Free Bets UK - The Best Betting Sign Up Offers for April 2024
Discover all the best UK free bets and betting offers for April 2024. We have compiled a list of the top sign-up offers from all the major bookmakers to bring you the best possible value.
Whether you are a new customer or an existing player, we will explain all the different ways to get free bets and other bonuses from UK bookmakers below.
Best Free Bet Sign Up Offer for April
- Brand New UK Betting Site
- BettingLounge Exclusive Bonus
- Official Betting Partner of QPR
CopyBet currently has the best free bet of the week. It is an exclusive BettingLounge.co.uk sign-up offer for new users.
This is a fantastic new betting offer, and it's one that you shouldn't miss. Sign up to CopyBet today and take advantage of this amazing free bet offer!
Today’s Best New UK Sign-up Offers
UKGC Licensed
- BettingLounge Exclusive Bonus
- New UK Casino & Sportsbook
- Fast Withdrawals
- New UK Sports Betting Site (Nov 2022)
- 30+ Sports Available
- Fast Withdrawals
- Brand New UK Betting Site
- BettingLounge Exclusive Bonus
- Official Betting Partner of QPR
- BettingLounge Exclusive Bonus
- New Sports Betting App
- Supercharge your Odds!
- New UK Betting Site (Aug 2023)
- BettingLounge Exclusive Bonus
- Fast PayPal Withdrawals
- Huge Range of Markets
- High Odds
- Trusted Operator
- New Sports Betting App (2022)
- BettingLounge Exclusive Bonus
- Great for Esports Betting
- BettingLounge Exclusive Bonus
- High Odds
- Great Promotions for Existing Customers
- Exclusive BettingLounge Sign Up Bonus
- Low Betting Margins
- New Betting Site (Jan 2020)
- BettingLounge Exclusive Sign Up Bonus
- Brand New Sports Betting App
- Highest Betting Odds in the Industry
- Brand New UK Betting Site (March 2022)
- 50% first day losses up to £25
- Great for Horse Racing Betting
- BettingLounge Exclusive Bonus
- New Sports Betting Site
- Competitive Odds
- New 2020 (October) Betting Site
- Fantastic Betting Apps
- Low Betting Margins
- Highest Odds in our Tests
- Great Welcome Offer
- Old and Trusted Bookmaker
- Top Tier Betting Apps
- Exclusive Free Bets Bonus
- Great Promotions for All Customers
- Comprehensive Sportsbook with Live Streaming
- Top-tier Betting Apps
- Daily Odds Boosts
- Great Betting Apps
- Exclusive Welcome Bonus
- Low betting margins
- High Betting Odds
- 40+ Sports
- Live streams
- Exclusive Bonus
- Great Betting App
- Spread & Fixed Odds Betting
- BettingLounge Exclusive Bonus
- Brand New Revamped Sportsbook (April 2023)
- Good Promotions
- BettingLounge Exclusive Free Bet Bonus
- Good Betting Apps
- Free UK & Irish Racing Streaming
- BettingLounge Exclusive Bonus
- Comprehensive sportsbook with good margins
- Top-notch betting apps
- New UK Betting Site (2022)
- Exclusive Welcome Bonus
- High Betting Odds
- BettingLounge Exclusive Offer
- New Betting Site (March 2022)
- iOS & Android Betting Apps
- Brand New Sports Betting Site (2022)
- BettingLounge Exclusive Welcome Offer
- Great Betting Apps
- New Betting Site
- Good welcome offer
- 40+ Sports
What is a Free Bet?
Free bets are promotional offers provided by bookmakers as incentives to attract new customers. If you go on any of the top betting sites in the UK today, you will find that there is at least one offer aimed at new customers. The free bets allow you to place a wager without risking your own money, giving you a chance to win real cash or bonus funds.
The caveat, however, is that punters who sign up on a betting site usually have to deposit and place a qualifying bet to unlock the free bets. The most common amount is £10 for the deposit, but Coral and Ladbrokes both have a bet £5 get £20 deal on offer. Some punters even tend to jump from site to site, claiming welcome offer after welcome offer.
It is worth noting that while free bets are most common in welcome offers, they can also be awarded to existing customers through certain promotions. Loyalty rewards schemes and bet refunds are two examples but generally, when speaking of free bets, it will be about the many welcome offers available in the UK.
Different Types of Free Bets
When browsing the welcome offers in the UK, you will find that these vary in how they work. The main differences can usually be found in how to claim the free bets and below, we have outlined the most common welcome offer types among UK bookmakers.
