@bdub9613 Yes, I knew all about the rules of avoiding getting gubbed, but didn't expect it as a brand new customer on a welcome offer with Bet365. Looking back on it, I guess I got popped for "Avoid unpopular games: Betting $500 on a match from the second division in Kuwait is a clear sign that you are doing Matched Betting."

I didn't feel that would apply to a quarterfinals match in the United Cup, while certainly not huge in renown in the sporting world, it is still a 10 million dollar prize money event leadup to the Australian Open. I mean, c'mon, tennis fans (I am not) aren't allowed to get in on the betting action, too? Guess not.

The lesson I learned from this, as @carlos mentioned in his reply to my original post, "Usually with NFL, NBA or any other major league this doesn't happen."

Got it: no more attempts at high-dollar 1st bet refund offers, on anything other than the big four American leagues and/or the top football leagues in the world.

@brad-crumb901 very much agreed on how to approach these 1st bet back if you don't win up to $1,000; $1,500; whatevers.

After my Bet365 experience, I now make sure that I'm giving myself an hour or two before the event start time, to deposit and place that first wager on the refund site offer. I'm doing that mostly because the odds don't tend to shift much, hours beforehand.

Then, when I do make that deposit and place my first bet on the refund site, and if it won't accept the full amount, it's a quick adjustment in the Dutcher and the odds should still be there on the BB2.

Still annoyed at all those [censored] ads offering these refund bet offers, aren't legally required to add-on the phrase "up to $1,000 (unless we arbitrarily decide we don't want your action, and tell ya to get bent!)"

Happy gambli...er...free money getting to you all!

Thank you @carlos . That is very clear, so I will amend my statement on confusion with the numbers not adding up because the examples given in the Guide 4 strategy https://www.ninjabet.com/guide4 , don't have that adjusted lower refund amount in the example screengrabs, correct? $100 is the amount shown in both the Bet Amount and the Refund amount.

Or is there a reason for that, as well?

Since I too have reached the stage of working on Refund Welcome offers, and posted in the general forum about my first attempt with Bet365 being a general debacle, I thought I would comment over here, too.

I have setup my second Refund offer with BetFred (Up to $105 if your first bet loses). That too has been a bit of a fiasco, but only because BetFred has the offer up on their website right now (Jan 5 2024) but the fine print in the terms say the promotion ended Dec 31 2023. However, I did contact their customer support, they acknowledged the screwup on their part, and said they will be crediting the $105 free bet to my account. Will see how long THAT takes.

@carlos I think for me and perhaps a few others, is that the general confusion over refund bet strategy is in part due to the language used in your guide:

"3. Refund
When the event ends:
If the BACK BET 1 wins, great! You have nothing else to do and you will have your profit in your Bookmaker 1 account."

Particularly, the phrase "have your profit in your BM1 account." Except, there is no profit to be had if BB1 wins, and it will be a small loss. From NinjaBet's example in "2. Place the Qualifying Bet"

BB1- $100
BB2- $779.82
Total Wagered- $879.82

If BB1 wins, you lose. $850 - $879.82 for a loss of $29.82.
Since the odds on BB1 winning are usually quite long (-400 or longer, right?) that is not likely to happen, but it CAN happen.

Therefore, I would have liked to have that more explicitly stated in the refund strategy guide. Something like:

3. Refund
   When the event ends:
   If the BACK BET 1 wins, that probably means you have lost money, similar to other qualifying real money bets. To mitigate the size of that unlikely but very possible loss, it is crucial that you place the BACK BET 2 as you would for a real money bet.

Otherwise, have really enjoyed my first week with NinjaBet, and looking forward to a great and profitable 2024.

Though this would apply to all Refund Welcome offers on all bookmakers, since I just experienced it with Bet365 then that is who I'm calling out here.

Refund Offer
Get up to $1000 back in free bets, if your first bet loses.

The Almost Disaster
A. I didn't (couldn't) put the full $1000 down, so I opted for depositing half as much for $500.

B. Followed the NinjaBet guide on doing Refund bets, and found my target bet with the Dutcher.

C. Since I had already made over twenty bets using the Dutcher in the week prior, I didn't hesitate to make the B2 (over $800) first; a habit I've gotten into since the B2 bet always has the best odds (better than -400, in this case) and therefore more likely to win.

D. I followed the B2 bet with an immediate wager of the $500 I had just deposited on Bet365 (B1) and then ... Bet365 REFUSED the wager, saying their trader did not approve the bet and they would only accept a max wager of $187.50.

I called their customer service saying, "Bet365 ACCEPTED my deposit of $500, and I accepted the offer of 'refund up to $1000 if your first bet loses' and you are only accepting a max $187.50 bet on that?" (ya dodgy cu... er ... people!)

No surprise that they said, "uh, yeah, sorry" and it left me scrambling to adjust the $800+ B2 bet.

Fortunately, since I was making the B2 wager hours before the start of the event, with Fanduel, they allowed me a full cashout of the original bet, and to scale it down to match with the $187.50 now on Bet365. Crisis averted.

Lessons Learned
From now on with future refund bet offers, I will only ever place the B1 Refund Bet FIRST, followed by the B2.

I was lucky that I did this well before the start of the event, and was therefore able to make a full cashout and adjustment to the B2. Be very aware that not all sportsbook platforms will allow you to do this.

Finally, since the bigger B2 bet had the far better odds (around -400) I was slightly tempted to just let the $800+ bet ride, and enjoy the big payout that was SURELY to come. But that would have been gambling, and I was risking the possible loss of over $500 unprotected, unmatched funds.

Turns out, my B2 bet did indeed win (on the winner of a tennis match) but not until they had dropped the first set 6-3.

Karma's little reminder that it's best to play it safe, and stick to the systems as instructed by NinjaBet, or possibly learn an ugly lesson in not being greedy and dumb.

Cheers!