Today’s Best Welcome Offers in Ireland
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- Editorial4.00
- Trustpilot3.60 (5.1k reviews)
- App Store4.40 (901 reviews)
- Google Play4.30 (2.9k reviews)
Score4.06
| Min. Deposit | €10 |
|---|---|
| Max. Amount | €70 |
| Turnover | No wagering (5x on casino) |
| Expiration | 7 days |
- Editorial3.00
- Trustpilot1.50 (1.5k reviews)
- App Store4.70 (766 reviews)
- Score3.05
| Min. Deposit | €10 |
|---|---|
| Max. Amount | €50 |
| Turnover | No wagering |
| Expiration | 7 days |
- Editorial4.00
- Trustpilot1.30 (6.8k reviews)
- App Store4.70 (16k reviews)
- Google Play4.50 (262k reviews)
- Score3.70
| Min. Deposit | €10 |
|---|---|
| Max. Amount | €30 |
| Turnover | No wagering |
| Expiration | 7 days |
- Editorial4.00
- Trustpilot3.30 (5.2k reviews)
- App Store4.70 (2.2k reviews)
- Score4.00
| Min. Deposit | €10 |
|---|---|
| Max. Amount | €50 |
| Turnover | No wagering |
| Expiration | 7 days |
- Editorial3.00
- Trustpilot3.80 (4.3k reviews)
- App Store4.30 (12 reviews)
- Google Play2.20 (192 reviews)
- Score3.26
| Min. Deposit | €10 |
|---|---|
| Max. Amount | €10 |
| Turnover | No wagering |
| Expiration | 7 days |
- Editorial4.00
- Trustpilot1.20 (3.5k reviews)
- App Store4.70 (798 reviews)
- Google Play4.30 (12.5k reviews)
- Score3.64
| Min. Deposit | €5 |
|---|---|
| Max. Amount | €30 |
| Turnover | No wagering |
| Expiration | 7 days |
What Is a Welcome Offer?
The name pretty much gives it away, but welcome offers are used by bookmakers as incentives to attract new customers. You can go on pretty much any of the top Irish betting sites and find at least one offer that is aimed at new punters, from free bet deals to money-back deals.
These offers tend to be rather generous, but it also means that you can only claim them once, and you are also restricted to one offer per site. As an example, you cannot claim the sports offer and the casino offer at BoyleSports, you would need to choose one.
There are also other terms and conditions attached to the offers, such as a cap or wagering requirements on the winnings. Minimum deposit is another common one, i.e. the amount needed to even qualify for the offer, unless you find yourself in front of a no-deposit offer (extremely rare!).
We will go through some of the most common types of welcome offers in further detail below, but free bet deals are definitely the most popular. As an example, you might stake €10 and get €20 back to bet for, and usually they come with no wagering requirements either.
Different Types of Free Bets
When browsing the welcome offers in Ireland, you will find that they work in different ways. There might be some terms and conditions separating them, or the structure might be completely different. Below, we have outlined some of the most common types.
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Free Bets (Bet X Get X)
As alluded to above, this is certainly the most popular type of welcome offer in Ireland. For depositing and staking a certain amount, you get a certain amount in free bets, which can then be used to place bets without any stake from yourself.
To give an example, you might claim a 'bet €10 get €20 in free bets' deal. This means you have to stake €10, usually with minimum odds requirements, and wait for the bet to settle for the free bets to be credited. Then, the free bets usually have minimum odds requirements too.
Free bets might sound a bit contradictory, considering you are staking €10 to get them, but the point is that you don't need to provide a stake when placing the free bets themselves (hence the name). In most cases, the free bets don't have wagering requirements either, which is great.
On the casino side, the free bets are replaced with free spins/bonus spins, and you need to be a little bit more careful as the free spins more often come with wagering requirements.
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Matched Deposit
This type of welcome offer is more common for casino punters, but they do exist for sports punters as well. When you deposit a certain amount, usually up to X, the bookie credits the same amount as a bonus that you can then use.
Sometimes, the bookie will require you to stake the deposit as well before any bonus is credited, but that will differ from site to site. Considering that bonus funds are a bit more fluid than set free bets as well, there tends to be wagering requirements for this type of welcome offer.
To give an example, you might claim a '100% bonus up to €50' deal, which would mean you can get 100% of your deposit matched up to €50. Depositing more than that amount, as such, wouldn't give you any more as far as the bonus is concerned.
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Money Back
Just in the last couple of years, money-back deals have become quite common on betting sites, presumably because they protect themselves a little more from the welcome offers being abused. Anyway, these offers are just what they sound like.
To give an example, you might claim a '50% back on losses up to €25' deal. The exact workings will vary from bookie to bookie, but a common solution is that you get 50% back of your net losses during your first day of betting on the site.
The up to €25 part just means that no net losses above that amount will be returned, so if you lose €30, you will still only get €25. Generally speaking, we are not huge fans of this type of offer as it sort of encourages losses, but we understand that it can come in handy sometimes.
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No Deposit
As the name suggests, this type of offer requires absolutely no deposit from the punter, only that the registration and verification processes are completed. Now, before we get your hopes up, we should stress that these offers are extremely rare.
You will only find them every now and again, so it's not something you go looking for on a regular basis. Chances are it's one of the established betting sites offering it as well, so then there is the risk of you already having an account on the site in question.
In any case, just in case one does pop up, there tends to be three different varieties: Free bets with no deposit, free spins with no deposit, or a set amount of money to use for free on different sections of the website.
Wagering requirements are very common for these too, as the bookie would be exposing itself to huge losses if not.
