Free Bets & Betting Offers (2023)

Free Bets & Sign Up Offers in the UK (2023)

Our free bets & betting offers list is updated daily to include over £2000 in sign-up bonuses for players from the UK and Ireland.

If you enjoy sports betting, whether it’s just an occasional flutter on the horses, a wager on your favourite football team, or you’re a more dedicated sports bettor, you’ll be glad to hear that there are some great bonus deals you can get for online sports betting sites in the UK.

In fact, all the online sports betting sites and betting apps offer welcome bonuses to entice players on their sites, which is good news for UK punters.

This guide will go into detail about what offers and bonuses are out there, including UK free bets, betting promotions, and some of the best sign-up bonuses for sports betting sites.

But, what exactly are free bets and betting offers?

Free bets - A free bet is a set amount of money that is given to you for free to place a bet and potentially win real money with.

Betting offers - Betting offer is the umbrella term for all types of bonuses which bookmakers offer to pull in new customers or to try and retain existing customers.

In a nutshell, free bets are promotions that online sports betting sites and apps offer to encourage people to sign up and to reward existing customers.

In general, there are four main different types of free bets:

• Stake Not Returned (SNR) free bet - If the free bet wins, you receive the winnings, but not the stake. For example, imagine a bonus offering an SNR free bet of £10 and you place it on a 4 to 1 shot, if you win you’ll receive £40, not the usual £50 (£40 winnings + £10 stake returned) that you would normally get.
• Stake Returned (SR) free bet - Same as an SNR free bet, but you receive the value of the stake along with any winnings.
• Matched free bet - These are most commonly offered as a welcome bonus or sign-up bonus and you get a free bet equal to the value wagered up to a certain amount. For example, a site may offer a matched free bet up to the value of £20, so if you bet £20 on a wager with the qualifying odds (most sites state that the odds must be higher than evens, (1:1), then you’ll be given a free bet equal to the £20 stake. 
• Risk-free bet - A risk-free bet means that there are no catches - you can place the free bet on anything you want within the site and get the stake returned. Be careful though, as some online sports betting sites call the bonus a “risk-free bet”, but it still has conditions attached such as qualifying odds or stake not returned.

There are plenty of other types of betting promotions or variants on free bets offered by online bookmakers, including:

• Matched deposit - A welcome bonus that offers to match your initial deposit up to a certain value. Be aware that you normally need to meet certain betting requirements to release your bonus. For instance, an online sports betting site may offer a £50 matched deposit, which means they will match any deposit you make up to the value of £50, but the small print may state that you need to wager the full £50 on the site to be eligible for the bonus.
• No-deposit free bets - These are the best kind of welcome bonus which means you get a free bet to use on the site as soon as you sign up, without needing to deposit any money. However, the terms of the bonus may state that you need to place the bet on an event with odds higher than 3 to 1 for example.
• Bet refunds - Special offers that return your bet stake if it loses, such as “get your stake back if your horse finishes second” or “get your money back if Harry Kane scored first”, etc. These are usually for specific bets, attached to specific betting markets.
• Qualifying free bet - You need to place a bet to get a free bet, usually with qualifying odds of 2:1 or higher. For example, bet365 may run a promotion that says bet £25 to get £10 free bet”.
• Enhanced odds bonus - These are sometimes offered as a welcome bonus - e.g. “Sign up now to get 27 to 1 on Red Rum winning the Derby” or as a one-off promotion. Some new sites offer randomly boosted odds to make things more exciting - e.g. at Kwiff sports betting site, you can get “Kwiffed”, which means they will super-charge your odds on an already placed bet.
• Refund losses bonus - Similar to a bet refund, but applies to a specific time frame and specific amount. For instance, William Hill and Skybet often run promotions like “Get 10% of your golf betting losses back this month” or “Get up to £100 of your tennis bet losses returned this week”. 
• Free bet insurance - Some sites offer free Acca insurance, which means you get some money back on specific types of accumulators if not all the bets win.
• Event-specific promotions - During big tournaments or championships, betting sites offer promotions such as free bets, enhanced odds, or refunded losses.
• Early payouts - These are very desirable promotions that big betting sites like bet365 run occasionally, so keep an eye out for them as they are potentially very profitable. Early payout means you’ll get your winnings before the end of a sporting event. For example, the promotion may be “Get an early payout if England goes 2 goals up against Germany”. There is usually a maximum stake limit, but these promotions can really reduce your betting risk.

How To Find Excellent Free Bets or Betting Offers

There are too many different types of free bets and promotions to cover in complete detail here, and there are more being invented each day as online sports betting sites compete with each other to get your business. The best thing to do is to check out the terms and conditions which each site must provide with any promotion or offer to find out what the betting requirements are for a “free bet” and what return you will actually get.

If you’re looking to maximise your value for money while betting on your favourite sports, then you need to learn how to spot the best free bet offers or betting promotions.

In this section, we’ll list the things you should look for in a betting offer, whether it’s a welcome bonus or an existing customer promotion.

• Amount - Obviously, the size of the free bet in comparison to the deposit or first bet amount is super-important. You can shop around by looking at our lists of top sports betting sites, as we show the welcome bonus offers alongside a short review. To find out about existing customer promotions, simply visit the sports betting website and check out the promotions page for more info.
• Type of Offer - Decide whether the type of offer is the best for you. Check out the list and definitions of free bet and betting offer types in the section above if you’re unsure what they mean.
• Wagering Requirements - All free bet and betting offers have terms and conditions attached to them. Often, they are in small print at the bottom of the promotion details page. It will often state the minimum amount you need to bet to release the free bet or bonus, as well as any minimum odds value that applies for the qualifying bet.
• Trustworthiness - You should also check out whether the sports betting site is reliable and trustworthy. If they are a reputable company that is licensed by the UKGC, then everything should be fine. All the sports betting providers listed on our site are licensed and trustworthy.

