The occasion is indeed gambling , but the bettor ? can we consider them as Gambler in that way when they did not even put a single cent to gamble?
this is a never ending debate I believe unless will be answered directly by those who are involved and admit if they are gambler or not.
this can be handled by not gambler that only wants to try their luck as it is a freebet.
They can be said to a gambler because in times that they will win with those free bets then that means that they have gambled and they're gamblers.
Having free bets isn't only limited to nongamblers but even those hardcore gamblers, we all want to have free bets if it's possible that we can win some bets and prizes through it.
Gambling can be played in a variety of ways. You see, would it class as work if you are not paid in money? Does it class as a purchase if you decide to pay exchanging something? My take is that it is as long as you put there something that has value, from your own time, reputation and even intangibles... or works of art or anything. Time is money as they say.
And in opposite when you've got nothing to bet for and it has no value for you but has a value based from the casino that has given that bet freely, it's still can be considered as a gamble.