Sports offers
Free bets and stake not returned
Why a £10 free bet is worth less than a £10 bet, and the conditions that come with it.
Reviewed by the Slate Casino Review editors
Meaning
How a free bet pays
Most sports welcome offers ask for a qualifying bet with your own money and then add free bets. A free bet is a stake the operator lends you for one bet. If it comes in, you receive the return minus the free bet amount: stake not returned, often written SNR.
So a £10 free bet at decimal odds of 3.00 returns £20 where a £10 cash bet would return £30. If it loses, you lose nothing of your own, but you also have nothing left of the free bet.
Odds
Reading minimum odds
Offers set a minimum price for the qualifying bet, and sometimes for the free bets. Fractional odds of 1/2 are 1.50 in decimal, evens or 1/1 is 2.00, and 2/1 is 3.00. A bet at shorter odds than the minimum, such as 2/5 when the offer asks for 1/2, does not qualify.
Small print
Other conditions to look for
- Expiry. Free bets usually last 7 to 30 days from when they are added.
- Markets. Some exclude virtual sports or limit free bets to selected markets.
- Bet types. Some free bets work only as accumulators, bet builders or multiples.
- Payment methods. Some ways of paying do not qualify for the offer.
- Not cash. A free bet itself can never be withdrawn.
Do the sum
Check a free bet return
These are sums, not advice. Over time, gambling costs more than it returns: treat any stake as money spent on entertainment.
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