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Best Free Bets & New Player Betting Bonuses

You only have to watch the advert breaks during a TV football match to know that all online bookmakers run promotions and offers especially for new customers.

Having so many different offers around, however, can make things quite confusing and that’s why we’ve put together this page – our take on the best free bets and new player welcome bonuses.

Top Free Bets & Bonuses

New Customers only. Bet £10* & Get £30* in Free Bets. Sign up, deposit between £5* and £10* to your account and bet365 will give you three times that value in Free Bets when you place qualifying bets to the same value and they are settled. Free Bets are paid as Bet Credits. Min odds/bet and payment method exclusions apply. Returns exclude Bet Credits stake. T&Cs, time limits & exclusions apply. Registration required.

18+ New customers only. Opt in, bet £5 at odds 2.00+ within 7 days of registering, no cashout. Get 3x £10 Free Bets,  set events at odds 2.00+. 7 day bonus expiry. Card payments only. T&Cs Apply. begambleaware.org | Please gamble responsibly
18+ New UK+IRE customers. PayPal and certain deposit and bet types excluded. Min first £5 bet within 14 days of account reg at min odds 1/2 = 4 x £5 free bets valid for 4 days on sports, stake not returned, restrictions apply. T&Cs applyT&Cs apply.
18+ UK customers only. Register using the promo code WELCOME40, deposit and place first bet of £10+ on Sports (cumulative Evens+) within 7 days of registration. First bet must be on Sports. £30 in Free Bets and £10 in Free Spins (50x20p) credited within 10 hours of bet settlement. Free Bet stakes are not included in any returns. Bonuses have a 7-day expiry. Payment restrictions apply. SMS verification and/or Proof of I.D and address may be required. Full T&Cs apply.
New customer offer. Place 5 x £10 or more bets to receive £20 in free bets. Repeat up to 5 times to receive maximum £100 bonus. Min odds 1/2 (1.5). Exchange bets excluded. T&Cs apply.
Min deposit £/€/$10 • A qualifying bet is a ‘real money’ stake of at least £/€/$10 • Min odds 1/2 (1.50) • Free Bets are credited upon qualifying bet settlement and expire after 7 days • Free Bet stakes are not included in returns • Casino Bonus must be claimed within 7 days, wins are capped at £/€/$500 • To withdraw bonus/related wins, you must wager the bonus amount up to 40 times its value within 14 days • Casino Bonus expires after 60 days • Casino Bonus can be used on selected games in casino only • Restrictions apply to withdrawals, payment methods & countries & full T&C’s apply.
18+. Play Safe. From 00:01 on 18.10.2022. £30 bonus. New customers only. Minimum £10 stake on odds of 1/2 (1.5) or greater on sportsbook (excluding Virtual markets). Further T&C's apply. #ad
New customers only. Place your FIRST bet on any sportsbook market and if it loses we will refund your stake in CASH. Max refund for this offer is £20. Only deposits made using cards or Apple Pay will qualify for this promotion. T&Cs apply. Paddy's Rewards Club: Get a £10 free bet when you place 5x bets of £10+. T&Cs apply.
18+ begambleaware.org. New customers only. Min deposit £10. Money back as bonus if first bet loses. Wagering requirements: all sportsbook 3x at min. odds of 1.40 (2/5), casino 50x. Unless forfeited the sportsbook bonus must be wagered before using the casino bonus. Bonus expires 7 days after opt-in. Full T&Cs apply #AD.

Why Do Bookmakers Offer Free Bets?

As we touched upon at the top of the page, free bets and other similar promotions are run by almost every online bookmaker. There must, therefore, be a number of very good reasons why betting sites do offer free bets and we’ve tried to summarise these as succinctly as possible below:

  • Bookmakers offer free bets to encourage potential punters to choose their betting site over their many competitors.
  • Free bets are also a good way to reward existing users of a site for their custom and to prevent them from leaving and choosing to bet elsewhere.
  • Free bets available for certain bet types or on specific markets are a good way to introduce punters to new ways of betting or new events to bet on and may persuade them to bet real money on those markets or types of wager in future.
  • By offering free bets, bookmakers can keep their customers happy and ensure that they are well reviewed and rated by those customers.

Types of New Player Betting Bonuses

Now that you’ve seen what we think are the top new customer offers around and have an idea of why bookmakers run those promotions, it’s time to dig a little deeper into exactly how the different promotions work. Every individual offer is a little different but generally speaking the new customer promotions on the market fit into the following four main categories.

