The four hurdles, in order
Stake: usually £10, Betway's £5 the exception. Odds: the minimum printed on the ticket. Evens at Betfred and BetMGM, 1/2 at Midnite. Payment: debit card is safe; e-wallets usually void the offer silently. Type: mostly anything, but read the ticket. Betway's qualifying bet must be a 3+ leg acca at 2/1+ combined. Clear all four and the machine runs itself; miss one and nothing arrives, without so much as an error message.
Where the bars sit right now
Every spec table on our bookmaker pages prints the verified minimum odds where we've checked them. Evens at Betfred and BetMGM, 1/2 published at Midnite, 2/1 combined on Betway's compulsory acca. The offer wall is the map; this page is why the min-odds chip matters.
The mistake everyone makes
Treating the qualifying bet as a formality and shoving it on a 1/5 favourite 'to be safe.' Safe is exactly what it isn't. Under the odds bar, the offer never triggers, and the bet was real money. The qualifying bet deserves ten seconds of thought: something you'd back anyway, at a price that clears the bar on your ticket.
Frequently asked
Does it matter if my qualifying bet wins or loses?
No — settlement is what matters, not the result. Win or lose, the free bets follow once the bet settles. The qualifying stake was at risk either way, which is the honest cost of every 'free' bet in Britain.
