With so much competition among online bookmakers now, offering punters a sign up bonus is par for the course. No longer should a would-be gambler even think about opening a brand new account without receiving a decent bonus, as your chosen firm will have definitely factored in bonus amounts within their accounts and are more than willing to pay them out.

Sign up bonuses of various sizes and shapes are available depending on how you open an account.  Betting sites offer you differing bonuses, depending on how you found your chosen bookmaker and how much you are willing to stake at first.

Top 4 Sign up bonus offer

Online Bookmakers	Bookmaker's Promotion	Amount	Bet Now
	Bet £10 and get £30 in free bets New online customers only, min £10/ €10 stake, win only, min odds 1/2, free bets paid as 3 X £10/€10, 30 day expiry, free bet/payment method/player/country restrictions apply.	£30	Bet now

Here we look at 11 betting sites offering sign-up bonuses:

Winner Sign up bonus

Under the banner of 200-Free; Winner offer a new account bonus similar to that of Bet365’s. There is a cap of £200 as before, though this time the minimum required deposit is £30. To qualify, you must ensure that you deposit the minimum amount as you sign up. The bonus will not be offered if you sign up with a lower amount and then add funds to reach £30 later on.

Winner has a much stricter stance on withdrawals too. Having received your £30 - £200 sign-up bonus, you will be required to settle bets to the value of at least 8 times your original qualifying deposit amount before you are able to make a withdrawal. Furthermore, only bets priced at 1/1 (2.0) and no bigger than 10/1 (11.0) can count towards your turnover requirement.

Also, despite receiving up to £200 in sign-up bonuses, the maximum you can stake with your first deposit and bonus is £50 per bet, per event. Winner’s sign-up bonuses, once the terms and conditions are fully understood, are less competitive than that of some of the larger online bookmakers.

Ladbrokes Sign up bonus

One of the traditional big boys on the high street, Ladbrokes is not to be outdone when it comes to online sign-up bonuses. Their (up to) £50 Free Bet promotion concerns a free sports match bet upon making your first bet with them. Although the maximum of £50 doesn’t show up comparatively well with Bet365’s £200 maximum at first glance, Ladbrokes’ offer is based on the stake of your first bet, rather than your deposit amount.

Up to £50 Free Matched Bet from Ladbrokes

TC's for F50 Multi Sports Offer:

18+. New customers only. Promo code 'F50' required. Certain deposit methods excluded. Min £/€5 on win or each-way bet excluding Tote or pools = match max £/€50 free bet. Min odds 1/2 (1.5). Bet must be made within 14 days. Free bet valid for 4 days. Free bet stake not returned. Single bets only. Free bet cannot be used on certain markets. T&Cs apply.

So, if you are willing to stake £50 on your first bet with Ladbrokes, they will match it with a £50 free bet. However, should you wish to only deposit £5 when signing up, as long as you stake this much on your first bet Ladbrokes will match that amount. Despite being based on your first bet rather than your deposit amount, this promo must still be claimed upon registration.

Sportingbet Sign up bonus

Sportingbet’s  Sports Welcome Bonus is made incredibly simple for new customers. Simply register on their website, deposit and place a bet worth £10 or more and Sportingbet will match that with bonus amounts. The maximum amount is £50 and bets must be at prices of 1/2 (1.5) or greater.

The turnover requirement is similar to the bigger bookmakers, i.e. bonus funds must be rolled over at least three times before you can make a withdrawal from the account.

Titanbet Sign up bonus

Using by now a very tried and tested formula, TitanBet offer to double your deposit amount on sign-up. Deposits of £10 or more are required for Titanbet to match the amount, with £50 once again being the maximum bonus. Again, bets placed with odds of 1/2 (1.5) or bigger will ensure you qualify for the matched amounts.

Titanbet’s rollover requirements are rather tough, if not quite as restrictive as Winner’s. You must bet with total stakes amounting to seven times that of your deposit and bonus before being able to make a withdrawal from the account, i.e. if you deposit £10 and receive a £10 bonus, your total is £20 meaning that you must make bets totalling £140 before making a withdrawal.

William Hill Sign up bonus

Another of the good old high street giants, William Hill offer a  sign-up bonus but it is rather poor in comparison to the newer kids on the block. Based once again on the amount of your first bet, rather than your overall deposit amount, William Hill promises to match your stake but only up to £25. A minimum stake of £5 is required for your first bet and once more the required odds are 1/2 (1.5) or bigger.

You can’t help but feel that some of the bigger names, especially William Hill, need to up their game when it comes to their online presence and especially when it comes to sign-up bonuses. Taken individually, the smaller online-only sports books may not seem like much competition to the big boys but collectively, they are a real threat.

How long before all of William Hill’s potential customers in the betting generation to come spread themselves out instead to all of the other online bookies to receive their bonuses, leaving William Hill short of new customers for the upcoming decades?

Bwin Sign up bonus

The Austrian firm have been a big hit in recent years and we have been complimentary about them on these pages before, particularly regarding their Protektor initiative.  Bwin sign-up bonus though is rather poor in comparison to most others, being capped at just £20.

In what is a very tight offer for new customers, a minimum deposit of £10 is required and bwin will match that amount with a bonus, but only up to £20. Furthermore the deposit and bonus amount must be rolled over at least five times before you can make a withdrawal from the account.

It seems that regular customers of bwin will get really good sports book content and plenty of ongoing offers, however should new sign-ups wane over the coming months and years I feel it would be a good idea for them to review their sign-up bonuses and get more competitive.

Betway Sign up bonus

Despite another turnover requirement of five times your deposit and bonus amount, similar to that of BWIN,  Betway’s Sports Welcome Bonus Offer is a relatively competitive one. A minimum deposit of £10 is not too prohibitive and they will match that amount up to £50. One good feature here is the ease of use; Betway will automatically credit your bonus amount on sign-up so there is no need to click a box manually or know where to find the offer.

Betway bonus turnover requirement of five times your deposit amount counts so long as bets made are at odds of 3/4 (1.75) or bigger. The requirement changes depending on the odds of your chosen bets, i.e. bets placed at odds of 1.3 – 1.74 will require a 25-times playthrough.

Unibet Sign up bonus

Unibet, headquartered in Malta like so many online firms these days, have become big players in recent years and their £30 Money Back offer is a little different to most sign-up offers. In this case, upon joining Unibet you deposit whatever amount you like and make your first bet. If it wins, you carry on as normal and bank your winnings. If it loses, Unibet will refund the amount up to £30 as bonus money into your account.

Coral Sign up bonus

Coral have attempted to spice things up with their own Welcome Offer, this time essentially giving you four times your opening deposit! This is based on only a £5 deposit amount however, though the deal is still a good one. Simply join up and make your first bet of £5 and Coral will credit your account with £20 worth of free bets.

As usual, minimum odds of 1/2 (1.5) apply for this offer and the offer of £20 of free bets stands for 14 days after the account is opened and the deposit placed.

Stan James Sign up bonus

Following some smart TV adverts aimed much more at the ‘lad’ community rather than the old fashioned gambler, Stan James have looked to get very much in the game in recent times in terms of online betting. Their Bet £10 Get £20 new customer offer is an attractive one once again because of its ease of use.

All you are required to do is register with Stan James (no promo codes are needed) and place a £10 bet on any sport in any market. From there, Stan James will automatically credit your account with a £20 free bet. The odds needed for your opening bet to qualify are required to be at 4.5 (1.8) or bigger, which is fairly generous in these circumstances.