Bookmakers do a lot to attract new customers to give them their business. Once they’ve got them the key is to figure out ways of keeping them. That’s where offers like free bets for winners come in. They are often different from other offers because they’re open to all customers, not just new ones who haven’t placed a bet before.
Often these bets are linked to televised horse and dog races or ones with specialised sponsorship deals, though that’s not always the case. Sufficed to say that if you’re looking to put a bet on a race then it’s always worth having a look to see if there are any deals on the races to make life a little bit nicer for you. Here are some of the key ones that I think you should look out for.
Uniboost is a bet boost for horse, greyhound, harness and trotting racing from Unibet. It lets you boost the odds up to 3x each day for any single racing markets. This applies to stakes up to £20 (no minimum bet) with boosted winnings paid in cash in addition to standard winnings.
Boosts refresh at midnight each day and can be applied through the bet-slip. If your horse/dog doesn't run you will get another boost. If eligible for best odds guarantee if the SP is higher than your boosted odds you will get the higher SP odds.
Brilliant offer if you bet regularly on racing, especially lower level racing where there are few offers around.
William Hill - Multiple Offers
Cash Back 2nd (Flat Racing) - During the flat season William Hill will give punters a refund on select race meetings on your first win bet up to £10 in cash if your horse finishes second. Can use in all selected races, covers all major meetings and at least one daily, horse must be 3/1 or more and 4 or more horses must run.
1x Bet Boost / Day - Boost the odds on any horse you like up to once a day. This applies to any horse at any odds on swin stakes up to £20 (or £20 EW). All extra winnings in cash.
Free bets are given out within an hour of the race finishing and they don't expire for 4 days, use the free bets on anything in the sportbook too, not just horse racing. You can claim this once in every single applicable race too, not bad hey?
Betfred - Double Delight & Hat-Trick Heaven
Betfred's double delight / hat-trick heaven is one of the longest running betting promotions there is. The idea is if you back a first goalscorer pre-match, or in-play, in selected games (usually TV games) and the player scores the first goal of the match, then goes on to score another within 90 minutes, they will DOUBLE your first goalscorer price.
If your player scores the first goal of the match, then goes on to score a hat-trick within 90 minutes, they will TREBLE your first goalscorer price.
Winnings are all given in real cash with no upper or lower limits. Extra time does not count.
Coral - 5/1 Racing Offer
Coral have a long association with horse racing and this is why they are one of the best for the sport. They always have at least one racing offer on for existing customers and can be relied on for added value.
This year Coral have a 5/1 racing offer for ITV and other selected races. If you back a horse at 5/1 or greater, minimum £1, and it wins you will be paid your winnings as usual and you will also get a stake matched free bet up to £10.
Using Free Bets For Winners Promotions
The very notion of free bets for winners is obviously appealing to people. Bookmakers do not like to give things away if they can help it, so the idea that they would reward winners with a free bet will seem like a pipe dream to those that don’t understand the thinking behind such a move. For bookies, it’s something of a no-brainer. The one thing that they don’t want is people winning a bet, withdrawing their money and never using their services again, so they look for ways to keep punters interested in bets for as long as possible.
One relatively easy way of doing that is by offering a free bet in certain circumstances. For those on the receiving end of such a bet, the fact that it is there means that they will be more likely to keep their winnings in their account, given that may then be adding to their winning with the free bet. None withdrawal of funds is what every bookmaker hopes for, given that it means an increased likelihood in more bets being placed in the future and the more bets that are placed, the more money they will make.
It’s not just about getting customers to keep betting either, by giving away something extra free when people do win they companies hope that you will have a good feeling about them that will foster loyalty. A loyal customer is the best type of customer for a bookie.
Only Place Bets You Would Normally Place
The first thing to think about when it comes to free bets awarded to winners is the idea that you absolutely should not look to place bets specifically to earn the associated free bet. There are numerous reasons for this, with the first one being that you might not actually win the bet that you’re forcing yourself to place, thereby negating the notion of getting the free bet anyway. Whilst bookmakers might well have free bets for winners promotions, they tend to work in such a way that you need to place a bet that you’re unlikely to win to earn it.
Punters that chase promotions will often find themselves in a position where they will lose out more often than they’ll win. One of the rules of thumb that you should always bear in mind when placing bets is to think about what a professional gambler would do and nobody that looks to earn a living from gambling would place a bet specifically to earn themselves a reward. Instead, they’ll class any promotions that they can take advantage of as excellent bonuses to be added to the money that they were already hoping to win.
As an example of what we’re talking about, let’s imagine that you’ve seen a promotion on a bookies’ website saying that bettors can win a free bet of up to £10 if they win their bet on a horse with odds of 4/1 or greater. You were looking at the line-up for a horse race and had your eye on a runner with odds of 7/2, but you decide to change your mind in order to take advantage of the offer, betting on a horse with odds of 9/2 instead. You’ve actively chosen to have less chance of success, according to the odds, just to chase a free bet.
How To Use Free Bets Once You’ve Won Them
Of course, it is not uncommon for people to earn free bets for whatever reason. Perhaps you end up being one of those people, placing a bet that you were always going to place anyway and being delighted to see it come home. You’ve now got a £10 free bet to play with, so what do you do? The most important thing to do is to treat it as if it is just part of your bankroll and do exactly what you’d normally do with your bets. That is to say, you need to do all of the research and investigation that you’d normally do before placing a bet.
The temptation will be there to treat it as if it is ‘free money’, meaning that you can be a bit more liberal with your bet placement because if you lose it it doesn’t matter. The problem is, it does matter. You’ve earned that free bet, whether you chased it or won it entirely coincidentally, so don’t now start treating it as if it is expendable. Instead, think about the best way of making use of it, knowing that there’s nothing more that your bookmaker of choice wants you to do with the free bet than behave in a frivolous manner with it.
Yes, it’s not your own actual money. That doesn’t mean, though, that it won’t payout the same as a bet with your own money. Indeed, in most instances the only difference between a bet placed with your own cash and one that you’ve placed with a free bet token is that you don’t get your stake money back with your free bet token wager’s winnings. We all like money, which is why many of us get involved in betting in the first place, so do your best to take advantage of the money you’re being given a chance to win for nothing by the bookie.
Keep An Eye Out For Restrictions
The last thing to think about when it comes to free bet tokens that you’ve won is any restrictions that might have been put in place by the bookmaker. There is often a time limit imposed on when you need to use your free bet by, for example, including when the event takes place. It is common for free bet tokens to have a shelf-life of seven days, after which point they will expire. Given how hard you’ll have had to work to win it in the first place, don’t then allow it to slip away unused. This information is usually well publicised as part of the promotion.
There will often be other restrictions put in place on how you’re allowed to use your free bet, such as ones saying that it is not allowed to be placed on the In-Play market, it has to be placed on the In-Play market or that you’re not allowed to Cash Out your bet. Perhaps the bet has to be placed on a market with certain odds or greater, say, or will be made void if you decide to edit your wager. Again, this is the sort of information that bookies put front and centre, so you won’t have to look too hard to find it when you see the promotion.
