What existing customer betting offers actually cost once the Gambling Commission's 10x cap and the small print land

Updated October 2026

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Most betting offers advertise themselves the same way. “Risk-free.” “Free bet.” “Boosted odds.” “Best price.” Each one carries a number the reader has to weigh against the offer itself — and the smaller print decides which side of that weighing the punter lands on. From 19 January 2026 the Gambling Commission’s promotion rules cap wagering requirements on bonuses at 10x and ban mixed-product promotions that tie a sports bet to a casino bonus. Those are not editorial recommendations; they are the rules every Great Britain-licensed bookmaker now operates under. This guide looks at what existing customer offers are worth once those rules and each operator’s own terms have done their work, who each one suits, and where the arithmetic leaves the reader out of pocket.

Data current as of 27 October 2026 and cross-checked against the Gambling Commission’s public register of remote betting licences.

Why the Promotion Rules Changed, and What the 10x Wagering Cap Does in Practice

The Gambling Commission brought the new promotion rules into force on 19 January 2026. The short version is that a free bet or a deposit bonus cannot carry a wagering requirement above ten times its value, and an offer that requires a customer to gamble on two or more product types — sports betting and casino, or betting and bingo, for example — is banned outright. A £10 bonus used to demand £500 of qualifying bets at 50x; under the cap no more than £100 of qualifying bets is required. The rule is a ceiling, not a floor: a bookmaker can still set the requirement at any number up to ten, and many set it lower. Free bets that carry no wagering requirement sit in a grey area the Commission has not finally settled — the published position does not establish whether the 10x cap applies to those tokens.

Consequence lands first on the long-tailed bonus. A bookmaker offering 200% on the deposit at 8x is not breaking the law; the qualifying turnover is still painful at £1,600 on a £200 deposit, and the punter’s expected cost on a football coupon at a 5% margin is £80 before a single withdrawal clears. The cap stops the worst excesses; it does not turn a heavy bonus into a light one. The mix-product ban takes a different shape: offers that used to read “bet £20 on football to claim 50 free spins” no longer exist on a GB-licensed site, and a punter who would have collected both halves now collects only the sports half. Several operators had run their headline welcome packages that way; the welcome section below shows the split once those offers are rewritten.

The rule is also a constraint on the existing customer offer. Most existing-customer deals are short — a price boost on the Saturday football card, a free bet for settling an accumulator, an odds lift on a featured horse race — and many of them carry no wagering requirement at all. Those sit outside the cap, and they are the bulk of what a GB punter sees after the welcome has been claimed. The Commission’s intervention changes the marketing floor; it does not redo the everyday menu.

The verification regime runs alongside it. Every GB-licensed online bookmaker verifies name, address and date of birth before the first deposit, including where the deposit is then spent on a free bet. GAMSTOP is a mandatory condition of the licence. A financial vulnerability check has applied since 30 August 2024 and kicks in once deposits minus withdrawals cross £150 in a rolling 30-day window. Credit cards are banned for gambling at any licensed operator. None of these protections follow the punter to a Curaçao or Malta site.

What Wagering Requirements, Minimum Odds and Free Bet Stakes Actually Cost

Three terms carry almost all of the cost in a sports betting promotion, and each one does a different job.

The wagering requirement is the multiple of the bonus that has to be turned over in qualifying bets before any winnings become withdrawable. At 10x on a £20 bonus the qualifying turnover is £200, on a £50 bonus it is £500, on a £100 bonus it is £1,000. Each turnover bet is also subject to a minimum odds floor and a minimum stake; bets below either do not count, and the clock keeps running. Punters who ignore the floor end up doing the turnover several times over.

The minimum odds is the floor at which a turnover bet actually counts. It is usually expressed as a fraction (1/2, evens) or a decimal (1.50, 2.00). At 1/2 the bet just has to be a winner; at evens (2.00) the bet has to double the stake. The cost difference between the two is the size of the spread the bookmaker can hold. On a Premier League match at 1/2 the market margin is typically 6% to 8%; at evens it is similar. The turnover bet therefore costs the punter the stake multiplied by the market margin, on average, before any bonus structure has paid back.

