Risk free bets can be divided into two catagories; arbs and bonuses. As you might be able to tell from the link above on 'arbs' this page is about the latter. This article is also about Risk Free bookmaker bets, not Risk Free casino bonuses, if you're after the latter then you can read about them here.
Some bookmakers offer a risk free bet on sign up. The idea being that they offer you a decent bonus, but you only receive it if your initial bet loses. So how should you approach this type of bet?
The standard method for extracting value from free bets is to take low matching odds to release the free bet, then go big on the free bet. With a risk free bet that will only yield you a bonus at all 50% of the time (assuming your initial bet is at evens). So ideally, you're looking to go big on both the qualifying bet and the bonus bet. This will give you the better chance of getting the free bet in the first place and then a decent profit.
Take BetBright as an example. Their standard sign up bonus is a £20 risk free first bet. If you lose it comes back as cash, so you really do have a shot to nothing. You could go short odds and hope for the best (although there are minimum odds on the qualifying bet) and that's fine, but is it the best way of extracting value? No. Take odds of around 10/1 and you're going to give yourself a better chance of profiting.
Bet £20 at 10/1 on a correct score.
Underlay at BetFair (at 10/1 for this example, the closer the odds the better)
If it comes in then you're +£200 at BetBright, and lost £100 at BetFair = £100 profit
If the initial bet doesn't win you get your £20 stake back at BetBright, but you've won your £10 lay at BetFair = £10 profit.
So you're either winning £100 or £10, with no risk to your own funds.
That's the basis of advantage play betting right there. Don't risk your own funds, make money. Given the simplicity of the example above, you should be doing it across all the bookmakers.
There are other sites that offer 'Risk Free Bets' on sign up, but be careful with the terms and conditions. If your initial bet loses but you get a bonus back rather than cash then you need to work it slightly differently. NoxWin offer a promotion where a losing stake comes back as a bonus, and it's up to E44.
Sign up for a BetBright account and get a £20 Risk Free Bet.
Some bookmakers offer a risk free bet on sign up. The idea being that they offer you a decent bonus, but you only receive it if your initial bet loses. So how should you approach this type of bet?
The standard method for extracting value from free bets is to take low matching odds to release the free bet, then go big on the free bet. With a risk free bet that will only yield you a bonus at all 50% of the time (assuming your initial bet is at evens). So ideally, you're looking to go big on both the qualifying bet and the bonus bet. This will give you the better chance of getting the free bet in the first place and then a decent profit.
Take BetBright as an example. Their standard sign up bonus is a £20 risk free first bet. If you lose it comes back as cash, so you really do have a shot to nothing. You could go short odds and hope for the best (although there are minimum odds on the qualifying bet) and that's fine, but is it the best way of extracting value? No. Take odds of around 10/1 and you're going to give yourself a better chance of profiting.
Bet £20 at 10/1 on a correct score.
Underlay at BetFair (at 10/1 for this example, the closer the odds the better)
If it comes in then you're +£200 at BetBright, and lost £100 at BetFair = £100 profit
If the initial bet doesn't win you get your £20 stake back at BetBright, but you've won your £10 lay at BetFair = £10 profit.
So you're either winning £100 or £10, with no risk to your own funds.
That's the basis of advantage play betting right there. Don't risk your own funds, make money. Given the simplicity of the example above, you should be doing it across all the bookmakers.
There are other sites that offer 'Risk Free Bets' on sign up, but be careful with the terms and conditions. If your initial bet loses but you get a bonus back rather than cash then you need to work it slightly differently. NoxWin offer a promotion where a losing stake comes back as a bonus, and it's up to E44.
Sign up for a BetBright account and get a £20 Risk Free Bet.