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The UK provides one of the safest and most regulated gambling markets in the world, but as a consequence of this, and the fact that Brits by head bet by more than pretty much anyone else, means the industry is ultra-competitive.<\/p>\nThe UK provides one of the safest and most regulated gambling markets in the world, but as a consequence of this, and the fact that Brits by head bet by more than pretty much anyone else, means the industry is ultra-competitive.<\/p>\n
High competition mixed with big marketing budgets means that betting companies almost fall over each other to give you free bets or bonuses as an incentive to join.\u00a0 These deals are not a scam, they are genuine and simply a product of choice and demand in remote gambling today.<\/p>\n
It therefore makes good sense if you want to join a new betting site that you might want to take up an introductory offer. These companies are even giving you this promotional cash so that you can try them out with reduced cost and they even hope you will win because of course they want you to get a good feeling about them and stay in the longer term.<\/p>\n
The fact the UK has stringent advertising and gambling laws also means that brands need to be very open and fair with their offer terms.\u00a0 That’s why you can see all significant terms associated with a welcome offer now before you claim, to ensure it is right for you.<\/p>\n
Still, you shouldn’t necessarily just claim an offer because it is there or it is bigger than another, given such choice you might as well choose the right sign up promotion from the right site for the perfect combination.\u00a0 \u00a0You wouldn’t after-all just buy a drink that you didn’t like just because it had a better offer than a drink you did like, the same should be true when choosing your online bookmakers.<\/p>\n
On this page we look at some of the major types of welcome deals and why sites offer them, hopefully to allow you to pick the right incentive for the way you want to bet.\u00a0 For more general information about betting online see our FAQ<\/a>.<\/p>\n Remote gambling is a very profitable industry too, the old adage you never meet a poor bookie rings true now more than ever, as these companies don’t have to rent premises or pay shop staff.\u00a0 The fact that many newer sites now run on third-party platforms<\/a> too means they have reduced costs and can afford to plough more into marketing budgets.<\/p>\n Of course you also need to bear in mind that most of what is given out for free is promotional cash not real cash, kind of like having a voucher.\u00a0 The idea from the bookies point of view is that by using promo cash to bet with people get a better appreciation for the product and by winning with initial bets it gives people a lucky feeling about the site.<\/p>\n People do win with free bets and bonuses, but not everyone, and therefore when a site offers say “Bet \u00a310 Get \u00a330 in Free Bets” then in reality they are giving less when you consider many punters will not win to counteract those that lose.<\/p>\n This is the most common and easiest type of offer to understand.\u00a0 Of course the money isn’t completely free, if it were you could withdraw it without betting, but it does give you the chance to win real money with just one bet.<\/p>\n One of the negatives of a free bet is you can’t split it up into lots of smaller bet, therefore less useful if you want to bet on several things, or a package bet like a lucky 15.\u00a0 You can however with many of these offers use the free token on each-way wagers.<\/p>\n Most free bets are limited in the \u00a310’s range, although the percentage free can sometimes be staggering, with offers such as Bet \u00a35 get \u00a330 with some operators matching your stake 600% with promo cash.\u00a0 Free tokens tend to have limited expiry time, usually not more than 7 days.<\/p>\n Although these money back bets are less attractive they do tend to offer higher amounts, and you can find these deals providing \u00a350, even \u00a3100 or more back if your first wager loses, and consequently can be more useful to people who deposit and bet higher amounts.<\/p>\n Insurance offers like this are also not usually fixed stake, so you can choose your won bet amount up to the maximum level an get a free bet equal to that amount if it loses.<\/p>\n Once activated the bonus will have a wagering requirement<\/a>, this may be listed as the bonus amount or bonus and deposit amount combined.\u00a0 This is the amount of multiples of your bonus that you will need to stake in order to turn that cash, and subsequent winnings into real withdrawable funds.\u00a0 This will also have minimum odds and perhaps other restrictions attached.