In the age of modern betting, every online sportsbook is competing for the attention of users, especially with the number of online casinos and sportsbooks rising daily. To capture the attention of as many people as possible, these companies are doing everything they can to stimulate people to open an account on their website, instead of the competitors.

These simulations come in different shapes and forms, but the two most common forms are free bets and sign-up bonuses. Both types of rewards are beneficial to the player, and usually require very little investment, in which case the player almost always gets an amount equal to or higher than their expense.

Let’s discuss these rewards because it’s important to understand the difference between a free bet and a sign-up bonus to use them to our advantage, to their fullest extent.

What Are Free Bets?

Some casinos offer free bets such as a Virgin Bet promo code to motivate their target audience to open an account on their website. Free bets are usually available to both existing and new customers. But apart from motivating new players to join, free bets also work to retain the already existing player base.

A free bet means that the stake of the bet is not returned to the player. If a player bets on a game or a tournament with a £10 free bet, and the bet has even odds, for example, 2.0, the player wouldn’t get the £10 stake back. This means that the free bet is deducted from the wins the player made.

To make matters simpler, if you made an over/under bet using the £10 free bet, and it resulted in a £40 win, you would only receive £30 in total. This means that you get £10 less than you would if you had placed a bet with your own money. It’s not an ideal situation, but let’s not forget that the bet was free in the first place.

With sports betting on the rise, there are more and more alluring offers for new and old players alike.

Sign-Up Bonus

Sign-Up bonuses are also known as a Welcome Bonus at most sportsbooks. Even though they are named differently they 100% mean the same thing and are activated in the same way.  Sign-Up bonuses are aimed at new players who haven’t yet registered an account at the sportsbook that is offering the bonus.

This also means that you cannot have an account already and creating a new one just to use the bonus is strictly forbidden. If you are caught creating a second account just for the sake of taking advantage of the bonus, your account will most likely be revoked, and you will be banned from betting on the site.

In the sign-up bonus, you get the reward back in cash, and the money spent is reinstated under your account. You usually need to deposit the minimum amount needed to gamble on the website and make a qualifying bet, after which the sign-up bonus is paid to your account.

However, sign-up bonuses come with wagering requirements that the player has to fulfil to be qualified to receive the bonus. For example, if the sign-up bonus is £10 it might have to be wagered at least x5 which means you would have to place a bet of £50 to be able to withdraw the wins made from the bet.

There’s a little something for everyone, as people do not shy away from spending money when sports betting is in question. But read on to see what exactly the difference between the two offers is.

What Is The Difference Between A Free Bet and A Sign-Up Bonus?

Both bonuses can be profitable overall, however, free bets are easier to make a profit with. This stems from the fact that a free bet only must be wagered once, whereas a sign-up bonus usually has more wagering requirements tied to it.

Do keep in mind to always check the Terms and Conditions of the sportsbooks you use to avoid any confusion and mistakenly do something that could have your account banned and revoked. All bonuses have some specifics tied to them with which you should be familiar, to avoid any mistakes. All bonuses usually have a time limit set in which you must complete certain requirements such as wagers to be able to withdraw the money. It’s always better to be safe than sorry, so read up on all the information you have.