Deposit Free Bets
This is without a doubt the most common type of free bet out there. As the name suggests, punters need to make a deposit on the betting site to claim the free bets. This is usually £10 in the UK, such as a bet £10 get £30 deal, but some offers can be lower as well as higher.
Furthermore, just making a deposit will often not be enough to claim the free bets, with most sites demanding a deposit as well as a qualifying bet. The latter usually has a minimum odds (and sometimes even a specific market to bet on) but generally speaking, these free bets are rather easy to claim.
No Deposit Free Bets
No deposit free bets are completely free bets that some bookmakers offer for a limited time. In that sense, the no deposit betting offers are exactly as they sound, a bonus without needing to deposit any money.
No deposit betting offers usually come in three different varieties. Free bets with no deposit, free spins with no deposit, or a set amount of money to use for free on different sections of the website.
No deposit betting offers are almost always new customer sign-up bonuses but are sometimes offered to existing players too. We recommend checking out the significant terms and conditions, as you will see where to use the bonus (sports/casino/poker, etc), if there is a wagering requirement, and if there are any depositing method restrictions.
Matched Deposit Free Bets
A matched bonus (also called a deposit bonus) is triggered on your first deposit to a new betting site. A matched bonus means that the bookmaker will match your first deposit amount up to a certain percentage.
Matched deposit bonuses are great for players who intend to deposit a large amount of money. But, we recommend looking at the wagering requirement before committing to these offers, as they can be difficult, and usually need to be completed within 30 days of signing up.
For example, a 100% match of your first deposit up to £100. If you were to deposit £100 on your first deposit, you would get £100 in free bets or bonus funds. However, you may need to wager the deposit amount up to 10x (£1000) to unlock the funds for withdrawal.
Money Back Free Bets
We are not huge fans of money-back free bets but, having said that, they are not uncommon in the UK. Essentially, These offers require losses to be made - usually on the first day or the first bet - for any free bets to be credited. So if your first-day losses amounted to £40, then you would get a £40 free bet.
Of course, the downside to this is that you would have to make a loss in order to claim any free bets. Furthermore, most betting sites in the UK tend to cap this type of welcome offer, meaning you would only get a refund up until a certain amount. Unibet is an example, offering a money-back bonus of up to £40 for first-bet losses.
Expert Opinion: How To Find the Best Free Bets in the UK
Given just how many welcome offers are out there, it can be a very frustrating process to find the best ones. After personally reviewing over 40 bookmakers for BettingLounge.co.uk, it has become clear to me that while some bookmakers actually have good welcome offers, others will do everything to make them sound like that.
If I were to give your four key factors on what makes a good welcome offer, I would suggest you look at the amount of the free bets, how much you need to deposit for the qualiyfing bet, if the free bets have any wagering requirements and if the free bets are restricted to certain markets. Of course, there could be some more factors such as payment method restrictions and minimum odds, but these are less important in my opinion.
Anyone who is interested in claiming welcome offers will not be able to use e-wallets anyway, as almost all bookies restrict these offers to debit card deposits. Furthermore, the minimum odds (if any) tend to be quite generous.
Compare the Five Best Sign Up Offers in the UK
- Turnover No wagering
- Min. Deposit £10
- Expiration 7 days
- Turnover No wagering
- Min. Deposit £10
- Expiration 7 days
- Turnover No wagering
- Min. Deposit £10
- Expiration 7 days
- Turnover No wagering
- Min. Deposit £5
- Expiration 30 days
- Turnover No wagering
- Min. Deposit £5
- Expiration 7 days
How to Claim Free Bets
If you are unfamiliar with the process of claiming a welcome offer in the UK, you can follow our step-by-step guide below:
Choose Your Preferred Welcome Offer
Thanks to our list at the top of this page, you can see the different welcome offers available in the UK as well as the terms and conditions. Once you have found an offer and a bookmaker that you like, simply tap on 'Claim Offer'. This will bring you to the welcome offer in question and the registration page of the betting site.
Follow the Instructions on the Betting Site
Depending on the welcome offer and betting site, the process could vary slightly but it is mostly the same on all betting sites. For this example, we have decided to use CopyBet and its welcome offer. First off, we need to create an account on the site and enter our personal information.
Verify Your Account on the Site
CopyBet, as you can see in the photo below, requires new customers to verify their identity before any of the welcome offers can be claimed. This will not be the case on every betting sites, but we highly recommend you do it first anyway to avoid issues when withdrawing potential winnings down the line.
Place the Qualifying Bet to Unlock the Free Bets
To unlock the free bets on any betting site, unless we are talking about a no deposit free bet (which CopyBet has), you will need to place a qualifying bet. In CopyBet's case, we need to place a bet of 10+ on any sports market at a minimum odds of 1.9 in the CopyBet app.
