There are many Cheltenham free bet offers available as bookmakers make a big deal out of the four-day Festival held at this racecourse every March. Just what are free bets, though, and how do they work? That’s what this page is all about.
Whether it’s Cheltenham Festival free bets for new customers given via sign up offers and welcome bonuses or various promotions open to all bettors, there are deals that everyone can take advantage of. Here, we look at the best Cheltenham free bet offers, and the important terms and conditions attached to them. If you’re aware of these things, then you know exactly what you have to do to get the bonuses. You’ll be left in no doubt how to get Cheltenham free bets before and during the Festival, and which online bookmakers give the best deals. Read on as we reveal all about these promotions.
Free bets are bonus tokens with which you can place bets on sportsbooks without risking any real cash. These are very rarely given away for nothing, however, and you will probably need to place a cash wager beforehand in order to get them. Free bet Cheltenham offers are common because the Festival is the biggest National Hunt horse racing meeting of the year. These are available on a wide range of sports with many new customer offer promotions applying across them all.
Free bet deals are not just for those joining a sportsbook, though. Existing customers can also benefit from them too via other ongoing promos. When you place a free bet, you will not have the stake returned with any winnings that you make. This is because the wager struck didn’t actually risk any capital in terms of real money from your betting account. Besides placing a qualifying bet that meets certain terms and conditions to get a free bet, you may also need to make a deposit only using specific payment methods. Learn more about free bet terms and conditions below.
We know you’re wondering what the best free bets Cheltenham has to offer are. It makes sense to deal with new customer only deals first, as the most popular kind of these involve such bonuses. Both top and new bookmakers feature in our list of best Cheltenham free bet offers here:
Through 888Sport, the bet 10 get 30 free bets welcome offer gives you £30 in Cheltenham races free bets when you sign up, make an eligible deposit and place a qualifying bet of £10. For new customers outside of the UK, you will need to use the promo code FB30 in order to get this deal. Anyone depositing through eWallet services PayPal, Paysafecard, Skrill Muchbetter or Neteller cannot get the offer. You must a debit card for your first deposit, which must be a minimum of £10. A qualifying bet is your first placed from your real cash balance. You must do this within 30 days of registering.
The qualifying bet must be £10 or more on any sports market at minimum odds of 1/2 (1.50). Multiple bets like accumulators count too and most have total combined odds of at least that price. Only permutation bets and virtual sports wagers don’t count. Any voided or cashed out bets aren’t eligible either. You must claim your free bets within 72 hours of your qualifying wager settling. You then have seven day to use this bonus before it expires. Further terms apply. Many other 888Sport Cheltenham offers are listed on our website – make sure to check them out.
Newcomers GatoBet have their own bet 10 get 30 sign up offer for those who join their sportsbook. Open a new account, deposit at least £10 using promo code GATO, then place qualifying bets of £10 or more to receive a £30 free bet. Only certain payment methods can be used to make an eligible deposit. Skrill is the only payment option specifically mentioned as not being allowed in conjunction with this offer. You cannot cash out bets that count towards unlocking the bonus.
The free bet must be used in one go, the stake is not returned and it must be wagered on a sportsbook market with minimum odds of evens (2.00). Any bonus winnings generated from the free bet must then be wagered 10 times before it can be converted to real money. You have just five days to meet this requirement before bonus funds expire. The maximum conversion amount is set at £30. Further and general GatoBet terms and conditions apply to their welcome bonus.
At Betfred, their new customer offer is also a bet 10 to get 30 in free bets deal. On top of this, you also get 60 free spins that have their own separate terms and conditions. Use promo code SPORTS60 when registering, then make an eligible deposit of at least £10 and place a qualifying bet. Once this is settled, you will receive £30 in free bets. Any new customer depositing via eWallet services won’t receive this offer, so stick to your debit card. A qualifying bet must be at least £10 at minimum odds of evens. Cashed out bets do not count towards this offer.
The following Betfred markets aren’t eligible for getting the bonus: Totepool, Virtual, Bingo, Casino, Games, Lotto, Numbers and Poker. You must also validate your identity by responding to the SMS Text Message sent out within 60 days of the qualifying bet being settled. That means the wager must be settled within that timeframe of being placed. Once verified, you should have your free bets within 24 hours. You then seven days to use the bonus before it expires. Again, additional terms apply. Betfred are known for their generous and creative promotions, and Betfred Cheltenham offers aren’t any different – check them out to make the most of your 2022 Cheltenham Festival betting.
The open account offer Bet365 have is up to £100 in bet credits (their name for free bets) when you sign up, deposit and place qualifying bets. The minimum deposit here is £5, which you make once you have registered and then claim the promotion. The amount you deposit is then matched up to £100. In order to release the bet credits, you then must place qualifying bets from your real cash balance to the value of your deposit. You must claim the offer within 30 days of registering.
When making a deposit, do not use ApplePay, Google Pay, PayPal or other eWallet services or prepaid cards, as these payment methods are not compatible with receiving the bonus. You will also have to your identity verified and enter a Postal Verification Code. The minimum odds for qualifying bets are 1/5 (1.20). You cannot have a qualifying bet in the same market twice. Other bet restrictions may apply. You bet credits will be forfeit if your Bet365 account remains in active for a period of 90 days. Stakes are not returned with any winnings.
