Free Bets UK Wide – Best Free Bet Offers

How to Claim a Free Bet Offer

Here’s how you can claim your first free bet offer as a new customer at a UK betting site.

As a new customer, online bookmakers will be looking to entice you to sign-up through various free bet offers. Your first instinct here might be to pick the deal with the highest monetary value of free bet tokens, but that’s not always the smartest thing to do. Before you commit to any sportsbook bonus, it always pays to first read the T&Cs in full – only then will you be able to gauge the offer’s true value. Follow these simple steps to find the best free bet offer for you. 

1. Browse this page for our recommended free bet offers
   We’ve already done much of the heavy lifting for you, collating all of the best free bet offers currently on the market onto this page. From here you can easily compare welcome offers, read our user-focused guides and reviews, before clicking through to a bookie and bonus you like the look of. 
2. Complete the sign-up process
   Signing up to a new betting site is easy – just submit your name, email, address and phone number as prompted. You’ll also be asked to create a username and a password. 
   Once this is done, the betting site is required to verify your identity according to licensing responsibilities laid out by the UK Gambling Commission. This means you’ll need to upload a couple of forms of ID, such as a recent proof of address and a photo of a passport or driver’s licence. These checks usually take no longer than 24 hours to complete.
3. Make your first deposit
   Only after these checks have been satisfied are new customers able to make their first deposit. Remember that you’re looking to claim a free bet offer, which means you’ll need to fulfil some terms and conditions in order to seal the deal – watch out for things such as minimum deposits and restricted payment methods here. You might also need to opt-in to the offer, or unlock it with the use of a bonus code. 
4. Make your qualifying bet
   Almost every free sign-up bet offer is contingent on punters first making a qualifying wager at the site. A standard free bet bonus might reward customers with £30 of free bet tokens following a £10 wager of their own – this first £10 bet will come with certain conditions, such as minimum odds requirements and perhaps a few restricted betting markets. Your free bets will be released once the qualifying wager has settled. 
5. Enjoy your free bets!
   Usually the free bet tokens will appear automatically in your account, but you may need to go and collect them from the site – this can be achieved in just a few clicks. It’s then over to you to make the most of them!

Types of Free Bet Offers

With so many betting sites offering lots of different deals, there’s plenty of choice out there for new and current punters. Here are some of the different types of free bet offers you’ll come across at UK betting sites.

New Customer Free Bets

Also known as welcome offers, these are the most common free bet offers, issued to new customers when they first sign up to a betting site. Free bet sign up offers are usually automatically credited to your betting account and kept separate from any deposits that you’ve made. 

New customer free bets are often contingent on punters making a qualifying bet on a particular market. For example, a £20 bet on any sports market might unlock some free bets. Another example is Bet365’s open account offer, where punters new to the site receive £50 in free bets when they bet £10 for the first time.

Welcome offers featuring free bets usually come with low or no wagering requirements, and generally player-friendly terms. Still, be sure to check out the T&Cs before you bet, as it’s likely there’ll be rules around minimum bets.

Existing Customer Free Bets

The best betting sites will reward loyal customers with frequent free bet offers, often in connection with major sporting events such as big boxing bouts and football cup finals. Sometimes the free bets will be more flexible with the markets you can place them on — for example, Bet365 regularly dishes out £5 free bets to be used on any upcoming Premier League match at the weekend.

These offers tend to be less generous than free bets for new customers, but can still provide a boost. The good news? These types of bets don’t usually require any wagering or qualifying bets to activate them — once they’re in your account, you can bet away on selected markets without any faff.

Free Bet Clubs

Free bet clubs are another way in which bookies reward loyal customers. It’s simple: meet the conditions of the club and you’ll be rewarded with regular free bets, typically on a weekly basis. 

Those who enjoy in-play betting might be interested to know about Unibet’s free bet club. You’ll win a £10 free bet every week if you place a minimum of five £10 wagers on football, cricket, tennis, darts or basketball markets. Qualifying wagers and free bet tokens must be used on in-play events in order to qualify. 