\u00a0 Usually rollover amounts range from 3x to 20x for sports<\/p>\n The benefit of a bonus is it gives you more freedom on how you bet with it, allowing you to split it up into many wagers.\u00a0 This has the added benefit that it lets you try more market on the site giving you a greater appreciation as to whether you like the brand or not (which is why some sites prefer to offer them).<\/p>\n You also tend to get higher amounts with bonuses and so they are more suited to higher stakes depositors, and if you win in the end you can keep the promotional cash itself, which you can’t do with a free bet.\u00a0 \u00a0Bonuses also last longer, usually 30 days in which to wager it.<\/p>\n On the negative side however it takes longer to reach a rollover with a bonus compared to a free bet, the percentage free you receive is generally lower, and you are also more likely to lose – but then if you do win in the end the levels tend to be higher than a free bet.<\/p>\n This type of welcome promotion is far more common for casino however than sports as in gaming you tend to place many more bets.\u00a0 Still some people prefer these offers for sports as they can place more bets with it.<\/p>\n Bonuses are less popular than they once were and this is a combination of people not wanting to place many bets to win free cash and partly because operators are now taxed differently on promotional cash winnings than they were in they past, encouraging many to drop big bonus offers.<\/p>\n If you take an enhanced odds deal<\/a> then your bet will still need to win in order to get the extra winnings (usually in the form of a free bet) and you are also of course restricted to betting on that specific outcome.<\/p>\n Offers that don’t require you to win your first bet, such as ‘bet \u00a35 on Cheltenham get a \u00a35 free bet for all 7 races’, also tend to give more free than the usual sign up deal, but consequently are more restricted in how you use them.<\/p>\n Therefore the best time to take a new customer special is when it is for an event that you were going to bet on anyway.<\/p>\n Most NDB will have maximum winnings restrictions, generally in the region of 10x the bonus amount.<\/p>\n The idea behind a no deposit offer is not really to give you free money, rather it is more designed for you to try a site out before risking your own funds.\u00a0 Some people do win with these, but in general see this as test cash.<\/p>\n The good thing is when you do find these deals there is often an additional deposit bonus that can also be claimed afterwards.<\/p>\n It is important to look at both the terms associated with qualifying for the offer and the terms associated with the promo cash once awarded.<\/p>\n Here are some important terms to look at:<\/p>\n Even within the UK there can occasionally be different rules for Northern Irish customers vs those from the mainline UK, so if you are betting in NI be sure to check the exact terms in relation to you.<\/p>\n If you are a UK resident but are outside of the country and want to claim an offer then you will not be able to.\u00a0 To open a UK betting account you must actually be in the UK, even if you are a citizen if you are in another country then you fall under their gambling laws.<\/p>\n Many people use VPN’s to access betting sites when in restricted territories, while this is possible it is not allowed and if your bookie catches you they will likely suspend your account and any bets you placed using the VPN.<\/p>\n In the past you used to be able to deposit and bet but you just couldn’t withdraw until the operator verified our age, this had to be within 72 hours.<\/p>\n In 2019 this rule changed so that now companies must verify the age of whoever signs up before they can deposit and gamble.\u00a0 The reasoning behind this is to try to unequivocally stop under 18’s from being able to gamble online.<\/p>\n Some sites can verify your age and address from your bank card, known as a soft credit check<\/a>, and in this instance you may not even be aware of the verification.\u00a0 In many cases though you will need to send in some form of ID for age (passport or driving license) and address verification (driving license if not used for ID, utility bill, etc).<\/p>\n This is frankly unavoidable, if you want to gamble online you must share these details.\u00a0 Betting companies have high levels of security and are liable if data is breached and so your information is about as secure as it could be.<\/p>\n The only way to get around this is to gamble with an unlicensed site, but then you are taking a huge risk, especially if as you will be sharing payment details with them in any case that could be used maliciously.<\/p>\n Licensing is primarily there to protect the vulnerable as well as customers form unscrupulous operators and to protect operators from criminals.<\/p>\n The reason the UK has a free and open gambling market is precisely because we have independent bodies like the Gambling Commission to regulate what bookmakers and casinos do and the Advertising Standards Authority<\/a> and CAP guidelines to ensure they advertise in an open and honest way.<\/p>\nHow Do Betting Companies Afford Them?<\/h2>\n
