Is one Open Account Offer the same as the next? Not when it’s the bet365 Open Account Offer!
One of the easiest mistakes any new customer to any sports betting, poker, bingo or casino site can make, is not getting the best possible value out of an open account offer, welcome bonus or similar.
Not only is this annoying when you eventually realise; it could also see you miss out on bonus cash. Especially if you repeat the same mistake at several different companies.
This represents a lost opportunity to experience more of what your chosen site has to offer, without risking your own cash!
Many top sites, such as bet365, will offer different open account offers for the different parts of their site. For example, there is an open account offer for those who join bet365 Sport and a different one for bet365 Casino/Games and another one for bet365 Poker and so forth.
First off, let’s start by examining the basics of what an open account offer is.
What is an Open Account Offer?
The answer is very much in the name regardless of which company you choose to join. An open account offer, new player promo or welcome bonus is an offer that the company uses to entice people that are not customers of their site, to join up and start playing with them.
These offers can take many different forms, although the types on offer have changed somewhat over the years.
In the early days of online gaming, some sites would offer a (usually small) no deposit bonus so you can trial the site for free before investing your own money. This option is now far less prevalent, although is still possible to find for some sites.
No deposit bonus as an open account offer are generally rare though, especially on sports betting sites. Instead, many sites offer users a chance to receive either a cash/credits bonus, or a free bet to a stated value.
To receive the open account offer, the new customer needs to either have deposited a certain amount with the site and/or placed their first bet of at least a stated amount on a qualifying market.
It should also be noted that some open account offers come with wagering requirements attached to any bonus you receive. These wagering requirements can vary markedly, so it is always a good idea to check out the terms and conditions of any open account offer before signing up.
Always remember to gamble responsibly.
Check out bet365’s Safer Gambling page for more details.
A Great Open Account Offer – bet365 Sport
Of course, clarifying these issues is much easier using an example, so we are going to use the current Bet365 Sports open account offer as the focus for this article for two key reasons.
Firstly, it is a very easy open account offer for new players to access fully and gain the full benefit of. Secondly, the wagering requirement of just 1x your bet credit means that any winnings you receive from a winning bet using your bet credits are yours to keep.
Let’s learn a little more about the current welcome bonus at bet365 Sport.
The Bet365 Sports Open Account Offer
Accessing a Bet365 Sports Open Account Offer as a new customer is relatively straightforward. Simply follow the step-by-step guide below to access the offer.
- Register with bet365 Sport.
- Log in to your new account.
- Complete the Verification and Know Your Customer process.
- Make a debit card deposit into your account of at least £5 up to £10 in value.
- Go to your account menu and select My Offers and click the Claim Now option for the Open Account Offer. This must be completed within 30 days of opening your account.
- Place your first wager on any qualifying betting market at bet365 Sport.*
- Wait for your bet to settle.
- Repeat steps 6 and 7 until you have wagered all of your deposit (up to £10).
- Once your deposit is fully wagered and the bets settled, you will receive 3x your first deposit as Free Bet Credits.
- You can then use your Free Bet Credits by placing a bet and ticking the Use Bet Credits box on the bet slip.
- Only debit card deposits qualify for the Open Account Offer at bet365. Other payment methods do not qualify for the welcome offer.
- You can place one or more bets when wagering through your deposit to release the bet credits.
- All bet credits received are based on 3x your initial deposit up to a maximum of £30 in bet credits.
The Full Terms and Conditions of the bet365 Sports Open Account Offer are outlined below:
Bet365 Sport Open Account Offer – Full Terms & Conditions
Significant Terms and Conditions
- Available to new customers only. Make a qualifying deposit of £5* or more and claim the offer within 30 days of registering your account to qualify for 300% of that amount in Bet Credits, up to a maximum of £30* in Bet Credits. Once released, your Bet Credits will be held in your account balance and are non-withdrawable.
