We list a selection of the best betting offers on our home page, but if you’re looking for even more, this is the page for you. Below you’ll find a whole host of great deals from all of the betting sites that we recommend. This includes both sign up bonuses for new customers and loyalty free bets for existing customers.
NB: For short term event based sign up offers, check our enhanced odds page as this section only lists traditional promotions.
Betting Sign Up Offers
Offers For Existing Customers
Whilst the new customer offers offers can only be claimed when registering – and thus limited to one per person – they are usually the most lucrative, often offering bonuses worth up to six times your deposit and qualifying bet.
However, as well as offering free bets to tempt in new customers, some betting sites also offer loyalty programs to their existing customers. These rewards come in a variety of shapes and sizes but tend to fit into one of two categories:
- Free Bet Clubs – Normally these run on a weekly basis and award bonuses when you place a set number of bets. For example, if you bet £25 in a week you may be eligible to receive a £10 free bet. The requirements of these offers vary wildly, so make sure you read the terms and conditions to see if you need to opt in or enter a code, and check for eligible bets and minimum odds
- Loyalty Points – Whilst free bet clubs tend to be limited to one per week, loyalty points are less restrictive. These work just like other points schemes (think of them like air miles for betting) and are accrued as you bet. You can then swap them for bonuses, cash or spend them in a special points shop. Many also have multiple tiers where the rewards get better the more points you collect
Betting Offers Explained
Most bookmakers offer free bets these days, but they aren’t going to just hand over free cash without some kind of condition attached. This article should help you to understand everything you need to know about free bets and betting bonus offers.
The Qualifying Bet/Deposit
Except in the very rare case of a no deposit free bet, most betting sites require you to make a deposit and bet a certain amount before you receive your free bet. So if the bookie is offering a £25 matched bet, this usually means you need to deposit and place a bet worth £25 before you receive your free one.
The actual requirements and terms vary from site to site, so make sure you read the conditions before taking up any offer so that you know exactly what you’ve signed up for. Don’t set yourself up for a disappointment.
Qualifying Odds
Many sites require your qualifying bet (the one you initially place to get the free bet) and/or the free bet to be placed at odds greater than a minimum value – this will be set in the terms and conditions and is to stop you betting on ‘sure things’ just to get the free bet.
The minimum odds vary but are usually somewhere around ‘evens’ (ie: 1/1) which is 2.0 in decimal odds. You’ll need to place your bet at these odds or greater to qualify.
So in the case of “Evens or greater” you could place a bet at Evens (2.0 in decimal) or 2/1 (3.0 in decimals) or 100/1 if you wanted.
Is The Free Bet Stake Returned?
This is an important factor to consider when comparing free bets. Some sites will return the free bet stake with your winnings, whilst others will not. A £25 free bet with the stake returned has a greater value than a £25 free bet where the stake isn’t returned.
Read The Terms & Conditions
Before taking a free bet you need to read the terms and conditions of the offer – don’t assume that it will be the same as another betting site, or even that it will be the same as a previous free bet from the same bookie, things often change. If you don’t understand the conditions, ask the support team – the last thing you want is to win big only to have it voided because you didn’t stick to the conditions.
How to get the Most Out of Your Bonus
One of the biggest mistakes that we see when it comes to betting offers is people claiming the bonus without knowing the ins and outs of how they work. A lot of offers come with a plethora of terms and conditions, but the details of these offers and what’s needed from a punters point of view has been simplified significantly over the last few years.
Maxing out the Bonus
A key area that needs to be addressed is to make sure you are able to max out the bonus. Generally, the bonus only becomes a ‘good offer’ if you are able to take the full amount,
A lot of bonuses and the amount that you can claim is going to be dependent on each given bookmaker. We’ve spoken previously about how easy it is to set up a betting site and how a lot of these sites are quite generic when it comes to design, but the bonus is something that is solely dependent on the individual bookmaker.
Claiming the full amount from each bookmaker essentially means you’re getting the best deal possible. There will be times where it’s not possible to claim the full amount, mainly because you can’t afford to do so, and this is fine, but we strongly recommend that wherever possible you take as much of it as you can.
Checking for Alternative Offers
The amount that a bookmaker is offering you is frequently what lures people in. For example, a bonus where they state ‘bet £10 and get £30’ looks a much better deal than a ‘bet £10 and get £20’ promotion.
It could well be the case that the bigger bonus is the better offer, but the reality is that it’s all dependent on the terms for that offer. You see, with each offer there will be a number of terms that you need to adhere to in order to get your money. We’ve highlighted some of the more common ones below:
- Minimum stake – The lowest amount you need to stake to trigger the offer
- Follow up bets – Often bookmakers will state that you need to make ‘x’ number of bets after your initial deposit to trigger your bonus
- Clearance rates/wagering – This is the amount of times you need to play through your bonus before you are to withdraw the money
- Stake returned/ not returned – Some bonuses will offer you your original stake back with any winnings from that bet
- Country restrictions – Some bonuses are only available to player within certain territories
It’s for the above reasons that you need to make sure you check all available offers that are eligible to you. As a punter you’re in the driving seat, and it’s the bookmakers who are doing all they can to get you to choose them over a competitor.
