Here is what happens: you are relaxing on a Saturday, ready for some Premier League footy action. You think of depositing some funds to play in pool betting for this round's games. You noticed you got a £50 bonus offer from a new online bookie, so you claim that and fill out your pool ticket. Later that day, you notice that the wagering requirement hasn’t moved. What happened?
Most likely you have not been duped by the bookmaker, but rather you have made the easiest mistake there is as an online bettor: you forgot to read the terms and conditions for a bonus offer you are claiming.
Welcome bonuses were built for a different product
What you will find with most welcome bonuses and promo code offers out there is that they do not allow you to clear the wagering requirements while placing pool bets, or use your bonus money for pool betting.
For players that are new to online gambling, this might not be inherently clear from just looking at the banner advertisements that are presented at the bookmakers.
bet365 welcome bonus banner advertisement example. Screenshot taken 12 August 2026.
The reason being that the clauses are written in minimum odds because they're designed for fixed odds betting. Pool bets have no price until the pool settles, so there's nothing for the clause to test.
The bookmakers also generally restrict bonus use on products where they aren’t the counterparty. In a betting pool, the bookie only takes a commission and holds no position. This requires a different risk model, so instead of creating one, they just exclude it for simplicity.
Another part of this is that generally bonus amounts are capped. So if you place a pool bet of £20, and win £20,000 and a £50 conversion cap means £50 is all that becomes withdrawable.
To be able to figure out if you can use your welcome offer for pool betting, you will need to read the terms and conditions properly.
bet365 Welcome Offer Example
Take bet365 for example - one of the biggest online bookmakers in the UK, and likely the world. They offer a “Bet £10 & Get £30 in Free Bets” (as of writing this) to new customers at their website.
To be eligible for this bonus, you need to register an account, make a deposit, then make a qualifying bet before the Bet Credits (as they call it) are released to your account.
In the terms and conditions, you will see the following:
bet365 is a bit vague in their language here, but leans towards being the case that you need to place bets on fixed odds to clear wagering requirements. Screenshot taken 12 August 2026.
Here you can see that bet365 is mentioning fixed odds as part of their restrictions. Maybe not a direct call for them to need to be there, but indirectly it reads like it needs to be bets of 1.20 decimal odds or higher to be a qualifying bet.
Pool betting does not have fixed odds attached to it, and thus can be considered to not have above 1.20 in betting odds.
Furthermore, you read later that the Bet Credits you receive cannot be used for pool betting, so that part is very explicitly excluded:
bet365 welcome bonus explicitly excludes Bet Credits to be used on Tote (pool betting). Screenshot taken 12 August 2026.
More examples
And bet365 is not the only ones. Betfred for example does not allow betting on pools to clear the welcome bonus clearing:
Betfred explicitly excludes Totepool from wager clearing. Screenshot taken 12 August 2026.
And the same can likely be inferred from Paddy Power’s welcome offer which needs to have odds of 2.00 or higher:
Paddy Power requires minimum odds of 2.00 on clearing bets. Screenshot taken 12 August 2026.
Tips when researching a welcome bonus online
If you are motivated to play pool betting and still want to take advantage of a welcome offer, here are some suggestions:
- Make sure you read the full terms and conditions before you claim it. Check if you actually can use pool bets to clear the wagering requirements and use the bonus money for pool betting.
Pro tip: search the document for keywords like: tote, pool, pari-mutuel and so on to find restrictions more quickly. - If anything is unclear in your research, make use of the company's customer support, they are there to help you. Ask them straight up if you can use it for what you want or not. Maybe they can suggest an alternate offer if not?
- Look for alternative offers. Many online bookmakers have other ongoing promotions that might not be as good as a welcome offer for regular customers, but more inline with you as a pool bettor. See if they have any turnover or loss rebates, or maybe even pool-specific promotions. Comparison sites like PromoCodeOffer track which betting sites terms actually permit pool play.
Conclusion
Unfortunately many of the great welcome bonuses online bookmakers offers aren’t available to those of us who love pool betting. But they are still good offers to try if you are a new customer at an online bookmaker. And often you can find alternative promotions to use if you really want to play the pools! Remember to gamble responsibly - and when fun stops, stop.