Free Bets
Free bets are perhaps the best thing you can stumble across when it comes to online betting. They’re quick, simple, and you can pretty much sign up with any top UK bookmaker to get one.
You’ll find a number of free bets across the online betting world, most of which are featured above. We pride ourselves at thatsagoal on bringing you the finest free bets and enhanced odds offers from across the web, so you’re always in with a chance of making the most out of your bet.
What Are Free Bets?
Free bets are generally a stake given to you in which you can place for free on a betting market. They come in all different shapes, sizes, and will all have different terms and conditions. Most commonly, you’ll have to make a deposit for the first time and the bookmaker will match that deposit with a free bet of the same value. These Welcome Offers are very common, although as you will see from the offers we have above there are a range of promotions available.
Top Free Bet Promotions
Bookmakers are forever inventing new ways to entice punters, but you will find similar offers across a number of bookmakers. Most commonly:
- Welcome Offers: While not exactly a free bet, you will get something for nothing. Bookmakers will more often than not match your deposit. So if you deposit and bet £20, you’ll also be handed a £20 free bet.
- Free Bet No Deposit: Unlike Welcome Offers, a No Deposit Free Bet, gives you a stake to bet for free without the need of making a deposit. Win something for nothing. Simple.
- First Bet Refund: Nobody likes to lose, so some bookmakers offer a refund if your first bet fails to cash in. It’s a risk free bet, and either way you win.
Enhanced Odds
Newcomers will also be regularly offered enhanced odds on sign-up. These will generally be short odds turned into larger odds. For example, the clear favourite for the Premier League having their odds enhanced from 2/1 to 5/1. They’re well worth cashing in on and at thatsagoal we seek out all the best ones for you to make the most of. Throughout the season existing customers will also be offered a series of enhanced odds with bookies such as Paddy Power and William Hill regularly treating punters to a no-brainer bet. Extra winnings will often be handed back in free bets, although some will also hand those winnings out in cash. It’s well worth checking the terms and conditions of any Enhanced Odds offer or Free Bet.
How to Qualify for Free Bets & Enhanced Odds
Depending on terms and conditions, you can generally qualify for Free Bets or Enhanced Odds by following a promotional link and signing up. In many cases, existing customers won’t receive these benefits. Once through the registration page, you’ll usually have to make a deposit, sometimes a bet, and then your Free Bets will make their way into your account.
Check the Terms & Conditions
You will often receive Free Bets at different times depending on bookmaker. In some cases you will earn your bet after making a number of bets, while others you may not be able to withdraw winnings until you’ve hit a certain number of bets. The same with Enhanced Odds. While the odds may now be higher for you, you make only receive the extra winnings back as a free bet, where there then may be a requirement to meet before withdrawing further winnings. The simple step is to check the terms and conditions. Bookmakers are usually fairly clear with them, and with all our offers in one place it’s incredibly simple to shop around and find the best betting promotion for you.
How to Make the Most of Your Free Bet
Free Bets are fantastic, but not if you squander them. You only get once chance of a Free Bet with a bookmaker’s sign up offer so it’s important you use it wisely. At thatsagoal, our expert tips mean you will do just that. Whether you’re fancying betting on an accumulator, or looking for the best markets on Both Teams to Score and Both Teams to Score and Win, we have all the latest tips and offers for you. If you fancy going it alone, studying the field is very important. Making football predictions isn’t easy, it’s why so many customers trust our expert tips. Check the form of teams, research any injuries, and view the head-to-head stats between the teams facing off.
What are Bookie sign-up offers?
When you open a new bookmaker account, you will get a bonus on signing-up. This could mean you get a free bet to the same value of your first bet, it could be a free bet bigger than your first bet, or it might be a refund if your first bet loses.
There are a few different ways bookmakers reward new sign-ups and some of the most popular ones can be seen above. We like to promote a range of sign-up offers so you can choose which ones you prefer.
How do you choose between the different free bet offers?
This all depends on what type of offer you want, as mentioned above, there are a few different types of sign-up offers that bookmakers generally offer and these are as follows:
1 Matched first bet – this is the simplest of new member betting offers, whatever you deposit and bet with, you will get a free bet to the same value. For example, bet £10 when you join and you get a £10 free bet.
2 Bet x, get x in free bets – becoming ever more popular amongst the 2019 free bet bonus offers has been the increased offer when you register. A few bookmakers are currently offering £30 in free bets when you sign-up and bet just £10.
2 Get a refund if your first bet loses – another popular way of offering a sign-up bonus is to give the player a refund if your first bet loses. For example, if you sign-up to Paddy Power and bet £20 and it loses, you get a £20 refund added to your account – in cash.
Which betting sites are recommended?
Different people have different opinions when it comes to the best online betting sites. In the UK there are tons of betting sites but in general, we’d only recommend a handful to have as your every day accounts. The rest of the sites mentioned above are worth signing up for to get their enhanced odds offers and existing customer offers when they are released.
bet365 will always be one of our top rated bookmakers and they are currently giving new customers up to £100 in bet credits, so that would be the first port of call when opening a new football betting account today.
Should you use new betting sites in the UK?
It is always worth trying out new UK betting sites, and using their sign-up bonus means you can give them a try with little or no risk, depending on the offer. Some of the new betting sites are better than the others and although you will see our own opinions in the reviews we post, it will be up to you to decide which are best.
You should always check the terms and conditions for new betting sites in the UK because sometimes their sign-up offers are not as good as they seem. For example, you may need to turn-over your bonus a number of times.
What is a matched free bet?
These were once the standard type of offer you’d get when opening a new betting account – but now there are various different ways bookies give you a sign-up bonus. A matched free bet simply means you get a free bet to the same value as your first bet. For example, if the sign-up offer is a £10 matched free bet, you would need to bet £10 and that will give you a £10 free bet. When you use your free bet, the stake will not be included in your returns, so if you bet £10 on a 4/1 winner, you’d get a £40 return rather than the usual £50 because you will not get your £10 stake back.
Bet £x to get £x in free bets sign-up offer
One of the new customer offers that has proved popular in the last 18 months or so has been the bet £x, get £x in free bets. This means you get more than your original deposit back in free bets. Quite a few bookmakers currently do a bet £10 get £30 in free bets sign-up offer and these are paid in three £10 bets. If you are just a casual punter who likes to have a weekend £10 accumulator, this is a brilliant sign-up bonus for you because you’re effectively getting four free £10 bets for the price of one.
How does a ‘refund if your first bet loses’ offer work?
A few bookmakers have started offering this sign-up bonus and the beauty of the more popular ones is that the refund comes back to you in CASH, not free bets. This means that you can withdraw the funds out of the betting account if you wish, or bet with them again and you won’t lose out on not getting your stake refunded because the bet will be placed with cash. Of the betting sites in the UK, both Paddy Power and Betfair Exchange currently offer cash back if your first bet loses.