An Introduction To The 'Free Bet'

If you have ever had so much as a passing interest in the online sports betting industry then you will probably have come across the term ‘Free bet’. Nearly every advertisement that you have ever seen that promotes any online sports-bookmaker will no doubt have something documented somewhere about a free bet promotion. Companies offer free bets in order to maintain a steady influx of customers to their sites, and to keep them betting once they have arrived. And despite the difficult economic climate, this is one area in which the online gambling industry has not pulled the reins on. Many of these free bets are worth considering, but there are others that will offer you very little in terms of rewards.

So, you will want to know how to tell the difference between a worthy free bet and an unworthy free bet. In order to be able to discern the good from the bad you need to be able to understand the small print that are the terms and condition.

There are different types of free bet, some are offered to new customers only and can be redeemed at the point of opening an account with the bookmaker. Other are run as promotions for existing as well as new customers. Certain bookmakers will allow you to place the free bets without needing to wager a specific amount of money, others will require that you play through the amount of the free bet a certain number of times before you are able to redeem any value- for example, if a company offers you a free bet of £5, they may specify that you need to play-through the amount 10x before you are able to withdraw any winnings, this means that you have to wager £50 before you are able to remove money made from that free bet. This does not usually mean that if you play the £5 free bet and you lose it all, that you need to deposit a further £45 before you are able to withdraw any winnings, only that you need to play through £50 with any profits made from the original free bet.

In order to ensure that you get the most from your free bet, and that you do not experience any unexpected, nasty, surprises, is to make sure that you read through and understand the terms and conditions very carefully. This can be fairly difficult as the language used to for the terms and conditions is legal jargon that can be long winded, convoluted and difficult to understand. But it is very important that you read the rules thoroughly as many free bets have features that you need to be cautious of if you really want to take advantage of the offers.

 Probably the favourite free bet from the point of view of the bookmakers is the sign-up, or welcome, bonus. These bonuses usually require an activation code and many gamblers oversee this clause when signing up, you need to collect your redemption codes and enter them prior to the completion of your registration. If you fail to enter any redemption codes in the specific order they require, then you will more than likely forfeit any free bet- irksome when the only reason you have signed up to that particular bookmakers in the first place is for their fantastic free bet offer that you saw on one of their advertising banners! Although, the redemption code is not a universal fixture at online bookmakers, some do not require such codes to accept the free bet.

One good point regarding the redemption code is that they allow the gambler the choice to reject the offer. Why would you reject free money you may be asking? Well, the reason is simple, some free bets are just not worth playing, the play through clause could be up to 45x the value of the free bet and you may not have the time or inclination to play the bets knowing that you could not win anything at all but still be playing for hours on end. With certain bookmakers who do not offer the redemption code option for receiving the free bet, the bet may be mandatory for all new customers, with no get-out clause available, this can be a real pain if you deposit money then find out that you have received a free bet with a play through of 45x, at such point they will classify any wins as coming from your free bet and not your deposit and you are likely to lose your money.

Another type of free bet that is popular for bookmakers in the UK is the free bet given upon each deposit of a certain amount, or when using a certain type of payment method- debit card deposits are particularly popular. To take advantage of such free bets, make sure you know what the bookmakers are asking of you in order that you are eligible for the receipt of such a free bet.

Still other types of free bet are secured through the placing of specific bets. For example, you may be asked to make several bets of a specific amount before you receive your free bet. In other cases the bookmakers may require that you place bets on specific sports or certain matches within a sporting category. In order to take advantage of this type of free bet, make sure that you know the play-through limits and that you are not risking too much of your own personal bankroll in order to receive a free bet that is effectively useless.

So, as you have probably gathered, although most bookmakers offer free bets, they are not all equal in quality or reward. However, whether you are a professional bettor or just looking for a cheap thrill the free bet can be useful, but just make sure that you understand the ins and outs of what is being offered to you.

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