Football Betting Bonus Guide

• Football in detail:
• Bonus Guide

• Types of Bonuses

• Major Sporting Events

• Types of Betting

• Top Tips for Punters

Why are we focusing on getting the best betting bonuses and free bets? Well, there is only one thing better than your team winning an important game! That is when you also have a bet on it! You get bragging rights and a boost to your bank balance in the process. Life is even better if you have a crafty side bet on your greatest rivals losing.

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There are also great features like in-play betting which allows you to place a bet almost up until the last kick of the game. Also the ability to cash out your bets has revolutionised how many of us play, if you have a gut feeling that things are going to change then you can take the money and run, this has saved our skin on more than one occasion!

In this guide we take a look at the best betting sites through the eyes of a footy lover, we explain the different types of promotions that are available to you and discuss the pros and cons of matched deposits, free bets and other bonuses that are available to new players.

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Football Betting Welcome Bonus – Matched Deposit

This is the type of welcome bonus that most people will be aware of. When you see an advert at half-time that proudly declares “up to £200 Free”, then this will be a matched deposit offer. They are the most generous offers but as is the norm in life, they come with some conditions that you need to be aware of.

Football Matched Deposit – What Can I Get?

The headline figure is only part of the equation when comparing the different bonuses but don’t worry as we cover the fine print in the next section. The range of the amount offered does vary by a large amount, ranging from £10 to £200. If you have a good track record at online sports betting, then it’s usually a good idea to start with the biggest bankroll you can! As these deals are ‘one time only’ think carefully about what makes sense for you. A matched deposit is usually 100% (although this can vary) of your deposit amount, so if you deposit £50, you will have £100 in total.

Football Matched Deposit – What do I Need to Know?

As the matched deposit is the most generous of the betting bonuses you can receive, they also come with the most terms and conditions attached, even the most experienced players can get caught out by ambiguous t&c’s.

In all our guides and reviews we talk a lot about ‘wagering requirements’ or a ‘play-through requirement’, this is one of the most important things to be aware of if you accept a bonus.

Let’s take a look at a typical welcome offer;

Acme online betting are offering ‘Up to £100 free’. I look closer at the deal and see in the fine print that the offer is 100% match of my first deposit. I also see the offer has a wagering requirement of x5 and free bets have a validity of 28 days.

With the deal stating it is ‘up to’, that means you will only get the headline figure if you deposit the full amount stated, in this case £100. If you deposit £50, you will get £50 matched and so on. There is normally a minimum amount you need to deposit, this is often £10 but can vary.

The next part we need to look at is the wagering requirement of x5. This means you need to have settled bets that are five times the amount you received as your bonus. Until you reach this figure, you will not be able to withdraw any funds or wins associated with the funds.

If you imagine taking the £10 amount and I bet £10 on Chelsea to win 1 – 0 @ 5/1. Your bet wins and your account shows £70. You wouldn’t be able to withdraw that amount as you would still need to make further bets of £40 until you could withdraw. After that stage there are no more requirements.

You also need to ensure that you place these additional bets within 28 days or you risk losing your bonus amount and potentially any winnings attached to that amount.

For football fans betting there is another term and condition that can really affect your ability to reach your wagering requirement. Some online bookmakers state that only your first bet on any fixture will count towards your wagering requirement. Let’s see this in a scenario;

Tottenham are playing Chelsea, I fancy the game will end up as a bore draw and I place a pre-match bet of £10 on that result. The game starts and much to my surprise it’s an end to end classic and it seems only a matter of time before a goal. I place a £50 bet on Harry Kane getting the first goal.

In the above example, only the first bet of £10 would count towards the wagering requirement. If you are planning on placing multiple bets on the same game (under / over, first goal scorer and correct score) then keep this is mind. If possible, place your largest bet first.

Cashing out, is one of the best features when betting on football online. The heart is pounding as five of your six matches are doing the business for you and the app is tempting you to take the money and run. However! Another little known fact is that a lot of the online bookies will exclude your initial stake when you cash out. For example;

You place a £100 bet on Southampton beating Manchester City. Seventy minutes in and Southampton take a surprise lead, you suspect this will be the start of a City revival so you quickly cash out. You have made a tidy profit but because you cashed out, your initial £100 bet does not contribute to the x5 wagering requirement.

If you like betting on other activities such as casino games, then you are also likely to be heavily restricted on which games count towards meeting your wagering requirements. Some games only contribute 20% or lower towards the wagering requirement.

If there is one piece of learning you take from this page, then I hope it is the importance of reading the terms and conditions for any offer you take. Each online bookmaker has different terms and conditions and it is very likely that these will change from time to time.

