Sometimes, it’s not just the exciting promotions or top-notch sports coverage that entice punters. The little things matter, too. In this guide, we detail everything about the minimum bet and why you should always take it into consideration when trying out a new bookie.
What Does ‘Minimum Bet' Mean?
Bettors need to be aware of the various limits set by bookmakers, including the minimum bet — the lowest possible amount you are permitted to stake on a given market.
This will generally be anything from 1p up to £1 with the biggest and most renowned bookmakers. Note, however, that the minimum stake can vary depending on the selected event, market, and bet type.
Bookies typically benefit from ‘micro-rollers' (punters that play with small amounts), as such amounts eventually add up to ensure the bookie makes a hefty profit. It’s almost inevitable that these small stakes develop into larger ones, no matter if the punter wins or loses.
As a result, sportsbooks do benefit from setting lower minimum bet amounts.
Bookmakers’ Minimum Amounts
Why Place Low Bets?
Although most people place bets above the minimum requirement, low-stake bets can be just as appealing to many, especially to newcomers and risk-averse players.
When trying out a new UK bookie, low stakes give you the chance to explore the full betting process of the site without committing larger amounts of money.
Low bets are also ideal for placing Yankee, Lucky 15, or any other full-cover wagers, as they provide the chance to reap large rewards at a lesser cost.
Punters who wish to use up what’s left of their bonus without having to deposit more money into their accounts will also be able to take advantage of low minimum bets.
Finally, the most common use of low stakes is by punters backing longshot bets, where a small wager can yield significant rewards.
Our Favourite Low-Stake Bookmakers
Minimum bet figures aren’t going to appeal to players looking to place larger stakes for bigger returns. However, for the many sports bettors out there that merely gamble for the fun of it and want to risk as little money as possible, here's our pick of the three best bookmakers for low-stake betting:
1. Ladbrokes — Minimum Bet 1p
There are no other premier UK bookmakers that offer a minimum betting stake of 1p like Ladbrokes do. This incredibly low minimum bet amount allows you to test out their sportsbook with very little risk.
This superb bookmaker boasts an array of existing sportsbook promotions such as Acca Insurance, Odds Boosts, and Bets Odds Guaranteed. You can benefit from these by merely placing 1p bets!
Small-stake bets can help you to eventually benefit from a rewarding loyalty scheme called ‘The Grid’, with Ladbrokes featuring a comprehensive sportsbook laden with markets and sub-markets.
2. BetVictor Minimum Bet — 5p
We’ve crept up to 5p at BetVictor — a figure that is still one of the lowest minimum bet amounts in the industry. This allows you to essentially give BetVictor a trial run once you’ve made the most of one of their several available new customer offers.
A minimum deposit amount of £5 complements the small minimum bet, meaning you rarely need to stake much at all. Various depositing methods are available, too, and the bookie is revered for its excellent customer service.
3. bet365 Minimum Bet — 10p
A 10p minimum bet is around the average for a UK bookmaker, and this is the minimum imposed by one of the very best operators around. This figure certainly isn’t high enough to deter low-risk bettors, who would be silly to avoid bet365 given just how good a bookmaker it is.
Remarkably efficient and able to cater to anyone's betting needs, bet365 now offers daily boosts and bonuses to appeal to even more punters.
Like BetVictor, the minimum deposit is £5, so those that aren’t keen on losing much should also find this excellent online sportsbook appealing.
Should I Consider Low-Deposit Betting Sites?
Like anything in the gambling world, there are both pros and cons to low-deposit and low-stake betting.
While the minimal risk allows you to enjoy the thrill of sports betting without much stress, it can also encourage more frequent gambling, potentially leading to addiction. Before you know it, you might start placing bigger bets and losing more, all while maintaining the same gambling habits.
However, if managed properly, low-stake betting can be a fun and low-risk way to enjoy gambling.
- Less risk
- Still get the thrill of placing a bet and watching the action unfold
- Always a chance to win big from small stake
- Bookmakers cater to low-stake bettors with smaller minimum bets
- Frustration from winning small amount
- Prone to addiction
- Less likely to receive VIP perks from bookmakers and benefit from promotions
Betting Promotions With Minimum Deposit
The overwhelming majority of betting promotions come with many terms and conditions that must be adhered to in order to qualify and subsequently receive the bonus. A common condition is a minimum deposit.
For instance, to qualify for most Bet X Get Y new customer offers, bookies require a £10 minimum deposit that could compromise your low-stake strategy, even if the value of such offers is excellent. There are, however, some operators that only require a £5 minimum deposit and stake.
Free Bets
We’ve already teased the possibility of bookmakers boasting mere £5 minimum deposits to qualify for a new or existing customer offer. Who are these generous sportsbooks, you ask?
Well, how about Coral? For their new customer offer, a £5 deposit and stake are all that’s needed (along with several other terms and conditions) to earn £20 in free bets upon signing up.
Don’t overlook Ladbrokes either! They, too, just require a £5 deposit and stake as part of their excellent new customer offer.
