UK Betting Bonuses

The UK gambling industry is saturated with over 200 bookmakers all clamouring for your custom, which means picking the right offer isn’t as straightforward as you may think, thanks in part to varying conditions that each betting offer imposes on the player, such as bet type, specific sport and so on.

To state the obvious, deciding what you want from a betting offer before you look will make your task simpler. It’s a good practice to follow, as even the best of them (myself included) have occasionally signed up for a bad offer. So, ask yourself a couple of fundamental questions beforehand:

After working out what type of betting offer you want to claim, deciding which promotion to go with can still be difficult, but thankfully, that's where we come in!

With 15+ years in the industry, Bookies Bonuses understands what makes a great betting offer, while the dedicated team of betting experts are also punters themselves, meaning we (just like you) are always looking for a great offer to take advantage of!

Over the years, we have refined our expectations to six key factors that make a great betting offer, which we explain in more detail below.

All betting offers in the UK revolve around the principle of free bets, but that wasn't always the case. 

For a brief time, you could also claim deposit bonuses, which are still popular abroad and used in Casino promotions. However, bookies quickly realised that UK punters didn't want to wager the bonus several times over before being able to claim any winnings, so over time, bookies abandoned this type of promotion in favour of free bet bonuses.

Although a perceived lack of choice is not ideal, the reality is that free bet offers provide better value overall, so operators have found several ingenious ways of offering a free bet offer in different ways. These include:

The first on the list and most popular betting offer in the UK is the Free Bet bonus, often called a "Bet & Get".

This offers a guaranteed amount in free bets when a new player signs up, deposits and bets a set amount, which can vary from £5 to £20 and sometimes more.

With so many of these offers available, Bookies Bonuses even has dedicated pages to Bet 10 Get 30,  Bet 10 Get 40, and Bet 10 Get 50 betting offers, which can provide up to 500% on your initial amount staked.

Matched first-bet offers have become more prominent across UK bookies, with players earning a free bet matched to the first qualifying stake placed.

Matched bets tend to be as a percentage of the qualifying bet, with a 100% bonus on a £10 bet, rewarding the player with a free £10 bet and so on. 

Although there is a shift away from this type of offer, there are still a few bookies offering this, including 10Bet and BetMaster.

A money-back betting offer does exactly as it sounds, giving players cash back as a free bet(s) if qualifying bet(s) lose, and can also be known as a "risk-free" bet or "money-back insurance".

This promotion is further complicated, as it can appear in two guises, with money back given if the first bet loses or on losses over a set period. 

Betway offers free bets of up to £30 if your first acca bet loses. This is a great "insurance policy" for players looking to take on a riskier bet, with the knowledge of gaining a second chance if they fail.

However, some bookies, such as BetGoodwin and Bet442, offer money back on losses over a specific period (24 hours). Here, players can make numerous bets within the qualifying period and receive a percentage of their losing stakes back as free bets. This is usually around 50%, with a maximum amount set by the offer itself.

Enhanced odds and price boosts, tend to be offered around big sporting events, such as Euro 2024, Cheltenham or major Boxing contests, offering new players a huge increase on short-priced bets.

Usually with these offers, bets are limited to £1 stake, boosted by the 50/1 odds available in the offer. If the bet wins, players get paid at the regular price plus additional free bet tokens. 

These tend to be offered in two variations:

• As hugely enhanced odds on an extremely likely outcome, such as a shot on target in a big football match or an odds-on favourite to win the big race.

• Or as price boosts on an individual match-up, with bookies allowing players to select an enhanced price on either competitor/team via the same betting offer.

Profit boosts, like those available at LeoVegas and AK Bets offer extra winnings on a first qualifying bet. These are exceptionally easy to use, with the only requirement being a minimum stake, odds and potentially a specific market or two. 

Players can receive anywhere from 50% to 100% boost on winnings, although some limit the maximum amount in cash terms too, with the 100% bonus at Leo Vegas, limited to £100.

Grosvenor offers this boost differently, with a "Double Odds" offer on the first bet placed by new customers. With this bonus, players place a bet and will get paid at double the odds if it wins. Thus a 10/1 winner would be paid at 20/1 and so on.

In general, the welcome offer is the best offer you will get from an online bookmaker. That said, there are constantly new betting offers and promotions once you're a customer. 