Expert Opinion: How to Find the Best Offers
It would be fair to say that the betting market has become rather saturated with welcome offers, which can make it very frustrating to find the right one to claim. After personally reviewing a bunch of bookmakers with GRAI licences, and UKGC ones for that matter, it's clear you need to scratch beneath the surface.
Reading the terms and conditions is never fun, not in any situation, but that's ultimately what you need to do to find the best offers. While some betting sites have good welcome offers to claim, others do everything to make their offers sound like they are good.
A few of the key factors to look out for in the T&Cs are minimum deposit to qualify, minimum odds for the qualifying stake, market restrictions, wagering requirements, payment method restrictions, and finally maximum winnings.
Look out for these keywords and you should be able to decipher whether the offer is good or not. But as a general rule of thumb, offers with high wagering requirements (5x or higher) should be avoided, at least if you are a sports punter.
How to Claim Free Bets
If you are unfamiliar with the process of claiming a welcome offer on an Irish betting site, you can follow our guide below:
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Choose Your Preferred Welcome Offer
Thanks to our list at the top of this page, you can see the welcome offers available in Ireland, as well as the terms and conditions for each.
Once you have found an offer that you like, simply tap on 'Claim Offer'. Keep in mind that some of the offers listed on our site cannot be accessed if you go directly to the bookie, so click through our link to be sure.
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Register for an Account
Depending on the welcome offer and betting site, the process could vary slightly, but it's mostly the same on all betting sites.
BoyleSports is the example we have used in the images below, so it was just a case of going through the registration process, providing personal information, account details and the usual stuff.
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Verify Your Account
When we registered for an account on BoyleSports, we were asked to provide a few documents to verify our identity and home address.
On any betting site, not just BoyleSports, these documents can be uploaded in the account settings. The process is really smooth, even if the support staff might take a little longer to verify that the documents are real.
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Make a Qualifying Deposit
Once you have an account on the site in question, the next step will vary depending on the offer you have claimed. If we assume that it's a free bets deal, though, you will need to make a qualifying deposit and then stake that amount.
The stake might need to be at a certain minimum odds, but as you can probably guess, this varies from bookie to bookie.
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Use the Free Bets
Upon settlement of the qualifying bet, you will be credited the free bet(s), which can then be use as you wish. There may be some terms and conditions to follow, though, so make sure to check what applies to the offer that you have claimed.
Pros and Cons of Welcome Offers
Although most welcome offers might sound good at face value, punters should consider a few things before jumping all over them. We have listed some pros and cons about welcome offers below.
Easy to claim: Since the competition is so fierce among betting sites when it comes to welcome offers, most of them are rather easy to claim these days. It's not always the case, of course, but the good offers are definitely worth the time and effort to claim them.
No wagering requirements (usually): Most sports welcome offers come with no wagering requirements on the potential winnings, unlike many casino bonuses. If a sports offer does come with requirements, we would say that's a bit of a red flag.
Generous deals: Those who are new to sports betting will probably find that welcome offers are very beneficial. Again, it varies from site to site, but even though a deposit is needed to claim all the offers, you can sometimes get up to €50 in free bets (for example) just for staking €10.
Payment method restrictions: Most Irish betting sites restrict their welcome offers to certain payment methods, often excluding e-wallets. Of course, you could just switch to a debit card for the offer and then deposit with an e-wallet after that, but it's still worth keeping in mind.
Market restrictions: With some welcome offers, you will have less freedom due to market restrictions imposed by the betting sites. For example, you might need to bet €10 on a football acca, and some markets might not be eligible even for more generic free bets (such as each-way bets in horse racing).
Terms can deceive: Sadly, the terms and conditions that betting sites put out can sometimes be very confusing, even for us who work in the industry! This could result in you missing a key term that later comes back to haunt you, which is never ideal. Betting sites can do better here.
Key Terms and Conditions to Look Out For
Various factors play a big part when deciding if a welcome offer bonus is worthwhile, such as:
Payment restrictions: Not all payment methods will qualify for the welcome offer. E-wallets are usually excluded, such as PayPal, Skrill and Neteller, while debit cards, Apple Pay and Instant Bank Transfer tend to be accepted.
Minimum odds: Qualifying bets/wagers are almost always a thing when claiming a welcome offer, even if it's a deposit match. Usually, at least for the sports side of things, there are minimum odds for the qualifying bet too (2.0 or 1.50 are both standard).
Wagering requirements: Some welcome offers come with wagering requirements. Free bets deals usually avoid this, at least the good ones, but you will almost always find wagering requirements for sports and casino bonuses. Until these requirements are met, the winnings cannot be withdrawn.
Time limits: Betting sites typically put a time limit on how long the welcome offers runs for too. After the free bets have been credited, for example, there is usually just one week (7 days) to use them and meet potential wagering requirements. Opting in for an offer usually has to be done within a month too.
Sport, market, wager type restrictions: Some welcome offers will have other restrictions for the qualifying wager or the bonus money. It might be that the qualifying bet has to be on a certain sport or market, while free bets may also be restricted to certain markets. This is why the small print is key.
Maximum winnings: The last big thing to be aware of with welcome offers is that there could be a maximum win limit. Bookmakers put these in as part of the terms and conditions as another way to protect themselves from sustaining hefty losses from the offer.
Isak is an experienced content writer with a background in sports journalism. Having focused mainly on football in the past, he certainly knows a thing or two about the betting industry and what makes a good bookie. At BettingLounge, he makes sure that the content is up-to-date and presented in the best way possible.
