There are all kinds of horse racing betting promotions out there. Most of the horse racing betting promotions you'll find are in the form of welcome bonuses. There are also others that are seasonal or pop up for a special race. All horse racing betting promotions are in one way or another about finding you the house's money to bet with. It's simply allocated differently at different online bookies.
In the United States, horse racing betting promotions have seemed to track with the promotions offered in other countries. That makes sense because places like the UK and Asia have had many more years to try out horse racing betting promotions. They've figured out what works and what doesn't.
The newer market in the United States was smart to take its influence from them. You won't really see any oddball promotions. In fact, all of the horse racing promotions can be broken down into several easy to understand categories.
This should be clear but honestly, most people just skip them. There is so much fine print on the internet that we often turn a blind eye to it. That's not a good idea when it comes to horse racing or any type of gambling promotion. The terms and conditions can turn what looks like some great horse racing betting offers into one that really won't do that much for you in the long run.
You have to be careful that you don't get conned by terms and conditions when it comes to horse racing betting promotions. And also, remember that terms and conditions change all the time, so it is never a bad idea to look at them before you take any online bookie up on their promotion.
To claim some horse racing betting promotions, you'll have to use a promo code. This is fairly easy to do. If you look at our reviews of various horse racing bookmakers, we'll note if you have to enter a promo code.
The promo code is generally inserted on the page where you make your first deposit. It is sometimes called a coupon code. Please note that all promo codes have to be inputted in all capital letters or the system will not recognize them.
1.
5% Rakeback
Players from Virginia accepted
2.
30 SCs on 1st Purchase + 4.5 SCs FREE + 30 Sweepstake Coins
Players from Virginia accepted
3.
Get $5 extra in FREE play
Players from Virginia accepted
4.
7,000 Gold Coins + 10 Sweeps Coins
Players from Virginia accepted
5.
5,000 Gold Coins + 2.3 Sweepstakes Coins
Players from Virginia accepted
No deposit horse racing promotions are rare, but they are becoming more and more popular. They are a way for the bookie to let you try the site without any obligation on your part.
The way a no deposit bonus works is fairly simple: when you register at a site, a certain amount of bonus money is credited into your account. You can then place bets with those funds.
If you lose, you lose nothing. If you win, in general, you win the amount of your bet minus the amount of the bonus money you wagered. So, if you bet $10 on a two-to-one bet you would be able to withdraw $10, not your usual $20.
These are quickly becoming the most popular form of horse racing betting promotions.
What happens with matching funds is that you make your first deposit at the bookie. The bookie then gives you the same amount of money in bonus funds.
If you only have $20 to deposit, you'll get $20 in matching funds. If you can deposit $100, you'll get $100 in matching funds. All sites post limits as to what you can get in matching funds. In general, the maximum limits are somewhere around $1,000 or less.
Once you have the matching funds you can bet them on anything you'd like. But you cannot simply withdraw matching funds. You have to bet them. Once you bet them, if you win, you will win the amount of your bet minus the amount of matching funds you bet with. So if you bet $10 at three-to-one odds and won you'd be able to withdraw $20 instead of the usual $30. If you make a bet with matching funds and you lose you end up losing nothing.
In general, it is a win/win for players, and much like the no deposit bonuses, it gives you a chance to try the site. Just don't forget to read the latest horse racing news first. And, if you're a WV resident, our best West Virginia betting sites guide.
Free Bets
One way that many bookies offer a type of horse racing betting promotion is to offer you a voucher for a free bet. A typical offer will be, “Bet $25 and get a $25 free bet.”
The free bet voucher will be in the denomination they promise you. If you get a $25 free bet it will be worth $25. You cannot break up a voucher into multiple smaller bets the way you can with a cash bonus offer. If you get a $25 free bet voucher you then you have to make a $25 bet with it. The same goes for whatever denomination the free bet voucher is in.
If you lose, you lose nothing. If you win you win the value of your bet minus the value of your voucher. If you bet $25 on a two-to-one bet you'll be able to withdraw $25 in cash from your account. So it's not free money; it's a free bet. Take a look at our Borgata sports bonus code or Caesars sportsbook promo code guide to see if there's any free bets available with this provider.
