What Are Free Bets?
My old Grandpa used to say "you don't get owt for nowt". So what would he have made about today's online betting world? Quite apart from the fact that he'd have had to deal with the whole concept of the internet, and the fact you can place sport bets without even leaving your home, he'd also have seen that pretty much every online bookmaker and sportsbook is offering a free bet, deposit bonus, no deposit bonus or some other type of promotion to anybody who joins them.
So was Grandpa right, or is it really a case of "the best things in life are free?"
Well actually, it's a bit of both. Of course, bookmakers are not in the business of handing out charitable donations to their customers. And why would they - they are running a business after all. So with that in mind, we must consider that if they are giving away free bets, of course there must be a good reason for this, and maybe one or two strings attached.
Does this mean that punters should steer clear of these offers? Hell no! In fact, if used carefully, they can be very handy and give the punter an opportunity to make a nice profit. The important word there was "carefully" of course. So let's take a look at the good and bad points about free bets, what they are, how you can use them, and where to get them from.
So was Grandpa right, or is it really a case of "the best things in life are free?"
Well actually, it's a bit of both. Of course, bookmakers are not in the business of handing out charitable donations to their customers. And why would they - they are running a business after all. So with that in mind, we must consider that if they are giving away free bets, of course there must be a good reason for this, and maybe one or two strings attached.
Does this mean that punters should steer clear of these offers? Hell no! In fact, if used carefully, they can be very handy and give the punter an opportunity to make a nice profit. The important word there was "carefully" of course. So let's take a look at the good and bad points about free bets, what they are, how you can use them, and where to get them from.
Free Bets: The Positives
- An opportunity to place a bet with no risk
- Any money won as a result of a successful bet can normally be kept by the customer
- Try out a bookmaker's online service before committing larger sums of money
- Some free bets require no money to be deposited
- Possible to engineer situations where a profit is guaranteed, by using free bets at different bookmakers to bet on the same event
- For those who bet regularly, a good opportunity to increase their betting "bank" with little effort required
- Competing bookmakers are offering bigger and better deals to outdo each other
Free Bets: The Negatives
- Need to open a new account with an online bookmaker in order to receive the promotion, although this is normally only a 5 minute job
- In some cases, customers must place bets with their own money before they get a free bet
- Might encourage more people to become addicted to gambling
- In some cases, numerous bets must be placed using free money before winnings can be withdrawn
- Even free bets are not guaranteed to win unless a guaranteed profit has been engineered as mentioned previously. Therefore you could end up opening an account but not winning any money
- Requires discipline from the user in order to be profitable
- Not available to all nationalities (e.g. most do not accept US players)
Are They Right For You?
Are free bets right for you? Well, really that's something only you can answer. But to help you, here are the questions you should ask yourself:
Based on your answers to these questions, you will know whether or not bookmaker free bets and promotions are right for you. If you feel they are, then over the next few pages in this site, I will explain about the various types of free bets available, what you need to look out for, where to get the free bets from, and how to use them to the best possible effect.
If you've already made your decision and just want to jump straight in and grab some free bets now without reading through all the rest of this information, then fair enough. It's here if you want to read it, otherwise you can go straight to a leading free bets website and see what's currently on offer.
Often, you'll see a huge range of different bonuses and promotions. As I mentioned earlier, pretty much every bookmaker is offering these in some form or another. It's usually better to compare these at a free bets website rather than going direct, because sometimes they can offer better deals or exclusive deals that mean you could get more money than you would if you went straight to the bookmaker. Also, if you want to just cherry pick the best offers, then obviously you can compare them all at a glance and only go for the best ones.
For the rest of you who want some more information first, stick with me while I go through the finer points of free bets over the next few pages.
- Am I interested in sports betting, or thinking of getting started?
- Can I trust myself not to become addicted and bet more money than I can afford to lose?
- Do I have the discipline to read the terms and conditions of the promotion before joining?
- Do I have the spare time to open accounts with bookmakers online?
- Am I already betting on sports, and could I use some extra free money to bet with?
- Do I live in a country where online betting is legal?
Based on your answers to these questions, you will know whether or not bookmaker free bets and promotions are right for you. If you feel they are, then over the next few pages in this site, I will explain about the various types of free bets available, what you need to look out for, where to get the free bets from, and how to use them to the best possible effect.
If you've already made your decision and just want to jump straight in and grab some free bets now without reading through all the rest of this information, then fair enough. It's here if you want to read it, otherwise you can go straight to a leading free bets website and see what's currently on offer.
Often, you'll see a huge range of different bonuses and promotions. As I mentioned earlier, pretty much every bookmaker is offering these in some form or another. It's usually better to compare these at a free bets website rather than going direct, because sometimes they can offer better deals or exclusive deals that mean you could get more money than you would if you went straight to the bookmaker. Also, if you want to just cherry pick the best offers, then obviously you can compare them all at a glance and only go for the best ones.
For the rest of you who want some more information first, stick with me while I go through the finer points of free bets over the next few pages.