Free Bets at 88Goals
Lots of online bookmakers like to give their customers a chance to get their hands on a few free bets from time to time, and we at 88goals.com know all about that.
It’s important that our players get something back. Let’s talk about free bets, what they are and what you can expect from us in that respect.
Free Bets Offers at 88Goals
At 88goals.com, we try to provide our players with as many free bet promotions as possible.
Here are the free bets currently available to sports bettors at 88goals.com:
Weekend Sports Offer
Our ‘Weekend Sports Offer’ allows existing customers to get in on some free-bet action.
As long as you have an account, all you need to do is place a weekend bet (Saturday & Sunday) on any sport to get a free $5 bet. The free bet can be used to place a bet on any sport that we currently offer betting on.
This promotion is available to all players and does not require any opt-in. This promotion is available every weekend on Saturday and Sunday. Ensure that you place a sports bet of at least $5 in value at minimum odds of 1.8. We will then credit your account with the free bet.
The free bet must be used within seven days of being issued. If it is not used by that time, the free bet will expire and be removed from your account. Any winnings that your free bet generates will not include a stake.
The full terms and conditions of this offer are clearly laid out and can be found in our promotions section.
Sports Welcome Offer
The weekend offer is not all that we have to offer sports punters, oh no. New players who join us can get their hands on a deposit match of up to $100. They can then use this extra cash to bet on sports, much as they would with a typical free bet.
To get up to $100 in bonus funds, all you need to do is register as a new player. You then need to make a first deposit, but before you do that, go to the “Bonuses” section of our website, find this promotion and click the “Claim” button. Once confirmed, simply choose your payment method and make your first deposit.
We will then credit your account with a 50% deposit match up to a maximum of $100. To clarify, for you to get $100 in bonus funds, you’ll need to deposit $200 with your first deposit.
The minimum deposit required to receive the deposit match is $10. If you deposit $10, we’ll give you $5 in bonus funds.
Free Bets – The Basics
If you’ve spent any time in the world of online gambling and sports betting, then you’ll have undoubtedly heard about free bets, which is a popular term in this industry. It’s a commonplace for bettors to be given free bets, and such free bets come in a variety of shapes and sizes.
First things first, though, let’s look at what a typical free bet looks like. Right, so what is a free bet? A free bet does exactly what it says it does. A free bet is a bet that carries a predetermined value and is issued by a sportsbook or online bookmaker. It allows bettors to place a bet for free without having to use any real cash.
There are many different types of free bets available in the sports betting world. Let’s look at some of the different types.
Qualifying Free Bet
The qualifying free bet is one of the most common free-bet types in the online sports betting industry. With this type of free bet, you need to place a qualifying bet to receive a free bet.
An example would be being required to place a $30 bet before being rewarded with a $10 bet upon the settlement of your initial wager.
Many bookmakers offer such free bets to new players as part of their welcome package, though it’s not uncommon for existing players to be given such free bets.
For existing players, it may be a case of placing a certain qualifying bet on a specific event before being given a free bet as a reward. For example, place a $20 bet on the Champions League Final to get a $10 free bet.
Bet Refund
Another popular, perhaps increasingly so, type of free bet is a bet refund. With this one, the clue really is in the name. This promotion is all about giving players their money back if their bet doesn’t win.
For example, a typical bet refund offer may look something like this: “Money back if your horse finishes second”. In this instance, you can place a bet on a horse to win the race, and if your horse finishes second, you’ll get your stake back as a free bet.
Such bet refund offers often carry a maximum bet. For example, you’ll get your money back as a free bet up to a maximum of $20.
In some cases, online sportsbooks will provide bet refunds as cash, which means you can withdraw your refund, though in many cases, your stake will be refunded as a free bet. The terms and conditions of any such offer should make this clear. Ours certainly do.
Matched Free Bet
A matched free bet is a common type of free bet offered to new players. Many online bookmakers will offer a new bettor the chance to sign up and place a bet in order for them to get a free bet on the same value.
You will typically see offers such as “Bet $25 and get a $25 free bet”. Such offers are almost exclusively available to new players only. It is very rare to find this type of free bet aimed at existing players.
A matched free bet is one of the better value free bets as players are getting a free bet that is equal in value to their qualifying bet.
