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Will Ireland’s gambling regulator pull the plug on ‘free bet’ culture?

A new study from the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) has raised serious concerns about the role of promotional offers, such as free bets and cashback deals, in influencing risky gambling behaviour.

Free bets push Irish players into riskier gambling, says ESRI. Will Ireland follow UK and Belgium in banning them?

Online casinos use welcome bonuses and other promotions as an incentive for players to set up a new account. Disguised as generous gifts, these promotional offers are essentially behavioural booby traps. They're engineered to lure punters, especially the vulnerable kind, into spending more, gambling longer, and chasing bets they wouldn’t otherwise touch with a bargepole.

Bonuses aren’t harmless; they’re behavioural hacks

The study surveyed 622 Irish men under 40 just before Euro 2024, split them into two groups, and lobbed fake money their way. Half got bombarded with bonus offers (free bets, money back guarantees, the usual bag of sweets) and the rest were left to their own devices.

The results? A predictable disaster:

  • 💸 Players offered bonuses spent 11% more overall.

  • 🎯 Free bets halved the number of people who decided not to gamble at all.

  • 🧠 Those shown “bad bets” (you know, the ones with laughably poor odds) were three times more likely to waste their money on them if a bonus was involved.

Here’s how the madness looked in numbers:

ScenarioWith bonus (%)Without bonus (%)
Opted for “bad bet” (low odds)27.2%7.9%
Money spent on a bad bet€2.00+
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That’s not consumer choice. That’s psychological manipulation, with glitter on top.

Problem gamblers hit the hardest

It gets darker. 

The study used the Problem Gambling Severity Index (PGSI) to sort the mildly hooked from the fully immersed, and guess who bonuses worked on the most? The people who are already in the deep end.

Those in the moderate to high-risk categories:

  • Spent more, gambled more recklessly, and fell for worse bets, all thanks to a sprinkle of “free” magic.

  • Showed double the spend on promo-backed wagers versus no-offer ones.

Dr Diarmaid Ó Ceallaigh of the ESRI summarised the findings with academic restraint: 

“These offers pose a real risk of financial harm, particularly among vulnerable groups.”


In plain terms, if bonuses were medication, they’d require clear warnings about the risks, especially for vulnerable users.

Other countries have seen enough. Has Ireland?

Ireland’s Gambling Regulation Act 2024 already bans targeted inducements, but unless the law also bans temptation itself, the damage is far from done.

Across Europe and beyond, regulators are realising that you can’t let the house write the rules forever:

  • Belgium: Banned all bonuses from September 2024. No mercy, no cashback.

  • Spain: Bans sign-up offers and caps promos at €100.

  • Netherlands: One welcome bonus per user. No recurring rewards. No “VIP” ladders to nowhere.

  • UK: The UK Gambling Commission outlawed cross-product promotions, the sort that pushes players from a sports bet into casino slots just to unlock a bonus. Nothing says “responsible gambling” like nudging someone from betting on football into spinning their rent on a digital fruit machine.

These aren’t overreactions. They’re overdue corrections.

And yet here we are, in Ireland, still debating whether “free” bets should exist when the evidence screams that they’re anything but harmless.

Ireland’s moment of truth?

We’ve been here before. Policymakers clutch their pearls, regulators quote studies, and the industry puts on its “we care” face until the cameras stop rolling.

But this time, the numbers are raw. The damage is evident. The masks are slipping.

Free bets don’t just nudge people into gambling; they can push vulnerable players into serious risk without realising it.

So the question now isn’t whether the GRAI can follow up on an encouraging start to its regulation tenure (rethinking licensing fees, clamping down on youth gambling, etc.) and can ban or restrict these offers, similar to how the UK has done in the past year. It’s whether they have the spine to do it.

Because the truth is, if “free” bets come at the cost of people’s rent, sanity, and self-control, then maybe it’s time we stop calling them free.

Eoin McMahon - CasinoTopsOnline

Eoin McMahon

Content Team Lead

1 Articles
Eoin McMahon is a Content Team Lead at CasinoTopsOnline. He's responsible for making sure we have the best review and guide content on the internet. His background in gambling content and data analysis helps us keep our pages data-focused, well-structured and easy to understand, even when the topics get complex.Away from online casinos, he’s been a loyal Newcastle United fan for the last 30 years. He’s also a big cinephile and the go-to person in the office for a solid film or series recommendation.
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