Betting Bonus
Free bets can be considered a special kind of betting bonus; the bonuses are one of the most important elements of the sportsbooks and casino promotions; they are special kinds of benefits offered to the customers to test the quality of the site.
The fight for the customer’s preference is very intense these days, bonuses in fact cannot be seem as the only reason for a gambler to come and stay at a specific operator, the houses are aware of that and the good sites only use it as a promotion and not as their main strategy to keep the customers satisfied.
Understanding the Term
The term ‘free bet’ is very appealing to the customers, especially those that do not know much about all the different kinds of bonuses available in the gambling industry these days.
Although the meaning of the promotions may vary depending on the bookie, the free bets usually are another name for ‘refundable bet’, i.e. a bet that involves no risk or only a partial risk. The second most common meaning to the term free bet is the ‘no deposit bonus’, which is a special promotion which is more common in the casino websites.
Wagering Terms
Regardless the ‘meaning’ of the promotion at a specific bookie or casino, the wagering terms are the only way to tell if the promotion in question is actually good: the terms are ‘rules’ that dictate whether a punter can withdraw funds derived from the ‘free bet’ at the end of the day.
Common conditions include ‘taking risks’ with the free bet profits, i.e. betting again the funds derived from a potential profit out of the free bet – that condition is called a ‘rollover’. The other common ‘terms’ include a specific time frame to use the free bet, e.g. you must bet the free funds within 48 hours after registering at the bookmaker.
If the free bet is only good for use at the sports book section of the site, then minimum odds normally apply – the usual minimum odds are in the house of 1.50 to 2.0.
It is important to understand what the free bets ‘mean’ to the operator: they are ways to demonstrate the quality of the services to potential punters that will keep betting for a long time. The wagering terms are ways of avoiding users that want to simply ‘drain’ the free funds and go away bet elsewhere or even just try to run away with a freebie without any true ‘goals’ of betting for long term profits.
Other Free Bet Promotions
Although the most common ‘meanings’ for the free bet term are the ones already explained, it is possible to ‘understand’ – and therefore ‘find’ promotions that have different definitions or other names but that in fact are forms of free bets:
Deposit Bonus
The deposit bonus is a form of free bet as long as the wagering terms (whatever they are) are ‘respected’: a common offer is the ‘deposit match’ which doubles the value of your initial deposit up to a certain limit usually in the house of 3 figures.
The ‘multiplication’ of the initial deposit results in ‘free funds’ to bet – although these offers are most commonly denominated ‘deposit bonuses’ we can consider them a form of free bet.
Free Spins
Slots and roulette games of casinos may be related to special promotions of free rounds, a.k.a. free spins, and just like the deposit bonus they have their most common ‘name’ which is ‘free spins’ but you can obviously ‘feel’ like it is a secondary type of free bet related to specific casino games.
Summary
The key to a profitable use of bonuses, whether they are free bets or other kinds such as ‘enhanced odds’ bonuses, is to understand and respect the wagering terms – the fact that they are full of jargon and often times not translated into Portuguese is to prevent the users from ‘finding out’ that it’s not so simply to use them – the big and renowned operators normally have ‘nothing to hide’ but beware of main risk related to bonuses: the risks of wasting your time! The only way to tell if the bonus has realistic wagering terms is to read it in full.