Although the saying ‘you never see a poor bookmaker’ isn’t quite true, with numerous different betting companies having gone out of business over the years, it is certainly true that bookies know how to turn a profit.
One of the best ways that they do so is by ensuring that their odds are as good as can be, which can be an annoyance for punters who are looking to find the best value in a market.
Something that bookmakers do every now and then is offer odds boosts customers to take advantage of, but how do they work and what are the different types available?
Current Offers
Odds boosts are available each day to lengthen the odds of your bets from your betslip. A Daily Odds Boost can be used on any sport with a number of other odds boosts often available. The full range of daily boosts can be found via your account page when logged in. Max stake of £50 applies.
On horse racing, greyhound racing or harness racing, you could use a Uniboost token from you betting slip to increase your odds. Three boosts are available per customer per day, max stake £20.
Place a Bet Builder on selected matches and you could apply a 25% winnings boost which could enhance winnings up to £1000. Minimum odds 3/1, maximum stake £20. One boost per customer per applicable match.
When the Bookmakers Decide What to Boost
One of the most common forms of enhancement that you might well have come across over the years are the ones where the bookmakers themselves decide what it is that they want to boost. You might well have seen such promotions put forward in the past, with bookies saying something like, “Get Boosted Odds if you bet on Speedy McSpeed in the 12.30pm at Doncaster” This is the bookmaker very much controlling the narrative, deciding precisely what it is that you will get boosted and by how much, essentially just offering you odds but making it seem like a deal.
Of course, such boosted odds aren’t to be sniffed at. They will usually be decidedly different from the kinds of odds that you’d be able to get from other bookmakers, which is why they are offered in the first place. They will often see the odds improved by a relatively minor amount, but enough to mean that bookies are confident that bettors will choose to place their wagers with them instead of a rival firm. You might see the odds boosted from, say, 3/1 to 4/1, in order to try to win your custom over an outcome that is likely to be popular with punters for one reason or another.
Individual Promotions
The idea of the bookmaker-chosen odds boost is different to one whereby customers can be given tokens that allow them to choose which of the things they’re betting on will be given a boost in odds. Such offers aren’t necessarily applicable to each and every market, but you might well find that you can apply a boost to a tennis match during a day of Wimbledon, for example, or one of the favourites that are taking part in a golf Major. This gives the punter much more control over how it is that they want their boost to be applied, even if the bookie maintains ultimate control.
That is to say, you might be able to use an one on any football match being played on a Saturday, say, but the markets within the football match and the extent to which the odds are boosted will still be controlled by the bookmaker you use to place your bets. It might only be that win markets can be boosted, for example, or that you can only increase your odds by a minuscule amount. Regardless, if you were going to place the bet anyway then you might as well place a bet with an odds boost token, even if the amount that you’re boosting your odds by isn’t overly significant.
How Your Winnings Are Paid
It is not uncommon for bookmakers to put certain rules in place when it comes to these promotions. It is possible, for example, that they will pay the winnings of the bet at the normal odds as cash, but the extra winnings that come from the boost will be paid in free bet tokens. This doesn’t necessarily mean that you shouldn’t take advantage of such an offer, but simply that it is worth remembering that you aren’t going to be able to withdraw all of your winnings in the event that your selection is successful, because some of them will be paid as tokens.
Some bookies may also place a limit on your bet in terms of the stake size that they will allow to be boosted. It could be that they say that a maximum of £10 can be staked at the enhanced odds. If this happens and you decide to bet, say, £25, you will find that your initial £10 will be paid out at the boosted rate but the remaining £15 will only be paid out at the standard odds that were in place before you took advantage of the promotion. As always, it is worth checking out the terms and conditions that each specific bookmaker has in place.
How Much Do Odds Get Boosted By?
If you’re new to the idea of this promotion, the question you might be asking yourself is around how much odds are boosted by. The answer, of course, is not dissimilar to ‘how long is a piece of string?’, with the exact amount differing not only from one bookmaker to the next but also within each bookmaker depending on the thing that you’re looking to bet on. There is no precise answer to the question, which means that it becomes a matter of personal preference as to whether or not you should take a bookie up on their offer.
As always, the key thing to remember is that you should never place a bet just because the odds on it have been boosted. If you weren’t planning on placing the initial bet then don’t go out of your way to do so simply because it looks more attractive with the odds boost. It is also important to remember that just because something has been boosted doesn’t automatically mean that there is any less chance of the wager being a losing one. If you were going to place the bet regardless, doing so with boosted odds makes sense, but always make sure you’re betting sensibly.