The minimum deposit at a bookie is normally around £5 and there are a handful of sites who will offer up £20 in free bets to punters willing to throw in a fiver to test them out.
These sign up bonuses represent excellent value, clocking in at 4x your deposit in free bets or bonuses. Often these bonuses are split into multiple free bet tokens, so £20 may actually be given as four x £5 free bets or two x £10 free bets.
The smaller offers tend to be sports only whilst the larger Bet £5 Get £30 type promotions often include a casino or games portion alongside some free bets.
Hint: See also our list of Bet £10 Get £30 offers
£5 Minimum Deposit Betting Sites
Are These Offers Too Good to be True?
On the surface you could be excused for thinking these sound a little fishy. After all, why is the bookie willing to hand over four times as much in free bets as you’re risking? Thankfully there’s nothing iffy going on and they simply a marketing tactic that create a win-win situation – they provide excellent value for punters but also help draw in custom to the bookie.
From the betting sites perspective the hope is that after you’ve claimed your sign up offer, you’ll then stick around and continue to bet with them. And whilst some people will win and others will lose, the average value they derive through their margins is more than the cost of the initial bonus.
There has been some criticism of the offers particularly when it comes to whether or not they’re misleading, but this relates more to how they are presented rather than the offers themselves. So long as the terms are fair and you understand the requirements of the promotion there is nothing dodgy about them whatsoever.
What Deposit Method Can I Use?
The offers on this page only require a £5 deposit to claim them, however we should point out that not all payments methods have the same minimum deposit which means that in some scenarios you could need to deposit more than £5 to claim your bonus (although in this scenario you would still only need to bet £5 of your larger deposit to claim).
At most bookmakers, especially the ones who offer bonuses on a £5 deposit, the lowest amount you can deposit is £5 and this is normally done via a debit card. Sometimes other deposit methods also have a £5 minimum, but you’ll often find that things like ewallets and cash vouchers have a higher minimum of £10.
It is also important to point out that some bookies will restrict certain payment methods for their introductory offer. So whilst there could be a scenario where a site offers a bonus on £5 deposit and has a £5 minimum deposit with Neteller, but doesn’t allow you to claim the bonus if that £5 is deposited with Neteller.
For example, you could have an offer that breaks down as follows:
| Payment Method | Min Deposit | Bonus Trigger | Deposit Required |
|---|---|---|---|
| Debit Card | £5 | £5 | £5 |
| PayPal | £5 | £5 | £5 |
| Skrill | £10 | £5 | £10 |
| Neteller | £5 | Not Permitted | n/a |
Note: This is a fictional example to illustrate the concept, it doesn’t relate to any specific offer. Deposit methods and minimums vary by bookmaker.
Generally speaking a debit card is the payment method of choice for the bookies when it comes to bonuses, so if you’re planning on depositing via card you should be OK. For all other methods check the terms of the specific offer you want to claim.
Minimum Bet Requirements
Once you’ve made your deposit you’ll then normally be required to place a qualifying bet before your free ones are released. The qualifying bet will need to be the amount listed in the offer, regardless of how much you deposited. So if you chose to make a larger deposit than £5 you should still only need to bet the minimum £5 to claim the offer.
You will normally find a minimum odds requirement on the bet that you need to place to receive the free bets. This just means that the odds of the bet you place can’t be very low – ie: they’re trying to stop you qualifying by betting on Arsenal to beat Skegness with a 5 goal handicap at odds of 1/1000.
The actual minimum odds will vary between sites and even multiples offers from the same site might have different terms, but for most decent bookies they’re normally in the range of 1/2 to evens. This basically means that aside from the super low odds that you’re not too restricted.
In addition to the minimum odds you could find that there are additional requirements on the type of bet you place. For example, you might need to place it on football or racing, or you could find certain bets excluded. All of this information will be included in the key terms listed along side the offer in the list above.
Can I Withdraw My Winnings?
Absolutely. Once you’ve placed your qualifying bet and received your free bets you can then use them to place bets on the site. The free bets themselves cannot be withdrawn as they need to be wagered but the returns from that bet are normally then yours to keep. Sometimes the free bet token is returned back to you if you win and other times it doesn’t, meaning that you only receive the winnings from your free bet and not the stake.
What difference does this make? Look at the table below and you’ll see the difference between the stake being returned with the free bet:
| Free Bet Stake | Stake Returned? | Odds | Result | Payout |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| £5 | Yes | 4/1 | Win | £25 |
| £5 | Yes | 4/1 | Loss | £0 |
| £5 | No | 4/1 | Win | £20 |
| £5 | No | 4/1 | Loss | £0 |
Sometimes you’ll find that the payout has wagering requirements attached, and whilst we’re pleased to report that at time of writing this is relatively rare for the free bet version of a bet £5 get £20 offer, you should still check the terms of the specific offer you’re claiming so that you know exactly what you’re signing up for.
If the bonus that you’re claiming also contains a casino portion – such as free spins or a games bonus – then it will almost certainly come with wagering requirements. For example, you might need to play through the winnings from your free spins a certain number of times before withdrawing. If there are wagering requirements added to the casino part of the bonus it shouldn’t affect the sports side.