Money Back Free Bets

If you’ve been offered a money back free bet, this means your qualifying wager will be insured up to a certain point. Let’s say you put £20 on Spain to win their group at the Qatar World Cup; if Germany were to win it instead, you’d receive your £20 back in the form of free bets. In other words, you get two chances at success.

Free Bets No Deposit Offers

The next type of welcome bonus is a free bets no deposit bonus. These offers are rare but do occasionally crop up. Essentially, the bookie will give you a completely free bet when you join the site, before you’ve added any funds to your account. No deposit free bet bonuses are a great way to try new sports betting sites without having to wager your own cash immediately.

Generally, these offers are subject to steep wagering requirements. The bookies will require you to turn over any winnings multiple times at specified minimum odds before you can withdraw. This might look something like 5x wagering of profits at odds of evens or above.

Best Sports for Free Bets

Whatever it is you like to wager on, your betting site of choice will run hundreds, possibly thousands, of markets on all of the UK’s favourite sports. Here are some of the most popular.

Football

The top football betting sites offer markets on leagues and competitions in hundreds of football-playing countries. These markets are as diverse as the teams that play the game – from bets on the Champions League final all the way down to the Albanian U23 division. Free bet offers are in large supply during major tournaments such as the World Cup. 

Horse Racing

Horse racing might be the second most popular sport to bet on in the UK behind football, which means there are plenty of free bet opportunities in this category. Offers such as money back if your horse loses to the favourite, or if your selection fails to finish, are common.  

Boxing

Interest in boxing sort of cools off when there are any lulls in the calendar, which means that when a big event does come around, betting sites overload their sportsbooks with free bet offers. Keep a lookout for these next time a box office contest is on the cards. 

Tennis

As you might expect, the best time to claim a free bet bonus in tennis is in the build-up or during one of the sport’s Grand Slam events. Betting sites look to capitalise on heightened levels of interest here, but since tennis is played all over the world, there are plenty of betting opportunities at any time of the year. Tennis’s instant point-by-point dynamic lends the sport well to in-play betting. 

American Football

It’s reported that the Super Bowl is now the single biggest sporting event in the world in terms of betting activity – an impressive feat for a sport played more or less in one country alone. The NFL season isn’t particularly long – usually running from September to February – which means all of the best free bet offers on this sport will be condensed into that time frame.

Basketball

By contrast, the basketball season is long and hard, with every team in the NBA playing 81 fixtures during the regular season. Free bet offers are therefore rife throughout the season, but attention ramps up during the All-Star Game and the playoffs, which typically run from April to June.

Top 10 Best Free Bet Offers

How We Rank the Best Free Bet Offers

Here at Gambling Deals, it’s our job to bring you the best free bet offers on the market. Our expert team ranks the different deals available against certain criteria to ensure we bring you the best of the best, helping you find a UK free bet offer that suits your interests in no time at all.

Let’s take a look at the different factors we consider when reviewing the range of free bet deals on the market.

Welcome Offers and the Best Betting Deals

There are tonnes of different free bet offers available from bookies. In the UK the most common type is a straight out free bet. The way this works if that you put down an initial deposit to claim the best betting deals. For example, £10. In return the bookie gives you a free bet to stake on a sports event of your choice. If you lose the free bet funds then you walk away. If you win then the free bet stake is returned to the casino but the profits are yours. Not bad if you’re having a punt on an outsider with longer odds. It’s not only pure-play free bets UK to look out for though.

How Much is on Offer?

Firstly, it’s important to take note of how much the free bet is worth. Naturally, larger free bets are more appealing to players. Indeed, if you can land £50 in free bets from a £10 deposit, then this is potentially a great deal.

Of course, there are other factors to take into account. Larger free bets may be hindered by stricter terms and conditions that weaken the overall value. What’s more, many players may prefer picking up a smaller £5 bonus if it means they don’t have to deposit any of their own funds.

What are the Wagering Requirements?

It’s important to always check the wagering requirements and other T&Cs when claiming a bookie bonus. Wagering requirements require you to stake the bonus amount a certain number of times before you can convert it to withdrawable cash. 

The good news is wagering requirements are much less prevalent for free bets than other bonuses like matched deposits for casino games. Therefore, you should have no problem finding a free bet offer that allows you to cash out as soon as it lands, or only have to wager it 1x.

