In the world of on-line betting, Bookies are always angling to get you to sign-up with their service – and the way they do that? Offering you a juicy free bet, usually up to the amount you deposit or a matched first bet. With so many bookmakers these days, it’s difficult to know who to sign up with, where to get the best free bets and most importantly who to trust, as the terms and conditions with some of the smaller ones making it hard to come out with any profit. The aim of this article is to enlighten our readers on the best way to find the free bet to suit you, and where you can find said free bets.
As mentioned, the gambling world is saturated with all kinds’ of sites offering the latest and greatest free bets such as www.freebets.co.uk. Typically these are the sort of offers you see spread about, either via social media or on bookmakers sites themselves:
Enhanced Odds
A lot of bookies lure you in with enhanced odds on specific games. An example would be one I signed up with a year or so ago – 10/1 on Man City to beat Sunderland in the Capital One Cup final. There is always a maximum bet – usually between £5 and £10, so that if it does happen, they do not lose too much but will make that back because they have hundreds of new customers to send their offers in future.
Matched First Bet/Deposit
Most of the bigger bookmakers will offer you a free matched first bet upto a specified amount. The likes of William Hill offer a £25 matched first bet, with no limitations. Bet365 offer you a free £200 matched deposit, which has to be betted through several times at certain odds before withdrawl. This is probably the most commonly seen offer online.
Risk-Free Bet
Some bookmakers will give you a first bet upto a specified amount that, if it loses, will be refunded as a free bet. Then said free bet does not return the stake if it wins. Not the greatest way, but still decent.
Free-Money Bet
Some, like Coral or Paddy Power, have in the past offered ridiculously obvious bets at 5/1 or better, simply to get a lump of signups – think of it as a cheap way to get details to sell on, and email/contact for offers. I signed up to Coral for a Man Utd-Sunderland game, and the offer was 5/1 on there to be a corner, maximum of £5 stake. Paddy Power also offered 5/1 on Liverpool to wear Red in the Merseyside Derby, again £5 maximum bet. Not the best offer to sign up with!
Advantages of Online Betting compared to Highstreet Betting
I used to be an advocate of high street betting – I loved going into the shops on a Saturday morning and looking through the coupons, but once signed up to an online bookie, I never went back. Here are several reasons why I believe online is better than high street (Click here to check out our post on our top ten betting tips):
Odds – More often than not odds are better online. They are not fixed like they are in shops, so can fluctuate. This does mean you can get better prices for an accumulator, which could make a huge difference.
Variety of Games/Sports – Bookies only offer a certain amount of games on a coupon, as they can only fit so many on. You can ask the clerk to find another game on their system, but more often than not they are very slow and take time to find said price. Online – there are literally thousands of games each weekend, ranging from Europe, to South America and Internationals. There are also multiple sports at the touch of your finger, from the NFL, to Cricket, to Basketball – all of which would be a pain to get a hold on in the shops.
Markets – In the shops, your choices are limited to match result/BTTS etc in Football, and a small variety of markets in other sports they offer. If you go online, in a typical football match you have over 200 markets – from Handicaps, Team Goals, Win to Nil, Cards, Corners, Win + BTTS and so many more.
In-Play Betting – place a bet before the event, you risk a team/person under-performing. Once the game kicks off, bookmakers stop taking bets in shop. Online – you can continue to bet on sports, watching the game and making an assessment, which could allow you to make profit. There are as many in-play markets as there are pre-match markets.
Speed of Bet – More often than not, unless you are lucky, you would need to walk or even drive to the local bookmakers to place your bet. For some, this is an inconvenience. Online betting allows you to bet without leaving the comfort of your own home. You don’t have to take cash out, depositing is quick, simple and painless. Imagine having to walk to the bookies in the pouring rain…that in itself makes online betting seem a better deal!
Cash-Out – This is a great feature with several bookies. Place a bet in-store, that’ it. Place a bet online and you can cashout for a multitude of reasons!
How to find the best free bets for you?
Not Twitter – so many people posting affiliate links via social media are just after your signup so they can get a cut of your losses, especially the ones who spam you as soon as you follow their account. It’s just not cricket…
You will see adverts, but only during football games really, and often they are for in-play betting. For me, the best way to find out the right offer for you is to simply search for “Free Bet Offers” on Google, and you will see a number of sites who find all the offers and put them in one place, to allow you to see which suits you.
FreeBets.co.uk correlate the offers for all bookmakers, big and small and provide in-depth details about each offer. They cover everything from Sports, to Bingo, Casino and other games, and concentrate on finding the free bets on offer. The site is clean, well structured, professional and to the point – they don’t try and do too much, just stick the basics and what made them so popular. When they say they are the UK’s number 1 free bet + betting offers site, they are not B-S’ing you – it’s actually true. I hear about them quite often when listening to the radio!
From top to bottom, it’s just free bets. No rubbish, no attempts at poorly written previews with yet more links chucked in – just plain and simple. Finding you every single free bet available in the UK!
You can also find various free bets and posts on bookies offers from Accutipster, here.