Betfair free £25 bet - catch?

[NotAGolf]

Hi all, just seen this advertised. From the looks of it if you sign up with betfair and deposit £25. It says on you first bet only, if you lose it, they'll refund your loss on that bet. Now I have never bet before because I don't think it's a smart idea, but this looks like a 'free chance' to me. For example, if I sign up, deposit £25, put down £25 on Brazilt to win the world cup, they lose, i get £25 back in my account, withdraw it back to my bank account so I havn't lost anything.

I've tried looking through the terms and conditions (here) and I can't see anything which would prevent me doing this....but I don't understand some of the terminolgy

Is it possible to do my above example or is there more to it than that? Perhaps I can't withdraw my deposit until I've made x amount of bets or I can only withdraw winnings I make on top of my deposit, or maybe there's a charge to withdraw the £25 from the account to my bank???

Sorry for the stupid question and thanks for any advice!

 

[britboy4321]

Don't know about betfair but for most of these deals you have to bet away the whole free gift, ONLY being able to withdraw any winnings made from them (minus the gift). And you normally have to bet some real cash, to get the 'gift can't be withdrawn' cash.

 

[jamief]

888sport did something similar. Bet £20, if you lose, you get it back and can withdraw it straight away. No catch.

 

[Marky]

The catch is that you need to give them £25

 

[Greenlizard0]

"Why can't I always choose how I withdraw my funds?

We operate a closed loop payment policy which enforces the withdrawal of funds back to their source. You will be required to level off the deposits made from each registered payment method with the same withdrawals before you can withdraw any excess funds back via another payment method. This policy protects both Betfair, and its users against fraud and money laundering."

I don't quite understand this (which I guess means I'm not a money launderer hahaa pft). But it meant when won more than I initially deposited I had problems withdrawing. I deposited £10 (meaning that I would win back £10) and ended up winning around £60 with the former. I couldn't withdraw it initially and had to ring their customer services who were fine with shifting it back into my bank account.

Others here will better explain it to you.

 

[chrisxuk]

888sport did something similar. Bet £20, if you lose, you get it back and can withdraw it straight away. No catch.

They did indeed. 888sport and Betclic both had this offer on, I happened to lose both my £20 bets and got both of my £20's paid back into my bank account after a few days. Although there was a mistake and 888sport gave me £40 rather than just £20

Remember to read the T&C and make sure that if you do lose the bet and get your money back, whether you can withdraw it or have to spend it on another bet. There doesn't seem to be a catch with them, they just hope that you will continue to bet with them rather than just have the free bet and leave.

Just be careful though, gambling can get addictive

 

[NotAGolf]

Don't know about betfair but for most of these deals you have to bet away the whole free gift, ONLY being able to withdraw any winnings made from them (minus the gift). And you normally have to bet some real cash, to get the 'gift can't be withdrawn' cash.

Yea I've seen that before with some kind of online casino. Won't bother if this is the case as I'm not guaranteed to not lose money.

I'm kind of skeptical as it seems to good to be true, but I suppose they don't really lose any money by refunding your bet, it's not cost them anything (well marginal admin costs I assume), and they bank on mugs signing up that either forget the rules or just get a bit carried away and end up losing.

 

[NotAGolf]

Looks like 888sport and betclic are still runnning a similar £20 offer. Could make some fundage here if they're all catch free

 

[chrisxuk]

Looks like 888sport and betclic are still runnning a similar £20 offer. Could make some fundage here if they're all catch free

I've used them both, and got my £20 back from both so I recommend them

You do have to send them a picture of some ID though like your passport or driving licence before withdrawing to confirm your age!

 

[jas72]

I've used them both, and got my £20 back from both so I recommend them

You do have to send them a picture of some ID though like your passport or driving licence before withdrawing to confirm your age!

but not before depositing or betting?

wow

 

[NotAGolf]

but not before depositing or betting?

wow

Just signed up for Betfair and I didn't have to provide any photo ID. There is a popup saying I need to confirm my age though, either through credit card payment or copy of passport driving license etc. Believe I can make bets before providing this but I'd have to provide it before withdrawing as Chris said.

To anyone that's done this before with Betfair/888/betclic, are you allowed to do multiple bets? I.e. choosing 3 teams to win in their respective games for the world cup for example. Or do you have to do a plain bog standard bet, brazil to win for example.

