Series Events

A series is just several tournaments linked together under one name, each with its own dates and its own prize pool. Jewelry Paradise works like that. You can join every stage or only the ones that fall on days you feel like playing; entry isn't carried over and missing a stage doesn't disqualify you from the next one.

Which Games Count

The game list is set per tournament, and it's usually built around one studio or one group of slots. Pragmatic Play events run on Pragmatic titles, so things like Gates of Olympus, Big Bass Splash or Sweet Bonanza. Our own weekend races tend to be wider and include popular slots from BGaming, Playtech, Play'n GO and a few others, with the full list shown on the tournament card.

A couple of things worth knowing about the game list at Casino. Live dealer tables and RNG table games aren't part of slot tournaments, and demo play never counts, since a tournament needs real bets to rank. Jackpot slots are sometimes excluded as well, the same way they're excluded from bonus wagering.

How to Take Part

Log in to your HolySpin account. You need at least one completed deposit to qualify for a prize pool.
Open the Tournaments section and pick the event you like. Check the dates and the list of qualifying games.
Start playing one of those slots with real money. The terms put it plainly: players opt in and qualify automatically when they play qualifying slot games, so there is no form to fill in.
Keep an eye on the leaderboard while you play.
Wait for the event to finish. Prizes are worked out from the final standings.

There is no entry fee on the HolySpin tournaments we run ourselves and no separate HolySpin bonus code to enter. The button on a tournament card takes you to sign-up if you don't have an account yet, and to the games if you do. Once you're playing an eligible slot with cash during the tournament period, you're in it.

The Rules That Decide Whether Your Spins Count

This is the part that causes most of the questions in live chat, so it's worth going through carefully.

Real money only. Spins made with bonus funds don't earn tournament points. If you have an active bonus, your play is going toward wagering instead, not toward the leaderboard.
At least one deposit. Accounts that have never made a deposit can play the games, but they don't qualify for the prize pool.
Eligible games only. Each event has its own list. A slot that counted last weekend isn't guaranteed to count in this weekend's race.
Minimum bet. Many tournaments only count spins from a certain bet size upward, and it's shown in the rules of that event.
One claim per household. The terms say an offer can be claimed once per person, account, household, address, bank account and IP address, unless a particular tournament says otherwise. Several accounts in one home don't create several entries.
Slots, not tables. The terms use the wording "qualifying slot games", so live dealer rounds and RNG table games don't build tournament points, even though they are real-money play.
Notifications. Updates about campaigns are sent by email and SMS, and you will only get them if promotional emails and SMS are switched on in your account settings.
No exploiting the games. If someone tries to abuse the mechanics of a game to climb the table, the prize is taken away and the account is disqualified from that campaign. Game rounds are checked before prizes are credited, so results are not paid out blind.

We can also change or suspend a campaign if there is a technical failure or a suspected abuse of bonuses, and that is written into the tournament terms. Some campaigns are limited by country as well, which happens more often with the provider ones than with ours. The countries are listed in the terms of that event. For players in Canada the thing to look at is usually the game list, because studios sometimes leave out particular titles even when the rest of the series is available.

An Example of How Points Add Up

Let's say a weekend race is ranked by the best win multiplier and the minimum qualifying bet is C$0.50. You play at C$1 a spin and one of your rounds pays C$350, which is 350x, and that result goes on the board. Later in the session you bet C$3 and win C$600. It's more money, but it's only 200x, so it doesn't improve your place on the leaderboard.

In an event that gives points for the amount you bet, it works the other way around. If every C$1 you wager is worth one point, then the C$3 spin gives you three times more than the C$1 spin and it makes no difference how much you won on it. These two events can run in the same week at the same casino, and what you should do in them is completely different, so it's worth spending a minute on the rules before you start.

Prizes and How They're Paid

Prize type	How it's paid	What to check
Cash	Credited to your real balance	Whether any playthrough is attached
Free spins	Credited as a spin reward	Game, expiry, cashout cap
Points or tickets	Added to your account	What they can be exchanged for

Cash prizes from our own tournaments are normally credited to your real balance. Still, a prize that a campaign advertises isn't always money you can withdraw right away, so it's better to check the prize terms of that event first. This is especially true for prizes in free spins, because they have the same conditions as any other spin reward, which means a specific game, an expiry date and usually a limit on how much of the winnings you can take out.

Prize pools are usually a mix of cash and free spins rather than cash alone, and the split for a given event is shown with it. How long it takes to get the prize depends on the event. With provider campaigns it's often a day or two after the round ends, because the studio has to confirm the results before anything is paid, and our own casino platform events are usually settled quicker than that. If you finished in a prize place and nothing has arrived after a couple of days, write to support and give them the name of the tournament and the date it ended.

Should You Play Tournaments Instead of Bonuses?

They don't really compete with each other and most of our regular players use both, just not on the same day. With a bonus you get extra money at the start, but you have wagering to deal with afterwards. With a tournament you don't get anything at the start, and there are no conditions on how you play either, because you're playing with your own money the whole time.

The part where they overlap is worth thinking about. Since spins made with bonus money don't give points, when there's a race you actually want to play, it's better to finish the bonus you have (or cancel it) and then play the race with cash. Otherwise it can happen that you spend the whole weekend clearing wagering and finish the tournament with no points at all, which is a question we get in chat almost every Monday.

A Few Practical Tips

Check how points are counted before anything else. If the event is ranked by multiplier, betting more doesn't make it easier to get on the board, it only makes the session cost more.
High volatility slots suit short races. A HolySpin weekend race is usually won with one big hit rather than with a lot of small wins, although the same volatility can just as easily leave you with nothing.
Keep an eye on the last hours. Places tend to move around a lot near the end of an event, and a position that looked safe on Saturday night can be gone by Sunday evening.
Decide on your budget first. A leaderboard is made to keep you playing, so it's easier if you know beforehand how much this weekend is worth to you and stop at that point, whether you're in a prize place or not.

Tournament Words You'll See on the Page

Prize pool - the total value of prizes in an event, cash and spins together.
Leaderboard - the ranking table for that tournament, updated live.
Qualifying bet - the minimum stake that earns points in that event.
Multiplier - your win divided by your bet. A C$2 bet returning C$300 is 150x.
Round - one stage of a series, with its own dates and pool.
Settlement - the point when results are final and prizes are credited.

FAQ

Do I need to register for a tournament?

No. Play an eligible game with real money during the tournament period and you're entered automatically. You do need at least one deposit on the account.

Do bonus spins count toward the leaderboard?

No, only real-money play counts. While you're wagering a bonus, your spins go toward the wagering requirement instead.

How many players get a prize?

It depends on the HolySpin event. Some of our races pay 20 or 30 places, and the bigger provider campaigns spread the pool across hundreds of prizes. The number of places is written in the rules of each tournament.

Are tournament prizes the same as a bonus?

Not always. Cash prizes are usually credited as real money, but prizes in free spins come with the conditions of that spin reward, including the expiry and the withdrawal cap.

Can I play tournaments on my phone?

Yes. The tournament section, the leaderboards and the timers all work in the mobile browser and in the web app, and you don't need a separate HolySpin download for any of it.

What happens if I disconnect during a tournament?

Your points stay where they are. Rounds are settled on the game server, so a lost connection doesn't cancel your results, though it's worth checking that your last spin was recorded when you come back.

Can I take part in several tournaments at once?

Yes, and it happens without you doing anything. If the slot you're playing counts in two events, your spins earn points in both of them.

Where can I see previous results?

The Tournaments section keeps the finished events with their final standings. If you can't see a leaderboard you were on, support can look it up for you.