Sports Betting Markets and Offers
The top UK betting sites feature a whole host of sports markets, from outright bets on who will win a particular competition to niche bets on the minutiae of individual games. Different sports bring different betting offers and opportunities, so if you’re interested in everything from boxing to Formula 1, it’s well worth having a browse for the best deals. Equally, when there’s real money at stake, it may be best to stick to what you know. So if you’re a cricket fanatic who isn’t interested in much else — don’t worry, there’ll be plenty of relevant betting deals and markets available.
Football Betting Offers
Football is the most watched sport in the world, so naturally there are tons of betting markets available. Punters can have a flutter on most leagues around the world — some of which you may never have heard of!
Outright football bets are common and include betting on the winners of major tournaments, including:
- Premier League
- FIFA World Cup
- UEFA Champions League
- UEFA European Championship
As for individual matches, there are tons of options available. Punters can stick to betting on match results and players to score, or get a bit more niche. Popular football markets include:
- Full-time result
- Full-time score
- Score at halftime
- Team to win to nil
- Player to score anytime
- Player to score first
- Player to assist
- Player to receive a card
- Time of first goal/corner/throw-in
- How many goals/corners/throw-ins in a ten-minute period
As for football betting deals, they’re some of the most readily available at online UK bookmakers. There are various different types of football betting offers. For example, enhanced odds and acca boosts give your own real money bets greater payout potential, while free bets put you in with a shout of winning without having to lay down any of your own cash.
Some of the best football betting offers include:
- Free bets
- Enhanced odds
- Acca boosts
- Acca insurance
- Early payout
- Money back
- Deposit bonus
While free bets and deposit bonuses are the most common incentives for new customers, other types of football betting offers pop up in welcome bonuses too. What’s more, free bets are often made available for existing punters, either as part of free bet clubs or as an incentive to bet on high-profile matches, such as a Champions League or FA Cup final.
Bookmakers are continually coming up with new ways to liven up sports betting, and different sites have their own approaches when it comes to bonuses for existing players. For example, Bet365 has its own version of a money back promotion called Bore Draw, where bettors will receive their stake back if their bet loses on a match that finishes 0–0. So, be sure to check out a bookmaker’s range of promotions before you sign up, as there’s plenty more up for grabs beyond a site’s initial welcome offer.
Horse Racing Betting Offers
Horse racing is one of the UK’s oldest and most popular forms of gambling, so it’s no surprise there are plenty of betting markets and offers available online. Let’s kick off with some of the different types of bets you can place:
- Each way – effectively two bets, one or your horse to win and one on it to place
- Place only – a bet on a horse to finish in one of the places; this could be first, second, third, or fourth, depending on how many are competing in the race
- Forecast, tricast – involves predicting which horses will come first and second
- Trixie – a multi bet where you bet on three horses across three different races
Once you’ve got your head around the bets, you can check out some of horse racing’s biggest events:
- Cheltenham Festival
- Royal Ascot
- Epsom Derby
- Kentucky Derby
- Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe
While bookies regularly offer promotions specifically aimed at horse racing events, fans of this sport can benefit from broader welcome bonuses too. New customers can pick up free bets and bonus credit when they sign up and deposit funds into their account, or when they place their first bet. The free bets and deposit bonuses up for grabs for new customers are often eligible for betting on horse racing, so you can try your luck without committing as much of your own money.
Popular horse racing betting offers also include money back deals — here you can get your stake back either as withdrawable cash or as a free bet if your horse falls in a jump race or loses a race by a length. ‘Best Odds Guaranteed’ is another popular promotion as it ensures punters receive the best odds when they place a bet before a race. This means that if you place your bet at an early price, you won’t miss out if the odds improve during race day.
Cricket Betting Offers
Cricket may not be the first sport that comes to mind when you think of betting, but there’s a great range of competitions and markets to wager on. Whether you’re interested in international or domestic cricket, five-day test matches or T20 games, it’s well worth having a look at the current available markets and offers.
Some of the most prestigious cricket tournaments you can bet on include:
- The Ashes
- Border-Gavaskar Trophy
- Cricket World Cup
- T20 World Cup
- Indian Premier League
- Big Bash League
- T20 Blast
Once you’ve picked out a tournament or specific match to bet on, there are plenty of options. You could go for the team or nation to win a championship, or choose one of the following examples of match bets:
- Match winner
- Team – top batter
- Team – top bowler
- Player of the match
- 1st wicket method
- 1st over total runs
As for cricket betting offers, some bookies will dish out price boosts and other bonuses for big matches, while you can also use any bonus credit picked up from a matched deposit offer on this sport.