How To Claim Free Bets UK

If you want to claim free betting offers, the best way is to look for new-customer welcome or sign-up bonuses, which are available at most online betting sites.

Each online sports betting provider has a different process for qualifying and getting your free bet or bets. Most sites offer a set amount of free bets when you bet a certain amount in their sportsbook. There is usually a minimum qualifying odds value attached to the free bet too, such as evens (1 to 1) or 1.5 to 1.

Each betting bonus offer will have its own terms and conditions attached which may place restrictions such as:

1. Bonus codes (If required) and where the bonus can be used (sportsbook or casino)
2. Any deposit restrictions for the bonus (e-wallets not always accepted)
3. Country or location restrictions
4. The expiry date of the bonus
5. The minimum deposit amount
6. Minimum qualifying odds to place or unlock the betting offer
7. The wagering requirements to unlock the funds for withdrawal
8. Cash or credit/free bets payouts
9. Sporting event restrictions (limited to certain events or sports only)
10. How long the bonus is valid for (typically 7 - 30 days)

Usually, you will need to opt into the free betting offer through the website or app by clicking a button or entering betting promo codes.

Bonus Codes

Be sure to look for a bonus code that you will need to enter during your registration. Not all free bets and betting offers have bonus codes, but it is important to check for one.

We list all of the sports and casino bonus codes in our operator reviews and have guides for how to claim and use each betting offer.

Deposit Restrictions

Several betting offers have deposit restrictions that are mostly linked to e-wallets such as PayPal, Skrill, Neteller, and prepaid cards like Paysafecard. You will need to deposit funds using a bank transfer, or debit/credit card (if possible) to claim these betting offers.

Minimum Deposit Amount, Qualifying Odds & Wagering Requirements

You will need to deposit a minimum amount on your first deposit to claim most betting offers. And, place a bet at minimum odds to claim some free bet offers. The wagering requirements are how much you need to wager the amount to unlock the funds for withdrawal.

You will usually have to wager the set amount of money in a set amount of time which varies from 7-30 days.

Best Betting Offers for Existing Customers

It’s fair to say that most other betting guide sites focus almost entirely on the welcome bonuses. We’re a bit different though and we like to offer complete guides, that’s why we’ve included this section on free bets and betting promotions for existing customers.

Here are some of the free bet promotions or other types of betting offers that UK betting sites offer:

Free Bet Clubs

Free Bet Clubs are a popular feature of many online bookmakers, whereby players can claim free bets for meeting certain betting requirements or completing challenges.

Pretty much all of the big online sports betting sites offer frequent UK free bet promotions, such as Paddy Power, 888sport, Betfair, Unibet, and Boylesports.

Loyalty Schemes

Loyalty reward schemes allow you to accrue points for regularly wagering through the site, which can then be exchanged for cash or prizes. Loyalty schemes of description are offered on most major sports betting sites in the UK.

A few of the best loyalty reward schemes are Paddy Power’s Paddy’s Rewards Club, Boylesports “Acca Loyalty” Scheme, and SportNation’s Rewards Plus Scheme.

Odds Boosts

Odds boosts are becoming more and more common as a promotional feature on UK online bookie sites. Odds boosts work either by advertising inflated odds for a certain event, often within a set timeframe, or by randomly boosting odds after you have placed a bet.

Sites that offer odds boost promotions include Unibet - Uniboosts, William Hill - Big Boosters, Betfair - Price Rush, 888sport - Enhanced Odds, Coral - Smart Boost, Ladbrokes - Daily Price Boosts, Kwiff - Get Kwiffed!

You will typically find the best odds boosts during popular sporting events such as Cheltenham, Grand National, World Cup, etc.

Acca Insurance

Acca insurance is specifically designed as a promotion for people that like to place accumulator bets. The basic idea is that Acca insurance covers you against the loss of one or more legs in an accumulator. For instance, if you bet on five teams to win on one Saturday in the English Football Premier League, and one team lets you down, with Acca insurance, you may still get a good payout.

The following online sportsbook websites offer Acca insurance on accumulator bets - BoyleSports, William Hill, 888sport.

Money-Back Offers

Money-back offers vary from site to site. Some offer a return on your stake if your horse doesn’t run or a sporting match is cancelled. The following sites offer money-back or cashback offers - Paddy Power, BetVictor, and 888sport.

Free Competitions

Some sites, particularly the larger brands, like to offer big prize competitions periodically. For instance, VirginBet sometimes offers cash prizes for picking the right goalscorers alongside your football bets, as does Betway.

Paddy Power offers a game called Beat The Drop which can be played once daily by each online player, with prizes of up to £1000. Other sites such as Unibet, 888sport, and bet365 run frequent competitions with good prizes.

Paying Extra Places

Many online sports betting sites give you the chance to place each-way bets on extra places in horse racing, greyhound racing, golf, football and other sports. The following sites pay extra places in frequent promotions, William Hill, Ladbrokes, Paddy Power, and Betfred. 

Each-way betting means that you bet half your stake on your pick to win and the other half of your stake on your pick to finish in 1st, 2nd or 3rd, for instance.