The free bet stake is usually not returned with the winnings. A £10 free bet at 5/1 that wins pays £60, not £70 — the £10 stake is forfeit. This is the difference between a free bet and a cash stake: a winning cash bet pays stake + winnings; a winning free bet pays winnings only. The Commission does not require a bookmaker to refund the stake, and the major operators do not.

The expiry is the clock on the wagering requirement and on the free bet itself. Most GB operators set seven days for sports free bets; some offer longer, and a few shorten it. A free bet that expires before the punter has placed it costs the punter the full face value of the bet.

Worked example: turning the bonus terms into a number

Coral’s Unit test sports welcome — taken from the operator’s own terms — pays £40 in free bets for a £20 qualifying bet at minimum odds of 2.0 (1/1), with the free bets expiring 7 days after issue. The arithmetic, on the assumption that the punter uses the full free-bet value before expiry, the free-bet stake is not returned, the qualifying market has a 5% margin, and a bonus requires turnover at 1x the free-bet value (the offer carries no further rollover):

• Qualifying bet: £20 at 2.0 on a market with a 5% margin. Expected cost of the qualifying turnover = £20 × 5% = £1.00. The £20 stake is the punter’s regardless; the £1 is what the margin takes on average.
• Free bet value: £40 split into tokens at minimum odds of 2.0, stake not returned. On a market with a 5% margin the value of the free bet is £40 × (2.0 − 1) ÷ 2.0 × (1 − 5%) = £40 × 0.5 × 0.95 = £19.00. That is the average worth of the free bet across many uses, before expiry and before the markets are chosen.
• Net expected value to the punter: £19.00 (free bet value) − £1.00 (qualifying margin) = £18.00. The face value of the offer is £40; the realistic expected value is £18.

The same shape holds across the welcome offers in the table below. Where the welcome carries a heavier qualifying bet or a shorter expiry, the realistic value falls; where the minimum odds are low and the expiry is generous, it rises. None of the welcomes on the GB market today converts face value into pounds on the betting slip.

Where General Betting Duty and the Operator’s Tax Sit in the Price

The punter pays no tax on betting winnings in Great Britain. General Betting Duty is the operator’s tax on gross profits, currently 15% and rising to a 25% remote rate from 1 April 2027 for online sports bets outside UK horse racing, pool betting, self-service betting terminals and in-person betting. The remote rate on UK horse racing stays at 15%. The new rate is announced and staged; no early start date has been published.

Whether the rate rise reaches the punter through odds is not established. Bookmakers absorb duty out of margin; the duty rise narrows that margin and operators respond in different ways — some tighten the price, some cut the welcome, some hold the offer and pass the cost through stake limits. A punter watching the price of a Premier League match over the season will not see a clean line; what they will see is a 1 to 2 point shift on the overround on a typical Saturday card. Spread betting, which is financial and not a sports bet, has its own rates (3% on financial, 15% on other) and is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority rather than the Gambling Commission.

The Commission’s statutory levy is a separate charge to the operator and does not touch the punter’s odds.

Responsible Gambling, Player Protection and the Limits the Law Actually Sets

GB-licensed online bookmakers operate under a layered set of player-protection duties. GAMSTOP is a mandatory licence condition since 31 March 2020 and lets a customer self-exclude across every licensed online operator for six months, one year, five years, or five years with auto-renewal; after the minimum period the exclusion stays for a further seven years unless the customer asks to remove it. GamCare runs the National Gambling Helpline. GambleAware funds treatment and education. The NHS runs gambling clinics. Gamblers Anonymous runs peer support.

The financial vulnerability check is in force from 30 August 2024 and applies to licensed remote betting once deposits minus withdrawals exceed £150 in a rolling 30-day window (since 28 February 2025). It is a public-record check — bankruptcy, county court judgments, similar registers — not a credit check and not an income check. The fuller financial risk assessment (the “affordability check” the press has discussed for years) is announced, staged and has no start date. The Commission’s article of 7 July 2026 sets out the staged plan but does not commit to a date, and a punter reading the press on a Monday morning should not be told the check is in force.

