Betting Sign Up Offers

We realise, that, for many of you, the welcome bonus plays a significant part in choosing an online bookmaker. And while a welcome bonus isn't the be-all and end-all of a betting site, we consider the sign-up offer to be a key factor when ranking UK bookies.

To help you choose between the many deals available, our resident betting offers expert, Del, has broken down each type of new customer offer and given his best recommendations. He's also used his years of experience claiming hundreds of welcome bonuses to answer your most common queries.

Before all of that, however, what are the most important things to consider when claiming a welcome bonus?

From looking at the lists above, you can be forgiven for thinking UK bookies lack a bit of imagination with their new customer offers.

You will see differing amounts offered, but there's one format in particular that you'll see time and again...

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With this type of offer, bookmakers boost the odds for selected outcomes with bettors able to receive higher returns than they would with standard odds.

In most cases, the qualifying bet is restricted to £1 and, should you win, your winnings are boosted up to the enhanced price, paid in free bets.

Enhanced odds offers are usually reserved for high-profile events, such as big Premier League matches or big boxing fights and are becoming more popular among UK bookies.

Betano and Parimatch are two bookies you can rely on for price boost offers most weekends.

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Here, a bookmaker will offer to boost your profit, should your first qualifying bet win.

Bookmakers usually offer a profit boost up to a certain percentage, somewhere between 50% to 100% but will cap the maximum amount that can be won. New LeoVegas members can claim £100 max extra winnings for instance.

Generally speaking, this type of offer is fairly straightforward. All you need to consider is the minimum deposit and minimum odds. Best of all, many bookies pay profit boost extra winnings as cash.

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Ultimately, this type of offer acts as an insurance policy, allowing you to place your first wager ‘risk-free’.

Should your first wager lose you get given a free bet or, if you’re lucky, cash credited back to your account. Should your bet win, you collect your winnings as normal.

It’s also common for UK bookies to offer Money Back on Losses. These offers see the bookmaker pay back a percentage of your losing bets accumulated on your first day as a free bet.

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A free bet allows a punter to play without having to top up their betting account - a free bet token is used instead.

However, to earn a free bet, a financial outlay of some note is always required from the punters' side. Whether this is a qualifying bet or a first deposit, you can only unlock a welcome bonus by putting your hand in your pocket.

But, it could be argued that if you’re getting £30 in free bets from your £10 qualifying bet, you are getting more than your initial outlay and bets for free.

For us, the best sign-up offers are flexible and accommodate a range of customers.

Betting sites that allow players to join with £5 appeal to beginners and those who want to bet but don’t want to spend a lot of money initially.

The list of bookies where punters need only five English pounds isn't that long but does include many big names:

• Bet365
• Betway
• Ladbrokes
• Parimatch
  
• Sky Bet
• Paddy Power

The best new customer betting deals make it straightforward for punters to meet the terms of the offer and claim their bonus.

The most valuable new customer deals offer friendly terms that allow you to get your free bets with minimal fuss while giving you the freedom to use your bonus the way you wish.

The opposite can be frustrating with punters needing to jump through hoops and/or spend more money to unlock the bonus.

There’s usually a sharp increase in new bookie offers for big football and racing events.

The Grand National and the Cheltenham Festival are particularly busy for bookmakers who look to make hay while the sun shines and benefit from a wider spectrum of people looking to have a flutter, many of whom have never even bet before.

The World Cup or European Championships are also great opportunities to claim new offers.

That said, a weekend filled with Premier League matches is an event in itself these days with many bookies rolling out offers for the biggest games, specifically enhanced odds deals.

UK punters can claim £50 in free bets from a handful of bookies.

With most offers, a tenner will qualify you for the offer, giving you a 500% bonus, which is fantastic value. Other £50 betting offers are available but a bigger deposit is needed.

Here are the bookies where you can get £50 quid worth of free bets when you join:

• £10 min deposit: Bet365, Betfair, Betfred, CopyBet
• £25 min deposit: Betrino

No. A bookmaker sign-up offer can only be claimed if you’re a new customer, i.e you do not already have a betting account with the bookmaker.

Within the terms, you might find it say the offer is available once per household which means the address used when filling in your personal information can only be used once.