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Free Bet Guides and How Free Bets Work

Free bets and welcome bonuses are a very popular means by which bookmakers attract new customers. Most free bets are only valid for new account holders and this means that in many cases they are not made available to existing customers. However, a host of betting offers and specials are available to existing customers, and can be found on our Betting Offers page.

The betting industry is one of the most competitive environments right now, and while many people think that it doesn’t really have an affect on punters, the truth is that it does. We don’t see a negative impact, but actually a hugely positive one that is going to help us all become better gamblers.

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The choice for betting has never been so good, from high streets to mobile phone betting and of course the increasingly large range of options we have online to use. It is the online battleground that is the fiercest, and it is here where you can take advantage of what is happening to the extreme.

Every single bookmaker does all it can to attract new business. With so many bookmakers offering punters the chance to place their bets, they have to do something to stand out from the crowd. What we saw in the past was a number of bookmakers create small welcome offers for players to get their business and while these worked well, and other bookmakers saw that, so to jump in and get their slice of the business, these bookmakers also create welcome offers and made them slightly more appealing than those that were already on offer.

From here, things snowballed, and that took us to the position we are in today. We have pretty much every bookmaker offering some kind of welcome bonus to new players, and the competition out there means that these have kept increasing and now we see huge offers to tempt people to sign up.

Those looking at these who don’t know too much about the betting industry may think there is a catch but actually this is just the result of a hugely competitive market. This is what now makes a great time to sign up with a bookmaker, as you know you are going to get a fantastic welcome offer due to the competition we are seeing.

Welcome bonuses and free bets come in many forms, but generally speaking they provide something free for new customers. These concessions come in the form of

  • Matched free bets
  • No deposit free bets and
  • Risk-free bets.

 It is fair to say that some of the most attractive free bet offers have restrictive Terms and Conditions which make it difficult to take advantage of the offers. The limiting rules may come in the form of having to bet a certain turnover in order to receive the full benefit of the offer. This could also mean having to place a certain number of bets before the account balance is adjusted to take into account the value of the free bet.

What are Free Bets?

Our first page is a look at free bets in general, explaining what they are, why they are offering and how to take advantage of them. We also have a great video on this site, which demonstrates how to use free bets and a look at the very best ones currently available.

Matched Free Bets

On this page we take a look at matched free bets, and this is one page you should certainly be looking at. Matched free bets are one of the most popular free bet options for bookmakers, and you will be sure to see a lot of matched offers out there, which means it is important to understand them and what they offer. This guide tells you how it all works and the advantages of a matched free bet.

No Deposit Free Bets

No deposit free bets are something that a lot of people look for. They are the ‘something for nothing’ type of offer. These won’t be the biggest offers you see available, but you don’t have to do anything to get them, which makes them very valuable to punters.Being the holy grail of free bets, this guide features our video highlighting how a no deposit free bet works and why it’s undoubtedly the most popular type of free bet offered by bookmakers.

Formatted Free Bets

Formatted free bets are not as common as the first two types mentioned, but they are still worth reading about and understanding. These bets have a set number of rules that you need to follow and based on what you do here, depends on when or whether you qualify for the free bet and how much it is worth. Everything you need to know about how formatted free bets work is within this section of our site to include conditions and examples.

Qualifying Free Bets

Qualifying free bets are another type that is not as common as others, but still worth checking out. These bets require you to qualify in some way, this is usually by placing a bet on a particular market or event. After qualifying, there will be an outcome that gives you a free bet based on what has happened in the event. Our Qualifying Free Bets guide tells you how these free bets work.

The Objective of Our Guides

While some experienced punters will know everything there is to know about free bets and how to take advantage of them, not all punters do. This is especially the case for those who are new to online betting and still finding their feet. Our guides are designed to help any punter who requires it, but especially those who are new and in need of help and advice.

The guides will explain all you need to know about each type of free bet but on top of that, we will go the extra mile and show you how to use them and take advantage of them. We don’t just want to tell you about the bets, we want to help you use them and that is exactly what you will find on each individual page.

Sport Betting Guides

After taking advantage of the free bets you have received from your new bookmaker, it is time to begin betting with them. When taking your first steps into betting with any bookie, you can either choose to stick with what you know and bet on the sports you have experience with, or begin with something new and try out a new sport.

If you are looking to place bets on something new then you may need assistance in doing that. We have a large number of sport betting guides that you can use to get you on your feet. These guides are designed at those who haven’t placed a bet at all, or not many bets, on the sport in question as we look to get you up and on your feet quickly in the betting world.

