Find the Best No Deposit Free Bets on AskGamblers
Knowing everything about a betting no deposit bonus is extremely important, but of equal or greater importance is knowing where you can find one. Or better still, several of them.
As always, that’s where AskGamblers is available to lend you a helping hand.
We’ve searched for all the best no deposit free bets, so you don’t have to spend hours trawling through endless betting sites yourself looking for them.
And we’ve then put them all together neatly in one place so you can see what’s on offer, which betting sites with no deposit bonus you need to go to in order to claim the bonus and what other information you need to know about them. Such as the wagering requirements that apply to them or any betting promo codes you might have to enter to claim them.
How No Deposit Betting Bonuses Work?
The whole point of a betting bonus no deposit is that it is free, in the sense that you won’t need to make a deposit to get it.
Occasionally, free bets can be awarded to customers as part of a welcome offer. When this is the case, the betting site will usually award one to you before you make your first deposit. Again, the clue is in the name. This is done so new customers have a small free bet to get a feel for the site and learn more about the sportsbook’s features before they go on to make a real money deposit. The norm is that once you’ve used your free bet no deposit, you then need to make a deposit in order to claim the rest of your welcome offer.
Where a free bet is awarded after you make a deposit, by definition, that won’t be a free bet no deposit because you needed to make a deposit to get it.
The more common example of one is where you are already an existing customer, and the betting site rewards you with one. This could be as a gift for you being particularly active on the site. Or it could be the opposite, where you haven’t played recently, and the online betting site gives you one, so you start playing again.
The free bet will normally come with rules outlined in the terms and conditions as to how you must use it, such as the sport(s) it can be played on, the type of betting market you can use it on, and the minimum odds at which it can be placed. We go into greater detail on this below.
There will inevitably be wagering requirements that you must meet if the bet goes on to win, which you must fulfil before you can withdraw winnings from it. That’s the difference between the free bet no deposit being a bonus, and being free money.
Something else to bear in mind is that if the bet goes on to win, the payout usually won’t include the value of the free bet, only the value of the winning bet itself. Again, this is the difference between it being a bonus and being free cash.
Very occasionally, customers can also be awarded a no deposit sports bonus as a reward for referring a friend to the betting site or as a prize, such as winning a competition among customers.
How to Claim No Deposit Betting Bonuses?
The first part is knowing when there’s a free bet no deposit bonus waiting for you.
The easiest option is to keep an eye on this very page to see which ones are currently available.
Apart from that, the site offering one will send you an e-mail or SMS about it or alternatively, a pop-up message may appear telling you about it when you log in to your account. In exceptional cases where it’s available to all customers on the site, there may be a banner advertising it on the site’s homepage or promotions section.
After that, the process is generally always the same:
- Log into your account.
- Read the terms and conditions relating to the free bet. In addition to information about the wagering requirements, they will also tell you how it must be used, such as the sport, competition or type of betting market it can be used on and the minimum odds at which it must be placed.
- Once you’ve decided on a bet you want to place that matches all those requirements, navigate to that market and click on the bonus before processing the bet as you normally would.
- In some cases, you may need to opt into the bonus before it appears available for you to use. In other cases, you may need to enter a bonus code somewhere before you can use it.
- If the bet loses, that’s the end of the journey as regards that particular free bet. If it wins, the winnings will be credited to you, usually minus the stake/value of the free bet, as mentioned already. You’ll then have to fulfil the wagering requirements before withdrawing the winnings from it, so re-read the terms and conditions, if necessary, to know what needs doing.
What to Look for When Claiming Free No Deposit Betting Offers
We’re not just here to tell you where you can find no deposit bonus betting sites.
We want also to explain how they may vary and what you need to do in order to get the most out of them. Here’s what you need to consider:
Restrictions on sport, competition and type of betting market
In some cases, a free bet can be used on any betting market of your choice. In other cases, the Ts and Cs may say that it can only be used on, say, football or horseracing. To take it a step further, it may be that you can only use it for the Premier League or a particular Premier League match. And finally, sometimes, it must be used for a particular betting market. For example, only the match odds market, only the first goalscorer market, or only as a Bet Builder.
Minimum odds
The free bet might need to be placed at minimum odds. For example, 1.5, 1.8 or 2.0. If the free bet is a Bet Builder or regular acca, it might be that in addition to there being minimum odds on the Bet Builder/acca as a whole, there might be minimum odds on each of the legs that make it up. It’s almost unheard of for there to be maximum odds at which the free bet can be placed.
Maximum winnings
The Ts and Cs may determine that there’s a limit on how much you can win from the free bet. This is important because if there’s a cap on maximum winnings, it may not be worth your while to place the free bet at long odds because you’ll only get a portion of what is the real payout.
Time limit
No bonus is available forever, and free bets with no deposit are no exception. So, check the bonus’s expiry date and ensure you use it before the time is up, or else you’ll lose it.
Country Restrictions
Normally, the betting site will have already excluded some customers from getting the free bet based on their geographical location. For example, players from Sweden may not be able to claim it, so it won’t be awarded at all. But in some cases, they may award you one, which you can’t exactly claim because of where you’re based. If this happens, you’re encouraged to request an alternative bonus instead and see what they say.
Wagering Requirements
The particular wagering requirements should never stop you from claiming free bets with no deposit because there’s no downside to using them. But you should be aware of what they are (e.g., 2x, 4x or 10x) as they will determine how you should play your winnings so you can eventually withdraw them. There may be further restrictions, such as minimum odds at which future bets must be placed to count towards the wagering requirements, so be aware of those, too.