Deposit Bonus

A type of new player bonus which is more commonly offered to new online casino players rather than new online bookmaker customers, a deposit bonus is a promotion which provides bonus funds based on the size of a customer’s first deposit. These types of promotion often provide a bonus equal to the value of a customer’s first deposit with a new betting site and so can be called a ‘matched deposit bonus’ or a ‘100% matched deposit bonus’. Some versions of the offer, however, provide a bonus worth more than the initial deposit and others provide bonus funds worth a certain lower percentage of the deposit.

Whatever the exact nature of a deposit bonus, there will be a maximum bonus amount imposed upon the offer and the bonus paid will likely be paid in the form of bonus funds. What that means is that the funds cannot be withdrawn and instead must be used to place further bets through the sportsbook running the promotion. Bonus funds, too, can be subject to wagering requirements which mean that punters must stake a certain amount (usually expressed as a multiple of the initial bonus amount) before they’re able to make any withdrawal.

Bet & Get

Bet and get style bonuses are perhaps the most common types of promotion run by online bookmakers. They are offers which provide one or more free bets to those new customer who place an initial, qualifying bet with a betting company.

In order to be classed as a qualifying bet, a punter’s first wager with a new company usually has to be worth at least a minimum stake amount, be placed at a certain minimum price (evens, 2/1 etc.) and be placed within a certain amount of time after account registration. Some bookmakers, too, will require that an initial bet be place only on certain sports or markets.

If a qualifying bet is placed, bet and get style promotions will then credit a punter’s account with free bets as stipulated by the individual offer. There are usually a handful of restrictions as to which markets free bets are eligible to be used for and generally speaking, winnings resulting from the use of free bets will not include a return of the stake.

First Bet Refund

First bet refund promotions are very similar to bet and get offers in that they provide one or more free bets if an eligible punter places an initial qualifying bet which adheres to the same kind of criteria mentioned above. Where they differ, however, is that they only provide those free bets as a refund of an initial stake if the qualifying bet is a losing one. Once again, any free bets which are credited will be valid only for certain bet types and winnings will be exclusive of the initial free bet stake.

Enhanced Odds

A type of offer usually linked to a major sporting event, enhanced odds promotions give new customers the chance to bet on a popular team or competitor at odds far in excess of those available to other customers. An interesting promotion alternative, these offers generally cap the total benefit which the enhanced odds are able to provide to a customer and of course, provide no benefit if the backed selection doesn’t win.

Common Terms & Conditions

As the above descriptions should have already made apparent, all types of new customer bonuses and promotions are subject to their own terms and conditions. The following are some of the most common types of terms and conditions that you need to be aware of:

Deposit Restrictions – The vast majority of new customer promotions will determine that customers funding their accounts via certain deposit methods are not eligible for bonuses. Excluded deposit methods are usually e-wallet style clients, such as Neteller or Skrill. Deposit bonus style promotions, too, will usually require that a punter’s first deposit exceeds a certain minimum amount and will match the bonus provided – in one way or another – to the size of that deposit.

Qualifying Bet Criteria – Bet & Get, First Bet Refund and other promotion types which require a punter to initially place a bet before receiving their bonus will have a number of criteria which determine whether a bet can qualify for that free bet bonus. Such criteria generally include the overall value of the bet, the odds of the bet, the type of bet (single, multiple etc.) and the market on which the bet is placed.

Wagering Requirements – New player promotions which provide bonus funds will generally attach wagering requirements to those funds. Those requirements will stipulate that a punter must bet a certain amount after receiving the funds, before they are able to make any withdrawal. Usually the amount required to be wagered is set as a multiple of the initial bonus amount (i.e. three times) and the requirements generally have to be met within a certain time frame.

Free Bet Validity – Promotions which provide free bets will generally imposes limits as to how and when those free bets can be redeemed. Almost all free bets must be used within a certain time limit and other important things to look out for are which markets and bet types free bets are eligible for, whether free bets must be used in their entirety and whether they can be placed via mobile devices.

Geographical Restrictions – Across all different styles of promotion, geographical restrictions can be imposed as to which punters are eligible to take part in those promotions. Many new customer offers are limited to only UK or Ireland residents, whilst some others will have a list of excluded territories included within their terms and conditions.

FAQ

Dean Wyatt

Author: Dean Wyatt

Dean Wyatt is the founder and editor here at Acca Nation. He’s been betting sports for over 20 years and is a profitable sports trader on the exchanges.

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