You can do matched betting whichever hours suit your schedule.
| Offer Feature | Free Bet (Stake Not Returned) | Cash Bonus / Risk-Free Cash |
|---|---|---|
| Winning Payout | Profit only (stake deducted) | Full win (stake + profit) |
| Withdrawal Process | Winnings from free bet are withdrawable | May require wagering before withdrawal |
| Common Use Case | Standard welcome free bets | Money-back specials or refund offers |
No worries, don’t do any for a few months. You can pick up where you left off whenever you have a free half an hour. Unlike other ways of money which require a lot of initial outlay, with matched betting you can start making money right away.
List of UK bookies offering free bets
Our team of experts are on hand to deliver you the best sports betting news each week. We offer daily betting tips for those who want additional insight with their sports betting selections, from a wide array of expert analysts, all of which have deep knowledge of their chosen sports. The Freebets.com team is made up of industry experts, authors and contributors. You can meet the full squad on our author page, where you'll see the expertise that each person offers. A lifelong racing enthusiast, Charlie combines media insight with industry experience to deliver informed, value-driven content for punters.
Grand National Insurance Offers
With a deep understanding of the sport and the people who play it, he brings a knowledgeable, trusted voice to our horse racing tips. Betting should always be enjoyable and never something that causes you financial or personal harm. If you ever feel that your gambling is becoming a problem, please make use of the following free and confidential resources: Gamban – Blocking software for all your devices All bookmakers listed on this page offer self-exclusion options, deposit limits, session time reminders, and reality checks in line with UKGC requirements and the Take Time to Think safer-gambling campaign. Never bet more than you can afford to lose.” All operators listed are licensed under the Gambling Act 2005 and bound by the UKGC Licence Conditions and Codes of Practice (LCCP). The industry trade body is the Betting and Gaming Council (BGC).
Tennis Betting
Advertising is regulated by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA). Disputes can be escalated to the Independent Betting Adjudication Service (IBAS). More information can be found on our responsible gambling hub. There’s no doubting that it’s always useful to have extra ways to make money. Whether it’s to treat yourself to something nice, build savings or for a cheeky night out (COVID permitting!). If you started now you could make tangible money over the next hour! You keep all the money you make from matched betting. This is useful both for students, and for if you transition to having a job.
Payment Methods and Betting Options
If a bookmaker asks you to wager your free bet winnings multiple times, treat it with caution. Straight forward, cash credited free bets with no wagering on winnings are the gold standard you should aim for. 150+ years of combined industry experience - We personally research, test, verify and review every free bet offer. We give full details to explain how we rank betting sites and the offers they have available. Our authors, experts and contributors have a wealth of sports betting knowledge and experience.
Bet £10, Get 2 x £5 Free Bets
1,000,000+ site visits last year - We've been the go-to source for free bet offers and betting sign up offers in the UK since 2011. In 2025, over a million punters visited our site. 60+ free bet offers available every day - We update this page every 24 hours to make sure you're always seeing the best, latest and accurate free bet offers. Fully Regulated & Licensed Operators Only – Every bookmaker listed on Freebets.com holds a valid UK Gambling Commission licence. Our editorial guidelines give more information around how we work, and our position as an independent site.
Casino Bonus
Free Bets has been proudly featured across some of the world's most respected and trusted media platforms. From sporting authorities such as DAZN, BBC Sport, Yahoo Sports, Goal.com, and FourFourTwo, to news outlets including The Sun, Daily Mail, and The Mirror, as well Forbes — our brand has earned its place among the biggest names in media. Free bet offers are often tailored to specific sports. Horse racing and football are the biggest two sports to offer these free bets, and we've got dedicated pages for each. On top of this, we've also got event specific pages for the biggest events in each sport. It’s easy once you’ve got the hang of it.
| Term | Typical Requirement | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Minimum Odds | Qualifying bet must be placed at or above specified odds | 1.80 (4/5) or greater |
| Validity Period | Time to use the free bet after it is credited | 7 days from issue |
| Wagering Requirement | Number of times bonus must be turned over | 1x on sports (for free bets) |
| Eligible Sports | Markets where the offer can be used | All sports, sometimes excludes certain markets |
| Payment Restrictions | Minimum deposit and eligible payment methods | Min £10, Skrill/Neteller often excluded |
There is a bit of a learning curve to matched betting. I’ve always subscribed to services which have walked me through the offers which helps tremendously to make it easy. Once you know what you’re doing it’s easy and can be done whenever is convenient.
Most Common Free Bet Offers for UK Bettors Analysed
No matter how good bet best free no deposit bonus a typical customer thinks they may be at picking a winning outcome, ultimately it comes down to chance and the odds are not on your side. The difference with matched betting is that we don’t need to rely on luck and can calculate our expected returns no matter what the outcome of the event we’re betting on actually is. Well, with matched betting you match your bet with a “lay” stake. Placing these opposite bets provides you with the same outcome no matter the result of the event. This massively reduces the risk and means that we can increase our chances to walk away with a profit.
