Brothers Fred and Peter Done are two of the biggest success stories in UK gambling history, turning their winnings from a wager on England to win the 1996 World Cup into Betfred, one of the nation’s most prominent bookmakers.

Betfred are now among the elite UK betting sites, with a strong track record of promotions, including a welcome offer featuring £50 in free bets.

We’ve unpacked the Betfred sign-up offer, explaining how it works and how it compares to rival bookies, as part of our in-depth review of the bookmaker known as the bonus king.

Found: 1967

Owners: Fred and Peter Done

Sports covered: 25

iOS app rating: 4.6 (63,000 reviews)

Android app rating: 4.3 (13,300 reviews)

Payment methods: Apple Pay, debit card, bank transfer, Pay By Bank

The Betfred new customer offer is one of the largest currently available in the UK, with Paddy Power and Betfair being the only other betting sites with free bets that also offer £50 as a welcome bonus.

However, unlike those other two bookmakers, Betfred give new users more freedom in how they choose to spend their welcome bonus, which is divided into five £10 free bet tokens.

Three of those tokens can be spent on any sport and used on any bet type, while the other two are reserved for accumulators.

Like a lot of welcome offers, bettors will need to deposit and wager a minimum of £10, with Betfred giving new customers seven days to complete the qualifying requirements before they release the free bets.

• Step 1: Register a new Betfred account using a link on this page.
• Step 2: Deposit using a debit card, Apple Pay or instant bank transfer.
• Step 3: Place a qualifying first bet of £10 or more at odds of evens (2.0) or greater on any sportsbook market, within 7 days of registering.
• Step 4: Once the qualifying bet settles, 3 x £10 free sports bets and two £10 accumulator free bets are credited within 10 hours.
• Step 5: Use the free bets within 7 days before they expire.

• Offer applies to new Betfred customers only, who must be UK and Gibraltar residents aged 18 or over. One offer is available per household
• Qualifying deposits can only be made via debit card, Apple Pay (linked to a debit card) or Truelayer Instant Bank Transfer only
• Qualifying bet must be £10 or more at odds of evens (2.0) or greater on sportsbook markets, settled within seven days of registering
• Any cashed out qualifying bets will not be eligible for the welcome bonus
• Free bets expire 7 days after being credited
• Customers must be successfully verified before free bets are awarded
• Free bets can’t be used on virtual sports

• High free bet total
• More freedom when using the free bets than some rivals
• No minimum odds on the free bets

• Deposits are restricted to debit card, Apple Pay or Truelayer Instant Bank Transfer
• Seven day expiry on a large quantity of free bets

Betfred has one of the deepest pools of ongoing offers available for existing customers.

Acca Flex is a promotion surrounding pre-match football accas. If every selection wins on a pre-match football accumulator of 5 or more legs - each leg at minimum odds of 1/2 - Betfred adds a cash bonus of up to 50% to the winnings. If exactly one selection loses, the stake is refunded as cash up to £10.

Double Delight & Hat-Trick Heaven is arguably Betfred’s standout feature and helps them stand out from other UK football betting sites. If your selection for first goalscorer does score the first goal, and then goes on to score a second, the odds will be doubled for an enhanced payout.

The promotion doesn’t stop there because if your chosen player scores a third, the odds will triple. It’s a unique football offer, but Betfred also run it for selected rugby league and rugby union matches too.

A fan of horse racing? Betfred offers both Extra Places and Super Extra Places across selected UK and Irish horse races, alongside daily Best Odds Guaranteed.

Rewards4Racing does what it says on the tin, giving regular horse race flutterers rewards for consistent betting. Collect 1 point for every £1 wagered on sports by opting in to Rewards4Racing. Points can then be exchanged for tickets to race meetings.

Finally, Betfred sometimes offers money back on losing bet builders. If a promo is running, simply opt-in and place a bet builder bet on a specific football game. If the wager doesn’t win, get your stake refunded in free bets.

The Betfred app is available on both iOS and Android. If, for whatever reason, you do not wish to download the app, there is a mobile version of the Betfred desktop site.

On the Apple App Store, the Betfred app holds a 4.6 out of 5 rating from around 63,000 reviews, whilst on the Google Play store, it is ranked 4.3 out of 5 based on about 13,300 ratings.

It’s widely regarded as one of the best betting apps on both iOS and Android, although some reviewers have flagged occasional lagging and log in issues with the app.

Betfred have recently reduced their payment options, removing e-wallets as an accepted method. PaySafe and pay-by-mobile are not accepted either, leaving debit card, Apple Pay, and bank transfers as the only accepted methods of payment with Betfred.

Betfred does not charge any fees for depositing or withdrawing via any method.

There are no confirmed instant withdrawal payment methods with Betfred, with most transfers taking up to four to six hours, except traditional bank transfers, which can take up to five business days to land in an account.

Betfred offers live streaming on selected events, with customers able to bet and watch live sport.

By heading to the in play section on either the Betfred website or app, punters will see an option to Watch Live - highlighting all events available to watch via Betfred.

A funded account or qualifying bet is generally required to watch livestreams. Betfred’s live streams cover a large pool of sports, with the best coverage focused on horse racing and greyhound racing.

UK and US racing needs only a funded account, while Irish and other international racing typically need a £1 bet on the race in question.

It’s a similar story with greyhound racing, where some tracks are free to watch live and others require a qualifying bet.

Betfred’s live streaming strengths lie with rugby league, with a huge range of rugby league matches available to watch in the UK. In fact, it is the best place for live rugby league coverage online.

Licensed by the UK Gambling Commission, Betfred has the typical responsible gambling tools expected of an online bookmaker.

The responsible gambling tools available with Betfred include deposit and loss limits, session time reminders and time-outs. There’s also the option of self-exclusion via GAMSTOP, a service which can exclude punters from using all GAMSTOP-registered bookmakers.

Our betting experts recommend setting a budget, taking regular breaks, and not chasing losses when it comes to maintaining a healthy relationship with betting.

Betting should only be viewed as a source of entertainment, and never as a reliable income.

Betfred's current sign up offer requires a qualifying deposit and a £10 bet. There is no no-deposit free bet currently available with Betfred.

The main Betfred welcome offer of bet £10, get £50 sign up offer needs no promo code, but different Betfred promotions - such as the Games Welcome Offer - do require a code entered before depositing.

You should check the specific promotion's own terms before creating an account.

Withdrawal speed with Betfred depends on the method used. Debit card, Apple Pay and Instant bank transfer are all completed within six hours. Traditional bank transfer transactions can take 3 days.

We aim to offer every online gambler and reader of The Standard a safe and fair platform through unbiased reviews and offers from the UK's best online gambling companies.

Gambling can be addictive, always play responsibly and only bet what you can afford to lose. Gambling sites have a number of tools to assist you to stay in control, including deposit limits and time outs. If you think you have a problem, advice and support is available for you now from BeGambleAware or Gamcare.

Any offers or odds listed in this article are correct at the time of publication but are subject to change. Terms & Conditions apply to all offers.