Today, one of the main advantages of online betting is the wide variety of welcome bonuses and free bet offers on display. It doesn’t matter which platform you’re signing up to play with, they almost always will offer these bonuses and benefits. But, if you’re new to online gambling, you might be wondering, ‘how do free bets work?‘
There are some bettors that make all their money from what is called ‘matched betting’. This involves using nothing but free bets and bonuses to amass a considerable packet of winnings. In theory, you can make money from betting – esports or traditional sports – and pay little to nothing in advance.
Let’s get into the guide.
How Do Free Bets Work?
In most cases, free bets will only be available when you first sign up to a betting platform. For instance, if you sign up to Betway, free bets will likely be made available following your first deposit. Commonly, betting platforms like Betway will match or multiply your initial deposit – if you deposit $10, they’ll double it to $20 in your wallet.
However, some platforms will offer free bets without a deposit – these are the golden opportunities to look out for. Although, in most cases, these free bets cannot be used for multi-line or exotic bets, and some platforms will put these free bets into a separate account. If you’re picking up a bonus offer on Betway, for example, the funds are placed into a separate ‘Bonus Account’, whereupon withdrawals cannot be made.
But, for all intents and purposes, a free bet is relatively similar to a standard, generic bet. It’ll involve the bettor logging into an account, making a deposit, picking up the free bets or bonuses, and then placing their wagers.
Can You Withdraw Free Bet Winnings?
On almost every betting platform, free bet winnings can be withdrawn, but the original free bet stake cannot. For instance, if you receive a $10 totally free bet, and place a wager with a $30 return, you can only withdraw $20 at the end of it.
Ultimately, free bets are an incentive issued by the sportsbook or esportsbook to entice customers to start placing bets. In most cases, it’s a psychological method that convinces customers that they cannot lose – it’s free, after all. Therefore, they’re more likely to place bigger deposits to get larger amounts of free bets. If they deposit $100, in some cases, the platform will double that into $200.
If you were to then place a huge, $200 bet and doubled your money to $400, you could only withdraw $300. That’s essentially how free bet winnings work.
Can You Place Free Esports Bets?
If you’re looking for esports free bets, you’re in luck. In most cases, esportsbooks offer the same types of bonuses and offers that traditional sportsbooks will offer. For instance, if you were to use platforms like GG.bet, Unikrn, or Luckbox to place esports bets, you would still receive deposit bonuses.
The only difference is, you’ll be betting on esports titles like CSGO and Call of Duty, rather than sports like soccer or basketball.
What Is Matched Betting?
In the world of ‘how do free bets work’, the conversation can easily turn to matched betting. With matched betting, a bettor takes advantage of free bets and welcome bonuses offered by the many platforms out there to make as much money as possible.
It’s essentially a risk-free way to bet, as eventually, it boils down to mathematical equations and not total luck or in-game knowledge. It’s a matter of averages, essentially – if you sign up to enough platforms and take effective advantage of enough free bets, you’ll make risk-free money.
