A C$10 free bet sounds like C$10. It isnāt, and the reason is one line in the terms: the stake isnāt returned. Win, and you get the profit only. That single rule cuts a free betās average value roughly in half at even odds, and it changes which odds you should use it on. Hereās how free bets work, the formula for what one is worth at any price, and the terms that shrink the number further. Current free bet offers sit on our sports bonus page.
- Stake not returned: a winning C$10 free bet at 3.00 pays C$20, not C$30.
- Value = stake x (odds - 1) / odds x market payout. About 47.7% of face value at 2.00.
- Longer odds keep more value on average: 76.4% at 5.00, with far more misses.
- Read the minimum odds, expiry and any rollover on winnings before you bet.
What a free bet is
A free bet (many books, including B.C.ās PlayNow, call them bonus bets) is a token for a bet of a set amount. You donāt put up your own money for it. Free bets come from welcome offers, reloads, bet insurance refunds and promotions. They look like cash on the bet slip, but they settle differently.
There are two kinds:
- Stake not returned (SNR). The common one. A winner pays the profit only.
- Stake returned (SR). Rarer. A winner pays the stake plus the profit, like a normal bet.
Worked example, illustrative: a C$25 free bet at 3.00. With SNR, a winner pays C$50, the profit only. With SR, it pays C$75. A normal C$25 cash bet at 3.00 also returns C$75, but youād have risked C$25 of your own money.
š§® The formula
The value of a free bet is what it returns on average. For a stake-not-returned free bet:
Value = stake x (odds - 1) x chance of winning.
The chance of winning is the part you donāt know exactly. A fair estimate is the marketās own: the implied probability, scaled down by the bookmakerās margin. On a standard market with a 4.55% margin, the payout share is 95.45%, so the chance of winning is 0.9545 / odds. Plug it in and the formula simplifies to:
Value as a share of face = (odds - 1) / odds x 0.9545.
Worked example: a C$25 SNR free bet at 3.00. Value = C$25 x 2/3 x 0.9545 = C$15.91 on average. Our bookmaker margin guide explains where the 95.45% comes from, and the odds guide covers the conversion from American or fractional prices.
For a stake-returned free bet, the formula is stake x odds x chance of winning, which simplifies to stake x 0.9545. A C$25 SR free bet is worth about C$23.86 on average at any odds. The difference between the two kinds is the whole stake on every winner.
What a C$10 free bet is worth
| Odds used | Wins about | Profit if it wins | Average value | Share of face value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1.50 | 63.6% of the time | C$5.00 | C$3.18 | 31.8% |
| 2.00 | 47.7% | C$10.00 | C$4.77 | 47.7% |
| 3.00 | 31.8% | C$20.00 | C$6.36 | 63.6% |
| 5.00 | 19.1% | C$40.00 | C$7.64 | 76.4% |
| 10.00 | 9.5% | C$90.00 | C$8.59 | 85.9% |
Computed by BonusMadness for a C$10 stake-not-returned free bet on a market with a 95.45% payout.
š§® Share of a free bet's face value kept, by odds
| 1.50 | 31.8% |
|---|---|
| 2.00 | 47.7% |
| 3.00 | 63.6% |
| 5.00 | 76.4% |
| 10.00 | 85.9% |
The pattern is clear. At short odds, the missing stake is most of what a winner would pay, so the free bet keeps little value. At long odds, the missing stake is a small slice of a big profit, so more value survives.
Long odds: more value, more misses
The table has a second column that matters as much as the value: how often the bet wins. A free bet at 10.00 keeps 85.9% of its value on average, but it wins about one time in ten. Nine times out of ten, it pays nothing. At 2.00, it keeps less than half its value but lands about half the time.
Neither is wrong. If youāll receive several free bets over a few weeks, the averages start to show, and longer odds keep more in total. If itās a single C$10 free bet and youād like something back from it, a mid-range price around 3.00 to 5.00 balances the two. What doesnāt make sense is a heavy favourite at 1.30, which throws away most of the value for a small, likely win.
A practical example: an NHL puck line at -110 is 1.91 in decimal, so a C$10 free bet on it keeps about 45% of its face value on average. An underdog moneyline at +200 (3.00) keeps about 64%. Our hockey betting page covers how those markets settle, including overtime.
The terms that shrink a free bet
- Minimum odds. Many free bets require a minimum price. Thatās not a problem if you were going to use longer odds anyway, and it rules out the worst use of a free bet.
