Can I withdraw money from my free bet?

Can I withdraw money from my free bet? The answer is no. You can’t withdraw the money from your free bet, at least not straight away.

Online bookmakers are not willing to give away money for free. Instead, they are using free bets to incentivize the players to gamble. That’s why they tend to attach certain conditions with every bonus offer. Because of that, bonuses may appear way better than they really are.

Even though it all depends on the terms and conditions of the free bet offer, it’s better to not get your hopes up – you probably aren’t going to be able to withdraw the funds without wagering them first.

Wagering Requirements Explained

Most bonus deals come with some conditions, most common of which are the so-called wagering requirements. This term refers to the number of times you need to wager your free bet in order to turn it into real money.

Let’s say you have received a €50 free bet with a wagering requirement of 5x. What this means is that you need to wager those €50 on five separate occasions. If you complete the wagering requirement without losing the money, your free bet turns into withdrawable funds.

Another factor to add in, is that you have to make those bets on a certain minimum odds.

Of course, how high the minimum odds will be depends on the bookmaker, but we can tell you not to expect anything shorter than 1.50. Even at odds of 1.50, your implied probability is 66.6%, meaning there is still 33.3% chance you will lose.

Getting minimum odds of 1.50 is the best-case scenario. Many online bookmakers decide to go with much, much more difficult wagering requirements. We’re talking 10x or even more, sometimes on odds higher than 2.00.

Obviously, a free bet with such wagering requirements makes it very difficult to be a profitable matched bettor, but it isn’t impossible. You do need some experience to overcome situations like this. So if you’re a beginner, it’s best not to waste your time on bookmakers with bad bonus deals. Instead, we say stick with bookmakers with easy wagering requirements.

Bookmakers with Easy Wagering Requirements

There are thousands of bookmakers out there and most of them offer at least some kind of bonuses. Unfortunately, not all of those offers are good from the players’ perspective. In fact, most of them aren’t.

The good news is that there are plenty of bookmakers famous for giving away free bets with wagering requirements that aren’t that difficult to fulfill.

Some of those bookmakers include the following:

  • Bet365 – The great thing about this UK-based bookmaker is that it accepts players from a large number of different countries. If you are eligible to create an account at bet365, you’re going to receive a welcome bonus from the bookmaker in the form of a €25 free bet (or its equivalent in another currency), which you need to wager on odds higher than 1.20 (1/5).
  • Betfred – This bookmaker gives away €30 in free bets, which you need to wager on odds of 2.00 (2/1) or higher.
  • Betfair Sportsbook – Although it’s famous for its betting exchange, Betfair also has its own online sportsbook. If you sign up to Betfair SB, you’re going to become eligible for a €100 free bet.
  • LeoVegas – The Swedish bookmaker is giving a bonus of up to 3,000 kr (~€275) to its new players. The best thing about this bonus deal is that it comes with a wagering requirement of only 4x.
  • Betsson – For players based in Scandinavia and some other parts of the world, this bookmaker is giving a welcome bonus equivalent to €200. To get it, you need to make a deposit of the same amount. In order to turn the bonus into real money, you need to wager it 8x on odds higher than 1.80.

These are just some examples of reputable bookmakers and their bonus wagering requirements. Remember that there are 100+ bookmakers that Oddshero works with, most of which have some good bonuses waiting for their customers.

Free Bets with No Wagering Requirements

They do exist, but this doesn’t mean you can withdraw the money straight away. Even though there are no wagering requirements, you will still have to bet.

Bookmakers usually give them to players who have lost all their money or those who haven’t placed any bets in a while. They might be without any wagering requirements, but there is a catch. They are usually lower than the minimum withdrawable amount.

What this means is that in order to be able to withdraw the money, you need to wager the free bet and hope that you will win enough money to be able to cash-out.

Knowing that most bookmakers have a minimum withdrawal amount set at around €10, you can see that the free bet deals with no wagering conditions are usually not as attractive as the regular ones.

You’re going to have to wager the free bet anyway, so why not go with a bigger sum?

If your answer is ‘because such deals come with wagering requirements that are difficult to fulfill’, we need to remind you about Matched Betting. By using this tactic, you don’t have to gamble. Instead, you let mathematics bring profits your way.

Using Matched Betting to Withdraw Money from Free Bets

The chances that you will clear the wagering requirement of a free bet on your own are not very good. Actually, they’re pretty poor. Instead of gambling, our advice is to play it safe.

The whole point of Matched Betting is to help the players clear their bonuses without having to risk anything.

How this method works is that you bet on one outcome with the free bet while betting the complete opposite at a betting exchange/Cover Bookmaker. This way, whatever happens, you win.

If you win at the betting exchange/Cover Bookmaker, you get to cash out the winnings. If you win at the Bonus Bookmakers, you need to repeat the entire process until you have cleared the wagering requirement.

Of course, it’s not easy to figure out how much money to bet nor which games to choose. We know this, which is why we created Oddshero, a Matched Betting tool that takes care of all the hard work.

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