Deposit limits are operator-set and customer-set. The first phase of the RTS 12 deposit-limit framework has applied since 31 October 2025; a second phase was postponed to 30 September 2026 and whether it is live is not established. The state does not set a ceiling; the operator’s safer-gambling tools do, and the punter can set their own. Credit cards have been banned for gambling at licensed operators since 14 April 2020, including credit-card-funded e-wallet deposits. Identity verification before the first deposit means no anonymous play at a licensed site, and source-of-funds questions at higher spend are routine under anti-money-laundering rules.

A punter who moves to an unlicensed site loses all of this. There is no GAMSTOP coverage, no Commission complaints route, no approved dispute-resolution service, no British consumer redress if funds are withheld, no 10x bonus ceiling, no £150 vulnerability threshold. The Commission pursues unlicensed operators through cease-and-desist notices, search-engine referrals, work with registrars, hosts and payment providers, and is being given — or is about to receive — court-order DNS blocking powers. ISP blocking is not in operation. None of that makes the unlicensed site illegal for the customer, and the reader is not the target of the offence under section 33 of the Gambling Act 2005; what they lose is every protection the licensed site provides.

Welcome Offers and Existing Customer Deals: What Each Operator’s Terms Actually Say

The welcome offer is the headline; the existing customer menu is the substance. The two are different products and they cost the punter different amounts, and the table below reads from one to the other.

BetUK

BetUK’s sports welcome pays four £10 free bets — two on football accumulators of four or more selections, two on multiples of two or more — to a GB customer who deposits at least £10 and places a sports bet within 7 days of registering. The free bets are valid for 7 days. The split between acca-specific and multiples-specific tokens is unusual and shapes how the welcome is spent: the punter who wants singles will not get singles.

The existing-customer menu sits behind the welcome. BetUK is part of the LeoVegas Gaming PLC group on the Commission’s register (account 39198). A punter comparing the welcome to the everyday offering should expect the everyday offering to carry the bulk of the value, not the headline.

Copybet

Copybet’s two named existing-customer mechanics are the Acca Booster (up to 100% cash bonus on accas of three or more selections) and a Daily Profit Boost of up to 15%. Both are cash bonuses, which means the stake is paid back with the win and the bonus does not disappear at the 7-day expiry. The Commission account is 53774 (Copybet UK Limited).

The Acca Booster is the more demanding of the two: the acca has to land and the cash bonus has to be applied to the slip, and the punter who relies on the headline 100% should know the boost tiers down with the leg count. The Daily Profit Boost is a single-leg lift on a chosen market and is the cheaper entry. Both reward a customer who already bets on the sports in question; neither serves as a starter for a punter who has not yet chosen a sport.

Ladbrokes

Ladbrokes’ existing-customer offer is anchored on horse racing and accumulators: Best Odds Guaranteed on UK and Irish horse races, odds boosts on horse and greyhound bets, in-play betting and Acca Boosts. The licence is shared with Coral under LC International Limited (account 54743), so the two brands run on the same licence and the same compliance regime. Punters comparing the two menus should treat them as a single operator with two front doors.

The consequence is operational rather than promotional: a customer service query raised against one brand is answered from the same back office, and a dispute raised against the other is handled by the same alternative-dispute-resolution provider. For an existing customer the practical difference is which brand’s app they prefer and which brand’s price-boost calendar covers the sport they actually follow.

Bet600

Bet600’s welcome is a single £10 free bet credited after five qualifying single bets of £10 or more at evens (2.0) or greater within the first 7 days of registration. Five qualifying bets of £10 at evens is a heavy qualifying hurdle for a £10 free-bet return, and the punter looking at face value should not.

The licence is held by Tyche Tech Limited (Commission account 44731). The brand is small and the welcome is structured for a customer who would have bet anyway — the qualifying is the bet the punter would have placed at the prices they would have taken. A casual punter reading the welcome for the first time is being asked to bet £50 in qualifying stakes for a £10 free bet; a regular punter on this app is being asked to keep doing what they were doing.