 

[JoeFX]

To anyone that's done this before with Betfair/888/betclic, are you allowed to do multiple bets? I.e. choosing 3 teams to win in their respective games for the world cup for example. Or do you have to do a plain bog standard bet, brazil to win for example.

Mostly single bets as it's an exchange, not a normal bookie.

There are a small number of markets where you can do multiples... click the Multiples link in the blue strip along the top of the page, after you've logged in.

 

[NotAGolf]

Mostly single bets as it's an exchange, not a normal bookie.

There are a small number of markets where you can do multiples... click the Multiples link in the blue strip along the top of the page, after you've logged in.

Thanks Joe. You can do mutiple bets on the win/lose/draw of the world cup games (on betfair), just wasn't sure if it is covered under the £25 free bet offer.

Reading through (and understanding) the T+C's is always such a ballache as they make it so complicated! I think it's covered under this:

3. Only matched† bets on the Exchange or Multiples bets will qualify for this promotion.
† 'Matched' means offered and accepted on a market of the www.betfair.com website and refers to backers' stake or the liability of a lay bet.

But I'm not clued up on the terminolgy used

 

[chrisxuk]

Just signed up for Betfair and I didn't have to provide any photo ID. There is a popup saying I need to confirm my age though, either through credit card payment or copy of passport driving license etc. Believe I can make bets before providing this but I'd have to provide it before withdrawing as Chris said.

To anyone that's done this before with Betfair/888/betclic, are you allowed to do multiple bets? I.e. choosing 3 teams to win in their respective games for the world cup for example. Or do you have to do a plain bog standard bet, brazil to win for example.

I had an accumulator bet with 888sport, and I got double my money back

1x£20 Accumulator for the following:
Uruguay v France Uruguay to win
Argentina v Nigeria Argentina to win
Germany v Australia Germany to win
Holland v Denmark Holland to win
Ivory Coast v Portugal Portugal to win
Brazil v N. Korea Brazil to win
Spain v Switzerland Spain to win
New Zealand v Slovakia Slovakia to win

Had this gone correctly, I would have won £1017.49 Needless to say, it didn't go to plan

Probably not the wisest bet, but 888sport held their end of the deal and refunded me

 

[NotAGolf]

I had an accumulator bet with 888sport, and I got double my money back

1x£20 Accumulator for the following:
Uruguay v France Uruguay to win
Argentina v Nigeria Argentina to win
Germany v Australia Germany to win
Holland v Denmark Holland to win
Ivory Coast v Portugal Portugal to win
Brazil v N. Korea Brazil to win
Spain v Switzerland Spain to win
New Zealand v Slovakia Slovakia to win

Had this gone correctly, I would have won £1017.49 Needless to say, it didn't go to plan

Probably not the wisest bet, but 888sport held their end of the deal and refunded me

Awesome! Thinking of betting the winner of all 4 quarter finals (maybe not the Arg V Ger one). Could be a nice return!

Although when you bet for x team to win, is that for them to win by full time, or does it still count if they win in extra time? Or does that depend on who you bet with. Sorry again for the stupid question

 

[chrisxuk]

I'd think it's whoever win's to get into the next round, so including extra time and penalties. Whoever is the final winner

If you are going to do an accumulator bet with 888sport, then make sure you fill in the correct box as the T&C's state that they will refund your first bet. If you start doing trebles and doubles etc they count as multiple bets I think.

Accumulator bet, just fill in the box highlighted once you chosen your bets:

I put £20 on mine, so that counts as 1x£20 bet

Hope that makes sense! O_o

 

[NotAGolf]

Thanks for the explanation again Chris.

I believe an accumulator on betfair is referred to as a multiple, then like below you just select 1 bet instead of a double or triple type bet. I've just sent an email to them asking if this is valid under their promotion just in case.

Still not sure about the score because on betfair they give odds for a draw so it can't be a case of who qualifies otherwise that'd be a pointless bet! So sent another email to find out what is considered a draw; after 90 mins or after extra time, assuming that if it goes to penalties then it's a draw no matter who wins.

Thanks again!

 

[TRiP]

There are also some good cashback deals on quidco for these. If i remember correctly, £45 cash back when you deposit and bet £25 on betfair, and a few others too.

 

[tsinc80697]

Used the free bet with 888 last week and won £92. Tried signing up for BetClic today and depositing money buyt it's such hard work I can't be bothered.

Awful site!