- Expiry. Free bets often expire within days. One you forget to use is worth nothing.
- Allowed markets. Some can only go on singles, some only on parlays, some only on named sports. A free bet forced into a parlay carries the compounded margin of every leg, as our parlay guide shows.
- One bet, full amount. Many canāt be split. A C$25 free bet is one C$25 bet.
- Rollover on winnings. Some books pay free bet winnings as bonus funds that must be bet again before withdrawal. Each rollover costs about the margin times the amount bet, as our sports bonuses guide works through.
- Qualifying bet. āBet C$20, get a C$20 free betā means a cash bet first, at that betās own margin.
Where free bets come from
Welcome offers. āBet and getā offers hand out free bets after a qualifying cash bet. Value the free bets with the table above, then subtract the margin on the qualifying bet.
Bet insurance. A refund on a losing bet, usually paid as a free bet. A C$20 refund used at 3.00 is worth about C$12.72 on average, not C$20.
Promotions and parlay insurance. If one leg of a parlay misses, some books refund the stake as a free bet. Same valuation applies.
Free bets vs a deposit match
Welcome offers often let you pick: free bets, or a deposit match. The maths helps here. Worked example with illustrative terms: C$50 in stake-not-returned free bets, or a C$50 bonus with a 5x rollover on the bonus only.
| Offer | How itās valued | Average value |
|---|---|---|
| C$50 in SNR free bets used at 3.00 | C$50 x 63.6% | C$31.80 |
| C$50 in SNR free bets used at 5.00 | C$50 x 76.4% | C$38.20 |
| C$50 match, 5x on bonus, -110 singles | C$50 - (C$250 x 4.55%) | C$38.63 |
Computed by BonusMadness; illustrative terms.
On these numbers the match edges ahead, but only if you clear it on singles and within the expiry. Force the match onto parlays, or raise the multiplier, and the free bets win. The point isnāt that one type is always better. Itās that both can be priced in a minute, and the headline amount alone tells you very little.
Common free bet mistakes
- Using it on a heavy favourite. A 1.30 price keeps under a quarter of the face value on average.
- Letting it expire. Set a reminder the day you get it.
- Adding cash to ātop it upā. If the free bet canāt be split or combined, any extra stake is a normal bet at the normal margin.
- Valuing it at face. A C$20 free bet isnāt C$20 in your pocket, so it shouldnāt change your budget.
- Ignoring the rollover on winnings. A free bet that pays bonus funds needs another round of betting before you can withdraw.
Free bets and live betting
Some books let you use a free bet in play. Prices move fast during a game, and a free bet placed at the wrong moment is still a free bet at a worse price. The live betting guide covers what speed does to decisions. And a cash-out offer on a free bet is usually valued on the profit only, so itāll look small; thatās the SNR rule again, not a mistake.
š Before you use one
A free bet is a discount on betting, not a way to earn. Value it with the formula, use it before it expires, and donāt add your own money just to unlock more. The sports betting guide covers how betting works in Canada outside Ontario and Alberta, and the sportsbook list shows the books we cover. Everything here is for players aged 19 or over outside Ontario and Alberta. Our responsible gambling page lists every provincial helpline.
FAQ
Do you get the stake back on a free bet?
Usually not. Most free bets, also called bonus bets, pay only the profit on a winner. A C$10 free bet at 3.00 returns C$20, not C$30. A few offers do return the stake; the terms say which, often as 'stake not returned' or 'SNR'.
What is a free bet worth?
It depends on the odds you use it at. On a standard market with a 4.55% margin, a stake-not-returned free bet is worth about 47.7% of its face value at odds of 2.00, 63.6% at 3.00 and 76.4% at 5.00 on average. Longer odds keep more of the value but win less often.
What odds should I use a free bet on?
On average, longer odds keep more of a stake-not-returned free bet's value, because the missing stake matters less when the profit is large. The trade-off is how often it lands: a 5.00 price wins about one time in five. Check the minimum odds in the terms first.
Do free bet winnings have a rollover?
Sometimes. Some offers pay free bet winnings as cash, others as bonus funds that must be bet again before withdrawal, often at minimum odds. The rollover on winnings cuts the value further, so read it before you place the free bet.
Can I split a free bet or use it on a parlay?
It depends on the book. Many free bets must be used in one bet of the full amount, and some can only be used on singles or only on parlays. The terms list the allowed markets, minimum odds and expiry.
