If you think Cheltenham free bets are only available to new customers when the four-day Festival that is the pinnacle of National Hunt horse racing rolls around every year in March, then think again. Nowadays, you’ll find Cheltenham free bets for existing customers among the many promotions and bonuses on offer. What’s great about betting on the Festival is there are some Cheltenham free bets offers that cater for everyone, so you don’t feel like you’re missing out if you’ve already signed up. Bookmakers are working hard to keep all customers happy. We’re concerned with how you can get your hands on Cheltenham Festival free bets and other similar bonuses to play with in this article.
- New or existing customers, there are free bets at Cheltenham for you
- Why you should look out for best odds guaranteed (BOG) and non-runner no bet (NRNB)
- How to make Cheltenham Festival specials work to your advantage
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Get a Free Bet on Your Favourite Horse at Cheltenham!
In this day and age, making betting bonuses solely available to new customers would be a huge mistake on any bookmaker’s part. When it comes to offering free bets at Cheltenham, for example, they know the Festival garners greater mainstream interest than a regular week of horse racing. As one of the centrepieces of the jumps season, you can always expect to find the event televised on terrestrial TV and, although taking place on weekdays in March rather than on a weekend, this only adds to the allure. Several championship races are held across the four days and the huge spike in betting interest that bookies receive mean that they can afford to be more generous with their promotions – and open some of those offers up to everyone. While things like Cheltenham free bets with no deposit are a rarity, now is the perfect time to delve a little deeper into what’s available.
Keep an eye out for BOG and NRNB
The more experienced punters reading this may be thinking, there’s nothing special about getting the best odds guaranteed (BOG) and non-runner no bet (NRNB) at the Cheltenham Festival. After all, these offers apply to all UK and Irish horse racing following final declarations with every leading bookmaker and many smaller firms in the industry. However, it is not so much the fact that promotions exist as when they come into effect. Some bookies are going the extra mile on these when it comes to Cheltenham and offering them earlier than normal. It’s even been known for certain bookmakers to adapt a unique twist on NRNB by only offering money back if your horse doesn’t run at the Festival full stop. You have to be careful, though, as if that promotion exists, the regular NRNB guarantee will not cover a horse you’ve bet on and if it lines up in another Cheltenham race you lose out. BOG is more straightforward; if you take a price and the horse is sent off at larger odds, then your winnings are paid out at the bigger price.
Making Cheltenham Festival specials work for you
It makes sense to shop around to see what Cheltenham Festival horse racing free bets and offers are available before you place any of your wagers. This may sound bizarre, yet sometimes it’s not always about the price you take (because of BOG) but what else may be on offer in addition. There may be any of a number of additional promotions covered by your bets. Some bookies encourage you to take a favourite on by offering money back or bonus bet tokens if your fancied horse is beaten by the SP favourite. Alternatively, a bookie may be offering enhanced terms or extra places for each-way bets on one of the big handicaps at the Festival in order to drum up further interest. Some even offer you additional bonuses on top of your winnings if the horse you back wins by a certain margin of victory. These are just some of the common examples of Cheltenham free bets for existing customers you might find when you look into it. These additional incentives need to be part of your betting strategy if you’re to have a successful time gambling on the Festival. The name of the game is making these specials and promotions work for you. There’s only one way to do that, and it involves you picking up the knowledge of what’s available and where. All you have to decide then is which offer and bookie works best for you.
Broadly speaking, the offers and free bets at Cheltenham you can get for the Festival fall into one of three categories. These are each aimed at different types of punter who may want different things from their gambling experience. Smart bookmakers know they can’t afford to cater for just one sort of bettor and leave other areas of the market without any incentive to get involved. As highlighted above, whatever sort of gambler you are, it’s important that you turn this desire from bookies to give everyone a reason to bet to your advantage. There’s no shortcuts either. You must discover which sportsbooks have what promotions in order to do that, but you’ll find more on each of the types of offers below.
- Promotions that mitigate the potential losses
- Specials that enhance possible winnings
- New customer offers
Sometimes, what matters most to punters isn’t getting something extra when you win, but Cheltenham free bets and promotions that cover a loser. You might think this is a cautious approach, but getting a bonus when your fancy doesn’t pass the post first gives you another opportunity to have a winner without risking further capital. As well as offering non-runner no bet (NRNB) or variants of it where your stake is returned if a horse doesn’t line-up in the race in question or at the Festival at all, some bookies have other promotions to soften the blow of losing. There are two other common sorts of specials that mitigate your losses; one is fallers’ insurance. Jumps racing can be so unpredictable and that’s why we love it! However, there’s nothing worse than seeing your fancied horse going well on for it to fall under pressure at the last. Getting money back or bonuses that cover you in that scenario are most welcome. The other offer to take note of is when a bookmaker gives your money back or a token when your fancied horse is beaten by the starting price (SP) favourite or specified horse. This may often be one and the same animal, but it’s great to know if you’re bold enough to take a hot favourite on that this cover exists.
Specials that enhance possible winnings
At the other end of the spectrum, winning a bet is just not enough for some punters. They want Cheltenham free bets or offers that increase the amount in their balance even further. We’re not necessarily talking about price boosts, flash odds or enhanced multiples here, but more generic specials. Picking out the winners in one of the Festival’s fiendishly competitive handicaps is even tougher than choosing in the championship races. Each-way betting really comes into its own with these events and so any bookie that is offering your extra places or more favourable terms when taking this type of punt is only increasing the value (and potential winnings). Fourth and even fifth place and beyond can result in you turning a profit on each-way wagers. You can even add or remove places when taking an each-way punt with some firms! Like the best odds guaranteed, it’s an opportunity that get that little bit extra out of your experience. Some bookmakers even offer you additional bonuses when you back a winner that not only passes the post first, but absolutely bolts up. If your horse has a margin of victory that is greater than a certain threshold, they are prepared to furnish you with tokens so you don’t risk further capital on subsequent bets.
New customer offers
For all the promotions discussed above that are open to every punter, there are always going to be offers targeted at new customers by the bookies. In an ideal world, these would be Cheltenham free bets with no deposit, but in reality you’re probably going to have to put some funds in when you sign up. These are commonly massively enhanced odds for a red-hot favourite to win and you receive bonus tokens if the horse does land the spoils. The days of cash winnings on these new customer offers are more or less over, though if you can find one that credits you with real money rather than free bets at Cheltenham, then you’re doing well. Those bonuses you are much more likely to receive ensure you are betting on the remainder of the Festival with tokens rather than your own money and, although you won’t get the stakes back, you can still make plenty of profit if you back more winners. For more horse racing bonus guides, make sure to visit our Grand National horse racing free bet review.
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