Football Betting Welcome Bonus – Free Bets

Free bets are thankfully a simpler way to take advantage of a betting bonus! Many online betting sites reward you opening a new account by giving you free bets.

Football Free Bets – What Can I Get?

The range of amounts is certainly not as extensive as a matched deposit offer, you can expect to see free bets in the range of £10 – £50.

Football Free Bets – What do I Need to Know?

As you will have seen in the matched deposit section, there are lots of conditions that can be applied when you receive an online betting bonus. Free bets on the other hand are certainly not as generous as the matched deposit but require less commitment on your behalf. To use a mobile phone analogy, I like to see free bets as the pay as you go option rather than the contract route which would be the matched deposit.

So although there are fewer rules, there are still some conditions to be aware of;

• Some free bet offers are based on your first bet, not your first deposit! If you deposit £20 and have a £5 single on the Manchester Derby, you will receive £5 in free bets not the £20 you expect. This varies from one online bookie to another.
• Some online bookmakers allow you to split the free bets (4 x £5 for example), others insist the free bet is used in one go.
• There are often minimum odds requirements to qualify, many of the offers require a match to be of odds of at least 1/2 (1.5). Which can be a hindrance if you like backing the red hot favourite often.

Football Sports Betting Bonuses – Other Promotions

This section is bound to grow bigger as more ‘new boys’ join the scene and offer alternatives to the traditional matched deposits and free bets way of thinking.

Once upon a time online bookmakers would offer no deposit free money offers but it is extremely rare to see these deals anymore. I would state that many of the no deposit deals had such restrictive conditions (£20 maximum win, 50 x wagering requirement to name just two) that they caused more hassle than they were worth. Plus, the fact you usually had to deposit before you could withdraw any winnings, meant many punters avoided these like the plague.

So a big round of applause goes out to 888sport, they have a great welcome promotion that rewards your sporting knowledge or perhaps your ability to read tea-leaves if that’s your preferred method of match predictions. At 888sport, on your first bet you can boost the odds by 300%. A 5-1 becomes a 15 -1, a 10-1 becomes a 30-1 and so on. It is worth pointing out that the difference between the real odds and the enhanced odds are paid out as free bets but still this is a top promotion.

Other Promotions – What do I Need to Know?

There are not many restrictions on the 888sport offer but just to make you aware;

• Minimum £5 bet – Maximum £10 bet for this offer. You can bet more but the winnings over the £10 maximum will be settled at the normal odds.
• Additional free bet winnings will be paid a maximum of 72 hours after the bet, they are normally available the next day.
• The bet you wish to take advantage of this offer must be placed individually, so we recommend you place this bet first.
• You have 7 days to use your free bets when awarded.
• Depositing with Neteller or Skrill/Moneybookers will exclude you from this promotion.

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Our View: The Best Betting Bonus for Football?

The best betting bonus for you will depend on what type of player you are likely to be.

If you are likely to bet often and will have no issues meeting the wagering requirements in the timescales that the online bookmaker gives, then the matched deposit is a good choice. Many professional players state that the initial bankroll plays an important part of any betting strategy so taking the maximum available to you could be a good option.

If you are after a more casual betting relationship then the free bet route is likely to appeal, there are less terms and conditions and once you have settled your bets, there are no further restrictions on any winnings. If you are just testing the water to see if online sports betting is for you, there is nothing stopping you trying out a site offering free bets and then trying a matched deposit deal with another company later on.

Our favourite is the 888sport offer, we love the fact that there is an element of risk involved, do you play it safe with your enhanced odds or do you go for it?

Major Football Events to Bet on in 2023, 2024, 2025

Even though 2017 is an ‘inbetweeny’ year when it comes to International tournaments, that doesn’t mean there isn’t plenty to bet on. The English Premier League is shaping into a real dogfight this year, despite Chelsea’s healthy lead, the scrap for the top 4 is as exciting as any year I can remember.

In the Championship the story is just as intriguing. Can Leeds United roll back the years and claim a seat with the big boys? Surely Newcastle will romp to the title but never underestimate Brighton this year.

North of the border it seems that even the re-introduction of Rangers has had little effect on the juggernaut that is Celtic as they cruise their way to another Scottish title.

So to get your betting juices flowing, we’ve trawled through the fixtures to find games we will be betting on in the coming months.

Betting Bonus Promotions for Football Betting

Us football fans have it really lucky when it comes to the promotions offered at betting sites. As the most popular type of betting online, football gets the VIP treatment.

Acca (accumulator) betting is a huge punter favourite. The top online bookies know this and offer bonuses on your accumulator bets or winnings.