Double Check Terms and Use the Free Bets
Once the qualifying bet has been settled (usually), the free bets will be credited to your account. In CopyBet's case, it will start with a £10 free bet which must be used before the second one is unlocked, and so on. While some bookies may just have a minimum odds requirement for the free bets, some bookmakers will require you to place them on certain markets.
Most free bets tend to expire 7 days after being credited, so make sure to spend them before they are gone (although it will do you no good to rush).
Pros and Cons of Free Bets
Although most welcome offers might sound good at face value, there are some things which punters should consider before claiming a bunch of them. We have listed three pros and three cons of free bets below, which should help you make an informed decision about whether they are for you or not.
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Easy to Claim: Since the competition is so fierce among bookmakers when it comes to free bets and welcome offers, most of them are rather easy to claim these days. If you consider that the minimum odds requirement is not always that high for the qualifying bet, you could actually make a profit with that as well.
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No Wagering Requirement (usually): Most of the sports welcome offers will not have any wagering requirements for the potential winnings, unlike a lot of the casino bonuses around. If a bookmaker does have wagering requirements for the sports offer, which can sometimes be the case among new betting sites, then that is a huge red flag.
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Low Risk: Those who are new to sports betting will probably find that welcome offers are very beneficial, as you can learn more about the practice without actually spending your own money. The deposit is needed, of course, but sometimes you can get as much as £50 to bet on after a £10 deposit.
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Payment Method Restrictions: Most bookmakers in the UK restrict their qualifying bet deposits to certain payment methods, and experienced punters will know that e-wallets such as PayPal are rarely eligible. Claiming several welcome offers, at least, is not for you if you want to use an e-wallet.
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Market Restrictions: With some welcome offers, you will have less freedom with your betting selections as bookies can restrict individual parts of the offer to certain markets. For example, you might need to bet £10 on a football acca, and some markets might not be eligible even for more generic free bets (such as each-way bets in horse racing).
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Deposit Required: While they are called free bets, punters will have to make a deposit and place a qualifying bet to unlock these. There are a few no deposit offers around, but these are rare and there is no guarantee that they will be available on the day.
Best Betting Site for Existing Customer Free Bets
The Betway Free Bet Club is a great promotion for existing customers at Betway, enabling them to claim two free bets worth £5 each every week. To qualify, customers need to wager at least £25 in bets on trebles or more at odds of at least 2/1. This makes it a rather attainable promotion, especially for punters who - for example - like to place acca bets on the Premier League.
Key Terms and Conditions to Look Out For
Various factors play a big part when deciding if a welcome offer bonus is worthwhile, such as:
Payment restrictions: One of the most important things to know about welcome offers is that not all banking options will qualify a new customer to get the promotion. It is often the case that betting sites do not permit new users to qualify for bonuses if they use an e-wallet to make their initial deposit. Those who want to use Skrill, Neteller, PayPal or another type of e-wallet to sign up may therefore not get a site's bonus.
Minimum odds: Qualifying wagers always need to be placed for a welcome offer. There are terms and conditions that need to be met for these too and the most important of them concerns minimum odds. Usually, punters will need to place the qualifying wager at certain minimum odds, such as at evens or above.
Wagering requirements: As well as the minimum odds, wagering requirements could be in play for a welcome offer. What this means is that potential winnings have to be wagered a certain number of times before they can be withdrawn. Until the wagering requirements have been completed, the bonus money will be locked in a separate section.
Time limits: Bookmakers typically put a time limit on how long the promotion runs for too. It is often the case that after signing up for an account and placing the qualifying wager to get a bonus, punters will have just one week - seven days - with which to complete the wagering requirements that have to be met.
Sport, market, wager type restrictions: Sometimes bookmakers will have other restrictions for the qualifying wager or the bonus money. They might put in the terms and conditions that the qualifying wager has to be on a certain sport or market. It may also be the case that the free bets can only be used on some markets, while some sports could be excluded too. This is why the small print is key.
Maximum winnings: The last big thing to be aware of with welcome offers is that there could be a maximum win limit. Bookmakers put these in as part of the terms and conditions as another way to protect themselves from sustaining hefty losses from the offer.
Free Bets FAQs
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Steven is an experienced iGaming content writer who has been working in the industry since 2018. He is passionate about sports betting and enjoys writing about all aspects of the industry, including bookmaker reviews, betting tips and strategies, and news and analysis. If you have any questions about online gambling in the UK, please don't hesitate to contact him.