One of the main reasons that newcomers sign up for sports betting websites is because of the ever-alluring welcome bonuses. Free bets are a hugely appealing promotion because it allows us to take up a bet that we think is good, yet without any of the risks. In other words, it gives us the confidence and free reign to bet on the exact event we want to without being held back by fear or caution. All of the best betting sites offer free bets at one point or another.
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What is a free bet exactly?
The clue is in the name with this one, certainly, but there is something that many people still do not know about free bets.
A free bet is essentially a bet in which the stake put down is the betting company’s money, but the winnings, if the bet does win, will be yours. It’s important to remember that this isn’t real money, and therefore cannot be cashed out.
So a $10 bet on an event that has even odds (1/1 or 2) will return winnings of $10. Because the stake was the betting company’s (and never really existed) you won’t be getting this stake back after the bet like you do when winning a normal cash bet. But, the winnings remain the exact same as a normal bet.
Advantages of a free bet
There are a few advantages to free bets. Here are the main few.
Risk-free betting
Of course, the main advantage is that the bet is risk-free, which is any bettor’s dream. A risk-free bet means that you cannot under any circumstances lose some of your own money.
Risk and reward are the pillars of betting and the relationship between them. Removing the risk means you get to aim for whatever reward you wish. In other words, take bets that are higher odds and have less chance of happening.
Trying out new strategies
Because the risk is removed, it’s now a good time to try out some new betting strategies. It’s a bad idea to stick to just one strategy forever, but there never feels like a good time to experiment with new plays. So, free bets present a good opportunity to put new bets to the test. Just be careful here and mentally account for the losses as if they happened, otherwise you may get the impression that the new strategy is working when in fact you have been ignoring the lost free bets, focusing only on the winnings.
Try out different bookmakers
Another advantage of free bet promotions is that they allow us to sign up and try out different bookmakers. Often it’s a bit of effort that may go unrewarded to try out a new site. You may find you don’t like it, or that they have bad customer service. But, this means you may be missing out on better sites with better odds and markets.
New bets are our window of opportunity into testing these other sites out. If they’re offering new sign-ups some free bets, it’s usually worth the signing-up process to experiment with new bets at a new site.
They’re on-going
Most welcome bonuses are a one-off, like matching your deposit. But, free bets are perhaps the most likely promotion to continue well into being a loyal customer. Some sites even track your loyalty and the way they repay it is through free bets. A win for them, and a win for us.