We have all felt the disappointment of placing a scorecast bet on who will score first and what the correct score will be only to find out the game finishes 0-0! Some canny online bookies will insure you against this and will refund your stake if the game is a bore-draw.

With new promotions being introduced all the time, it is a great time to bet online. The promotions follow all the top matches and keep a look out for price boosters at individual bookmakers.

Types of Footy Betting Available

Picking the right bet is nearly as important as picking the right team or players. Get the combo right and that is the path to beating the bookies. For pure betting, nothing much beats accumulators! If you set up alerts on your mobile, if anything happens in the games you have backed, you will be notified in real time. So let’s have a closer look at the bets that you can place at the best online bookies.

Place a Football Single Bet

The easiest bet to make, you just choose the outcome you think will happen but you are not limited to which team will win, not by a long shot! There are a remarkable number of events that you can bet on, here are just a selection;

Full Time football result betting – Which team will win? Or do you fancy the draw? If you are not sure, you can cover your bases and go for a double chance bet.

Correct score betting – This is a tough bet to call but the pay-off both financially and emotionally are for me at least, well worth the near misses that we all encounter from time to time. The feeling you get when you predict 3-1 and the score is indeed 3-1 but there is still 20 mins of the game is left, I would describe the feeling as ecstasy and torture at the same time.

Half Time/Full Time betting – I really enjoy this market and for me it works really well on the underdogs. How many times have we seen an allegedly weaker team take a shock lead before half-time, only for the other team to steam back the 2nd half? Quite a few, so my tactic is to bet on the swing.

As you can see in the screenshot above, you can get 20-1 on Watford to be leading at half time but then a 2nd half revival to see an Arsenal. The 80-1 Arsenal Watford swing bet is also tempting as a side bet.

Half Time/Full Time correct score betting – If predicting just the full time score is not challenging enough for you, then you can ratchet up the pressure to insane levels by predicting BOTH the halftime score and the fulltime score. The odds also are boosted to reflect this show of punting prowess.

Under/Over football betting – This is one of the easiest and for me personally, most profitable bets in the long run. It’s a simple yes or no bet. Will there be over 2.5 goals? When I first started betting regularly, I was drawn to the correct score market but was soon disappointed with the low strike rate. With this market, the gains are lower but the frequency of returns can balance this out.

Another bet that is very similar is the ‘Both teams to score’ (you will often see this as BTTS), another yes or no question, will both teams score? I find the FA Cup will often provide good value here, no-one expects a small club to score but that’s the beauty of the cup!

Football goal scorer betting – This is a firm fan favourite, who will score the all-important first goal? Will it be the star striker who has already found the back of the net 12 times this season? Or what about the ageing powerhouse defender who has not scored since he was 17, 20 years ago?

As you can see from the screenshot above, it’s not just the first goal you can back the player to score, last goal and anytime goal scorer is available. You can also back a player to score two or even three or more.

Other football markets – The list of events you can bet on during a game has to be seen to be believed really, the simple rule is ‘if it can happen, you can bet on it’. Everything from the number of corners, cards, the winning margin, handicap betting, Asian handicap and so much more.

Placing Football Multiple Bets

With all the terminology around multiple bets, in can at first seem quite a difficult process but it really isn’t! A well thought out interface will guide you through the process and within a short period of time you’ll be placing bets like a pro.

Let’s look at an example. I want to place a bet on Arsenal beating Watford and Chelsea beating Liverpool. I go to the individual matches and click what selections I fancy, they will be added to my betting slip. Once I click on the ‘multiple options’ tab I will see alternative options available to me.

I select the double option and I can see the odds offered are 2.45. As the winnings from one result the amount you win is higher than placing two £5 bets on the singles.

£5 on Arsenal to beat Watford would return £6 and the Chelsea v Liverpool game would return £14.38 giving you a total of £19.38. A double would return £40.75 which is a difference of £21.37. As you increase the number of selections, the risk increases but so do the potential pay-outs.

Trixie and Trebles Betting on Football

If you have 3 selections in your betting slip then you will see two additional options available to you, Trebles and Trixie.

A treble works exactly the same way as a double does but with a treble you need all three selections to come through for you to see a return.

Trixie is the first full cover bet we are going to discuss. The term ‘full cover’ gives an indication of the purpose of this bet which is to cover multiple results. A Trixie consists of 3 doubles and a treble. So this means that two of your three selections must be successful to see a return. An important point to make is that a treble is 1 bet, whereas the Trixie is 4 bets. This means that your stake must be multiplied by 4 (A £1 Trixie stake = £4 bet).

