On this page you’ll find a comprehensive list of free bets along with the key terms and conditions of the offer – we’ve even managed to wangle a few exclusive promotions that are better than the normal sign up bonus found on the betting site.
All of the sites are licensed in the UK and accept customers from the United Kingdom. Many of these offers are also available to customers in the Republic of Ireland, but not all. Check the specific offer page for full details.
Note: All of the offers shown here are for new customers only. For existing customer bonuses you can see a list on our free bet clubs page.
Best Free Bet Offers For 2024
Looking for something specific? To help you find the right offer we sub categorise the deals that we track based on various features. You can find various lists of free bets below:
Are Free Bets Really Free?
A common saying in life is “nothing is for free in this world”. Whilst we don’t think that’s strictly true, it definitely could be applied the majority of free bets in the betting industry. You will likely need to invest something to get your free bet or at least place a certain number of bets.
The best way to look at free bets is to see it as more of a bonus for your account. You will need to put something in, but the bookmaker is willing to make sure that as a reward, you get something back.
You need to be aware of some of the major rules that these offers often come with. The first one is that they are only open to new accounts. So, if you don’t have an account with that bookmaker and you register a new one, then you are eligible. If you already have an account with that bookmaker then you aren’t going to be eligible.
It’s worth noting that you can’t under any circumstances open a new account just to claim these offers. If the bookmaker finds out that you have done this then they are well within their rights to close both accounts and keep any money within the accounts. There have been huge numbers of people over the years try and pull this trick giving false names or addresses, but ultimately the bookmaker will track you down via their sophisticated betting analysis tools.
It’s also worth noting that you are only going to be claim these free bets once. So, once it hits your account and you use this free bet, that’s it, you are done and you can’t claim another one.
WHY DO BOOKIES OFFER FREE BETS?
The online betting industry is super competitive these days. There are hundreds of online bookmakers to choose from and each bookmaker is vying to get you to use their product. One of the ways that they do this is by offering up free bets to new customers.
The free bets are essentially used as bait to lure you in to their bookmaker and not a competitors. That’s why the free bet offers are only available to new accounts as away to get you through the door.
What Makes a Good Offer?
There are a number of things that you need to look out for when deciding if the free bet offer is going to be a good one or not.
- High free bet amount – The first port of call should be to see just how much of a free bet the bookmaker is offering. At worst you want to be looking at a 100% match, so if you deposit £10 then they will offer you a £10 free bet. The best deals are often something like bet £10 get £20 or even higher, so make sure you keep an eye for these.
- Low/no Clearing amount – You need to see how much it’s going to cost you to clear the free bet to hit your account. Most good offers will require you to deposit an amount and then wager this exact amount before the free bet is triggered. A poor offer will require you to deposit say £10 for a £10 free bet, but you need to make £50 worth of wagers before that free bet is triggered.
- Stake returned – Pretty much all free bets will not be stake returned. This just means that when you use your free bet, you get to keep any winnings, but the original stake (in this case the free bet) will not be returned to your balance. On very rare occasions, bookmakers will return the stake as well, although these are few and far between.
- No clearing on winnings – There will be some bookmakers that will require you wager through your winnings from a free bet. This could range from 2x up to 10x, but it’s something that you want to avoid. Let’s say you won an accumulator that paid out £1,000 from your free bet and they asked for a 10x clearing on winnings before being able to withdraw. You’d then have to made £10,000 worth of wagers just to get the £1,000 that you won. These terms are actually quite rare, but we have seen them included in the past.
- No market restrictions – You want to look for bookmakers that will allow you to place your free bet on any market or bet that you like. Sometimes they restrict them to certain sports and then markets within that sport. A good free bet will give you free reign to place on the bet that you want at the odds that you want.
Terms and Conditions to Watch Out For
As with all offers and promotions, there are a number of terms and conditions that you need to adhere to before signing on the dotted line. Below we have listed some of the more common ones to look out for, but they will likely vary from bookmaker to bookmaker.
- One per customer – Free bet’s will be limited to one per customer and as we mentioned earlier, you can’t simply open another account just to claim the offer again. It’s worth noting that bookmakers may offer you exclusive free bets to your account, but these are not part of the free bet welcome promotion.