What are the Minimum Odds?

Minimum odds are something that the bookie uses to control how a free bet is used. Essentially, they require you to make a bet above certain odds to reduce your likelihood of a guaranteed profit. For example, your bet may have to be placed at odds of 1/1 (2.00) or above. More flexible offers allow free bets to be made at odds of 1/2 (1.5) or above.

Rules around minimum odds can apply at various stages of the process of claiming and using a free bet. Be sure to check the terms when making a qualifying bet; when using the free bet itself; and when fulfilling any wagering requirements with additional bets. There may also be stipulations regarding the markets you must bet on, though these are usually fairly flexible and may simply require you to bet on any sports market.

UK Betting Sites with Great Free Bet Offers

Here’s our selection of the best UK betting sites with free bet offers for new customers. Be aware that some bookmakers only make their free bet bonuses available to punters who make a deposit with debit cards, as opposed to e-wallets and other payment methods.

Free Bet Terms and Conditions

All betting site bonuses come with terms and conditions attached — check out some of the most common below.

Expiry Dates

Bookmakers are always keen to wrap up bonus offers as soon as possible. The standard expiry date for online free bets tends to be seven days, but some sites will allow up to 30 days to make use of the bonus. There will also be time limits involved when it comes to fulfilling any wagering requirements, so be sure to check these before you get started.

Minimum Deposit

Unless you’ve been offered a no deposit free bet bonus, you’ll be required to deposit some of your own cash into your account in order to unlock the free bets. For example, you may be offered £20 in free bets when you deposit £10 to your account for the first time. However, other betting sites may require you to make larger deposits to unlock the free bets, so be sure to read the T&Cs beforehand and ensure you’re comfortable with what’s required.

Minimum Stake

Once you’ve made the deposit into your account, you may be expected to actually use those funds before the betting site releases the free bets. These bets will require a minimum stake, such as a £10 wager on any sports event. Once you’ve made the qualifying bet, you won’t be able to get it back, so be sure you’re happy with the rewards and associated terms before placing your bet.

One Offer Per Customer

If you’re making use of a new customer free bet, the offer will be available for one time only. Bookmakers are careful to verify your identity before dishing out free bet offers, to avoid players signing up and claiming bonuses multiple times. Free bets for existing customers, however, can be given out on a regular basis, so it’s worth signing up and seeing what’s on offer.

Withdrawals

If a betting site has offered free bet credits or tokens, these won’t be redeemable as soon as you receive them, but you may be able to withdraw them if they’ve been used on a successful wager. However, you may still need to fulfil wagering requirements before you can withdraw cash from successful free bets.

Payment Method Restrictions

Free bets that require punters to make an initial deposit may be subject to payment method restrictions. While debit cards are virtually always accepted to make these qualifying deposits, e-wallets such as PayPal and Skrill may not be eligible. If you’re keen to make subsequent deposits via a digital wallet, you can switch to this payment method once you’ve unlocked the free bet offer.

Winning Caps

Even the best free bet offers will come with a winning cap – the ceiling to any bonus’s success. You won’t be able to win any money beyond the cap, but the amount is usually fairly generous. We at Gambling Deals encourage our readers to view winning caps as an intrinsic on-site limiter to any bonus offer; instead of seeing the cap as an annoyance, see it as a way of guaranteeing a decent payout from a successful bonus. 

Market Restrictions

There are many different types of wager available to you at a betting site: singles, doubles, accumulators, in-play bets, and more. However, you might find that your bonus comes with market restrictions which may specify the kind of bet you’re allowed to make with bonus funds. Market restrictions might also dictate that punters use their bonus on a particular sport or event. 

Free Bet Offers and False Advertising

It’s always important to remain savvy when coming across a free bet offer, particularly one that’s being advertised online or on TV. These campaigns have been designed to grab your attention, and will often only highlight the good parts of a bonus, sidelining the all-important terms and conditions. To avoid any disappointment or nasty surprises, it’s essential that you always read the small print of any free bets offer and understand exactly what’s required in order to convert the bonus into withdrawable winnings.

