Last updated February 12th, 2020
Enhanced odds are when a bookmaker artificially boosts the usual betting odds of a selection. For instance Manchester United may be odds of 1/5 to beat Huddersfield Town. So if you placed a fiver bet and Man Utd did win the match then you would have £6 returned, earning you just £1 profit.
Sometime bookmakers will take these very short odds and boost them. So they may offer Man Utd at 10/1 to beat Hudderfield instead, though there will always be terms and conditions applying, as JustBookies explains below.
Why Bookies Offer Enhanced Odds Bonuses
These are generous giveaways but enhanced odds offers are just a loss-leader marketing tool for the betting company. The bookies promote these short-term free bets as a quick fix way to get new sign-ups fast. They usually centre these bigger odds bonuses around the biggest sports events of the day or weekend.
They really are as generous as they look. That is because the sports betting firms just want you to sign up and then hopefully stay loyal to them going forward. But be aware there can be pitfalls if you don’t read the terms of the deal. These are the main conditions to look out for:
- Only for new customers. These enhanced odds incentives are not for existing customers.
- Maximum bet. Usually these offers are for a maximum stake of either £1, a fiver or tenner. Also check if there is a minimum bet requirement for it to apply. It could be a maximum bet of £10 and a minimum bet of a £5.
- Country Restrictions. The bookies also tend to restrict the countries the offers applies to. The UK is always ok, but do double check if you are residing in another location.
- Deposit methods. Quite often those new players who sign up and then deposit by an ewallet such as Neteller or Skrill are excluded from bigger odds free bet offers.
- Are you paid in cash or free bet token? Check whether, when you get 6/1 about a certainty like a football manager wearing a coat on a freezing cold day, your winnings are paid as a free bet token or cash. It may be as a free bet token and that might then have its own conditions. So always read the bookmaker’s terms of the specific offer.
- Be Quick. The reason to be fast about grabbing an enhanced odds offer that takes your fancy is because JustBookies has often seen these offers withdrawn early. A bookmaker will start out stating it is available until the start of the event, but if they are bowled over by demand for an apparent ‘certainty’ then they drop it like a hot brick. That is because some of these offers do cost them. So don’t rely on it lasting until kick-off or you might miss out.
- You only get one offer. Usually if you take up the enhanced betting odds offer then you will not be eligible for the normal bookies’ free bet sign-up bonus. It tends to be ‘either / or’ and not both that are available. So pick the one you want the most.
These enhanced odds offers are often as good as they look, but you can only ever get one from each bookmaker as it purely applies to new customer betting accounts.