- To release your Bet Credits for use, you must place qualifying bets to the value of your qualifying deposit (capped at £10*) and they must settle within 30 days of claiming the offer. Only qualifying bets placed and settled after claiming the offer will count towards this requirement.
- PayPal, paysafecard and all other prepaid credit and debit cards, where available, cannot be used for either your qualifying deposit or any subsequent withdrawal of returns from Bet Credits stakes unless we have successfully verified an accepted form of your Identity Documents and you have entered a Postal Verification Code (PVC), or we have successfully verified two accepted forms of your Identity Documents. See condition 2 of full Terms and Conditions for details.
- Bets placed must meet certain conditions to count towards the release of your Bet Credits:
- Must contain at least one selection at odds of 1/5 (1.20) or greater.
- Only the largest cumulative stake on an individual selection within a market/fixture combination (either pre-match or In-Play) will count towards the settled bets requirement.
- Where a stake has been partially Cashed Out, only the remaining active stake will count.
- Where a bet has been edited using our Edit Bet feature, only the new stake on the new bet will count.
- Fully Cashed Out, Instant Games, Gaming, Free Bets, void bets, In-Play bets which are settled as a push or Fantasy Sports entries will not count.
- Your Bet Credits are non-withdrawable, and Bet Credits stakes are not included in any returns. Any returns from Bet Credits placed will be added to your Withdrawable Balance. Bet Credits cannot be used on certain products, offers/promotions and bet types. See full Terms and Conditions for details.
- Your Bet Credits will expire 7 days after they are added to your Bet Credits balance.
See Full Terms and Conditions below.
* or currency equivalent
Full Terms and Conditions
Qualifying
- Offer available to new customers registering on or after 12:00 UK Time on 2nd March 2023.
- Make a qualifying deposit of £5* or more to qualify for 300% of that amount in Bet Credits up to £30* in Bet Credits. Your qualifying deposit is your largest deposit (capped at £10*) made in the 7 days prior to you claiming the offer. PayPal, paysafecard and all other prepaid credit and debit cards, where available, cannot be used for either your qualifying deposit or any subsequent withdrawal of returns from Bet Credits stakes unless we have successfully verified an accepted form of your Identity Documents and you have entered a Postal Verification Code (PVC), or we have successfully verified two accepted forms of your Identity Documents.For more details on accepted Identity Documents, how to enter a PVC, or to upload your Identity Documents, simply log in to your account, go to the Account menu then My Account and select Verification .
- You must claim your offer within 30 days of registering your account.
- The maximum amount of Bet Credits that can be claimed is £30*. For example, a qualifying deposit of £20* will qualify for £30* of Bet Credits.
Releasing your Bet Credits
- Your Bet Credits will be held in your account balance and are non-withdrawable. To release your Bet Credits you must place qualifying bets with a total stake value equal to or greater than the value of your qualifying deposit (capped at £10*) and they must settle within 30 days of claiming the offer. Only qualifying bets placed and settled after claiming the offer will count towards this requirement.
- Your Bet Credits will normally be available to use within one hour of the qualifying settled bet requirement being met.
- You may have more than one Bet Credits offer available on your account at any one time. However, qualifying settled bets will only count towards releasing one of the offers. You may choose which offer is active within the My Offers section of the Account Menu.
- Any single bets placed at odds of less than 1/5 (1.20) will not count towards the release of your Bet Credits. In multiple bets at least one selection must have odds of 1/5 (1.20) or greater to count.
