How to Turn a Free Bet Into Real Cash
The book hands you a $50 "free bet" and your brain hears fifty dollars. It is not fifty dollars. A free bet returns the winnings only; the stake vanishes either way. How much it's really worth depends entirely on where you put it, and most people put it in the worst possible place.
The formula
A free bet's cash value is fair probability × (decimal odds − 1). That percentage is the conversion rate, and on actualodds it shows up as FB% on every calculation (tick the free-bet box and it becomes the headline).
The instinct trap
The instinct is to play it "safe" on a big favorite. Run a −200 favorite (fair −180 after the devig) and the conversion is 32.1%. Your $50 free bet just became sixteen dollars. Safe is the most expensive setting.
The ladder
Worst-case devig, standard juice: −200 converts at 32.1% · +120 at 52.1% · +250 at 64.9% · +400 at 67.5%. Longer odds keep more value because the stake you never get back is a smaller slice of the payout. The practical sweet spot is roughly +300 to +500: high-60s conversion, before longshot juice starts biting back.
The routine
Find a longshot in that range with thin juice (shop a few books, the difference is real money). Paste the market, tick the free-bet box, and fire when the conversion clears 65–70%. On a $50 free bet that's $33+ of real value instead of $16. Same coupon, double the cash.
Free bets come from promos, and most promos are boosts. Here's how to tell which boosts deserve real money.