How to Turn Free Bets into Cash

Turning your free bets into cash is the game here. So how should you approach it? Our first bit of advice is to come up with a number you want to hit to deem your strategy successful. Let’s say you want to make £500, then you need to be much more aggressive than you do getting to £50. The truth is though, every bit of profit is good cash in your pocket. Whatever you do, set your target and work backwards from there.

If you want to hit £60 profit and your free bet balance is £30, then you need to make £90 to hit your target. That’s because the bet will be removed once you win. That means you either go for one bet at 3/1 or you play it safer and go up in stages. Perhaps you bet initially on evens to net yourself £60, with £30 profit. From there you go again on evens to turn your £30 to £60. Job done.

However, if you want to get up to the big bucks then you will probably have to get more aggressive when taking up the best betting deals. While you can try this safer option of betting around evens. Anything can happen in sport. The underdog can always come in and rip away your entire balance. However, that same underdog can take you from zero to hero pretty quickly. An option here is to bet your £30 on a 10/1 market. That would return you £300, less your £30 welcome bonus. £270 profit in one swoop. Perhaps if you want to take this option up you bet on a first goal scorer, winning horse or an underdog playing one of the big boys.

Often this comes down to the little bits you know that no one else does. You know your horses, or that your team is coming in to form. We like this strategy for those who know where those winners and upsets are going to come from.

Are Free Bet Offers Safe To Use?

We only work with sportsbooks that hold a gambling license from the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC). By holding a license, a sportsbook is required to protect players’ transactions, payout any winnings a player may earn and to put in place responsible gambling tools. So even if a non-licensed free bet bonus site is offering a particularly attractive bonus, you should always avoid signing up.

If you’re unsure, always pick up your free bets from Gambling Deals. We only work with the best licensed UK bookies to ensure you have a fair, safe and enjoyably gambling experience.

Can I Get Mobile Free Bets?

If you are looking for mobile free bets then you are also in luck. Gambling Deals offers the best welcome bonuses in the UK, each of which can be redeemed on the move via your mobile device. The majority of online bettors play via their mobiles these days and it’s not hard to understand why. Betting from your mobile device using a native app means you don’t have to be chained to a computer to claim a free bet and wager on your favourite markets. What’s more, you can also enable push notifications to ensure you never miss out on the latest promotions offer.  We would always recommend signing up to a site that provides a native app as these provide players with a far smoother user experience compared to mobile-optimised sites. You can download these apps from either the App Store or Google Play Store.

Other Bonuses Available at Free Bet Sites

Free bets are just one type of bonus offered up by betting sites – here are some others.

Matched Deposits

Free bets are the most common welcome offer at sportsbooks, and the same can be said of matched deposits at online casinos. With this bonus, betting sites will match a portion of your first deposit at the site, often doubling your playing funds with bonus credit. Typical offers as a new customer are in the region of 100% up to £100. 

Acca Insurance

If accas are your thing, you’ll want to pay attention to acca insurance offers. Here, your accumulator bet will be insured if one leg loses. Let’s say for example you placed an acca on City, Chelsea, Spurs, Leicester and Fulham all to win; if four of the results came in but Spurs let you down – typical – then acca insurance would see your stake returned. 

Enhanced Odds

Bookmakers often artificially boost standard odds in order to increase betting activity on a particular event. Enhanced odds bonuses are also often targeted at an event with a clear favourite, which means you could receive a decent payout for a fairly uninspired betting call. 

Cashback

Some of the best betting sites offer their customers cashback bonuses, returning a portion of the total amount of lost wagers within a specific period of time. Usually offered on a weekly basis, a typical cashback offer would be in the region of 10%. 

Best Odds Guaranteed

Any horse racing, greyhound racing or F1 fans will want to select a betting site that offers best odds guaranteed. With this promotion, your bet slip will always reflect the most favourable odds on your selection, even if the odds are slashed just before the start of the race. For example, you place a bet on a horse at Cheltenham at 10/1; 20 minutes before the race it’s reported that the favourite won’t be running, shortening your horse’s odds all the way to 6/1. With best odds guaranteed this disruption doesn’t matter – your horse’s odds are locked in at 10/1.