- bet365 does not allow the ‘backing of both sides’ of a market or betting on multiple selections within a market/fixture combination to unfairly manipulate the release of Bet Credits. Where there is more than one stake placed on a market/fixture combination, only the largest cumulative stake on an individual selection (either pre-match or In-Play) will count towards the settled bets requirement (if you have placed the same highest cumulative stake on more than one selection then only one will count towards the settled bets requirement). Any bets settled on other selections in the same market/fixture combination will not count towards the release of your Bet Credits. For example, if you have a £5 bet on Man Utd to beat Chelsea and an £8 bet on Chelsea to beat Man Utd on the Full Time Result market, only the stake on Chelsea will count towards the release of your Bet Credits (if both bets were for £5 then £5 would count towards the release of your Bet Credits). If you were to place a further £4 bet on Man Utd to beat Chelsea, this cumulative £9 stake will count towards the release of your Bet Credits and not the £8 stake on Chelsea. In addition, if you were to place bets on the Win and Each Way market on three horses in the same race, two for a £5 stake and another for an £8 stake, only the £8 stake would count towards the release of your Bet Credits. This restriction also applies to market/fixture combinations where the same market is available on multiple separate occasions within the same fixture (either pre-match or In-Play), for example Tennis Current Set Winner or Next Game. If you have a £5 bet on Jelena Ostapenko to win the 3rd game (Next Game) against Ons Jabeur, and have a further £2 bet on Jelena Ostapenko to win the 4th game (Next Game), both bets will count towards the release of your Bet Credits. However, if you were to place a £9 bet on Ons Jabeur to win the 5th game (Next Game) only that bet will count towards the settled bets requirement, as it is the highest stake on a selection in that market/fixture combination, and not the £7 staked on Jelena Ostapenko. This term is applied in conjunction with the other restrictions.
- Fully Cashed Out, Instant Games, Gaming, Free Bets, void bets, In-Play bets which are settled as a push and Fantasy Sports entries do not count towards the release of your Bet Credits. Where a stake has been partially Cashed Out, only the remaining active stake will count towards the release of your Bet Credits. Where a bet has been edited using our Edit Bet feature, the original stake will not count towards the release of your Bet Credits and only the new stake on the new bet will count.
- If you do not have qualifying settled bets to the value of your qualifying deposit (capped at £10*) within 30 days of claiming the offer, your Bet Credits will be forfeit and removed and the offer will be closed.
Using Bet Credits
- Your Bet Credits are non-withdrawable. Any returns from Bet Credits stakes will be added to your Withdrawable Balance but Bet Credits stakes are not included in any returns. For example, a £10 bet placed at odds of 2/1 (3.00) would give a return of £30 (£20 winnings plus £10 stake), whereas a £10 Bet Credits stake placed at odds of 2/1 (3.00) would give a net return of £20, as the £10 Bet Credits stake is not returned.
- Stakes can be funded in part by your Bet Credits and part with your Withdrawable Balance; however the Bet Credits element of the stake will not be included in any returns. For example, a £10 bet placed at odds of 2/1 (3.00) which was funded by £5 Bet Credits and £5 cash would give a net return of £25 (£20 winnings plus £5 cash stake) as the £5 Bet Credits stake would not be returned. If a bet is void and has had an opportunity to win (for example, in the event of a push), Bet Credits stakes will not be returned. If a bet is void and has not had an opportunity to win (for example, when a Goalscorer bet is placed on a player who does not then take part in the match), Bet Credits stakes will be returned.
- For the purpose of Cash Out, the value displayed will already have the Bet Credits stake removed and will be the actual return received if Cashed Out.
- Your Bet Credits cannot be:
- used as stakes on Tote (including other pool betting), Colossus bets, Lotto markets and Fantasy Sports entries;
- used as stakes on Bankers, If Bets, Reverse If Bets or Teasers.
- Your Bet Credits will expire 7 days after they are added to your Bet Credits balance. If additional Bet Credits are added to your Bet Credits balance within this 7 day period, the total Bet Credits balance will expire 7 days after the last addition.
- Bets placed using Bet Credits will not qualify for the following boosts:
General
Employees, officers and directors of bet365, its promotional or other agencies, licensees and licensors, service providers and any other associated or affiliated companies shall not be eligible for the promotion. The same terms shall apply to the direct families of such persons.
These terms and conditions are to be read in conjunction with our General Terms and Conditions .