These days there are hundreds of bookmakers – some better than others – which allows you to shop around and find the best deal that suits you. Take your time and compare some of the bonuses already on this page, along with a brief look at the terms for each and decide what works best. What might work best for you, might not necessarily work best for someone else, and vice-verse.
Choosing Your Bet
You’ve made the decision as to which offer you are going to take so the next step is to work out what type of bet is going to offer you the best returns. A key aspect that we’ve mentioned a couple of times already is whether or not you get the stake returned as part of your free bet. This will obviously affect your returns. Have a look at these examples:
- Let’s assume that you were betting with a non-stake returned freebie. Your bet was £10 at odds of even money. If you placed this bet 10 times then you’d expect a return of £50, assuming you won 50% of your bets, which at even money you should, by the law of chance anyway
- If you placed 1 x £10 bet at odds of 9/1, still no stake returned, you’d statistically win this 1 in 9 times making your returns £90
- Let’s flip these two scenarios and assume this time that your stake is returned. You place 10 bets of £10 at odds of even money. You win 5 of them making your total returns £100 (£50 winnings plus £50 in stakes)
- Alternatively, you place 1 x £10 bet at odds of 9/1, this time with stake returned, winning in 1 in 9 times with a return of £100
Still with us? Good!
The outcome shows that the bet you should be placing is massively dependent on whether you get your stake back or not. Simply put, if you do, shoot for lower odds giving you a higher return and if you don’t then shoot for higher odds maximizing your return.
Assume £10 stake for each from the chart below.
The chart above highlights that making £100 can take a widely different number of bets depending the terms. As you can see, as the odds increase the number of bets start to level out, but at the lower end you need to wager fewer bets to get to the £100 if you get your stake back.
Terms and Conditions
Most people tend to zone out when it comes to terms and conditions. Free bets and betting bonuses are notorious with being difficult to clear, often with bookies adding in pages and pages of potentially confusing terms that players must adhere to.
These days, however, the terms for most bets are about as transparent as they’ve ever been. The UK Gambling Commission have been cracking down on sites that make these offers tough or even impossible for most people to clear, so the shoe is definitely on the other foot.
Before we dive into the main things to look out for, we need to make a couple of points:
First, don’t be afraid to open the terms up with each bookmaker. They often seem much more daunting than they actually are and once you have read them a few times and start to understand them, you will know exactly what you need to do in the future.
Second, the terms that we have listed below are pretty generic and bookmakers may have their own unique twists on them. Use it as a guide for things to look out for as they will vary with each bookmaker and each promotion.
- Bonus amount – You need to know exactly how much you can claim and what you need to do in order to claim the bonus. Most are along the lines of ‘Bet £10, Get £20 free bet’, which is pretty much as it says; deposit & bet £10, and get a £20 free bet
- Qualifying deposit – This is the amount that you need to deposit to become eligible to claim the offer. The amount will vary with each offer, but each will have a minimum. You can deposit more than the minimum amount and still claim the offer
- Bet Time frame – You will often have a set time limit within which you must make your first bet. We’ve seen this as short as 24 hours after your first deposit and as late as 60 days
- Settlement time frame – Like the deposit, you will often have a time limit within which the first bet needs to be settled if it is to be credited to your account. The time frame can vary quite dramatically, so veer away from anything that takes over a few days to settle, such as markets like a team to win the league or a cup winner
- Deposit type – Due to a massive loophole years ago with payment methods such as e-wallets and pay cards, most companies these days will only allow you to claim the offer with a debit card. These payment methods may be expanded upon, but be prepared to verify your account in advance
- Minimum odds – You will likely have minimum odds that you need to place your bet at. They range for each bookmaker but we’ve seen as low as 1/2 right up to 4/1
- Bet types – Certain bet types will be prohibited from these offers. They may include things like accumulator bets of multiplies of some sort (Yankee’s, Lucky 15, Tote bets etc.). The flip side is that we’ve also seen more and more bookies target offers to the markets just mentioned exclusively, so make sure you check prior to betting
- Market/sport restrictions – A lot of markets and sports are restricted as well. Again, it varies, but do bear this in mind
- Void bets – If your bet has become void for whatever reason, more often than not you will lose you free bet. Your bet will be settled as void though, which means that you get your stake back but not your free bet
- Cashed out bets – Cashed out bets will also void the majority of free bets these days. It’s to stop people simply betting, claiming the free bet and then just cashing out their original bet, essentially getting money for nothing
- Time limits – You will have a certain amount of time to use your free bets once they have been issued. Time frames will vary, but usually sit around the 7 day mark
As we have stated previously, this list certainly isn’t exhaustive, but it should give you a pretty good idea of what to look out for. One final bit of advice, make sure you take the time to read through these terms before signing up to the bookmaker. Each promotion works differently and some are more suited to certain players than others.
If you still need help, most reputable bookmakers have a solid customer support base that you can contact and find out all you need to know.