Boxing Betting Offers
The attention boxing receives is a little more sporadic than other sports, but when legendary names like Tyson Fury or Deontay Wilder enter the ring, UK punters flock to the scene. Sites with the best free bets will let you use them on a range of sports, but there are some boxing-specific betting deals up for grabs too.
One popular offer is round betting insurance. Just place a bet on your chosen boxer to win in a certain round, and if they win in the round before or after, your stake will be refunded as a free bet. One sportsbook you’ll find round betting insurance at is Betfred, which offers it on selected DAZN fights.
If you’re interested in boxing, it’s certainly worth keeping an eye out for special offers if there’s a particularly big fight coming up. You might also see betting deals around larger sporting events that include boxing, like the Olympics or Commonwealth Games.
As for the specific boxing bets you can place, here’s a taste of the action:
- To win fight
- Fight outcome – KO, TKO, disqualification, decision, technical decision or technical draw
- Round betting
- Total rounds
- When will fight end
- Fight to go the distance
Formula 1 Betting Offers
Certainly one of the most glamorous sporting events, Formula 1 has an avid following around the globe. The annual World Championship is made up of a series of Grand Prix races, and bookmakers are often flooded with promotions in the lead-up to each one. You could get your mitts on free bet tokens, odds boosts, or acca insurance.
Formula 1 has also seen some more unusual bets in its time. When British superstar Lewis Hamilton was just 12 years old, Ladbrokes took a bet that he’d win a Formula 1 race before the age of 23 — a highly speculative wager that was priced at 40/1. We suggest only making such bets for entertainment purposes, and you’ll likely have to do so through a sportsbook that takes bet requests.
As for the more standard bets, check out the following:
- Race winner
- Drivers Championship outright winner
- Constructors Championship outright winner
- Driver-Constructor Championship double
Golf Betting Offers
With many golfing tournaments taking place across the calendar every year, you can be certain to find golf betting deals at top UK bookmakers. Common offers include free bets, enhanced odds when you place bets on specific markets, and acca insurance in case one leg lets you down.
Some of the biggest competitions to take place every year are:
- March – The Chevron Championship
- April – The Masters
- May – The PGA Championship
- June – The US Open and US Women’s Open, and KPMG Women’s PGA Championship
- July – The British Open and Amundi Evian Championship
- August – AIG Women’s Open
Keep your eyes out for betting offers in the run up to these events — for example, Betfair offers no suspension on PGA Tour outright winner bets up to 200/1, meaning you can cash out even if the market is suspended.
As for the specific markets available for each of these tournaments, check out the following for inspiration:
- Outright – to win a tournament
- Each way – like in horse racing, you bet on a golfer to win and a back-up bet on them to place
- To place – betting on the golfer to finish within a certain ranking, which could be top 10 or top 20 depending on the tournament
- Round betting – betting on who will be top of the leaderboard after a particular round
- To make/miss the cut – the ‘cut’ refers to the number of points required to progress in a tournament
Tennis
In the UK, we go tennis crazy each summer thanks to Wimbledon. But there’s so much more to the sport than that iconic tournament, with matches happening all year round. This means you’re sure to find fantastic tennis betting offers at top UK bookies. Some of the most common deals include free bets and odds boosts, though there’s plenty of variety on the promo pages of most sports betting sites.
Tennis events usually sit in one of two categories: the majors, known as Grand Slams, and professional tennis tournaments. Here are some biggies to bet on:
- The Australian Open
- BNP Paribas Open (Indian Wells Masters)
- The French Open
- Wimbledon
- The US Open
- The Laver Cup
- ATP Finals/WTA Finals
The build-up to top tennis tournaments often coincides with the arrival of exciting betting offers, so it’s worth visiting promo pages and opting into bonus notifications from betting apps you use. Here’s some of the tennis betting markets you might be able to use those bonuses on:
- Match betting
- Set betting
- Outright
- Each way
- To place
In-play betting markets add to the available options, allowing you to predict who’ll snatch the very next point. Ideal for true tennis fans who fancy their chances in the thick of the action.