With STS, their new customer offer rewards you with up to a £40 free bet when you deposit and placing a qualifying bet. The minimum deposit is £10 and the bonus awarded is half the value of the qualifying bet with a maximum of £40. It can be wagered on any sportsbook market, pre-match or in-play but must be used all in one go. This can be on a single or an accumulator. There are minimum odds of 1/2 (1.50) per bet or leg of the bet attached to the bonus.
The value of your free bet must be wagered 6x before it can be withdrawn. You have seven days in which to meet that wagering requirement. If you don’t, then the bonus funds are lost. This offer is only available for new UK customers. The bonus cannot be transferred to the casino platform. General terms also apply to this STS offer.
With Cheltenham free bet offers and promotions of any kind, it is important that you understand the terms and conditions attached to the deals. This leaves you in no doubt what you have to do in order to get the most out of any bonuses. The value or size of free bets aren’t the only thing that matters. This is because online bookmakers all have slightly different terms and conditions. Some of these are easier to meet than others. The best Cheltenham free bet offers are ones that keep things simple. You should take each of these into consideration when judging a promo:
Some of the best free bets Cheltenham provides on the Festival are open to everyone. Many customers already have betting accounts after signing up months or years ago. It is not in the interests of online bookmakers to neglect their existing players at the expense of new business. Here are the most popular Cheltenham races free bets and deals available to all bettors:
As free bet Cheltenham offers go, money back specials are the most common. With the races taking place during the Festival being so competitive, there may be at least one per day that is covered by such a promotion. Boylesports, for example, have a money back as a free bet up to £20 if second to the SP favourite deal. Betway, meanwhile, run a Money Back if Second offer on selected events. Either of these promotions give you another chance to find a winner without risking further capital if you just miss out on your horse finishing first in the race in question.
This can give you all the incentive you need to take on Festival favourites, and that extra insurance is only buoyed by the fact that Cheltenham horses priced shorter than 9/4 don’t actually have the best record. In races where there is an odds-on favourite, there can be value in betting each-way against them for the places. If your fancy then happens to finish second, you get a bonus on the losing win part of the wager. Money back specials can thus benefit bettors even on bets where an overall profit is made.
So-called Free Bet Clubs rewards bettors who place regular wagers on a weekly basis with bonuses. One of the best examples out there among online bookmakers of this is Paddy Power. Their Paddy’s Rewards Club gives punters a “Power Up” to boost the price of one bet per week provided you have put a wager on the previous week. Place five bets each with a value of £5, and you receive £5 in free bet bonuses for the following week. Put on five wagers of £10 each and get £10.
The benefits of this are obvious. You can get yourself Cheltenham free bets of up to £10 for Festival week by wagering £50 in the manner described above the week before. When using bonus funds to bet with, you aren’t risking any of your cash balance. While the free bet stakes awarded to you through a Free Bet Club aren’t returned with any winnings, this is still a great promotion. Paddy Power aren’t the only sportsbook offering this either, with Betway and Sky Bet also among online bookmakers to run loyalty programmes.
Cheltenham Festival free bets are not just limited to the two types above. There are occasions when you can get a bonus not just for past bets you’ve had through a Free Bet Club or money back when your horse has come second. As the Festival races are broadcast on terrestrial television in the UK via ITV Racing, then Cheltenham races free bets may be available in another form. Both 888Sport and Bet365 run ITV Racing promotions, which require you to back the winner of selected horse races broadcast at odds of 4/1 (5.00) or better. With each, bonus winnings are paid up to a set amount as free bets.
Many Cheltenham races are so hotly competitive that the prices will at least be 4/1 the field or bigger. This gives you every incentive to place a Festival bet with these online bookmakers, because you are given an extra reward for doing so. Besides winner bonuses, bookies that operate betting shops as well as internet gambling have now decided to link the pair. There may be offers available through the Coral Connect card or William Hill Plus that relate to Cheltenham, so keep an eye out.
The bookie with the best Cheltenham Festival free bets depends on what type of offers you are looking for. Bet365 have a number of promotions for new and existing customers which work in conjunction with this major National Hunt horse racing meeting, so always rank highly among sportsbooks.
No Cheltenham free bet offers will allow you to withdraw bonuses before wagering them. This is because the stakes from free bets are not returned with any winnings made, as no real cash has been gambled.
If you win with one of the best free bets Cheltenham has to offer, then you receive the winnings made from the bonus stake. The stake itself is not returned in addition to that, as outlined in the terms of conditions of free bet Cheltenham offers, as cash was not wagered on the bet.
Again, the best Cheltenham free bet offer for existing customers depends on what you are looking for in a promotion. For some, it may be a Free Bet Club that rewards the loyalty of regular bettors. Others may prefer money back specials that return your stake to you as a free bet if your horse finished second or placed in a Festival race. There are also winner bonus deals to consider, which pay you free bets on top of winnings provided your wager was a certain price.
Harvey Mayson has worked as a horseracing writer, blogger and tipster for several of the UK’s leading bookmakers and numerous other specialist racing sites. Harvey has great knowledge of horse racing history and was the author of the Paddy Power Cheltenham Festival and Aintree Grand National blog for three years. Harvey’s blog at the Cheltenham Festival in 2014 included a 100,000-1 ante-post four-timer while he correctly forecast the first four winners on Grand National day in 2015. He also tipped three Grand National winners in a row and eleven consecutive winning nap selections.