Bookmakers offer a plethora of choices between free bet promotions, enhanced odds, accumulator bonuses, and many others. There are also often loyalty programs with great rewards.

Best Betting Promotions

1. Enhanced Odds: Get a bigger price on a certain sports betting market
2. Acca Insurance: Have your stake refunded if one leg of your multiple lets you down.
3. Acca Bonus: Receive extra winnings on accumulators with a large number of selections.
4. Money Back: Returned stake if certain circumstances occur, such as your horse coming 2nd.
5. Free Bets: Can be offered in numerous ways across many betting sites.
6. Best Odds Guaranteed: If a horse goes off at a bigger price, get those higher odds.

Betting sites can also run promotions as a welcome offer, giving punters the opportunity to sign up and claim a different - and sometimes more lucrative - betting offer than the usual welcome bonus.

A common type of betting promotion is enhanced odds, which could be on an upcoming horse race, football match, or boxing fight. Usually, the extra winnings are paid as free bets, but this is still a nice option for potential new customers.

Football fans have always been spoilt for choice, when it comes to betting offers. A vast majority of larger bookmakers offer sign up offers based around football betting and offer continuous promotions such as money back specials and enhanced odds promos for big games

Existing customers can also take advantage of winnings boosts, acca insurance, and other deals on a regular basis.

Best Football Betting Offers

1. Free bets
2. Enhanced odds
3. Money back
4. Acca insurance
5. Early payout
6. Acca boost
7. Deposit bonus
8. Free predictor games

While free bets are often a part of betting sign-up offers, they are also credited as part of a range of existing customer promotions. Betway, for example, has a Free Bet Club, in which you get a weekly £10 free bet if you wager £25 on multiples.

Enhanced odds promotions can also be welcome offers. Grosvenor offers these price boosts as an alternative to a standard bookie welcome offer, with extra winnings paid in cash. They also, along with many other football betting sites, offer enhanced odds on a selection of games every day.

A recent addition is the 2-Up Early Payout, with larger bookies paying out as a winning result if the selection goes two goals up, as found at Paddy Power and bet365, among others.

Money back offers can work in different ways, and could be related to VAR, or red cards, or other circumstances which could affect your bet. Acca insurance is similar to money back, as you get your stake returned - usually in free bets - if one team lets your multiple down.

There are many more football betting offers, and bookmakers are constantly coming up with creative new promotions to try and lure the punters away from other bookies and onto their betting site.

Horse racing takes place daily all over the world, and that provides not only copious betting opportunities but also a chance to claim some of the many betting offers that bookmakers provide, particularly around big meetings.

Typically, the classic British bookmakers have the best horse racing betting selection and range of offers, but many new betting sites have also stepped up to the plate in that regard.

Best horse racing betting sites for offers 

1. Betfair: Free bet promotions
2. Ladbrokes: Enhanced odds every day
3. Paddy Power: Paddy's Rewards Club
4. Coral: Money back specials
5. BOYLE Sports: Money back specials & extra places
6. Betfred: Excellent welcome offer
7. Betway: 'Super Boosts' and Yankee specials
8. BetVictor: Best Odds Guaranteed
9. Unibet: 'Uniboost' enhanced odds
10. Bet365: Each way extra

Racing punters will be no strangers to free bets. They can be given out as part of new customer offers, and also for existing customer promotions. Some racing free bet offers are earned by placing a single or a series of qualifying bets, whereas others can be credited as part of money-back specials.

One of the recent additions to the various betting offers and promotions available is Bet365's Position Payout, which offers an interesting alternative to the each-way market.

Coral and Ladbrokes are great examples of bookies that offer various money-back deals within racing. They have offered money back as a free bet if your horse is beaten by a length at certain meetings, or if your horse falls in a jumps race.

Best Odds Guaranteed is offered by most UK bookmakers, but some have more favourable terms than others. The idea of the promotion is to allow bettors to get bigger odds if their horse's price drifts before the race. If you take a price on the morning of the race, and its starting price is greater than the odds you took, then you will be paid at the bigger odds if your bet wins.

The top Best Odds Guaranteed offers include bets that are placed as early in the morning as possible, or even the day before, which is rare. Most Best Odds Guaranteed betting offers only count for UK and Irish racing, but there are exceptions.