Below we’ve listed the best bookmaker free bets available. You can find £100s worth of UK free bets from reliable and trusted bookmakers.
Bet365 – £100 IN BET CREDITS
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Place £10 first bet on sportsbook/exchange at odds of 2.0 or greater and get a £10 free bet.
Betdaq – BET £10, GET £10
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Place £10 first bet on sportsbook/exchange at odds of 2.0 or greater and get a £10 free bet.
888Sport – BET £10, GET £30
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Place £10 first bet on sportsbook/exchange at odds of 2.0 or greater and get a £10 free bet.
William Hill – BET £10, GET £30
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Place £10 first bet on sportsbook/exchange at odds of 2.0 or greater and get a £10 free bet.
Smarkets – BET £10, GET £10
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Place £10 first bet on sportsbook/exchange at odds of 2.0 or greater and get a £10 free bet.
Betway – £30 BONUS
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Place £10 first bet on sportsbook/exchange at odds of 2.0 or greater and get a £10 free bet.
Betfred – £30 BONUS
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Place £10 first bet on sportsbook/exchange at odds of 2.0 or greater and get a £10 free bet.
Unibet- £40 BONUS
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Place £10 first bet on sportsbook/exchange at odds of 2.0 or greater and get a £10 free bet.
Betconnect – £20 BONUS
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Place £10 first bet on sportsbook/exchange at odds of 2.0 or greater and get a £10 free bet.
Betfair – £20 BONUS
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Place £10 first bet on sportsbook/exchange at odds of 2.0 or greater and get a £10 free bet.
Paddy Power – £25 BONUS
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Place £10 first bet on sportsbook/exchange at odds of 2.0 or greater and get a £10 free bet.
BetVictor – BET £10, GET £70
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Place £10 first bet on sportsbook/exchange at odds of 2.0 or greater and get a £10 free bet.
Free bets online
Free bets are offered to bettors as a reward for opening a new account or remaining loyal to their company.
In the modern world of gambling, free bets online are commonplace. Most bookmakers offer promotions regularly.
Bookmakers spend a huge amount of money on free bets. In 2017, gambling firms spent a total of £1.16 billion on marketing. That’s a huge amount of money, a lot of which ends up in free bets and other promotional offers.
But that’s great news for bettors. We love free bets and other bonuses. If the bookies took away betting offers, we’d probably be very lost. In the UK, we’re very dependant on these promotions.
There are many different types of promotion that bookmakers use like odds boosts and deposit offers. However, in this guide, we’ll specifically look at free bets.
What do we mean by free bet?
You guessed it, a free bet is an amount of credit given to a bettor by the bookmaker to use on sports betting markets.
There are many different formats of free bets online which we’ll look at next.
Different types of free bet
The bookmakers offer different types of free bet to different users. The free bet you use will vary depending on which bookmaker you’re using and whether you’re a new or existing customer.
Here’s a list of the most common free bets:
- Bet to get free bets
- Matched deposit free bets
- Reload free bets
- Risk-free bets
Let’s check out each of these individually.
Bet to get free bets
These are the most simple type of free bet online. You simply have to bet a certain amount and the bookie will reward you with a free bet. For example, bet £30 get £10.
You’ll find this is the most common type of free bet when you sign up for a new bookmaker account. The current Coral sign up offer uses this format.
Matched deposit free bet
Matched deposit free bets are also popular in the world of online betting. As the name suggests, the bookmaker matches your initial deposit with a free bet of the same amount. Let’s say you deposited £30, the bookie would offer you a £30 free bet.
These offers are less common than the bet to get free bets I mentioned in the previous section but they’re still worth knowing about.
Reload free bets
These are free bets for existing customers. The bookies offer these free bets on a wide range of different sporting events and markets. Expect a lot of reload free bets during large sporting tournaments like the Football World Cup and the Grand National.
Reload free bets are where the long term profit can be made with certain strategies like matched betting.
You may need to qualify for reload free bets or the bookie may reward you if you’re a loyal customer.