Star Sports Bet offer: Guaranteed free bets for new customers
Don’t worry, this isn’t as complicated as it sounds and we’ll go into more detail throughout this matched betting guide! In this matched betting guide we’ll cover matched betting for sports offers, as well as casino games and bingo. There are examples throughout to help explain how matched betting works: I appreciate that it’s a little confusing at first. Personally, from the start I’ve always used a matched betting subscription service and have found them invaluable. They tell you which offers are good and how to complete, avoiding a lot of potential mistakes and saving lots of time. Can be done from the comfort of your bed.
- No deposit free bet simply for verifying your account
- Free spins bundled with sportsbook offer for new customers
- Risk-free first bet up to a specified maximum amount
- Matched first deposit bonus up to 100%
- Bet credits instead of traditional free bets
Clearly it’s useful to not have to commute or look smart when making money! I want to quickly address the idea of making money from matched betting. Firstly I should make it clear that matched betting is not gambling.
- Bet £5 Get £20 in free bets and 50 free spins on selected slots
- Bet £10 Get a £10 free bet every week for 10 weeks
- Triple bonus: free bet, acca insurance, and price boost token
- Money back as cash if your first football bet loses
- Free bet if your first tennis set winner bet loses
- Deposit £10 and bet with £40 via a 300% matched bonus
We’re largely not risking much money and when we are it’s because on average the offer is profitable and worth doing.
- Welcome offer must be claimed within 30 days of registration
- Full terms and conditions linked on the promotion page
- Free bets are credited after the qualifying bet settles
- Use bonus code WELCOME50 during registration
My aim with this matched betting guide is certainly not to glamorise gambling: an activity you should stay away from. In any case, I want to make it clear again that addiction to gambling is very real and I’m promoting making money by exploiting matched betting offers, not gambling!
Bookies Free Bets vs. Other Bonus Offers
In this matched betting guide I’ll provide an introduction to getting started. I’ll also include some top tips, teach you how to maximise your returns and share how much money I’ve made. I’ve personally found matched betting to be the most profitable way to gain extra funds. Hopefully after reading this post you’ll be well on your way to growing your bank balance too! Be warned – this matched betting guide is the longest post I’ve written, so do feel free to skip around with the table of contents!
Bet Builders:
Trying to grow your savings through betting sounds like a terrible idea, with high risk and odds stacked against you. But wouldn’t it be great if there was a way to push the odds in your favour, massively increasing the chances for you to walk away with a profit? Thinking this sounds too good to be true? I thought so too, until I starting matched betting over four years ago. As a PhD student I ended up made more money matched betting than anything else besides my PhD stipend.
Bet £10, Get a £10 Free Bet
I can confirm that matched betting is 100% real. It also allows you to make money conveniently and flexibly from anywhere, including your bed! For these reasons matched betting is my top suggestion for making money as a student. You can check out my whole list of favourite ways to make money as a student in the separate post: Matched betting effectively boils down to combining clever betting techniques with promotional offers to increase the odds of you walking away with a profit. All of the offers we complete are promotions which betting companies use to promote their platforms and entice both new and existing customers to spend their money. Remember to always act cautiously and ensure you fully understand an offer before proceeding. Nevertheless, making money from the same platforms that other people are using to gamble (and largely lose money) makes for an interesting ethical question. Personally I don’t actually support gambling companies and like to think that profiting from these offers is exploiting their ploys to get more people into gambling.
Bookmaker Payment Methods Compared
If you choose to start matched betting, please do be careful. We’re not gambling but if you’re not mindful it’s possible to fall into it from matched betting. You can find help on BeGambleAware.org or call the National Gambling Helpline 0808 8020 133. Let’s dive into why I think matched betting is a great way to make money. Completely flexible and non committal: Particularly great for students! Another point to touch on are that there is potential to bet on certain contentious sports such as horse racing.
Responsible Gambling and Legislation
The two services I have experience with are ProfitSquad and Outplayed.com*. I’ve been happy with both but as of May 2021 ProfitSquad has stopped offering the same services so I suggest trying Outplayed.com (formerly called ProfitAccumulator) if you’re just starting out. You certainly can go it alone, and in this matched betting guide I’ll cover the fundamentals to get you started. I do find though that the cost of one of these subscriptions is more than made up for in the value of the guidance, tutorials, support and eventual profit they allow me to make. *This is an affiliate link, I only promote services I use and believe in. I no longer bet on anything I don’t support, including horse racing. The handy thing with matched betting is that there are such a breadth of offers, beyond even sports, that you can avoid anything you don’t like the look of and still make lots of money! Strictly speaking, “matched betting” refers to betting on sports events which we’ll get into in a second. There are other types of offers which have a lot of crossover so in this matched betting guide I’ll really be talking about three different things all under the rough “matched betting” term: Let’s dive straight in to each one.