Promotional betting means betting where the value comes from an offer attached to the bet rather than from the price on its own. The bet is chosen to suit the offer, not the other way around, and the question asked of it is what the offer is worth per dollar staked rather than whether the selection is going to win.
That is the whole distinction from ordinary betting, and it changes which numbers matter. A promotional bet is usually placed at a price the bookmaker has margin on, and the offer is what has to make up the difference.
What the term covers
Any bet whose reason for existing is an offer the account already holds. The common Australian shapes are a money back saver that refunds a stake if a runner finishes second or third, a bonus bet, a boosted price on a nominated selection, a stake-back offer on a multi or a same game multi, and an insurance offer on a specific market.
The offer is the product. The bet is the thing the offer attaches to.
Where the value comes from
Work the offer out per dollar staked, with exchange prices supplying the chances. For a refund offer, the value of $1 staked is the win chance times the bookmaker price, plus the refund chance times what the refund is actually worth, minus the $1 you put up.
With illustrative prices, a runner at $6.00 with the bookmaker that the exchange rates $6.40 to win and $2.35 in the three-place market has a 15.6% win chance and a 26.9% chance of finishing second or third:
| What is attached | Value per $100 |
|---|---|
| Nothing | -$6.25 |
| Money back as cash if 2nd or 3rd | +$20.68 |
| Money back as a bonus bet converting at 70% | +$12.60 |
The first row is the bet on its own, and it is a loser. The other two are the same bet with an offer on it.
What changes the number
Four terms do most of the work, and all four are in the bookmaker's own conditions rather than in the headline.
Whether the refund is cash or a bonus bet, since a bonus bet normally pays only its winnings and so is worth less than its face value. The cap, because stake above it carries no offer. Any minimum price, which rules the bet out below it. And the expiry, because an offer nobody used is worth nothing at all.
What it is not
It is not matched betting, which is one method inside promotional betting where an exchange lay removes the result from the bet. A promotional bet left unhedged is an ordinary bet with an offer attached, and it can lose.
It is not a way of making a bad bet good by definition. The offer has to be worth more than the bookmaker's margin on the price, which is why the arithmetic comes before the bet.
It is also not something you can cause. In Australia no credit, voucher, reward or other benefit may be offered to open an account, so promotional betting runs on offers sent to accounts people already hold, at the bookmaker's discretion. Betting promotions in Australia sets out the offer types and the rules around them, and promotional betting automation covers running them across accounts.