Below you will find a number of these guides covering the most popular sport types, so take a look and pick out where you would like to start your new betting journey:

Football

Football is the most popular online betting sport, and with leagues all over the world and hundreds of different betting markets to use, it is easy to see why. Each football punter will have their own unique way of betting on football and that is something you will eventually gain too but in the mean time, this is our brief look at How To Win Betting On Football to get you started. It features detailed descriptions of the most popular betting markets and the best and worst betting markets for making profit.

Horse Racing

Horse Racing is the most traditional betting sport, and still accounts for a significant proportion of online betting. Our guide highlights the different types of racing, the best and worst racing betting markets to make the bookmakers pay, price factors and much more. When you think of traditional betting sports, horse racing is the first that comes to mind and still remains incredibly popular with the advantage of daily racing meaning that you can place a bet every day if you wish on this sport. Our Horse Racing Betting Guide gives you the basic information you need to get yourself started in the world of horse racing.

Tennis

Tennis is fast becoming a major player in the sports betting arena, particularly in-running betting. The fast paced action of tennis lends itself to in-play betting, which is a big reason why many people are turning towards tennis and our guide will explain the big tennis events and give you basic tips to get you started and placing bets. Our guide on winning in tennis betting features a glossary of the major tennis events, including the four Grand Slams, the best way to make profit punting on tennis and player statistics.

Golf

With action almost every single week of the calendar year, golf betting is another sport that can give you a regular interest and is a highly popular betting sport and there are now tournaments to bet on for 50 weeks of the year. With regular events, majors and big team events like the Ryder Cup, there is a lot to bet on in golf. Our guide will point you in the right direction in terms of the types of bets to place and what betting markets you should be targeting early on and the main-events, the majors and key factors such as player statistics which will assist your betting strategy greatly.

Cricket

From domestic games to big international events like the #cricket world cup#, the choice on offer inside this sport is fantastic With the creation of many new T20 leagues around the world, we now have more cricket betting options that ever before which makes this a great time to get involved and begin your life as a cricket gambler. This guide page will get you started with the basics across all different formats, while also looking at the types of betting markets you can expect to see.

Darts

Darts is another sport that is seeing a real increase in the number of events taking place throughout the year. This is lending itself to make the sport more popular with the betting public, and it is not too late to join in with this. Take a look at our darts guide and it will explain the best markets to use when betting as well as showing you when the big events are coming around, as these are often a great place to start. - We guide you through the best and worst betting markets available on darts and highlight the major events on the darts calendar.

Snooker

From ranking events to the players tour championship, our guide tells you all you need to know about betting on snooker. Our snooker guide is ideal for those who are looking to get involved in the action here and we have a number of great snooker events that take place throughout the season, giving those who bet on the sport the chance to place regular wagers as the action unfolds.

Objectives of the Guides

The guides are designed to highlight the different types of free bets offered by the bookmakers. The guides also highlight the general rules that have to be followed in order to receive the free bet. The purpose of this part of the free bets section is not to list specific offers as this is covered in a different area of the site. The guidelines are written in general terms and cover the types of offer that are made available to new customers.

Nearly all the major bookmakers promote free bets or welcome bonuses by advertising in the Racing Post or running television campaigns but sites like our act as a type of free bets comparison site by listing as many sites in the sports secotor as possible and showing the bookmakers who offer incentives on those sports markets. The cost of advertising in this way is high so clearly the operators believe they can increase turnover and profitability with their concessions. The number of free bets available at any time can make it hard to monitor what is available at any time. There are now services which will email customers with free bet offers and instructions in order to benefit from them.

Free Bets on Bookmaker Websites

Free bets are also promoted prominently on bookmaker websites, usually on the Home Page. There is usually a link to follow in order to see the specific conditions of the offer. The more restrictive rules are usualy listed in relatively small print below the main headline. The bookmakers can't afford to be too generous and the Terms and Conditions are clearly written so there is no room for ambiguity or doubt in terms of what is being offered.

£20 Free Bets Coral

Every free bet is subject to some form of measurement of its effect. Analyst employed by the bookmakers will examine any increased level of business that is accrued when the offer is introduced. That explains why some bookmakers are constantly trying new things. When they hit on an idea that is good for business they will offer something similar on the evidence of what has worked in the past.

Bookmaker free bets is an area that is constantly changing and evolving. These guides provide general advice to help customers be aware of the type of concessions that are being made available in the betting market.

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