Bet Ahoy

Bet Ahoy’s welcome is “Bet £10 & Get £10 in Free Bets”, split into a £5 sports bet and a £5 acca. The token split is similar to BetGoodwin’s split and forces the punter to spend part of the welcome on an accumulator. Commission account 100094 (Bet Ahoy Ltd) is recent; the brand is newer on the GB register than the established names.

The existing-customer menu behind the welcome is the question for a punter reading this brand for the first time, and that menu is not well documented on the public register. A punter who plans to keep the account open past the welcome should test the everyday menu on a quiet Saturday before staking on the welcome itself.

Betway

Betway’s welcome pays £40 in free bet tokens (4 × £10) on settlement of a first bet of at least £10 at minimum odds of 2.0, with a 7-day expiry and debit-card deposits only. The debit-card restriction is material: an Apple Pay or PayPal deposit does not qualify. The minimum odds of 2.0 is also higher than some competitors (1/2 is more common), and the qualifying turnover is steeper at 2.0 than at 1.5.

The existing-customer offering includes Football 4 Acca insurance, which provides a stake refund as a free bet for any four-fold acca missing by one leg. The Commission account is 39372 (Betway Limited). Betway is a heavyweight on the GB register and the menu is broad; the welcome is the smaller of the two products on the table.

Fitzwilliam Sports

Fitzwilliam Sports describes itself as a Dublin bookmaker with capped membership and runs a “High Stakes Welcome” subject to compliance criteria. The phrase “capped membership” is unusual on a GB-licensed site and is worth understanding: the brand does not target the mass market. The licence is held by SBKI Limited (Commission account 48760) and the GB-licensed site covers GB customers; the welcome is for the higher-stake end of the existing customer base.

A casual punter will not find a fit here. The bookmaker is built for a customer who already bets at a level that justifies the membership cap and the welcome’s compliance hurdle.

BetGoodwin

BetGoodwin’s welcome is “Bet £10 & Get £15 in Free Bets”, split across a £5 sports bet, a £5 acca and a £5 Sub-Cover bet. Goodwin Racing is the licence holder (Commission account 2927), and the licence is one of the older ones on the register, which carries operational weight for the punter.

The split across three token types is a tell: the welcome rewards the punter who plays each token type rather than the punter who plays one. A Sub-Cover bet is a Goodwin-specific market and the punter should understand what they are staking before the free bet is accepted.

LiveScore Bet

LiveScore Bet’s payment set is the most fully documented part of the brand on the public register: debit cards (Visa and Mastercard), Apple Pay, PayPal, Pay by Bank (Open Banking) and Revolut Pay. The Commission account is 56859 (LiveScore Betting and Gaming (Gibraltar) Limited). The brand leans on its score-data feed rather than a heavy welcome offer, and a punter comparing LiveScore Bet to a heavier welcome brand is comparing two different propositions.

The payment set is also a steer for a punter who uses a particular method. Revolut and Pay by Bank are newer on the GB market and not every operator takes them. LiveScore Bet does.

Kalooki Sportsbook

Kalooki Sportsbook is the small bookmaker at the heart of the welcome table: instant withdrawals by bank transfer within minutes, Best Odds Guaranteed on UK and Irish horse racing, in-play betting, daily boosts and extra place races. The brand is operated by Kalooki Sports Book Ltd (company number 12938274), licensed under Commission account 57730, and is a GAMSTOP member. The instant-withdrawal claim is the headline feature and is the part that matters most to a customer comparing bookmakers on payout speed.

The welcome is modest and the everyday offering is the proposition. A punter whose priority is fast payouts and a horse-racing focus will find a fit; a punter whose priority is a heavy welcome will not.

Top 10 UK Bookmakers for Existing Customer Betting Offers: A Consequence-Led Shortlist

The shortlist is built for consequence, not marketing. Each operator is rated for what the existing customer actually receives once the headline and the small print have been weighed against each other.

1. bet365 — broadest existing-customer menu in the GB market

bet365’s existing-customer menu is the broadest on the register. Bet Builder+ combines markets from one event into a single bet pre-match and in-play; Super Boosts, Winnings Boosts on Bet Builders and selected singles, and daily Bet Boosts round out the calendar. The licence is on the Commission’s public register and the brand has been a GB operator since the early 2000s. For a punter who already bets across sports, bet365 is the shortlist’s high floor: there is always a price lift, an acca insurance product or a Super Boost on the card, and the calendar covers the year.

