One of the most popular promotions among shrewd punters is gaining access to a free bet club. These clubs are often pretty rare, with just a handful of reputable bookmaker offering up the service, so getting in can become quite lucrative.
The best bit about them is that you are going to be getting something back for an action that you would be doing anyway. It’s not an offer where you need to chase things to bring to fruition such as clearing a betting bonus and this is what’s made them so popular with a huge number of punters.
- Loyalty Points: As well as weekly free bets, some sites offer more traditional points based loyalty programs. You can see details of these on our loyalty page.
Free Bets for Existing Customers
What Is a Free Bet Club?
A free bet club is a promotion from the bookmaker that rewards you for consistent use within that bookmaker. So, the terms might be that you need to wager £25 or more within a week and then you are rewarded with a £5 free bet. You get the free bet each week that you meet the terms and a lot of the offers are endless, meaning that as long as you are able to keep up with the minimum spend then bookmaker will keep giving you the free bet.
Main Terms
As with all promotions there are a number of terms that you need to adhere to not only get the promotion, but also make sure you that are eligible to stay in the free bet club.
Minimum Spend
With each free bet you are going to be asked to spend a certain amount each week to get your free bet. The minimum spend can be spread across as many bets as you like and as long as you hit that number before the deadline for that week, then you will be eligible for the offer.
You will find that you get around 20-25% of your minimum spend amount as your free bet. For example, if you were looking to get a £5 free bet within the club then it’s likely that you would need to spend at least £25. The higher the free bet amount, the more you are going to have to spend.
It’s worth noting that most of these offers will allow you to clear the full amount in one bet. For example, let’s say that you need to spend at least £25, then you could theoretically place one bet of £25 and be cleared for the next week. Alternatively, you could place 25 x £1 bets and still reach your target.
Failure to Meet Minimum Spend
If you fail to meet the minimum spend amount within that week then you are going to be removed from the free bet club. As these offers are based on weekly spend, once you have been removed then you might not be able to get back in. It’s important to make sure that you are aware of what you need to maintain your status.
Can I Get Back into the Free Bet Club if I Miss a Week?
Sometimes. There are some bookmakers that allow you to get back into the club if you miss a week. All you need to do is opt back in and you will start up again, although sometimes you may see a cooling off period. There are other bookies that state once you miss a week, then you cant get back in, so it’s worth checking the terms of your bookmaker before opting in and planning your bets accordingly.
Time Period
As we have mentioned, each offer will come with a weekly (rarely monthly) time period. So, this might be something like Monday 00:00 hours to Sunday 23:59. But, some bookmakers will vary about when this starts. There are examples that we have seen where bookmakers wills tart the click from the moment that you opt-in to this offer, running for 7 days from that time.
Qualifying Bets
Not all bets are going to contribute to your net spend on the site. For example, often bets that are placed on the Tote will not contribute and any bets that are cashed out prior to them being settled will not count either.
Minimum Odds
You are also going to have to be aware of the minimum odds for a qualifying bet. So, if the bookmaker is saying that you need to be at odds of 2.00 or greater and you place a bet at odds of 1.90, then the stake for that bet will not contribute to your clearing requirements.
Using the Free Bet
Once your free bet has been credited to your account you are likely going to be able to use that bet on pretty much any market within the sportsbook. The best offers will pay any winnings from this bet straight to your account as cash, but some may pay winnings as bonus money that you will then need to wager through again. You will also find that these free bets aren’t stake returned, so any winnings will not include the original free bet within the winnings.
It’s also worth noting that the use of your free bet does not contribute towards your minimum spend for that weeks bets.
Are Free Bet Clubs Worth It?
Absolutely, yes! We think they are one of the most underrated and underused offers in the industry. There aren’t a ton of bookies that offer this promotion, but it’s worth tracking down the ones that do.
Let’s run through a quick example. Let’s say that you are offered a £5 free bet when you spend £25 per week in bets. This is a pretty typical offer in the industry at the minute.
Throughout the promotion you would then earn £260 in free bets throughout a calendar year. This is essentially a 20% cashback deal, which is pretty much unheard of and massively lucrative.