Yankee and Fourfold Betting on Football

You won’t be surprised to know that a fourfold has the same principles as a double and a treble, it’s a single bet and all your selections must be successful for you to see a return.

A Yankee is a total of 11 bets, these are made up of six doubles, four trebles and an accumulator. As this bet involves doubles, then only two of your selections need to be successful for you to see a return.

Super Yankee and Fivefold Betting on Football

I’m sure by now you get the idea of how two-folds, three-folds, four-folds etc. work. The key element is that each one of your selections must be correct to see a return, it’s this unpredictability that makes acca betting so intense. The ability to cash out your bets at most online bookmakers means you don’t even need for all your selections to be winning before the bookmaker makes you an offer. If you have ever watched ‘deal or no deal’, it’s pretty much the same concept.

Patent, Heinz and Goliath Football Bets.

When you start adding six, seven and eight selections then further betting options will be available to you. These big hitters can really boost your bank balance, they do however come at a cost of many bets. A Patent is seven times your stake, Heinz is fifty-seven and the Goliath a giant two hundred and forty-seven times your stake.

Football Betting Online – Payment Options

Each one of our featured online sports sites will offer a great range of payment options and the chances are you already own one of the payment methods that they support. Your safety and security online is paramount to the betting site and all of them are both licensed by the UK Gambling Commission and independently audited. Part of the conditions of holding a UK Gambling Commission license is that they agree to independent mediation in the event of a dispute, these measures ensure you can bet with confidence online.

If you would like to know more about alternative ways to fund your account then you can read our informative guides on PayPal, paysafecard and Skrill.

Football Betting – Tips for the Beautiful Game

1. Ray Winston is like Jon Snow – Yes, our first tip is to state that Ray Winston ‘knows nothing’ about betting. If he was a swimmer – he wouldn’t be able to swim, if he was a skater he wouldn’t be able to skate etc. The only compliment I can give Mr Winston is that he is consistent! Yes, consistently bad! Now if it seems we are being overly harsh on Ray, let’s look at a stat. In 26 occasions when we have seen Ray’s floating head offering us a deal such as ‘England to win 2-0’, on only ONE occasion did Ray’s tip come up. That’s a pretty poor strike rate by anyone’s standards.
2. The markets change often – Not only do the odds offered fluctuate during the week but also the number of markets offered will increase as you get closer to kick off. For example, if I look on a Thursday for a bet on a Saturday match, I will find 72 markets. Look at the same fixture on Saturday morning and you will see in excess of 120 markets. The second part of this tip involves having more than one sports betting account, this enables you to exploit any variance in the odds offered between the two sites. As an added bonus, you will receive a welcome bonus or free bet from the new bookmaker.
3. Check what the minimum bet is – This next tip comes from personal experience, I have found that full cover bets such as Super Yankee and Heinz have been profitable (or at least saved my skin) but they can be expensive if the online bookmaker has quite a high minimum bet. For a Goliath bet, this is 247 individual bets. At 1p minimum stake it costs a reasonable £2.47 to place a bet. However, if the minimum bet is 50p, this makes the cheapest you can place a Goliath bet at £123.50. Of course, the returns can be incredible.
4. Use In-play like a pro – As Elvis Presley once sang, “Fools Rush In” (Where Angels Fear To Tread) and this is our fourth tip. Don’t rush to place pre-match bets. On average the first goal is not usually scored until late in the first half or early second half. So it may be worth watching the game for a few minutes to get a feel of how the game is going. I had great success with this recently. I had a double on Sutton Utd to win and Lincoln City to win. The bet was inspired due to a red card for Sutton’s opponents and I was watching the Lincoln game and fancied an upset. I only had £2.40 in my account (how I regret that now) but that £2.40 turned into £135 and funded the next round of games.
5. Try and be lazy, don’t go crazy! – This last tip refers to side bets. It can be very tempting to edge your bets. I would never discourage that but ensure that you are not eating into your profit lines. I’m often guilty of this when watching a game and an aging superstar like Peter Crouch or Jermain Defoe comes on. I must admit I’ve been guilty of backing eight goal-scorers and it’s ended 0-0.

Conclusion – Best Betting Bonuses for Football

Football and online betting are a match made in heaven and there has never been a better time to dive in and experience the fast paced action. Technology has created betting opportunities that couldn’t have been imagined ten years ago.

New online sports books have created lots of competition within the industry. This has led to a tidal wave of great promotions, free bets and matched deposits which can only be good news to the punter.

If you are a stats fan, then you be in statistical heaven with a wealth of information at your fingertips. The best football betting sites add extras such as tips, match previews and blogs written by respected ex-professionals and with games available 24/7 from every country imaginable, you will never be short of betting inspiration.