Nowadays it has become the done thing for bookmakers to have a ‘club’ for their loyal punters. Pretty much all of the top companies in the industry have one, with the aim being to keep bettors that like to have a regular flutter as happy as possible. It wasn’t always the case, however. When online bookies were only just getting started no one had thought to offer customers free bets as a way of keeping them happy. Until, that is, Sky Bet created their Bet Club.
For those of you that don’t know, the bet club is a way of getting punters to place their bets with the same company, such is the competitive nature of the online betting industry. I always suggest to people to have a number of different accounts in order to take advantage of the various offers put forward by each individual bookmaker, but that’s not what they want you to do. Sky Bet are aware that you might place one bet with them but then turn to a competitor to place your next one as they have slightly better odds. How can they deter you from doing that? By offering you a reward, of course!
What’s The Deal
The deal itself is easy enough to understand. If you opt-in to be a member of the Sky Bet Club and place £25 worth of bets prior to midnight on the Sunday of that week then in return you’ll be given a free bet token worth £5. That’s it. It really is that simple. You can even bet whatever amounts you want, so you can go for 50 bets of 50p each or a large bet of £25 to qualify for the free bet.
The only thing you need to do is make sure that your bets have minimum odds of evens (2.0) and that you don’t cash out those bets if you want them to qualify. It means that you would need to let your bet ride to its conclusion but given that you’re unlikely to be placing a bet that you think is going to lose, that shouldn’t be too much of a problem.
Other than cashed out bets and bets placed on the tote/pool bets, pretty much any other kind of sports bet will qualify you to be a member of the club, though it’s worth double-checking the T&Cs for your bet type. You won’t get a nickname or a membership card, but you will get a free bet credited to your account by 7pm on the Monday after the deadline.
Pretty much the only thing you need to remember, other than to place your £25 worth of bets and ensure that they’re on events with odds of evens or greater, is to ‘opt-in’. After all, what sort of club would let any old person be a member of it? No, you need to choose to be a member, but the rewards will be decent enough.
Spending the Free Bet
The £5 free bet will, as I mentioned before, be credited to your account by 7pm the Monday after the Sunday before. Now technically ‘midnight on Sunday’ is actually Monday morning, so essentially nineteen hours after the deadline has passed, you’ll receive your £5 free bet. You’ll have until 23.59 the following Sunday to spend it.
There is no limit as to what you can spend your £5 free bet on once you’ve received it. There are only two things you need to know about the free bet token. The first thing is that you won’t get the £5 stake back with any winnings that you might be lucky enough to get. The second is that the £5 token will not count towards the £25 you’ll need to spend to qualify for the following week’s free bet. In other words, if you want another £5 free bet token then you’ll need to stake £25 of your own money again before 23.59 on Sunday.
Can You Get Kicked Out Of The Club?
Like any club, there are certain rules that need to be met in order to remain a part of the Sky Bet Club. For starters, you will be kicked out if you fail to place £25 worth of bets for two consecutive weeks. That means that you can miss one week, but if you don’t bet the required amount the following week then you’ll be out.
The good news is that your exit doesn’t need to be a permanent one. All you need to do is opt back in and your return will be welcomed with open arms.
There’s also good news in the shape of not needing to opt-in before you place your bets. That is to say, all you need to do to become a member is place £25 worth of bets and choose to opt-in before midnight on the Sunday of the week you’ve placed your bets. It doesn’t actually matter which order you do those two things in just as long as you do them before the deadline.
This is handy for people that have, perhaps, opened a Sky Bet account and didn’t know the offer existed. If that’s you and you’re reading this on, say, Thursday after having placed £25 worth of bets or more then don’t worry, just opt-in and the £5 token will be yours. It’s also useful for people who didn’t think they were going to place £25 worth of bets in a week but ended up doing so. You too could be rewarded.