The Main Benefits of No Deposit Sportsbook Bonuses
We’ve just said there’s no downside to claiming and using a betting bonus no deposit. But what are the actual upsides?
The first is that you can play for real money without risking anything. There’s no need to make a deposit to get it or place a qualifying bet, so you’re using the betting site’s own money to give yourself a chance of winning real money.
This brings us to the second benefit: if your bet wins and you can meet the wagering requirements, you can win and withdraw real money with no risk at all.
The third is that it’s a chance to bet on a sport you wouldn’t normally bet on with your own money to see if you like it. Or a betting market you wouldn’t normally play, like Asian Handicaps in football or a top batsman market in cricket.
Lastly, in the case of the betting bonus no deposit awarded to you as a new customer, you can use it to see how much you like a site that’s new to you before deciding whether you want to make a real-money deposit there. Experimenting with a real money bet rather than playing with ‘paper money’ gives you a far more realistic experience.
Types of No Deposit Free Bets
Here are some of the most common types of free bets with no deposit based on when they’re awarded and what they can be used on.
Timings of the free bet being awarded:
- Free bet before the welcome offer: Awarded to you before you make your first deposit.
- Loyalty free bet: Awarded to you after you’ve made your first deposit and after you've been playing at the site, it’s given to you as a reward for being a good customer or to tempt you to come back if you’ve recently been inactive.
Free bets by restrictions:
- No restrictions: You can use the free bet on any sport, on any competition, on any type of betting market.
- No restrictions except minimum odds: As per above, except the bet must be placed at minimum odds. For example, 1.8 or 2.0; it’s not often the minimum odds are higher than 2.0.
- With restrictions: The free bet has restrictions in terms of the sport(s) it can be placed on, the competition/league or the type of betting market.
- One-off free bet: By "one-off" we mean it has to be placed on a one-off event such as a particular tennis match or a particular competition, like the Indian Premier League.
In all cases, there will always be a time restriction on when it must be used before it expires.
Differences Between Risk-Free Bets and No Deposit Free Bet Bonuses
Risk-free bets and no deposit free bets are both types of sports betting bonuses, but they work in very different ways.
When it comes to such things as the restrictions on both types and the timings however, the two are very similar. It wouldn’t be that unusual for a risk-free bet and a free bet no deposit to have exactly the same characteristics at the same betting site.
That said, of the two, risk-free bets are generally for slightly larger amounts, while no deposit free bets tend to have stricter wagering requirements.
The reason for these last two points lies in the key difference between the two.
A no deposit free bet is placed using the betting site’s own money. You could have zero funds or just a couple of pennies in your account and still use the free bet.
A risk-free bet on the other hand can only be used if you have funds to the value of it in your account. It could either be the case that the money is already in your account, or it could be that you decide to make a deposit specifically so you can use the risk-free bet. Either way, if you’re claiming and using a £5 risk-free bet, you’ll need that amount in your account to claim the offer.
The next key difference is what happens if the bet loses. If your free bet loses, that’s the end of it. If your risk-free bet loses, you’ll be refunded its value when it’s settled by the bookie or shortly after.
If the bet wins, with the free bet, you keep the winnings (not the stake) and need to turn them over before withdrawing. With the risk-free bet, you get to keep the value of your stake and the winnings, but the latter are also (almost always) subject to wagering requirements.
Are No Deposit Betting Bonuses Available for All Sports?
It really depends. As explained in the section about the types of no deposit free bets, sometimes they can be used on any sport of your choice.
Where this is the case, the free bet is likely to be able to be used on any competition and betting market within that competition as it’s too complicated to have it available to use on any sport and then have to specify which particular leagues within that sport it can be used on. So, in this first case, it really is a one-size-fits-all free bet.
In other cases, the no deposit betting sites may limit the free bet to a particular sport, generally one that’s very popular, like football. Where this happens, it’s possible you need to use it on a particular competition, such as the Premier League. Often, the free bet is made available towards the start of the competition, with the free bet used to generate interest among customers. In other cases, it can be used on any football match of your choice. As ever, the terms and conditions will determine this.
What some betting sites do is offer two or three such no deposit bonuses, each time on a different sport, throughout the year. That way they encourage customers to try out different sports they may not necessarily bet on.
Tips for Finding the Best No Deposit Betting Sites
If it’s free bets with no deposit you’re after, you’ve certainly come to the right place.
On this very page, you’ll find all the best ones currently available, with all the information you need to know about them, including of course the specific website that’s offering it. Remember that any site we feature at AskGamblers has already been approved by our team of experts as a safe, reliable betting site that ticks all the necessary boxes so if you decide to take up the free bet offer, you’ll be in good hands at that particular site.
Here are a few tips to consider when accepting and using free bets:
- Choose the best ones: It’s not practical to open lots of new accounts just in order to claim one that’s available before you make your first deposit. Choose a couple where the value of the free bet is decent, can be used on sports you like, and the terms and conditions are fair rather than having excessively high wagering requirements.
- Use the free bet wisely: If the free bet is available at a site where you already have an account, there’s generally no downside to claiming it. But make the most of it by choosing what you’re going to use it on, and don’t be overly ambitious in terms of the odds at which you place it. A winner at 2.5 is better than a loser at 10.0. Also, make sure you understand all the Ts and Cs relating to it, so you don’t miss out. If necessary, check with Customer Service to clarify any doubts.
- You don’t need to deposit: If your free bet loses, don’t feel you need to make a deposit as a ‘thank you’ for being given the free bet. If you’ve exhausted your monthly budget or are taking a break from playing, leave it at that. The betting site may offer you a further free bet in the near future anyway.