Bonus Money After Betting A Certain Amount
This type of promotion is common for online bookies that also have a brick-and-mortar presence. It comes from the fact that most of their customers have been betting at their tracks or their physical OTB shops for years.
When you go to a track or an OTB shop, you don't provide any identification. They have no idea if you are a new bettor or one who has been betting for years. The idea of simply giving you money because you claim to be a new bettor makes no sense for them.
What they do is they ask you to sign up for their site. Then if you bet a certain amount of money during your first 30 days on the site, they will then give you a credit in bonus money.
This bonus money works exactly the way that matching funds work. It is credited to your account. But you can't just withdraw it. Instead, you have to bet it. Then when you win you get you winnings minus the amount of bonus money you bet with. If you placed a $10 bet and should get back $110 you will actually get back $100.
With these kinds of promotions, it's important to check out the length of time you have to hit the amount of money you have to bet to get the bonus. On some sites, it's a month. On other sites, it's as little as two weeks.
Many online bookies have VIP promotions. They are designed to get their best players to stick around the site and keep betting for the long term.
In general, these programs work by giving the player one point for every dollar bet. As they bet more, their number of VIP points builds up. Eventually, you can exchange these VIP points for fairly decent prizes.
At the low end, you can gain free entry to a given track. On the high end, you can trade them in for all-inclusive deals at events like the Kentucky Derby.
Of course, not all VIP programs are created equal. You should take a close look at every VIP program if you are a high roller. Find the one that will give you the prize you are looking for and then just keep betting at that site. Eventually, you'll get all the points you need and then be able to collect your money and cash in your prize.
Bonus Money For Trying Out Their App
This type of horse racing betting promotion is generally used by bookies whose clientele is older and used to betting in person. But they want to get these customers to try out their app. So, they offer bonus money if they download the app, register, and place the first bet.
The money works the same way any other bonus money does. You can't withdraw it; you have to bet it. Then if you win you win the amount of your win minus the amount of bonus money you bet. If you lose you don't lose anything.
Refer A Friend Bonuses
This is a promotion that allows the online bookie the spread the word about themselves without relying on a ton of advertising. Once you register for the site you are given a unique code. Generally, it is a link that identifies you by a tracking number inside the link. Then when you talk about your experiences with the bookie online, you post the code that they gave you.
You can do this with Facebook posts and Twitter tweets. You can put it in any blog you write about your horse racing experiences. Really, anywhere you write online, you can insert your code. Then if people click onto the bookie site through your code they are tracked. Once they have bet a certain amount of money on the site, you can be rewarded with bonus cash.
You can usually get as many people to sign up as you'd like, and you will keep earning bonus cash as long as they make the minimum number of bets for you to qualify for the refer a friend bonus.
The bonus funds you get are treated like any amount of bonus money you receive. You can't withdraw it. Instead, you have to bet it. Then if you win you win the amount of your bet minus the amount of bonus money you bet. If you lose, you don't lose anything.
If you've been to a track or an off-track betting location, you'll notice that they don't have promotions. They simply take your cash and record your bet. Then if you win, you come back with the receipt and claim your money. The idea of asking them for a promotion would be considered absurd.
So why do online betting sites have promotions? The answer is that there is a lot more competition. If you are at a track laying a bet, there is no other legal place. The same applies to when you go to an OTB place. When you are the only option in town, you don't have to do much to get people to bet with you.
When you go to make a bet online, however, there are all kinds of places willing to take your bet. And honestly, most of them offer nearly exactly the same level of service. They must do something to make themselves stand out.
What they have chosen to do is either offer bonus money or vouchers for free bets. This costs them virtually nothing and makes them more enticing. Sure, they have to pay out when someone wins, but that cost is absorbed by the number of people who lose when they bet.
Having these promotions helps them market themselves and also gives something to new customers. Overall everyone wins and it becomes a generally positive thing for the community of horse racing gamblers.
Some people worry that if they claim a bonus promotion from one site, they will not be allowed to claim one from another site. That's just not true.