The verdict sits on the calendar. A bookmaker that has a price boost every day is a different bookmaker from one that has a price boost on the big races only. bet365 is the first of those.

2. William Hill — acca boost with a £10,000 ceiling until 30 May 2027

William Hill’s Football Acca Boost covers accumulators of two or more legs with each selection at 1/5 or bigger, with the boost running from 3% on a double to 200% on 20 or more legs and a maximum boost of £10,000 per online bet. The promotion runs until 30 May 2027. The 1/5 minimum per leg is unusually low and is the part that makes the boost accessible to accumulators built from heavy favourites; the £10,000 ceiling makes it worth chasing for high-stake punters. The licence is on the Commission’s public register and the brand is one of the longest-running GB operators.

The verdict sits on the ceiling. A boost that pays up to £10,000 changes the calculus on a Saturday acca, and the 1/5 minimum leg odds widens the net of qualifying bets. The expiry is the part to mark in the calendar.

3. BetVictor — broad and steady acca and free-bet calendar

BetVictor’s existing-customer menu is regular price boosts, acca offers and free bets on selected events, with the welcome offers shown in the app and governed by the customer terms and conditions. BetVictor’s distinguishing feature on this shortlist is steadiness: the everyday menu is a calendar the punter can plan around, and the acca offers tend to be transparent on the leg-count and the minimum odds. The licence is on the Commission’s public register.

The verdict is for the punter who wants a calendar they can plan around rather than a flash offer. BetVictor is the second of those bookmakers.

4. Sky Bet — £30 welcome, three £10 tokens, low qualifying entry

Sky Bet’s welcome pays £30 in free bets as three £10 tokens, credited after a deposit of at least £5 and a first single or each-way bet of at least 5p at odds of 1/1 or greater. The qualifying threshold — 5p at 1/1 — is the lowest on the GB market and is the part that makes the welcome accessible to a punter who wants to test the brand before staking. The 7-day expiry is the constraint.

The verdict sits on the threshold. A welcome that qualifies at 5p is built for the punter who is not yet committed, and the three-token split rewards the punter who plays all three markets rather than the punter who consolidates.

5. Paddy Power / Betfair — the price-boost and BOG pair on a shared licence

Paddy Power and Betfair share the Flutter licence and run a combined existing-customer menu. The shared licence is the most important operational fact: the brands are different front doors on the same compliance regime and the same customer service operation. The existing-customer offering sits on price boosts, money-back specials and Best Odds Guaranteed on horse racing.

The verdict is operational. A punter who uses both brands is a punter using one operator with two apps, and that is a useful way to think about the price comparison on a particular race.

6. Ladbrokes — BOG on horse racing, acca boosts, in-play menu

Ladbrokes’ existing-customer menu is Best Odds Guaranteed on UK and Irish horse racing, odds boosts on horse and greyhound bets, Acca Boosts and in-play betting. The licence is shared with Coral (LC International Limited, account 54743). The proposition is horse-racing-led and the menu rewards a punter who already follows the racing calendar.

The verdict sits on the racing. A punter who bets on horse racing in any volume will find a fit at Ladbrokes; a punter who bets on football only will not.

7. Coral — daily Reward Shaker, Odds Booster, free-to-play fixtures

Coral’s existing-customer offering is the most varied on the high-street: a free daily Reward Shaker, an Odds Booster on hundreds of markets and free-to-play fixtures including Football Super Series with a £10,000 jackpot. The payment set covers debit cards (Visa, Visa Electron, Mastercard), Apple Pay, Revolut Pay, Google Pay, TrueLayer, Earthport and Trustly. The welcome requires a qualifying bet paid by debit card or instant bank transfer; an Apple Pay or Revolut Pay deposit does not qualify.

The verdict sits on the calendar. A bookmaker with a daily Reward Shaker is a different bookmaker from one with a weekly one, and the Football Super Series jackpot changes the value calculation for the punter who plays the free-to-play fixtures regularly.