This offer is available in multiple currencies depending on your account preference and the specific information relating to minimum deposit and maximum Bet Credits currency equivalent values is stated here. These currency equivalent values are reviewed periodically against market rates and may be increased or decreased accordingly.
This offer closes to new customers at 11:59 UK Time on 10th September 2024 and can only be claimed by customers who register prior to this time (must be claimed within 30 days of registration).
This offer is only available to customers residing in Great Britain and Republic of Ireland.
Where any term of the offer or promotion is breached or there is any evidence of a series of bets placed by a customer or group of customers, which due to enhanced payments, Free Bets, Bet Credits or any other promotional offer results in guaranteed customer profits irrespective of the outcome, whether individually or as part of a group, bet365 may reclaim the enhanced payment, Free Bet, refund payment or Bet Credit element of such offers and/or void any bet funded by the Free Bet or Bet Credits. In addition, where there is evidence of such activity, bet365 may levy an administration charge on the customer up to the value of the Bet Credits, Free Bet, refund or enhanced payment towards the administrative costs incurred in identifying and taking action against the activity.
bet365 may reclaim any bonus amount, Free Bets, Bet Credits, refund amount or enhanced payments that have been awarded in error.
All customer offers are limited to one per person. If bet365 has reasonable grounds to suspect that the bonus or offer is being claimed by or for the benefit of the same person more than once or by a group of people then it may withdraw the availability of any offer or all offers to that customer or group of customers and/or void any bet funded by the bonus or offer and remove any winnings from such bet.
bet365 may, at any time, make minor amendments to this promotion to correct typographical errors or to improve on clarity or customer experience and may cancel this promotion for legal or regulatory reasons.
Maximising your Bet365 Sports Open Account Offer
The key to maximising your Bet365 Sports bonus is to understand that the value of the bonus hinges on the size of your first deposit with the company and you subsequently betting through that amount on site on qualifying bets.
This is different to previous welcome offers at bet365 which used to be solely based on your initial deposit.
The size of the current bet365 welcome bonus is based on the size of your first deposit. You must also make your qualifying deposit using a debit card payment method. Other payment methods will not qualify for the bonus.
Your subsequent betting through the deposit with the company is what releases the bonus when you have wagered all your initial deposit amount.
Just remember, to gain the maximum £30 in bet credits, you need to deposit £10 or more via debit card, activate the offer and then place £10 worth of qualifying bets!
Using Your Free Bet Credits
It is very easy to use your bet365 bet credits.
Simply add any selection you want to back to your betting slip and then when it comes to entering your stake, look for the box that says Use Bet Credits. Select the box and the bet will be placed using your bet credits, rather than any cash in your standard balance.
You can use your bet credits with bet365 how you like. You could place 30 x £1 bets using £30 of bet credits, or one £30 bet credit wager. Or any other combination of wagers. It is an extremely flexible, and generous bonus to use and a great way to get to try out different parts of the bet365 Sport site.
Just remember that there is a time limit of seven days for you to use your bet365 Free Bet Credits once you receive them.
I am an Existing bet365 Customer but have never used bet365 Sports. Can I still claim the Open Account Offer?
This is a good question and the answer is that it is unclear if you can. Certainly, bet365 used to allow customers to access a bonus on one of its sites and then when that bonus was complete, access another on another site.
It may be worth contacting customer services if you are genuinely new to bet365 Sport as they will be able to answer your query. There doesn’t appear to be anything in the terms and conditions of the bonus that disqualifies customers that already have a bet365 account from accessing the bet365 Sport welcome offer if they are new to that site.
However, it is not expressly stated that they can access the offer as an existing customer either! As such, customer services are the best place to check for clarification.
Want to take your Bet365 Sports knowledge to the next level? Read our guide to acca bets on Bet365.
Always remember to gamble responsibly.
Check out bet365’s Safer Gambling page for more details.
Updated on September 3rd 2024