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bet365 BonusSports: Bet £10 & Get £30 in Free Bets18+. Min deposit requirement. Free Bets are paid as Bet Credits and are available for use upon settlement of qualifying bets. Min odds, bet and payment method exclusions apply. Returns exclude Bet Credits stake. Time limits and Full T&Cs apply. Bet Responsibly. GambleAware.org #ad
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BetVictor BonusFootball: Bet £10 Get £30 in Free Bets18+ New customers only. Opt in, bet £10 or more on any football market at minimum 1/1 odds. No cash out. Get £30 in Free Football Bets. Free Bets expire in 7 days. Debit card / Apple Pay payments only. Full T&Cs apply. Bet Responsibly. GambleAware.org #ad
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Parimatch BonusBet £10 & Get £50 in Bonuses18+ New Customers Only. Opt in and bet £10 on football (odds 2.00+) within 7 days. Get 4x£10 Free Bets for set markets and a £10 Slot Bonus for Big Bass Splash, 30x wagering, to withdraw max £250. Rewards expire in 10 days. Full T&Cs apply. Bet Responsibly. GambleAware.org #ad
How To Win Big With Low Bets
While winning big from low-stake bets is a tough art to master, there are ways of improving your luck and ensuring you’re giving yourself the best chance of banking huge returns. Let's take a look at some of the bet types to consider.
Accumulators
Accumulator (acca) bets are easily some of the most popular bet types thanks to their high-risk, high-reward nature. In this kind of wager, the odds of each chosen selection are multiplied by each other and can result in an extremely high payout.
Even with a small stake, potential winnings can quickly reach into the hundreds or thousands. Naturally, the more selections you choose, the less likely your chances of winning, but all it takes is one exceptionally lucky day to make that tiny bet pay out big time.
Most bookmakers will offer accumulator bet promotions to make your acca bets even more lucrative.
Full Cover Bets
Full cover bets can be seen as a package bet which covers all possible combinations in a bet. There are many different types of full cover bets, such as the Heinz and the Trixie bet, which include a different number of selections.
The difference between full cover bets and accumulator bets, is that you don’t need all the selections in a full cover bet to win for you to receive a payout. You therefore have a greater chance of getting a return, but at a higher cost, as you will need to pay for the increased number of lines in your bet.
This is where minimum bets can be beneficial, as with individual lines costing as little as 10p, you could easily place a full cover bet for less than £1.
Jackpots
Many betting sites offer high payout jackpots which do not require high stakes to join. These jackpots can come in many different forms, one of the most common being predicting the outcome of a selected number of football matches in a gameweek and gaining a share of the prize pool depending on the number of selections you manage to predict correctly.
Jackpots can easily have total prize pools reaching into the hundreds of thousands, and with such a low minimum bet required to enter, they can prove hard to resist!
System Bets
System bets work in a similar way to full cover bet types such as Trixie or Goliath bets. With system bets, you’re placing a type of accumulator bet, only you don’t need all the selections to come in and earn a profit. Each bet is independent of the outcome.
Multiple sports and markets can make up your system bet, with typically two or more correct selections helping you garner a profit — depending on how much you stake on each. This bet type does alleviate some risk and comes with a higher chance of making a profit. However, you must be aware that the profit you make is often minimal.
Livestreaming
Premier bookies such as bet365 offer livestreaming, but you must either have a funded account or have placed a bet within 24 hours to access these streams. The good news is there’s no minimum stake required to stream, so you can tune in and place a small, low-risk bet on the live sport of your choice. Watching the event as it unfolds will always provide you with a greater feel of what’s happening and help you make more informed live betting decisions.
What Are Some of the Biggest Wins With Small Bets?
Still have any doubts about the potential of utilising a betting site’s minimum stake? We’ve compiled a list of some of the biggest accumulator wins to come out of such bets.
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£272,500 from £2.50 — Ladbrokes’ biggest ever payout on a multiple bet. One lucky man from Berkshire placed a £2.50 bet on a 9x accumulator and walked away with £272.5k!
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£500,000 from 30p — Back in 2001, an anonymous football fan won a huge payout from a 30p bet. Who places a 15-fold with these sorts of odds?!
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£585,00 from 85p — In 2011, a Maltese punter bagged more than half a million pounds from a mere 85p bet at William Hill. Just 19 legs were involved in this bet!
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£1 million from 50p — Fred Craggs, a 60-year-old man from Yorkshire wagered a measly 50p on an 8-fold horse racing accumulator and walked away with an incredible seven-figure payout.
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£1.5 million from £2 — In 2011, Steve Whitley placed a £2 bet on six horses and ended up a millionaire. One of the horses Whitley wagered on lost all 28 of its previous races!
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$130,000 from 50 cents — Three PA punters guessed the first basket scorer on the opposing team in six NBA games to earn a monster payout from a bet costing a mere 50 cents.
Other Common Betting Terms
ThePuntersPage Final Say
Minimum stakes appeal to a wide range of people and can come in handy for a variety of bet types, where even a small wager can lead to a substantial payout. Knowing the minimum stakes on different betting sites is important to avoid any confusion, and ensures you know exactly where you stand when placing your bets.
For additional information, feel free to explore our in-depth article on betting payment methods.
Minimum Bets FAQs
This is the lowest amount you can stake on a bet with the bookmaker in question.
There are various betting limits imposed by bookies, from minimum and maximum stakes to maximum payouts. These limits are what the bookmaker is willing to accept and pay out for a particular bet.
The bookmakers will decide how little their customers can stake on individual bets.
These are different. Minimum stakes concern amount, whereas wagering limits focus specifically on time.
bet365’s minimum bet is set at 10p.
The minimum bet on Betway is 10p.