Best Betting Offers
Betting offers are a way for betting sites to give something back, keep customers engaged and interested, and feeling valued. Here are some of the more frequent ones, divided into welcome offers to new customers, and bonuses given to existing customers.
Betting Offers for New Customers
#1 – Bet and Get (a free bet)
The rhyming is coincidental, the offer itself isn’t!This has replaced the deposit bonus as the most common welcome offer at UK betting sites.
Customers need to make a deposit, place a real-money of 5-10 GBP and once the bet is settled, they’ll receive 20-30 GBP as free bets. The free bets can either be one single bet for that amount, or split into several smaller bets of the same value.
Because it’s a welcome offer you can only claim once, very often the free bet doesn’t have any wagering requirements at all.
Bet – Get offers:
#2 – Deposit/Bet match
This used to be the most common welcome offer but you don’t see it so much anymore. At least not as part of your welcome package, although it’s still used as a frequent promo for existing customers.
On making a deposit, the customer can expect to see the value of their deposit matched by the betting site. In some exceptional cases, the bookie might award a bonus even bigger than the value of the deposit. A matched deposit (also known as a 100% bonus) means that if you deposit 100 GBP, you’ll get an extra 100 GBP awarded to you as a bonus by the bookie.
A 50% bonus would see you get 50 GBP extra, while an 150% bonus would see you awarded with 150 GBP as a bonus. And 250 GBP in total including your own deposit.
A deposit bonus normally has wagering requirements, meaning that you’d have to play through the bonus and winnings from it 2 or 3 times, before you can withdraw it.
#3 – Risk-free bets
These are more frequently used in the US than at UK betting sites as making up a welcome offer.
In this case, you have two bites of the cherry when placing a bet. Say the risk-free bet is for 10 GBP. If you place a bet for that amount and it wins, you win on your bet. Whether you get back the value of the risk-free bet or just the profit from it will depend on the specific offer. If the bet loses, you’ll get back the value of your bet. Either as cash back into your account or as a free bet to the same value for you to place on something in the future.
#4 – No deposit bonuses
As the name suggests, you don’t need to make a deposit to get the bonus. Normally this would be when you first sign up and are awarded the no deposit bonus as a reward just for registering.
The no deposit bonus is generally for quite a small amount, say 5 GBP or 10 GBP, and is generally followed by another bonus when you do eventually make that first deposit.
To be honest, it wouldn’t be easy to find a no deposit bonuses in sports betting, as most bookmakers don’t offer it anymore. However, you can find bookmakers with low deposit offers, such as: Ladbrokes and Coral (bet £5 get £20 in free bets), Dazn bet (Bet £5 Get £5 +10 Free Spins) or BetVictor (Bet £5 Get £10 in free bets).
Existing Player Bonuses
#1 – Money-back specials
This is a bonus where losing bets can be refunded if a particular event, pre-selected by the bookmaker, happens during the match. For example, Bet365 may say: Money back on all losing correct score bets in Manchester United v Liverpool, if the match ends 0-0. If the match ended 0-0 then all bets on 1-1, 2-0, 1-3 etc would be refunded up to a particular amount, per customer.
Any other result would mean the money-back special wouldn’t kick in and there would be no refunded bets. Of course, if someone specifically bet on 0-0 they’d have a winning bet regardless.
#2 – Accumulator and Bet Builder refunds
First things first: a Bet Builder is of course a form of accumulator in that it’s a bet made up of two or more selections, or legs, if you prefer. Where a Bet Builder is special is in that the selections are all from the same match, generally in football. Rather than a series of separate matches.
A refund on Accumulators/Bet Builders is generally given when just one of the legs lets you down. So, for example, Paddy Power might run an offer where if you have a Bet Builder made up of five legs and four of them win, you can get refunded on your bet, up to a certain amount.
#3 – Odds boosts
This is quite a recent addition at the best betting sites. The bookmaker will take a popular bet and increase the odds on it in an attempt to attract more business. It is of course something of a risk for the bookmaker because if the bet that had its odds boosted goes on to win, not only will there be more money on it than usual but the payout will also have been at bigger odds than usual. So, for example it may look something like this: Kevin de Bruyne to score against Chelsea (normally 2.5)Boosted to 3.0.
#4 – Accumulator bonuses/boosts
Here the bookie will encourage you to add extra legs to your accumulator.
So, for example, the offer might look something like this.
Accumulator with 5 legs- 10% extra if it wins.
Accumulator with 6 legs- 15% extra if it wins
Accumulator with 7 legs- 20% extra if it wins.
And the more legs you have, the greater the percentage will add to your payout if it wins.Customers should avoid the temptation of being too greedy here. The carrot is dangled with the promise of greater payouts but it’s very hard for accumulators with 6 or 7 selections to win.
Licensing Associations for Punter’s Pub
Betting sites can actually operate without a betting license at all. The next step up is to hold a license such as the Malta Gambling Authority, Curacao or Gibraltar license.But the hardest and most respectable one to get is the UK Gambling Commission license. And we here at Punters Pub only work with the betting sites that hold that one as it provides the most guarantees that the betting site is one you can trust.It means the bookie has to be accountable to the UK Gambling Commission and risks fines or even the loss of their license, if they fail to meet certain standards.
Here re the advantages of betting with a site that holds the UK license.
- Financial security- This forces the bookie to allow customers to withdraw whenever they wish. It also ensures that players’ funds are kept in a separate bank account, which eliminates the risk of the bookie using players’ funds.
- Fair hearing on complaints- A bookie holding the UK license has a duty to resolve an official complaint by a customer within 8 weeks of receiving it. However, if the customer isn’t satisfied with the resolution, they can take their grievance to an alternative resolution dispute provider, such as IBAS.
- Player protection- All betting sites holding the UK license need to be members of GAMSTOP. That means that players who wish to self-exclude, can choose to do so from all GAMSTOP betting sites in one go, rather than self-excluding from all betting sites they hold an account at one-by-one.
- Holding the UK license also means that the betting site needs to promote responsible gambling in other ways.
Responsible Gambling
Responsible gambling is taken very seriously in the UK.
It means that betting sites must ensure that minors or those with potential gambling addiction problems are prevented from gambling.
Checks need to be made to ensure that minors aren’t allowed to play under an adult’s identity and using their payment methods. Or that they aren’t gambling using an adult’s account.Betting sites also have a responsibility to identify problem gamblers and either advise them to set limits, or shut down their accounts. In the case of a customer requesting to be self-excluded temporarily or permanently, they have a duty to not let the customer gamble, or even send marketing communications to them while they’re self-excluded.
Read more about responsible gambling.
The following organisations exist to help in gambling related prolems:
Be Gamble Aware– A charity that promotes awareness around problem gambling, helping people recognise symptoms of it in both themselves, or others Trained counselors are available on the phone to offer advice on all aspects of the problem.GamCare– In addition to offering advice and support to problem gamblers or those affected by them, it also provides training and materials to bookies within the gambling industry itself. This includes staff at bookies recognising problem gamblers and how to interact with such players.Gamblers Anonymous– They’re best known for organising meetings attended by people who consider themselves compulsive gamblers or gambling addicts. The objective is to allow such problem gamblers to lead a normal life without the temptation of gambling, which can adversely affect them financially, mentally and in terms of relationships.
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