The growth in betting promotions offered to Australian players in recent years has been phenomenal.
The growth is mostly due to the restrictions placed on sign up bonuses in various states of Australia. Betting promotions are bonus bet offers that are rewarded to existing customers for betting on a certain event, and, or; meeting some predetermined criteria as outlined by the bookmaker.
While bonus betting promotions aren’t as heavily regulated as sign up bonus bets, various forms of them are outlawed in certain states of Australia. If you are a resident of Victoria, NSW and WA, you are eligible for most bonus bet promotions. Normally, a betting agency will list the states that are excluded from the promotion at the bottom of the offer.
Betting companies offer betting promotions on a range of different sports and horse racing events. Sports that consistently prove popular include AFL, NRL, cricket, tennis, NBA, NFL and the English Premier League football.
We explain the different types of betting promotions routinely offered by Australian betting operators.
A cash back refund is a type of betting promotion whereby the amount of a bet is refunded in cash, if the bet loses, but meets certain criteria. For example, Bet365 has in the past offered cash back refunds on losing AFL head-to-head bets, if the selected team leads by 20 points or more.
Pro tip: Cash back offers are considered more valuable than bonus bet refunds. If you score a bonus bet, that’s great, but you will need to use the reward, and if it wins, turn over the winnings according to the terms and conditions. Cash back is cash back, plain and simple with no conditions.
An early payout promotion is where a bookmaker pays out winnings on a wager before the event concludes if a condition of the offer qualifies during the event. For example, Sportsbet offers an early payout promotion on certain AFL matches, even if the selected team loses, they will class bets as a winner if that team leads by 24 points or more.
If the bonus bet condition qualifies, and the team goes on to lose, an early payout offer is even more rewarding than a cash back offer, as not only is the bet stake refunded but so are the winnings.
A bonus bet refund is a promotion that awards a bonus bet to the bettor if their bet loses but meets certain criteria within the offer. BetEasy offers many bonus bet refunds on a range of sports. An example is their recent NRL promotion whereby they offered a bonus bet on losing head-to-head bets if the selected team reached 10 points before the other team.
Another way a betting agency may entice one to bet is by offering special odds on a certain event. Ladbrokes regularly offer odds specials as a form of promotion; typically they will offer a price of $2 about the favoured outcome winning. The favoured team is at odds of $1.20, but Ladbrokes will offer $2. These offers are excellent value, but often the bet stake is capped at a maximum of $20. Nonetheless, the offers like this that you take advantage of, the more chance you have of succeeding at online betting.
A common form of a percentage bonus offer is a ‘Double Winnings’ offer, whereby a betting site will offer to pay double the odds on a particular team or horse. Neds is a bookmaker that regularly offers bonuses of this type. Like Ladbrokes, they cap the bet stake, but as explained in our guide to sports betting, promotions such as these can lead to arbitrage opportunities where you can potentially profit.
Many bookmakers now tie in bonus bet refunds to Rewards points. Rewards programs are operated by some agencies to provide an ongoing incentive for members to bet. William Hill’s promotions are often paid out in Rewards points as opposed to actual bonus bets. The points can then be redeemed and used as free bets.
