How do the free bet bonuses work?

Each welcome offer varies a little, but generally there are two types of offer available to new customers:

Typical offer 1) Bet a certain amount to receive a free bet

Typical offer 2) Get a free bet bonus equal to your first deposit

In the first example, it is relatively straight forward. Let’s take Ladbrokes as an example. Currently you can receive £30 in free bets when you sign up, but to do so, you only need to bet £10. This sort of offer ideal for a punter who wants to bet more casually.

In the second example, the free bet you can earn is equal to your first deposit. This tend to attract people wanting to bet larger amounts. Something to pay attention to, is the percentage to which the initial deposit is matched with.

Bet 365 at the moment will provide a 100% 'matched deposit' bonus up to £200. What that means is that if you sign up to Bet 365, deposit £200, as soon as you’ve bet £200 (win or lose), you’ll be given a free bet balance of £200. If your first deposit is matched only 50%, this means you would need to deposit £400 to receive a £200 free bet. Basically, higher the percentage, the better. 50%-100% is the norm.

Once you’ve ‘unlocked’ a free bet balance, you can’t simply withdraw it as cash (otherwise bookmakers would be broke). Before you can withdraw it, you will need to wager it a number of times. If you have a wagering requirement of 3x, it means you need to bet the amount three times before you can withdraw it as cash.

A wagering requirement between 3x and 5x is normal.

Which is the best betting site?

There is no single way to determine which the ‘best’ betting site is, but there are some factors that can help decide which one might be better for you.

Here is a checklist of things to consider:

1. Welcome offer - As per above, pick a welcome bonus free bet that you feel comfortable with. Some will be better suited to those looking to bet big, whilst others are for better for casual punters. Betting is meant to be fun, so don’t stretch yourself, and be responsible.
2. Ongoing offers – Each bookmaker will have offers for existing members, plus loyalty schemes. See below for more detail on this.
3. Streaming options – Some betting sites allow you to stream sport, pretty much for free. If this is important to you, then Bet 365, Betfair, Paddy Power, Ladbrokes and Sky Bet will be of particular interest. You won’t be streaming Premier League action, but you do get some decent top flight foreign games.
4. Markets – If you’re going to be betting on a range of sports and leagues, you may need to research which ones cover the markets you need. All of the betting websites will have markets for the most popular sports, and leagues, so it’s only if you’re going to be betting on an obscure league, or local dog racing event will this become relevant.
5. Odds – Everyone wants to win as much as possible. It is challenging to know who has the best odds, because all of bookmakers boast that they have them! In one study, for football, Bet Victor were found to have the best odds. Eventually most punters tend to have several accounts, and then just place the bet with whoever has the best odds for that particular event.
6. Interface – It again comes down to personal preference, but each of the bookmakers has a slightly different interface. Personally we’re fans of the Bet 365 one, especially since they changed it to HTML5 in late 2016. As long as it’s not slow, and is easy to use, then it should be fine.
7. Mobile experience – We say mobile experience versus simply app, as we don’t expect to have to download an app in order to bet. Most of the bookmakers now have responsible websites and dedicated apps. If like most people, you’ll be betting a lot on the go, load up the bookmaker’s website on your phone and take a look around.

Reading through that checklist will give you a good feel of which betting site may be more suitable for you. Truth is, if you’re going to be a casual punter, and bet on the most common sports, then chances are all of them will be suitable for you. Here is a table ranking the best betting sites:

Finally, we’d only ever recommend signing up with a trusted, UK licensed betting site. There are plenty of new betting sites popping up all the time, but really, you wouldn’t save money in a bank you’ve never heard of, so why would you do the same with your gambling account? All of the sites we have listed on My Betting Sites are UK licensed.

Who has the best betting offers for existing customers?

We update our site daily with the offers available across all sports. This means few people know this area as well as we do.

Those who gamble more frequently are likely to have more than one account. That means, when you do decide to bet on something, you’ll use the account with the bookmaker that has the best deal.

When you go to place a bet, visit the relevant sports pages on our site (via the main navigation) to compare all of the offers available that day. That will inform you which will be the best account to use. There are generally five types of offer:

• Free bets – Sometimes these will be issued for a specific sporting event to increase the amount of people betting on it.
• Money back specials – For instance, getting money back if your horse finishes second.
• Enhancements - You can sometimes earn extra winnings if a particular event happens (such as one of the teams hitting the crossbar).
• Accumulators – Usually you can expect to receive either a bonus or insurance on your selections.
• Loyalty programs- Make the amount of qualifying bets and you’ll get around £10 every week for free.

Generally speaking, there are some online betting sites which have more offers than others. Bet 365 is really strong for horse racing for example. With their ITV 4/1 racing offer, you essentially receive a free bet on the following race up to £50. On top of that, they have 'best odds guaranteed' (BOG).

That being said though, Paddy Power, Betway, and William Hill will have specific offers for at least one race meet per day, so in certain circumstances, it may be better to place your bet with them.

The core recommendation here is to do as much comparison as possible and pick the bookmaker that gives you the best value for that event.