Best UK Betting Bonuses

What Are Bonus Bets?

A bonus bet is an incentive that online betting sites offer to attract new customers and keep existing customers coming. This is a fairly standard marketing tactic used at almost all UK bookmakers, and that is good news if you are a sports bettor. You can get a bonus reward for simply signing up, for example. The bonus bets come in the form of free cash, insurance on your bets, and profit boosts.

These bonus bets are divided up into two main offerings. Firstly, if you are a brand new customer on a betting site, you will typically find that there is a welcome offer on the table just for signing up. This means that these bonus bets are reserved for new customers only.

Secondly, betting sites will serve up reload promotions that are designed for existing customers. Just like welcome offers, ongoing bonus bets can come in many different forms. They may be tied to a particular sporting event, or they may be offered on a weekly basis, but it all depends on the betting site that you use. Offers like free bets, cashback, accumulator boosts, and enhanced odds are all quite common, and it’s worth checking out new betting sites for the most player-friendly offers.

What Betting Bonuses can I Claim?

Not all sign-up bonuses and existing customer promos are created equal, both in terms of the value of the bonus and the impact of the terms and conditions. To make it easier for you to navigate your way through the offers, here’s a quick rundown of the types that are out there.

Matched Deposits

Matched deposits are one of the most prevalent types of bonuses around. With these, a sports betting site will match a percentage of whatever you’re depositing into your account. For example, if a website advertises a “100% matched deposit” and you put £100 into your account, you’d receive an additional £100. Just remember there’s likely to be an upper limit on how much the betting site is willing to match.

Free Bets

As the name suggests, this kind of bonus gives you a set number of free bet credits to use once you’ve signed up. While the monetary value is often quite modest, some free bet bonuses don’t require you to deposit any funds in order to claim the promotion. This means they are a geat way to try out a new bookie risk free. Some online bookmakers will require you to deposit and/or bet a certain amount first, however.

Promo Codes

Occasionally you’ll need to enter one to receive your sign-up bonus. This is an easy step and the bonus code should be clearly provided by the website itself, either when you’re registering or when you meet the necessary requirements. For example, depositing a certain amount of money into your account.

Bet 10 Get 20

The exact numbers for this promotion will change between betting sites, but they will fundamentally work the same way. This is one of the best bonus bets you can get in our opinion, but let us explain how it works.

You must first of all bet £10 on any sporting market on the platform, then you will instantly receive £20 in free sports bets. If you win your first bet, it’s a free chance to win again. If you don’t, you have some bonus funds to take another shot at a winning bet. Of course, there’ll be some restrictions on what you can bet on, whether it’s markets or a minimum odds value. You’ll be able to find them in the bonus terms and conditions.

Betting Insurance

These types of betting bonuses are usually offered as a promotional offer rather than a welcome offer. They typically work as follows: you make your sports bet, whether it is a single bet or an accumulator, and thanks to the bonus, the betting site will give you a certain percentage of your wager back if the bet loses. This can often be between 5% all the way up to 20%, but again, it does vary based on the betting site you use.

Accumulator Boosts

Accumulator bets are a fan favourite amongst UK sports bettors, especially when it comes to weekend football. Accumulator boosts have started to gain a bit more traction recently, and it’s clear to see why. Bookies will often give you a specified percentage boost if you are able to place an accumulator bet and win it, but here’s the tricky part, with more than three different outcomes hanging in the balance, accumulator bets are notoriously difficult to win.

Cashback

There is quite a range of scenarios where a betting site can give cashback as a free bet. They may offer this if one team lets you down on an accumulator, and we’ve even seen cashback for when you bet on a football game and it ends 0-0. The cashback amount can be equal to the wager value that you initially placed, or it could be a set percentage of this bet, such as 50%. The good news is that when you get a free bet through a cashback promotion, you will generally be able to use it on any sporting market.

How to Use Bonus Bets

Once you get your hands on any of the best betting bonus offers, you must then understand how to use the bonus that you have received. Most betting sites will give on-screen instructions for how to use your bonus bets, but this isn’t always the case. For his reason, we would like to briefly explain how you can apply the bonus bets when you want to use them.

Let’s use a straightforward example here to reiterate how this is done. If you have received £20 in free bets through a particular promotion, you will often find that this amount is shown up in a bonus account separate from your real money account. Then, when you proceed to select a betting market that you would like to place a wager on, the betting slip will appear at the side of the page.

When it’s time to enter your stake on the betting slip, you will have the option to use the bonus funds. The interfaces for this will inevitably be different from site to site, but the vast majority of online betting sites follow this fundamental process for bonus bets.