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Online betting sites have relatively low overheads, compared to high street shops at least, and this means they have lots of cash to spend on wooing and then keeping customers; also without a welcome incentive most people simply wouldn’t sign up, and so it is a necessity for gambling sites these days to give you some promotional cash to bet with.<\/p>\nDifferent Types of Welcome Bonuses<\/h2>\n
Free Bets<\/h3>\n
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Free bets are generally single use tokens that must be used in one go, i.e. on single line bet, with any resulting winnings in cash but the free token stake itself not returned.\u00a0 To claim them you generally need to bet a given amount at minimum odds within a period of time, sometimes free bets are awarded on first deposit but that is rarer.<\/p>\nMoney Back Bets<\/h3>\n
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Often termed ‘money back if your first bet loses’ these days as most of these offers are not without risk.\u00a0 Rather they are giving you your stake back as a free bet if the first bet you place loses.\u00a0 This is certainly better than nothing, but not as good as a free bet that doesn’t require your 1st bet to lose.<\/p>\nBonuses<\/h3>\n
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Bonuses generally match your deposit or first bet with a percentage in bonus funds, 100% being the most common, occasionally 50% and some providing 200% or more.\u00a0 Sometimes you need to bet a qualifying amount at above minimum odds within a time period to activate the bonus, other times the bonus is awarded straight away.<\/p>\nEnhanced Odds & Event Specials<\/h3>\n
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Enhanced odds new customer offers or event specials can actually, in many cases, give a punter more in free funds than the standard conventional welcome offer.\u00a0 There are however a couple of drawbacks.<\/p>\nNo Deposit Bonuses<\/h3>\n
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These are now very rare indeed for sports, although you can find one or two from time to time.\u00a0 They tend to be fairly low amounts, \u00a35 or \u00a310, and will usually have a higher rollover than conventional deposit bonus, usually 10x or more.<\/p>\nCash Offers<\/h3>\n
These used to be almost unheard of but since the changes on the way free bet taxes work some sites have started to give welcome incentives that pay in cash.\u00a0 These are gold dust when you can find them and come in two major varieties:<\/p>\n\n
How To Compare Offers<\/h2>\n
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All offers will require you to do something to get the promo cash.\u00a0\u00a0It is important to read the terms<\/a> to make sure the deal suits the way you want to bet, the offer should supplement your enjoyment not pressure you into doing things you don’t want to.<\/p>\nQualifying Restrictions<\/h3>\n
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Promotional Cash Restrictions<\/h3>\n
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Other Important Considerations<\/h2>\n
Location<\/h3>\n
![\"location\"](\"https:\/\/www.newbettingsites.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/location.png\")
Not all offers apply everywhere in the same way due to different licensing and regulations.\u00a0 It is very common to have a different offer for Irish vs British customers for example, and the terms can often be slightly different so make sure you read how it applies specifically to your territory.\u00a0 The significant terms that we list apply to the UK.<\/p>\nVerification<\/h3>\n
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It is the law in Britain now for all gambling sites to verify who customers are.\u00a0 \u00a0You must be over 18 and have a residential address in order to open an account.<\/p>\nLicensed<\/h3>\n
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It really is critical that you only bet with sites that have a UK license.\u00a0 All the sites we list will have one.<\/p>\n
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There is a whole host of advertising regulations in place in the United Kingdom, most of which are designed to protect minors.\u00a0 This is the precise reason why you need to have detailed terms, opt-in’s, verification, etc., to ensure those that shouldn’t bet are protected.<\/p>\n