Stake Not Returned Free Bet (Bet Credit)
This is what is known as a bet credit or a betting token. What does this mean? Well, if you are issued with a bet credit, you will be able to use the bet credit to place a bet, though if you win, you will only get the winnings. In other words, your return will not include the stake, as it would with a regular bet placed with real money.
You don’t get the stake part of the bet back because you didn’t stake anything. You used the bet credit to place a bet, as opposed to using deposited funds.
Deposit Bonus
Deposit bonuses are very common. In fact, nowadays, a deposit bonus may be the most popular and widely used type of free bet issued by online sports gambling operators.
This is another offer that needs little explanation. Usually available to new players, a deposit bonus involves a player registering/signing up for a new bookmaker and making an initial deposit. Their deposit is then matched by the bookmaker in bet credits or bonus funds.
There are varying levels of deposit bonuses. Some bookmakers offer a 25% deposit bonus. Others offer a 50% deposit bonus. In the latter case, if you were to deposit $50, you would receive an extra $25 as a deposit bonus.
There are often other terms and conditions attached to deposit bonuses, and in some cases, you may need to use the money deposited to place a bet before your account is credited with the deposit bonus, so be sure to always check the T&Cs
Risk-Free Bet
A risk-free bet is another type of free-bet offer that has risen in popularity in recent times.
The trouble with this offer is that some bookmakers consider risk-free to mean something slightly different to other bookmakers, so this is certainly a type of free bet that requires careful consideration when it comes to the terms and conditions.
In most cases, a risk-free bet basically allows a bettor to place a bet knowing that if it loses, they’ll either get their money back in cash or they’ll have bet credits added to their account.
For example, you may be offered a risk-free sports bet up to a maximum value of $50 with the promise of a refund in bet credits should the bet lose. This means that you could place a bet safe in the knowledge that at the very least, you’ll have $50 in bet credits.
Free Bets Pros & Cons
When it comes to free bets, although they are great and are generally a positive thing, we know that there are of course a few potential cons as well as pros. This is the case with most things, especially in the world of online sports betting.
Here are the pros and cons of free bets:
Pros
- Free bets are a great way for bettors to place extra sports bets without having to dip into their own funds.
- Free bets are a way for bookmakers to reward loyalty and thank their players for their custom and playing time.
- There are many different types of free bets, some of which are available to both new players and existing customers.
- Free bets, such as risk-free bets, let punters bet with more confidence as they know they’ve got some insurance covering them.
Cons
- In most cases, free bets involve a player needing to meet certain requirements, some of which can be quite long-winded. This isn’t ideal for every customer, and in many cases, the free-bet offer becomes unworthy of the effort required to obtain it.
- Free bets often mean having to deposit or place a bet first, which isn’t ideal if you weren’t really planning on betting at that time.
Free Bets Terms & Conditions
Free bets always come with terms and conditions attached, and it is quite important that players pay attention to those terms and conditions and read them carefully.
Understanding the terms and conditions of any free bet offer will leave you better positioned to decide whether or not you’re willing to meet the requirements necessary to receive the free bet.
For example, in most cases, new players are required to deposit and bet before they get their free bet. Not everybody wants to do that, so it’s important to know what is required upfront.
Also, not reading the terms and conditions can lead players to make errors that can mean that they become ineligible for the free bet. For example, you may know you have to deposit, but you may not have read how much. You could deposit $5 when the minimum deposit to receive the free bet was $10. Making errors like this can mean missing out on free bets, so again, it’s best to read the T&Cs first.
Similarly, many risk-free bet offers to involve a player getting their money back in bet credits, even if the offer is not described that way. The T&Cs will have this information. Without reading the terms and conditions, you may accept this offer without realising that you’re not getting a refund in withdrawable cash should your bet lose.
The bottom line here is to simply make yourself aware of any free-bet terms and conditions before signing up or committing to any offer. At 88goals.com, we always make it easy for our players to understand by stating our free-bet T&Cs very clearly.
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Your favourite sports matches are all here! Deposit and 88goals.com will match 50% of your First Deposit Amount with up to a $100 Bonus Bet as your Sign-Up Bonus which you may use for Sports events. Come on in, and let’s get rolling!