Leading British bookmaker bet365 has announced a new free-to-play competition to mark the launch of the new 2022/23 football season. The Stoke-on-Trent-headquartered brand devised the Golden Goals competition, with the aim of driving more customer engagement akin to SkyBet’s Super 6 competition that’s now a national hit with football fans and punters. bet365 has long been known for the strength of its new customer offers and it’s still one of the top three most recommended by oddschecker today. Its Golden Goals game also dishes out up to £10 in free bet credits weekly to those who can find those high-scoring contests.

Those not yet a bet365 customer should sign up and take full advantage of the welcome bonus, which is currently ‘Bet £10 Get £50’ in free bet credits. However, given that the Golden Goals competition is free-to-play, it’s possible for bettors to enter this competition while simultaneously clearing the welcome bonus.

The Golden Goals game is listed within the ‘Offers’ section of the bet365 website and mobile app. Tap the ‘More Details’ button to be taken directly to the competition screen for all the lowdown on the terms and conditions.

The Golden Goals competition runs from Monday to Friday. Each day, bet365 will randomly assign one game to be played per day. If the game features four goals in the match, players will win an instant £0.50 bet credit. If the game has five or more goals in the contest, players will land an instant £1 bet credit. It’s the same across all five randomly assigned matches on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.

It’s therefore possible to land £5 in free bet credits if the random number generator assigns bettors some high-scoring matches throughout the week. If there are 20 or more goals scored across all five games, players will also be awarded an additional £5 free bet credit. This takes the maximum possible return from the weekly Golden Goals competition to £10 in free wagers.

Customers will free bet credits derived from Golden Goals will have 90 days to use them from the date of award. Free bet credits cannot be withdrawn as real money, with the credits sitting separate from a customer’s main balance, just like the bet365 sign-up bonus. In addition, free bet credits are not returned with any winnings derived from your risk-free wagers. It’s also possible for customers to place bets that are part-funded by free bet credits and part-funded by their real-money balance.

Golden Goals is not the only free-to-play game that bet365 has recently launched

As we revealed in August, Incentive Games has teamed up with bet365 to launch not one but two free-to-play competitions. The second of which is seen as a carbon copy of Sky Bet’s Super 6 game. The new 6 Score Challenge has been launched, which almost acts as a free-play accumulator, whereby players must correctly guess the final score of six games to land a massive payout.

Those wanting to play the 6 Score Challenge must have an active bet365 account. It therefore goes without saying that players must be 18 years of age or older to enter. To enter the 6 Scores Challenge, you’ll find the promotional banner displayed at the top of the homepage or on the native mobile app. Players can hit the ‘Play Here’ button to be taken to the competition details.

The bet365 trading team hand-pick six upcoming fixtures for each round, requiring players to select a minimum of three correct scores to win a prize. Three correct final scores will land a £5 prize. Four correct final scores will earn £50 cash prizes. Five correct final scores will land £1,000 cash prizes and all six correct final scores will yield a big-ticket £1 million payday. The £1 million cash prize is shared if there are multiple winners. The payouts across the 6 Score Challenge are paid in cash rather than free bet credits like other typical bet365 promotions.

The user interface for the 6 Scores Challenge is simple and intuitive, making it easy to select scores on desktop devices and mobile devices for those on the move. Toggle buttons next to each team make it easy to increase or decrease predicted goal tallies. Once all selections have been made, players must tap the ‘Save your predictions’ button to be sent to a confirmation screen. However, predictions can be altered an unlimited number of times until the kick-off of the first match in the list.

bet365 continues to make its mark in the fast-expanding US market too

Although the bet365 brand is well-established in the UK and European sports betting markets, it is also making significant strides in the fledgling US market. Since the repeal of PASPA, individual US states have been taking the decision to legalise and regulate online and retail sports betting into their own hands.

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Colorado is one such state that has recently legalised and regulated the industry in May 2020. It has since become the second US state to hand a license to bet365 to serve its citizens. New Jersey was the inaugural US state to license sports betting after PASPA, with bet365 now a firm favourite among bettors in the Garden State.

Bet365 recently confirmed its inaugural welcome promotion for new customers in Colorado state. First-time users will get a ‘Bet $1, Get $200’ bonus, with $200 in free bet credits for use on any sports betting markets, including the early-season NFL markets.

It has been slow and steady progress stateside for bet365, whose cautious standpoint has taken some industry analysts by surprise. Especially as the likes of DraftKings, FanDuel and BetMGM have sought to establish market share across all legalised markets stateside. It could be a case of bet365 deciding to hand-pick the markets likely to yield the most profitable betting handle to maximise its US-based returns.

More US states appear to be legalising sports betting by the month. Kansas is the newest entrant, while the state of Massachusetts also voted to legalise sports betting, with its legislation passed into law on the final day before its summer recess.