All of these sites are in competition. It is your right to try them all. You can claim as many welcome bonuses from as many sites as you want. That way you can really see how the bonuses work and more importantly try out a bunch of sites and see the ways each one works for you.
This will give you a broad sense of all of the options out there and help you make the right choice about which site will be best for you in the long term. It can also allow you to pick up a ton of bonus cash to make bets with.
Never let any site convince you that you can't bet on and take bonus cash from other sites. That's simply not the way the system works. Try out as many sites as you like – and can afford to bet on – and then make your final choice.
You Can Only Get The Welcome Offer Once Per Site
While you can claim as many welcome bonuses from different sites as you'd like, you can only claim the welcome bonus once per site. You may be tempted to try to get around this. You might, for example, try to register under a different name. But if you do that you'll get caught out.
First of all, they can monitor your IP address and nearly instantly figure out you are the same person. Secondly, when you withdraw money, they'll notice the name of the person you are withdrawing it to.
You may be tempted to try to run a VPN in order to try to claim more than one welcome bonus from a site. But again, when it comes time to withdraw they will verify you and you'll be caught.
When you are busted for trying to open more than one account and claim multiple welcome bonuses you won't like what will happen to you. All your cash from both accounts will be seized by the online bookie. Then you'll be banned from ever gambling there again. In some cases, the site may pursue fraud charges against you.
All in all, it's not worth the huge risk to simply try to gain a little bit of extra bonus money to bet with.
Make Sure You Use Your Bonus Money Before Time's Up
One thing you may not realize – because it's often down there in the fine print – is that you will generally have a limited amount of time to use your bonus money. This could be as short as a week or as long as a month. Whatever the time limit is, you can be sure it exists.
Your best bet is to check their terms and conditions and find out what the time limit is. Then be sure to use your bonus money in that amount of time. If you don't, you'll lose it and won't be able to get it back.
The best strategy to use is to bet your initial deposit. Then before depositing more money bet your bonus money. That way you won't forget about it. Plus, betting with bonus money is free anyway so it's a better play. After that, only deposit more of your own money once you've played through all of your bonus money. That way you won't forget about it and see it disappear in a puff of smoke.
Why You Should Bet On Longshots With Your Bonus Money
When it comes to bonus money offered by online bookies, you should probably bet it differently than you would with your own money. When you bet with your own cash, you want to claim solid wins. Therefore, you stick to safer bets. That way while you win less you win far more often.
This is a good path to making a profit while betting. But that changes when you have free money to bet with. You are risking absolutely nothing. You have to change the way you bet. If you use your bonus money to bet on a sure thing, you'll probably win. But the amount you will win will be so low as to not really be worth it. And if you lose, you won't lose any of your own money. And your goal is to turn that bonus money into real cash that you can withdraw.
So instead of betting your bonus money on something that will pay off at two-to-one odds, you want to look for something that pays off 25-to-one or better. Don't make stupid bets – but if you take a look at the odds at any online bookie you will find a race that is priced wrong. There will be a horse at high odds that has a good chance of winning. That's where you want to place your bet with bonus money.
Remember, if you lose, you still lose nothing. But if you win you will actually get a decent amount of money to withdraw. Save your bonus money for the highest odds you can find and have a decent chance of winning.
Pick The Bonus That's Right For You
If you are someone who only bets $20 or $30 a month, then picking a bonus program that insists you bet $300 a month before you earn anything isn't going to help. Only you know your actual situation. And remember, you don't want to ever feel pressured into betting more than you can afford to lose.
So, before you pick any site for your promotional bonus, evaluate the offer. Is it one you will probably actually use? Or is it one that will stay beyond your grasp forever?
If you are a casual gambler you won't ever use their VIP program. The details of it don't matter to you. If you don't talk to that many people online, then a refer a friend program isn't going to help you. Always select the promotional bonus that works best for you – and don't simply look for the one that offers the most money.
Now Try Out Some Bonus Offers!
By now you should understand how most bonus offers work. And you should be able to pick the one that is right for you. So check out the various bookie sites, pick one, and get ready to take advantage of your bonus money. Who knows? You may get lucky and pick just the right horse and be able to cash in a ton of money.