- Minimum odds – You will likely have to place your free bet at set minimum odds. A good min range is around the 1.50 mark, but some bookmaker may ask you to place the bet as high as 3.00 and up.
- Expiry date – You will only have a certain amount if time to use your free bet before it expires. A lot them are valid for around 7 days after you have received your bet and if you haven’t used it within this time frame your bet will be removed from your account and you won’t be able to claim it.
- Bet settled – It’s likely that the bet you place with the free bet will have to be settled within a certain time period. Again, this will range depending on your bookmaker, but if you place a bet at start of the football season for a team to win the league, it’s likely this will not be settled within the allotted time and will be declared void with your bet being lost.
- Stake not included – With any winnings that you receive from your free bet, it’s highly likely that it will not include the stake from the original free bet.
- Multiple house occupancy – Free bets will be limited to one per house, email address or shared computer. If you live in a block of flats then unfortunately if a free bet has already been claimed from that address, it’s likely that you wont be able to claim another. But, this isn’t always the case and we have found that some bookmakers will let you claim the free bet if you can provide that the original account has either moved out from the house or no longer uses their account.
- Country restrictions – A lot of restrictions are in place regarding which residents from which counties can claim a free bet. Just because you have been accepted for an account from within a certain country, does not mean that you are definitely going to be able to claim the free bet as well.
- Payment method restrictions – A lot of banking methods are now prohibited from claiming free bets due to abuse of the system. The majority of these are linked to e-wallets, such as Neteller, Skrill and PayPal, where essentially players are able to bank anonymously. If you are using a debit card, then it’s likely you wont have an issue.
- Bet types – A good number of bet types will be excluded from being able to use your free bet with. These often include things such as Lotto, Tote and even accumulator bets.
Finally, it’s worth noting that if you do breach any of terms set out by the bookmaker then they will reserve the right to not only cancel that promotion but also potentially close your account as well. These days, the terms and conditions are set out to be much more user friendly and aren’t 10 pages long, so it’s worth spending a couple of minutes reading through before you sign on the dotted line.
WHAT HAPPENS WHEN AN OFFER GOES WRONG?
There might be a time when you have an issue with a free bet and it gets removed from your account or just never credited to your account in the first place. Our first bit of advice would be to go an contact the customer support team from that bookmaker and explain your situation. A lot of these free bets are trigged automatically and will be applied to an account via a computer, so it could just be a technical glitch.
It’s also worth considering if you think you may have breeched any terms of conditions as outlined above. If you have, then bookmakers will likely just remove your free bet without warning, so it’s important to get your story straight before diving in with two barrels asking where your free bet is.
WHAT HAPPENS IF YOUR FREE BET IS MADE VOID?
If you have breeched any of terms and they have voided your bet as a result of you not complying with the terms and conditions, then there isn’t an awful lot you can do. Generally what you will find is that once it has gone, it’s gone.
But, we would always get in touch with customer support even if your bet is made void just to get clarity on why this was. As mentioned above, mistakes can be made on their part and often these things are automated, so it’s well worth checking out. If it turns out you are in the wrong, unfortunately there are no second chances.
MY BET WAS MADE VOID, WHAT HAPPENS TO MY ACCOUNT?
The most common reasons why free bets become void is down to the fact the bet was under the minimum odds or the player has let their offer expire. As mentioned, there is nothing you can do to get the free bet back, but nothing will happen to your account and you will be able to carry on as usual.
If you are in a more serious breach of the terms, such as multiple accounts or abuse of the promotion then your case may be escalated and your account could face closure.
THE OFFER WAS MISLEADING, WHAT CAN I DO?
The free bet market is now heavily regulated and bookmakers are under stricken rules to make sure that any promotions they offer are clear and concise. 10 years ago this wasn’t always the case, but now the powers that be are definitely on the consumers side and they work tirelessly to make sure that adverting these offers are fair.
As these offers tend to change so often these days and the promotions are that frequent, there may be times where these advertisements or offers are misleading. For example, an offer might read that you get a £10 free bet just for registering account, only to find that you actually need to wager £20 before that offer could be credited to your account.
If you feel that an offer is misleading or not fair then you can contact the ASA (Advertising Standards Agency) and put your case forward. They have the power to remove the advertisement and to make sure they don’t do it again.