ENHANCED ODDS OFFERS – WHAT ARE THEY AND HOW DO THEY WORK?

Among the many different types of promotion bookmakers like to run, one of the less well-known is the enhanced odds offer. While almost every bookmaker you see these days likes to lean heavily on the promise of so-called free bets, enhanced odds offers are less prevalent, but can be potentially lucrative if you know how to get the most from them. In this piece, we’ll look into how enhanced odds sign up offers and one-off odds boosts can benefit your betting strategy, but first, let’s get some facts about what enhanced odds actually are…

1.  Enhanced odds offers boost the bookmakers’ original odds.
2. Some of these offers are paid in cash, others as bonus bets.
3. These offers come in basic and super-enhanced forms.

Find a bookmaker with enhanced odds offers

THE TWO TYPES OF ENHANCED ODDS OFFERS

There are two specific forms of enhanced odds betting offers. The first, also often referred to as an Odds Boost, Odds Blitz or sometimes Flash Odds, makes a small, valuable change to the odds, often for a specific period of time only – William Hill, for example, offer “Flash Odds” at noon each day, but they last for only 15 minutes. They also offer daily bet boosts on certain sports like fellow British bookies Ladbrokes.

The second kind of enhanced odds offers, as mentioned briefly above, are super-enhanced odds, meaning the bookmakers take an outcome that is very likely and give it seemingly unmissable odds – such as “Manchester City 25/1 to beat Sunderland”. These are almost always part of sign up offers, and are thus not available to regular customers.

WHY DO BOOKMAKERS OFFER RIDICULOUSLY HIGH ENHANCED ODDS?

It’s all about attracting, and then keeping customers. Odds boosts for existing customers are essentially a sweetener; something to encourage a bettor to continue frequenting that bookmaker as part of their standard betting routine.

The super-enhanced odds offers are designed to draw new customers to the bookmaker; think of it as a kind of loss-leader. They hope that people will sign up in order to obtain the ridiculously high odds, and then stick around. Bookies tend to double-down on this hope by stipulating that the winnings from the enhanced odds are paid as a bonus bet rather than in cash – thus guaranteeing them at least one more transaction in future.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT STANDARD ENHANCED ODDS OFFERS

Standard enhanced odds promotions are worth looking out for, as they can take decent odds and make them good or even great. An Enhanced Odds World Cup offer might allow you to back the 5/1 (6.00) favorite at 6/1 (7.00) – a seemingly small, but actually rather impressive, rise. The offers available to new customers tend to be even more attractive still. However, whether using enhanced odds offers as an existing customer or as part of a sign-up promo, there’s a few things you need to keep in mind.

1. Don’t take a mediocre bet just because odds are enhanced.
2. Time-limited odds need to be planned, then placed, quickly.
3. Stick to sports you know, where you can recognise good value.

A CLOSE LOOK AT SUPER-ENHANCED ODDS OFFERS

Super-enhanced odds offers are undeniably attractive; the example we mentioned above, Manchester City to beat Sunderland at 25/1 (26.00) is the kind of deal that would make most bettors’ eyes stand on stalks. However, there’s a number of factors you need to be aware of when you see an odds boost offer that looks almost too good to be true.

IF YOU ALREADY HAVE AN ACCOUNT, IT’S NOT FOR YOU

We’re not saying those super-enhanced odds betting offers are never offered to existing customers, but it’s incredibly rare; for the most part, super-enhanced offers are a new customer sign up offer only. However, if you don’t have an account with the bookmaker offering the deal, then it could well be worth giving them a try – although…

THESE OFFERS WILL ALWAYS PAY YOUR WINNINGS OUT AS SO-CALLED “FREE BETS”

So, we’ve established that these are offers for new customers, but if you’re a new customer, you’re all good to go. However, there is a fairly hefty caveat to consider: these offers aren’t as straightforward as signing up, betting on the favourite, and banking your winnings if the outcome is as you expect. The winnings from will be paid out as bonus bets, as opposed to offering enhanced odds paid in cash. Although, that’s not the full story, because…

SOME OF YOUR WINNINGS PROBABLY WILL BE PAID “STRAIGHT”

It’s important to check the terms and conditions of any super-enhanced odds offer, as some bookmakers will pay them out slightly differently to simply providing a bonus bet. If this is the case for an offer you’re availing of, here’s an example of how it’ll work…

• The normal odds for that outcome – the odds that existing customers will bet on – are 2/1 (3.00).
• The super-enhanced offer is 25/1 (26.00).
• In this instance, winnings will be paid out in cash for the smaller odds.
• The rest of the price is paid out as a bonus bet (or bets, depending on the offer).
• So, if you’ve bet £1, you’ll get back £2 in cash (plus your stake) and the rest as £23 worth of free bets.

If you’re thinking that example is a little mean – why would you only have bet £1 on such a super-enhanced price? – then we’ve got some unfortunate news…

YOUR STAKE WILL AUTOMATICALLY BE LIMITED

Even if the winnings are mostly paid out in bonus bets, bookmakers could still lose a small fortune on the deal if they didn’t limit the stakes. A customer could think: “Okay, I’m fine with bonus bets, I’ll put £100 on Manchester City”, and rinse them for £2,300 in betting tokens. As a result, super-enhanced odds offers will almost always limit the stake to £1.

IN SUMMARY…

Not all enhanced odds offers are equal. For some – particularly the ones that offer small enhancements – you’ll have a judgement call to make on whether they are worth it, which should be influenced primarily by whether you’d bet on that particular event even without the boost. If you would, then you can go ahead; enhanced odds are better than conventional odds, after all. If not, you may be best avoiding those that offer relatively little in value.

For the super-enhanced offers for new customers, there are caveats to contend with, but they can well be worth taking even with the limitations in terms of stake and how the bets are paid out.

So really, enhanced offers are a judgement call. If you’re willing to read the terms, examine your motives for using the offer, and are comfortable with how any potential winnings are paid, then you should be able to incorporate enhanced odds offers into your betting strategy simply, efficiently, and – hopefully – profitably.