Free bets are a staple of online betting and betting in general today. As more and more betting operators have sprung up in recent years, competition has become fiercer, and one of the main ways that operators have attracted customers is by lucrative free bets and promotions. But are these free bets legitimate and safe, or should they be ignored? Let’s look at the arguments on both sides to try and figure out the best answer.
Ignoring free bets
There’s certainly an argument to be made for ignoring free bets. As I said, literally more or less every betting site and major bookie will offer free bets of some kind or another. So, by that fact alone, you can probably realize that they are not some altruistic measure, but purely a marketing tactic to attract new customers.
You shouldn’t decide a betting site to use on the strength of the free bets alone. If you are using a betting site, then for most people, finding one which offers the markets you are interested in, has a good range of games, and has solid functionality is all you need. In which case, ignoring the free bet offers makes perfect sense. Using multiple sites can quickly become unwieldy.
A lucrative free bet offer also does not mean that the site or bookie in question is any better in terms of functionality. So, if you are quite happy with the way your online betting is going, then there’s no need to be drawn in by free bet offers—just ignore them. They are merely the result of increasingly fierce competition—there are currently over 2,600 licensed operators in the UK, which just shows the extent of the competition.
But there are, as always, two sides to this argument.
Taking free bets
So, there’s no denying that free bets are a marketing ploy, and many feel they should ignore them for that reason alone. But this logic isn’t necessarily fool proof. You can still use them to your advantage if you think carefully and are strict about things like budgeting. Even if you only sign up to a new site that has a good free bet offer, use the free bet, and then return to your regular site, with the number of free bets on offer, this could well end up making you a lot of money.
As seen through comparison sites like Topbettingsites, some free bets can be incredibly lucrative if you’re willing to put up the initial money to get the full return. Most free bets work as a relatively small amount of money to bet with for your first deposit. For example, you might get £50 worth of free bets for your first deposit of £10.
But there are also deposit bonuses of up to 200%, sometimes up to deposits of £200. So, you could end up doubling a large sum of money and end up with £400 worth of free bets. The advantages of this are plain to see.
The important thing, as always, is gambling responsibly. Don’t chase losses you make on free bets, and don’t get drawn in needlessly to a new site because of the free bet offers.
Conclusion
Free bets are, by and large, nothing to be worried about, then. When used correctly, they can be fantastic money makers and great ways to win some serious money without really staking anything to begin with. There’s no doubt that they are a marketing ploy designed to bring you into their platform, but you’ve just got to keep your wits about you, and remember to only gamble responsibly with what you can afford to lose.