Can I Get a Bonus Bet Without Making a Deposit?

Yes, there are a select number of betting sites in the UK that will give you bonus bets without the need to make any deposit first. Betting sites refer to these bonuses as ‘no deposit bonuses’, but they are often smaller in terms of value than what you might get for a regular bonus.

These bonus bets are also more susceptible to having wagering requirements attached. Let’s face it, not many sites will give you free money and risk losing thousands if you strike it lucky with one big bet. If there are wagering requirements attached to your no deposit bonus, you will be required to meet the wagering specifications before withdrawing any money that you win from this free bet.

How Do I Choose Between Bonus Bets?

When you sign up with a betting site, you may only have to choose your desired welcome offer rather than constantly choose between bonus bets. There may be one or two available, in which case, you’ll be required to choose one or the other. We would highly encourage you to choose the bonus bets that give you the best chance of earning withdrawable cash, based on the terms and conditions. Remember, the biggest bonus isn’t always the best.

If you want to take things a step further, you can sign up with multiple bookmakers so that you cast a wider net for your bonus bets. By doing this, you will have more access to some of the best bonus bets on the market, and ‘choice’ will no longer be a factor!

Be sure to read our operator reviews, too. At TopRatedBetting, we’re passionate about the impact a great site can have your overall betting experience. If you’re torn between the bonuses offered between two sites, some detail on the finer points of each site might be just what you need to make your decision.

What Deposit and Withdrawal Methods are Available?

Unless a bookmaker offers no deposit free bets, you’ll need to pay money into your account before you can access your bonus. The best bookies typically support a variety of payment methods for UK customers, so it’s worth taking the time to chew over your options. Here’s a quick summary of the more popular ones.

Debit cards

As so many punters will have a debit card, they’re a highly convenient method for depositing and withdrawing funds. When banking this way, you’ll be asked to enter all the usual details — the long number, the expiry date, the code on the back of your card. Some gambling sites will offer to store that information for you securely, so you don’t have to enter it again when making future payments.

E-Wallets

E-wallets such as PayPal are a popular choice for all kinds of online purchases, thanks to their speed and convenience. Many punters will appreciate the extra layer of online security that comes from not having to enter bank or debit card details when you make an e-wallet deposit. A potential snag is that using certain e-wallets may render you ineligible for sign up bonuses at some online bookmakers, so check beforehand.

Prepaid Cards

Widely available and easy to use, prepaid cards have some big plus points. They’re highly secure, as you’ll pay for your funds beforehand, then simply transfer the money to your betting account using a PIN. They’re also handy if you want to set limits on how much money you’re playing with since you can’t go beyond what you’ve loaded onto the card. The big drawback with prepaid cards is that you usually can’t make any withdrawals. You will therefore need to use a different payment method to access your cash.

Pay by Phone Bill

Depositing can be done through your phone number, quickly and simply. You just choose the pay by phone bill option in the cashier section, input your phone number and the amount you’d like to credit your account with. You’ll then receive a confirmation code via SMS which you then enter into the website or betting app where prompted. After that, you’ll be good to go. You can’t make withdrawals using a pay by phone method, however.

Look Out for Bonus Terms and Conditions

While bonuses can provide punters with bet credits, money back offers and other perks like best odds guaranteed, they do usually come with a few strings attached. Here’s a quick look at some of the most common terms you’ll find in the small print, and what they mean.

Wagering Requirements

A lot of online bookmakers will require you to make a set number of wagers before allowing you to withdraw any of the winnings you generate with a bonus. An example of this would be if you received £100 from a matched deposit bonus offer which came with a 10x wagering requirement. In this case, you’d have to place £1,000 worth of wagers before being able to make a withdrawal.

Winning Caps

Winning caps are limitations applied to the amount of money you can win with a bonus. These limits can vary from bonus to bonus, either offering customers a lot from a promotion or not very much at all. As such, it’s worth checking the fine print to avoid possible frustration later on.

Market Restrictions

Market restrictions refer to limitations placed on betting markets while using your offers. The best bookies won’t tend to restrict how you spend your bet credits too much, but some markets may not be eligible and there may be minimum odds restrictions too. As ever, check that small print to be fully informed on what you can and can’t use your bonus on.

Time Limits

A lot of new players like to use their sign up bonuses as soon as they receive them, while others prefer to bide their time until they find the perfect wager. If you’re the latter kind of punter, just be aware that many betting bonuses come with a time limit. Unsure of what the deadline is? Check the terms and conditions of the website in question.