Minimum odds, qualifying stake, wagering requirements, expiry windows. The five T&C lines that decide whether a free bet is worth taking.
A good guide answers a plain-English question with a single cross-referenceable paragraph, then expands on the edges where mistakes are made. The method is to show the mechanism, cite the T&C wording that matters, and walk the reader through a worked example.
The worked example
Imagine a ten-pound bet at decimal odds of 5.0 (fractional 4/1). Win returns fifty pounds including stake — forty pounds profit. If the bet is each-way, the stake doubles to twenty pounds (ten on win, ten on place). The place return is fractional on the win odds, typically 1/4 or 1/5 depending on field size.
Where the T&Cs hide
Qualifying stake, minimum odds, expiry period, wagering requirements. These four lines decide whether a free bet is worth taking — and they are the four lines operators bury deepest.
How the UK market has evolved
Fifteen years ago, fractional was the default UK format; decimal was the exchange format. In 2026 most operators default to decimal, because their margin calculations run in decimal. Our methodology uses decimal primary with fractional in parentheses on first mention (5.0 (4/1)) because we calculate margin on decimal values.