8. Betway — football 4-fold acca insurance and the £40 welcome

Betway’s existing-customer menu is anchored on football 4-fold acca insurance, which refunds a stake as a free bet if one leg of a four-fold acca lets the punter down. The welcome pays £40 in free bet tokens (4 × £10) on settlement of a first bet of at least £10 at minimum odds of 2.0, with a 7-day expiry and debit-card deposits only.

The verdict sits on the debit-card restriction. A punter who deposits by Apple Pay or PayPal will not qualify, and a punter who uses a debit card will. The acca insurance is the everyday value.

9. Spreadex — fixed-odds and spread betting on one account, £60 welcome

Spreadex runs fixed-odds and spread betting on one account and is regulated by the Gambling Commission for fixed-odds betting and by the FCA for spread betting. The brand’s stake warning — that spread betting losses can exceed deposits — is on the homepage. The new customer offer is £60 in free bets for a £10 fixed-odds bet, with the free bets usable across fixed odds and spread betting; the qualifying bet must be placed within 28 days of opening the account. The minimum odds on the qualifying bet are 1/2. Acca Boosts pay a cash boost from 5% to 100% on football accumulators of three or more selections depending on the leg count.

The verdict sits on the spread side. A punter who already uses Spreadex for spread betting has a familiar account; a punter who has only used fixed-odds bookmakers before should understand that spread betting is a different product with a different risk profile.

10. BetGoodwin — £15 welcome split across three token types

BetGoodwin’s welcome is the most token-split on the shortlist: a £5 sports bet, a £5 acca and a £5 Sub-Cover bet. Goodwin Racing is the licence holder (Commission account 2927), and the licence is one of the older ones on the register. The everyday offering sits on horse racing, with Best Odds Guaranteed a likely feature on UK and Irish racing.

The verdict sits on the Sub-Cover token. A welcome that splits across three token types is a welcome for a punter who understands all three; a punter who plays only singles should know they will not get the full face value.

Existing Customer Mechanic Glossary: What Each Term Costs

Free bet. A token on which the stake is not returned with the winnings. A £10 free bet at 5/1 pays £60, not £70. The Commission does not require operators to refund the stake, and major operators do not.

Bet credit. A near-cousin of the free bet at some operators, where the stake is also not returned. The terms distinguish the two at each brand; a punter reading the small print should not assume they are interchangeable.

Enhanced odds / price boost. A short-term lift on the price of a named selection, usually settling back to the standard price once the event closes. The boost is on the headline odds; the wagering terms are usually light or absent, and a winning bet pays out at the boosted price.

Best Odds Guaranteed (BOG). A horse-racing concession: if the starting price is larger than the price taken, the bet is settled at the starting price. Available on UK and Irish racing at Ladbrokes, Coral, William Hill, BetVictor, BetGoodwin and others; not always on offer at every meeting.

Accumulator (acca) boost. A bonus on winning accas of a given length, usually expressed as a percentage of winnings or a fixed free bet. William Hill’s Football Acca Boost covers 2+ leg accas with each leg at 1/5 or bigger, from 3% on a double up to 200% on 20+ legs. Spreadex’s Acca Boost covers football accas of 3+ selections with a cash bonus from 5% to 100% on the leg count.

Acca insurance. A refund as a free bet if one leg of a qualifying acca lets the punter down. BoyleSports’ Acca Insurance requires opt-in, a minimum stake of £5, minimum odds of 1/2 and pays a maximum refund of £20 as a free bet that expires in 7 days. Betway’s football 4-fold acca insurance refunds a stake as a free bet if one leg of a four-fold acca lets the punter down.

Acca loyalty. A free bet for settling a stated number of accas within a stated window. BoyleSports’ Acca Loyalty requires opt-in, a £5 minimum stake, minimum combined odds of 3/1 and 5 or more settled legs, with a free bet expiring after 7 days.

Cash Out. A facility to settle a bet before the event closes, at a price the operator sets. Available on thousands of markets at Unibet and elsewhere. Cash Out availability is not guaranteed at every operator and a bet stands if Cash Out is unavailable (DAZN Bet is explicit on this point ).

