Different types of sign up offers, betting offers and betting promotions explained.

When you open up a new betting account, or from time to time from your existing bookmaker, you will receive a betting offer from them. These betting offers can vary a great deal, so it is always important to look at the offer and understand exactly what it is that you are getting. If you are unsure about any of the types of betting offers that are available, here is a rundown of each one, telling you everything you need to know about them before you begin to take advantage.

Free Bets

These are exactly as they say they are, free bets. These are given to you from online bookmakers and you can use these to place any bet you like with them. The free bet amounts will be shown in the terms and conditions, and for large sums the bookmaker usually splits them up into smaller free bets. For example, instead of giving you one £30 free bet you may receive three £10 free bets. These betting offers are the easiest and simplest to understand, and you can use them as you please without having to do anything else.

Matched Free Bets

Matched free bet offers are given to you dependant on a bet that you place. When it says matched, that means that whatever you put on, the bookmaker will match and give you a free bet to the same stake, although there may be an upper limit to these type of betting promotions so always check the T&Cs.

To give you an example of this, if you are given a matched free bet up to £50 from your bookmaker then the only way you will receive £50 is to place a bet of your own to that value. If you place a £20 bet, then you will only receive a free bet of £20. This is the difference between matched free bets and standard free bets, and because of that it is only usually big staking punters that take advantage of the maximum with these betting offers.
 

Deposit Matches

These are one of the most common ways to earn bonus funds and this is when online bookmakers will match your first deposit with them, up to a fixed amount. For example, a 100% matched bonus up to £100 means that if you deposit £100 of your own cash, the bookmaker will give you another £100 in bonus funds to play with. Make sure you always look out for the percentage in these sign up offers, as if the example above was a 50% matched bonus, you would need to deposit £200 to get the £100 bonus.

These betting offers are probably the most common and a great way to build a betting bank. You will have to roll over your bonus funds before they are turned into real cash, but you can bet with them how you like, in whatever stakes you like so they are more flexible than free bets.

Deposit Bonuses

A deposit bonus is where a bookmaker gives you a bonus for depositing with them. Sometimes this is with a new account, but existing account holders can also take advantage of these promotions from time to time. Unlike with matched bonus betting offers, where the bookmaker gives you a percentage, deposit bonuses work on cash amounts, so for example if you make a deposit over the weekend of £50 you will receive a £10 deposit bonus.
 

Free Bet Bundles

Free bet bundles are slightly different to free bets because you are getting a bundle and you know what that bundle is. For example, instead of £60 in free bets, a bookmaker may offer different free bets as a bundle of £60. This may be something like 3 x £10 sports bets, 1 x £20 in-play bet and 1 x £10 casino voucher. These bundle betting offers are becoming increasingly popular as online bookmakers try to get punters into betting on a multitude of different things, and playing inside their casino.

Cashback on Losses

If you are with a bookmaker that offers you cashback on losses for a set period then this will usually be worked out as a percentage. For example, in your first week with the bookmaker they may offer you 10% cashback on your losses with them. This means if you lose £100 in your first week, they will give you £10 of that back as funds to spend again.

These betting offers are not as common, and if you happen to have a week where you are level or you win, then you will see no bonus at all from your bookmaker.

Odds Boosts

One way welcome betting offers are created by bookmakers is by offering an enhanced price boost on a particular selection. For example, they may offer 25/1 on England to win a football game, when their actual price is 4/5. You can join and take advantage of this huge offer, backing England at the huge price and hopefully seeing them win to give you a nice betting bank to work with. It is highly likely that you will be paid out in free bets as your winnings, but this can be checked in the terms and conditions with your bookmaker.

Cash Out

Being able to cash out your bets is something that is becoming increasingly popular, with many bookmakers offering punters the choice to do this. Some people like to cash out bets when they have the chance to win a nice profit, and even if this is something you haven’t done before, it is nice to have the choice. Alongside standard cash out, some bookmakers are now offering partial cash out where you can cash out part of your accumulator, and leave the rest of your stake running. This gives you the chance to take a profit from your bet, and also continue to cheer it on in the hope of winning some more money

Football Specific Betting Offers.

Acca Insurance

One of our favourite betting offers, Acca insurance is available from selected bookmakers that will give you your money back should your accumulator fail by just one selection. If you are getting close to landing a big win, but you find yourself missing out by one then acca insurance could be the offer for you. There are a handful of bookmakers that offer acca insurance and the best offer to be found currently is with Ladbrokes. They offer their acca insurance promotion on bets with five selections or more, which is lower than other bookmakers and the refund they offer is up to £25, which is one of the biggest.

Acca Bonuses

Some bookmakers will offer you a bonus payment on top of your winnings if you manage to land an accumulator, and this is something you need to check out. These bonus betting offers will increase the return you get, and with big bonuses out there to be had, you could find yourself winning a lot more than the odds suggest, which is great for your profit. These bonuses start from bets with just three selections with selected bookmakers, such as bet365 who offer a 5% bonus for this and right up to a 100% bonus for a 14 team winning accumulator, meaning if you are lucky enough to land a huge 14-fold bet, you will be paid out at double what the odds suggest thanks to the great bonus on offers.