The chances are you will have heard the term ‘no deposit bet’ banded around recently if you are at all interested in gambling. But what exactly is a ‘no deposit bet’ and what does it mean for you? In this article we explore the meaning and benefits behind this latest marketing buzz term.
A no deposit bet is exactly what it says on the tin – you can place a bet without making a deposit. For betting novices, a ‘deposit’ is the term used for uploading or crediting your online account with a bookmaker or casino with some money. This is typically done by entering your credit or debit card details into the bookmakers or casino’s website and them subsequently charging your card with the amount you wish to deposit into your account. This maybe a small amount such as £10 but more seasoned gamblers and professional poker players may deposit £1000’s at a time. In a no deposit bet situation, this process is bypassed and you simply register with the bookmakers or casino’s site and as an incentive for doing so, they will credit your account with a small amount of their money – this is normally a small amount such as £10 but it is entirely free.
Now, the obvious benefit of this process is the free money they have just given you to bet with and indeed if you win with this opening bet, you get to keep the winnings or reinvest it to place another bet. For example, if you place a free no deposit bet of £10 on a horse with odds of 10-1 and your horse rolls in first, you now have £110 at your disposal which is made up of the winnings i.e. 10x£10 and also a refund of your original stake. You can now withdraw the money and go on a shopping spree or chose to reuse it say on a football match next weekend or a poker game or whatever.
So what exactly are the downsides of no deposit betting? Well firstly the bookmakers hope that you will succumb to their marketing and catch the gambling ‘bug’ (also known as an addiction!) and then go on to deposit wads of your own money into their system. Secondly, even if you have the will power to resist this, the bookmakers will now have all your details and if you forgot to click the opt out of marketing box, you will now be bombarded with marketing emails. This is of course not to say that you shouldn’t take advantage of free no deposit betting – if you are strong enough of mind to resist being drawn into habitual gambling and you remember to opt out of marketing, it’s a win-win situation and if you also manage to convert you bet into some winnings it’s a win-win-win situation!