Claiming & Placing Free Bets

Whatever you prefer to place bets on, be it football, golf, rugby or horse racing, you can usually claim a free bet simply by joining a new online bookie, and placing a qualifying bet.

In fact, those first bets could potentially earn you up to £200 in free bets, it just depends on how many bookies you decide to setup a new betting account with, and free bets to claim.

It really is up to you when choosing the free bets that you want to claim, but we recommend thinking a little about what you want to place that free bet on before joining a new bookie.

Although quite rare, some bookies limited the markets that you can use their free bet on, so it's worth checking their offers small print to see if the free bet's right for your needs.

We've found that the most bookies also send you a welcome email that fully explains the process behind placing free bets that they reward you with when you open an account.

Claiming Free Bets

With so many free bet offers to select from and then claim, finding the right deal for your particular betting needs and budget is crucial to ensuring it's a rewarding experience.

Most punters are initially attracted to the higher value free bets but they might not always suit everyone, as they tend to require a higher value first bet in order to release them.

We recommend looking at the wider picture when choosing and then claiming free bets.

It's also worth taking the time to look at the amount of regular betting offers that you can take advantage of at a bookie, as this can add a lot of extra value when betting with them.

Once you've chosen a free bet that you want to claim it's time to register a new account.

Bookies make it very easy to set up a new betting account, be that via their website or App, as you'll usually only need to provide some personal details, and a way of funding the account.

There's also the usual "Know Your Customer" requirements that bookies are legally required to obtain, but that's pretty much part of the course these days at most 18+ businesses.

Joining is a relatively easy and straightforward process, and tends to only take a few minutes.

Most bookies allow you to use a credit or debit card to fund your account when claiming and placing free bets, with some also allowing the use of online wallets like PayPal.

Just beware as to how much you're putting into it as even the best bookies require you to deposit a minimum amount if you want to claim the maximum value free bet that they offer.

Types of Free Bets

Free bets are given away not only as incentive to join a new online bookie, but also to encourage you to continue betting with a bookie, especially during major sports betting events.

As such there's plenty of variety when it comes to claiming and placing free bets.

Some bookies will give you two to three times the value of your first deposit as a free bet, where as others will 100% match the value of your first deposit, giving you a free bet of equal value.

Take the bet365 free bet offer below as an example. They offer up to £30 in Bet Credits to new customers that register a new account, make a deposit and have qualifying bets settled.

Bet Credits is the term that bet365 use when describing free bets, but they're essentially the same as the incentive that other bookies offer when you first register an account.

After completing the deposit and betting requirements of their offer, bet365 Bet Credits are credited to your account, which can then be activated via the betslip, similar to most free bets.

Some bookies will even offer that a free bet that's split into three separate free bets.

Others bookies may have specific betting requirements for those three three free bets, for example one to use on an ACCA, one to use in-play, and one to use on a specific market,

Although splitting them into three sounds slightly restrictive, it's actually a great way of trying out a new bookie as it encourages you to explore a lot more of what they have to offer.

So with such variety, it's worth taking the time to compare free bets to find the right deal for your betting needs, and if there's any restrictions on placing the free bet a bookie is offering.

Just make sure you check out how a bookie lets you place their free bets, as each betting portal is different, just like the value of the free bet that they offer new customers is.

Placing Free Bets

Before you start placing free bets there's one or two things that you should know.

In order to be able to place a free bet, you'll almost certainly have to place a bet with some of your own money in order for the bookie to credit the free bet to your account.

Although there are some bookies that offer no deposit free bets, most of them tend not to credit an account with a free bet without some funds flowing in the opposite direction.

The trick is to spend as little as possible in order to activate your free bet.

Once the free bet or voucher is credited to your betting account, it's usually just a case of adding a bet to your betslip and then selecting to use the free bet instead of real money.

This is usually done simply by following the procedure you would normally follow when placing a bet, but then activating the free bet once your bet is in the betslip.

It's also worth pointing out that most bookies require you to place the free bet that they give you within certain time limits. This ranges from having to place the free bet within 7 days of it being credit to your account, right up to 30 days from the date you joined.

Each of the free bets that we feature highlight the terms and conditions of the offer. Be aware of the finer details of the free bet you want to claim and place, to make the most of each deal.

It's quite common when choosing free bets for punters to rush off to claim one without reading the finer details of the deal they're signing up for, and ultimately getting caught out.

All of the bookies that we feature make their living off punters like us, which is why most of their free bet offers come with strings attached, and aren't actually 100% free.

Hopefully our guide to claiming and placing free bets has addressed some of the most common questions that you've had, and put you in a more informed position when betting online.

As long as you stick to some basic rules, and make sure you read an offers small print, you should be able to make the most of the free bets that bookies offer to new customers.