Risk-free bet offers
Risk-free bets are another popular offer the bookie’s hand out. With risk-free bets, the bookie returns any losing stakes as a free bet.
Let’s say that you bet on Man Utd to beat Leicester City. If your bet lost, the bookie would return your losing stake as a free bet.
Risk-free bets are fairly common for existing customers although you may find a couple of bookies offering them as a sign up free bet.
Best free bets
There are hundreds of free bets available daily so it’s difficult to say which are the best free bets. It’s also very subjective to each individual. A free bet that I may love, you might not find as rewarding.
When picking a free bet, it’s important to consider what your criteria are. How much do you want to wager on your first bet? What sporting events do you want to place your bets on? You get the picture.
The more questions you ask, the better you’ll be at finding the most suitable free bets.
No matter what free bets you’re after, you should keep an eye on the following bookmakers. They provide some of the most popular and profitable free bets online.
- Bet365
- Ladbrokes
- William Hill
- Skybet
There are many more alternatives you can consider using but that list is a great place to start.
Picking the best free bets goes hand in hand with opening new bookmaker accounts. As you may know, there are hundreds of bookies all vying for your business.
I suggest you pick a bookmaker that has great reviews. You can check out our bookmaker guide for more information on picking the best bookmakers.
Free bets when you sign up
Free bets for new customers are very common in the online betting world and it’s no secret that these betting offers are incredibly popular with punters throughout the UK.
Most bookmakers offer a free bet as a reward for opening a new bookmaker account. Some bookies even offer various sign up offers meaning bettors have a choice when it comes to opening a new account.
At the time of writing this guide, there is over £1000 worth in betting sign up offers. Therefore there are plenty of opportunities to profit from bookmakers promotions.
It’s fair to say that the majority of free bets that you come across will be for new customers only. That’s great for new customers, but it means you only have access to the free bet once. It’s therefore important to maximise your income from sign up free bets.
If you already have bookmaker accounts open, not to worry. There are still plenty of betting offers for existing customers. The bookies just promote these offers less heavily but they’re still available as we’ll look at in the next section.
Free bets for existing customers
It’s not just new customers that have access to free bet offers, existing customers also have access to these offers regularly. These are called reload free bets.
Bookmakers reward customers who are loyal by offering them free bet credits. You may have to qualify for these free bets or the bookie may give them out for free.
You’ll often find reload free bets during large tournaments like the Football World Cup and Cheltenham festival.
Free bet terms and conditions
Free bets often come with one caveat, they include lots of terms and conditions that you need to consider before depositing any funds or placing any bets.
You need to pay attention to the small print to ensure you gain access to your free bet. You can usually find this information attached to the free bet.
Some things you’ll need to particularly look out for are:
- Minimum odds
- Minimum or maximum stake etc.
- Selected sports
- Deposit methods
- Rollover amounts
Some free bets will have minimum odds criteria. You’ll need to use your free bet on a market with higher odds than the minimum specified.
If you’re required to qualify for your free bet, you may need to bet a certain amount. Bet to get free bets often have these criteria.
Likewise, some qualifying or free bets may have criteria that only accepts certain sporting markets.
In terms of deposit methods, some bookmakers restrict their free bets to certain payment methods. Specifically, it’s usually Skrill and Neteller that the bookmakers don’t like. However, this may differ so it’s best to check the specific terms and conditions of your free bet.
You may also have to roll over your initial deposit to access your free bet or be able to withdraw any winnings.
Free bets and matched betting
If you’re looking to make a guaranteed profit, matched betting is a great strategy that might appeal to some bettors. Punters take advantage of bookmakers free bets to make a risk free profit.
With the huge range of free bets online, there’s plenty of opportunities to make some great profit.
Individuals use a method called back and lay betting to ensure no risk with their bets. For more information on matched betting and how you can get started, check out this article.
Free bets overview
Bookmakers know that without their free bets and other betting offers, they’d lose a lot of customers. They act as a great incentive to keep bettors returning.
But there’s something in it for us bettors as well and there’s plenty of opportunities to profit.