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Bonus Bets

The majority of bookmakers online offer various welcoming packages for their new customers. These packages often include free bets and sign-up offers which can be extremely beneficial to the customers. The offers can be related either to an event or a specific match, and each bookmaker lists them on their special offers page.

What Does a Free Bet Mean?

Before we examine the particulars of these offers, it might be a good idea to cover the basics first. So, what exactly is a free bet? Well, people don’t always have to part with their money in order to see a return on their investments. How so? Provided that they meet certain conditions, there’s a chance that they’re given bonus bets. In other words, they can freely bet on anything they want without spending a penny!

There are multiple variations of these welcoming bonuses which usually correspond to the specific rules of the bookmaker’s website. For example, there are risk-free bets, profit multipliers, money-back free bets, deposit and reload free bets.

Placing a regular first bet usually requires that the users deposit their money and place it against specific odds. Additionally, there’s a minimum monetary requirement (10 pounds, for example) that they have to meet to actually place a bet. So, the fact that these bookmakers are willing to shake things up by offering bonus bets is quite interesting.

The important thing here is to always check the bookmaker’s website and read through their terms and conditions.

How Do You Use Free Bet Offers?

Even though the name ‘Free Bet’ suggests that everything’s completely free, that’s not necessarily true. There are a couple of things that people should know about free bets and how they work.

The first thing to consider is that there’s no way to get a free bet without depositing money (or placing a bet) beforehand. For example, people who just signed up to the bookmaker’s website will receive, let’s say, a £40 bet only after they have deposited the same amount.

As mentioned above, another important thing is that there’s going to be a minimum depositing requirement. That means that the customers have to credit their accounts with (at least) £10 if they want a deposit bonus.

Once the customers meet these requirements, they are eligible for a free bet. They can use their bonus bets for any event they want (unless the bookmakers state otherwise).

However, there’s one general rule that most of these bookmakers abide by. The customers can’t get their stake back when they use their free bets.

Getting No-Deposit Free Bets – Is It Possible?

One question always arises in the general public: Is it possible to get and place a free bet without depositing money? The answer is yes. However, the number of bookmakers that offer no-deposit free bets isn’t the greatest. Why? Because it’s a bit risky for the less popular bookmakers to offer their bonuses just like that.

These no-deposit free bets are usually a part of a promotional package. The more experienced bookmakers use them to draw attention to their services and attract new customers. However, the time to claim these free bets is limited, so the customers need to act fast. Alternatively, they limit the number of no-deposit free bets that the customers can claim. Therefore, it might be a bit tricky to find out which bookmaker has these offers and not miss them.

Free Bet Offers and Sign-Up Bonuses – Are They Any Different?

Another common misconception is that there’s no difference between a sign-up bonus and a free bet offer. Even though they sound like they’re essentially the same thing, that’s not the case. In fact, they are so different that these bookmakers choose to offer either one or the other. Allow us to explain.

Sign-up deposit bonuses are probably a more popular option than its counterpart. The main reason is that the bookmaker decides to match the deposited amount with bonus funds (same amount). For example, if the users deposit £100, the bookmaker will match that sum with an additional £100. As a result, the users have £200 to bet on any event they choose.

On the other hand, a free bet can be anything from £5 to £30 (or even more, depending on the bookmaker). The difference is that the customers are operating with far less in terms of the available betting money. In addition, there’s no way that the bookmaker will match that bet with an additional one since the user already claimed the bonus.

However, there still might be some minimum requirements that the users need to meet in order to qualify for both of these bonuses. We’ve already mentioned some of these limitations in the previous section, but there might be others as well. So, it’s always a good idea to consult the terms and conditions of each bookmaker. Some bookmakers make it easier for their customers to acquire their bonus bets while others don’t.

New & Existing Customer Offers

It’s also worth mentioning that there are several significant differences when it comes to how these bookmakers treat their new and existing customers.

Free Bets for New Customers

The offers that bookmakers have for their new customers are often the most popular ones. That’s due to the fact that they’re always trying to attract more people and leave a good impression. Therefore, it’s most likely that the customers will be met with good offers and welcome bonuses.

In addition to standard bonuses that the customers receive regardless of the time, there are also special offers for major sports events. These special offers are, of course, super limited since they’re particularly tied to the current sports event. For example, horse racing and football World Cup are some of those events.

But what do these special offers look like? Well, they could be anything from the enhanced odds to getting the money back if the bet is lost.

There are many bookmaker listing websites that people can use to track these offers. If we focus on the UK market only, we can say that there are more than 80 available bookmakers who are licensed for gambling. That means that all of them offer a bunch of free bets and bonuses at this very moment. More specifically, they offer up-to-date information on all of the actual bonuses and free bets. In addition, they list the requirements, terms and conditions, actual sports events, etc. Therefore, we can conclude that the chances of getting bonus bets aren’t so slim after all.

Offers for Existing Customers

Existing customers might find it a bit harder to acquire these bonuses. However, that doesn’t mean that they can’t get them. Bookmakers often seek ways to reward their loyal and recurring customers. Many of these bookmakers have bet clubs where the customers can get regular bonuses as well as the joining offers.

For example, the customers can get bonus bets if they’ve placed a specific number of bets. Alternatively, they might have met the requirement by placing various types of bets that are needed to qualify for the bonus. Therefore, there is a set of bonuses for the existing users, and they’re extremely beneficial. We can divide them into the following categories.

An Event Specific (Or Seasonal) Bonus

This bonus corresponds to a popular sports event, and it’s promotional, in most cases. It can be either a risk-free bet, a refund, or an enhanced odds bonus.

A Reload Bonus

Bookmakers often award their loyal customers with additional credits as a way of signaling that a major sports event is incoming. Alternatively, they do the same thing if they want to notify the customers that there’s an ongoing promotional period.

Exclusive Loyalty Bonus

Those people who’ve been using a specific bookmaker for a while might receive bonuses that are specifically tailored for them. For example, if they’re a member of a certain betting club, they might get a free bet each time they place a bet. Therefore, if they’re betting and staking £25, they’ll receive a £5 free bet.

There are also the appropriate terms and conditions that state what the qualifications for these bonuses are. The terms might be different from one bookmaker to another, but they essentially revolve around the same idea. For instance, some bookmakers award £10 as free bet money while others award far less. Additionally, there are bookmakers who start rewarding their customers only after they’ve placed five £10 bets.

These are mostly weekly bonuses that the customers place on specific games and they’re all subject to change.

All in all, we can conclude that online sports betting doesn’t always require us to spend and deposit our money in order to place bets. There are numerous bookmakers who are trying to give everyone a go at gambling, whether they’re pros or beginners. There are a ton of welcome bonuses and packages out there. So, the only thing that’s important is to scan through the available bookmakers, check their terms, and determine which one suits our preferences best!