How a free bet actually works
LadBet Free Bets
A free bet pays the winnings and keeps the stake. Where it lives on the slip, the minimum price it needs, the 7-day clock on it, and the one thing that cannot be undone.
Free bets are the standard currency of British betting promotions, and the mechanism behind them is simple enough that it is rarely explained properly. The single sentence that matters: a free bet returns the winnings without returning the stake.
Everything else on this page follows from that, including why a free bet at a short price is worth so little and why the price you choose matters more with a free bet than with cash.
The arithmetic
Put £10 of free bet on something at 3/1 and a win returns £30, not £40. The £10 token is consumed either way.
| Price | Free bet returns | Cash bet returns | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1/1 (2.00) | £10 | £20 | £10 |
| 5/2 (3.50) | £25 | £35 | £10 |
| 5/1 (6.00) | £50 | £60 | £10 |
| 12/1 (13.00) | £120 | £130 | £10 |
What the table shows
The absolute difference is always the stake, but the proportion changes enormously. At evens you lose half your return to the missing stake; at 12/1 you lose under eight per cent of it. That is the whole argument for using a free bet at a longer price, and it is arithmetic rather than a tip.
The counter-argument
A longer price wins less often. Choosing 12/1 over evens to maximise the value of a token is only sensible if you would have backed something at 12/1 anyway. Picking a long shot purely to get more out of a free bet is optimising the wrong quantity, and it is a common mistake.
Using one
The toggle sits directly under the stake box on the bet slip when a free bet is available.
It replaces rather than adds
Tapping the toggle swaps the cash stake for the free bet. If you had typed a cash figure it disappears, which is correct behaviour rather than a fault. The return figure updates at the same moment to show winnings only, so the difference is visible before you confirm.
It cannot be split
A £10 token goes on in one piece, on one bet. That suits a single considered bet and does not suit spreading across an afternoon. Some operators issue several smaller tokens instead; we issue one, which is a design choice rather than a restriction with a reason behind it.
A cash bet placed by mistake cannot be undone
Once a bet is confirmed it is a contract, and there is no facility to convert it retrospectively. The free bet stays in the account for the rest of its life and can go on something else, which is the only remedy available.
The clock
Free bets expire 7 days after they are credited. Not after you sign up, not after your first deposit — after the token lands in the account.
Expiry is final
Support cannot extend it. The expiry is written into the token at the moment it is issued and there is no facility anywhere in the system to change it afterwards. That is worth saying plainly rather than letting somebody open a conversation that ends in no.
Planning round it
If you know you will not get to a bet within the week, the sensible order is to delay the qualifying bet rather than the free one. The offer waits for you; the token does not.
What a free bet cannot do
Four restrictions, all of them standard and none of them hidden.
- It cannot be cashed out. There is no stake to return, so there is nothing to value.
- It cannot be withdrawn. A free bet is a token, not a balance. Winnings from it are cash and can be withdrawn immediately.
- It generally cannot be used on a boosted price. A boost is already a promotional price.
- It has a minimum price. 1/1 (2.00) or bigger, the same floor as the qualifying bet.
On the second point: once a free bet wins, what comes back is ordinary money. There is no wagering on it, no restriction on withdrawing it and no second set of conditions. That is the meaningful difference between a sportsbook free bet and a casino bonus, which carries 35x.
Where free bets come from
Three routes, and the terms differ slightly between them.
The welcome offer
£10 for a settled £20 qualifying bet at 1/1 (2.00) or bigger. One per customer, no code, and the full conditions are on the welcome offer page.
Acca insurance
A five-leg-plus accumulator with exactly one losing leg returns the stake as a free bet up to £25, one per customer per day. Cashing the acca out forfeits it, because the bet never settles.
Ongoing promotions
Occasional offers tied to an event or a market, listed on the promotions page. These have their own terms and are usually narrower in scope than the standing offers above.
The limit tools are quick to set and easy to live with. There is a free line on 0808 8020 133 with nothing at all to sell you. Nobody under 18 may bet here.
Common questions
Do I get the free bet stake back if it wins?
No. A free bet pays the winnings only. £10 at 5/2 returns £25 rather than £35.
Can I split a free bet across several bets?
No. It goes on in one piece, on one bet.
Is there wagering on free bet winnings?
None. Winnings from a sportsbook free bet are ordinary cash and can be withdrawn immediately.
Can my free bet be extended?
No. The 7-day expiry is set when the token is issued and support has no facility to change it.
I used cash instead of my free bet by mistake.
That cannot be reversed. The free bet remains in the account until it expires and can be used on something else.
What odds does a free bet need?
1/1 (2.00) or bigger, the same floor that applies to the qualifying bet.