What are free bets and how do they work?

Free bets are a common type of bonus offered by betting sites. And just like the word implies it is a 100% free bonus without any risk involved. This is one of the main reasons why getting a free bet or several free bets is a very popular way to attract new customers to your betting site. 

Free Bets should be considered as risk-free bets from which you can earn real money. 

In this top list, we have solely focused on how attractive the free bets offers are and not taken the full betting site overview into consideration.

Best Free Bets offers in India

There are a few things you need to know about free bets before deciding which free bet to pursue. 

• Does the free bet require a deposit?
• What are the wagering requirements to convert the free bet winnings into real money?
• How can I use free bets to hedge other bets?

Understanding the actual free bet offer

Free bets are sometimes incorrectly communicated as free bets while actually being riskfree bets. The difference between free bets and riskfree bets is that you use real money for risk-free bets and bonus money for free bets. 

Free bets without deposit: These offers are usually given upon completion of registering a new account and will have a much lower free bet amount compared to a free offer that is triggered by a deposit.

Free bets with deposit requirements: These offers are usually based on the amount of your deposit, for example, 100% up to ₹2.000 Free bet. this means that if you deposit ₹2.000 you will get a free bet worth ₹2.000.

How to convert free bets into real money

Let’s take a look at an example of how you can convert a free bet bonus into real money. 

• Betting Site: Unibet
• Free Bet Offer: 100% up to ₹2.500
• Wagering Requirements: 3x
• Minimum Odds: 1.4

What this means is that your free bet amount will be based on how big your first deposit is. To turn the bonus money into real money you need to turn over the bonus amount 3 times at bet on events with minimum 1.4 in odds for the bets to count towards the wagering requirements. 

1. We make a deposit of ₹1.000
2. We receive a free bet worth ₹1.000
   1. 3x wagering requirements = ₹3.000 (3 x ₹1.000)
3. We bet ₹1.000 on Team X to win at odds 2.00
4. Team X wins and our bonus free bet money is now ₹2.000 and we have wagered ₹1.000 with ₹2.000 to go before the money can be withdrawn as real cash. 
5. We place another ₹1.000 bet on Team Y at odds 1.55
6. Team Y loosed and we now have wagered ₹2.000 and the bonus money bankroll is down at ₹1.000
7. We place a third and final ₹1.000 with odds over 1.4 to clear the wagering requirement. 
   1. In case of a winning bet, your bonus money will be converted into real cash you can withdraw. 
   2. If you lose you have ₹0 bonus money left.

How to use a free bet to hedge another bet

A smart way to use a free bet or a risk-free bet is to play both sides. If you place a real money wager on for example Bet365 you can use your Unibet free bet and bet on the other side. This will guarantee a win on either side. 

Example of how to hedge bets with free bets or risk-free bets

An IPL game between Hyderabad Sunrisers and Delhi Capitals, with Hyderabad being the slightly stronger team the odds would look something like: 

• Hyderabad Sunrisers 1.72 vs Delhi Capitals 2.00
• The free bet amount is the same as the previous example, ₹1.000

This is how you should bet to minimize your risk: 

• Hyderabad Sunrisers 53.76% of total bet vs Delhi Capitals 46.24% of the total bet
  • Free Bet: ₹1.000 at Hyderabad Sunrisers 1.72 > Potential Win: ₹1.720
  • Real money bet: ₹860 at Delhi Capitals 2.00 > Potential Win: ₹1.720

Have fun and good luck!

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