Bet Builder / same-game multi. A bet built from multiple markets on one event. bet365’s Bet Builder+ combines markets from one event into a single bet, available pre-match and in-play. Kwiff’s Bet Builder+ combines Bet Builder bets from different games.

Supercharge. A feature at Kwiff that can instantly boost the odds on a bet, for example from 2/1 to 20/1, on single or multi bets.

Reward Shaker. A Coral daily free game that pays free bets and other prizes.

Free-to-play fixture. A prediction game that pays a cash or free-bet prize for picking the right outcomes on a fixed set of matches. Coral’s Football Super Series pays a £10,000 jackpot.

In-play betting. A bet placed after the event has started. Available at most GB operators; subject to the operator’s licence conditions and customer-suspension rules.

Live streaming. Live video of selected events. Unibet runs Unibet TV; SBK streams live horse racing.

Min odds / qualifying odds. The minimum price a turnover or qualifying bet must be at to count. Evens (2.0) is the common floor on welcome offers; 1/2 (1.5) is the floor on many acca-insurance products.

Wagering requirement. The multiple of a bonus that has to be turned over in qualifying bets before winnings become withdrawable. Capped at 10x on a GB-licensed sports betting bonus from 19 January 2026.

Expiry. The clock on a free bet or a wagering requirement. Most GB sports free bets expire in 7 days.

Maximum stake. The largest stake the operator will accept on a given market, set by the operator and not by statute. Bet boosts and Super Boosts usually carry a maximum stake limit.

Maximum boost / cap. The largest boost the operator will pay on a given promotion. William Hill’s Football Acca Boost caps at £10,000 per online bet.

Opt-in. A requirement, at many operators, that a customer actively consents to a promotion before placing the qualifying bet. Opt-in is not assumed by default.

Each-way. Two bets of equal stakes: a win bet and a place bet, with the place terms varying by race and operator. The stake doubles.

Rule 4. A deduction applied to winning bets when a horse is withdrawn from a race after the betting has opened. Operator-set; the scale is published.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the maximum wagering requirement on a betting bonus in Great Britain?

The Gambling Commission capped wagering requirements on bonuses at 10x from 19 January 2026, so a £10 bonus can never require more than £100 of qualifying bets. Whether the cap applies to free bets with no wagering condition is not finally settled. The cap covers bonuses, not price boosts or most existing-customer free bets, which usually carry no rollover.

What do minimum odds and the wagering requirement mean in a sign-up offer?

The wagering requirement is the multiple of the bonus you must turn over in qualifying bets before winnings become withdrawable; the minimum odds is the floor at which a turnover bet counts. A 10x bonus on £10 with a 1/2 minimum is a £100 turnover at any price of 1/2 or above; the same bonus at evens (2.0) raises the qualifying bar because fewer markets clear the floor.

Why is the stake of a free bet not paid back with the winnings?

A free bet is a token whose stake the operator does not return; a winning £10 free bet at 5/1 pays £60, not £70. The Commission does not require a bookmaker to refund the stake, and major GB operators do not. A cash stake pays stake + winnings on a win; a free bet pays winnings only.

Can a bet on sport be tied to a casino bonus under the Commission’s promotion rules?

No. The 19 January 2026 rules ban mixed-product promotions that require gambling on two or more product types, for example “bet on football to get free spins.” A sports-only bonus is permitted; a sports-plus-casino offer is not. The rule is a licence condition and applies to every GB-licensed operator.

How can it be checked that a bookmaker holds a Gambling Commission licence?

The Commission’s public register lists every licence holder by business name, trading name, domain and account number. Search the brand name and confirm a remote general betting standard (real events) licence is held. A .com domain is not a sign either way; GB-licensed operators use both .com and .co.uk. The register is the test.

Are betting winnings taxed in Great Britain, and who pays General Betting Duty?

Betting winnings are not taxed on the punter in Great Britain. General Betting Duty is the operator’s tax on gross profits and is currently 15%; from 1 April 2027 a 25% remote rate applies within it for online sports bets outside UK horse racing, pool betting, SSBTs and in-person betting. The Commission levy is a separate charge. The information here is general, not tax advice; a professional gambler should ask HMRC or an adviser.

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