Free bets compared...

Online betting can be very rewarding – and not just on an enjoyment level. Many people win large sums of money in addition to the fun they get out of placing bets online, and these must be sent from the bookmakers to the winning customer. However, there are many ways of doing this, and the one you end up choosing should be what suits you personally – and is accepted by the website, naturally.

Perhaps the most popular way of collecting your earnings is by drawing back on your credit or debit card. You can normally do this over the website you have won on by requesting a withdrawal. You must bear in mind that the money will be placed only on the credit or debit card you have registered with the active betting account. If you wish for the money to be placed on another card then you must register this with the company in question as well.

Alternatively, you can use a PayPal account to transfer funds both to and from your account. This is a favoured method due its reliability, and the fact that it doesn't take any effort on your part - money that you win is simply carried across to your online bank account. The beauty of this approach is that it allows you to use the cash you earn to make further free bets – without the hassle of using your card.

PayPal also enables you to keep a reasonable amount set to one side for betting purposes only, which prevents you from getting carried away and therefore promotes responsible gambling. It is always best to make an enquiry either over email or by phone to the betting site you are using, however, as they may or may not condone PayPal as a way of paying you your earnings.

Even if you bet online – which we recommend, due to its security – it is still possible to redeem your cash rewards in-store, at least in the majority of circumstances. You will need ID to be able to do this, and the company you are playing with will usually give you a kind of receipt with the details of your winnings on it that you take in-store to exchange for your well-earned money.

If you prefer to deal with cheques, this is also allowed. Despite its legality, most online betting sites would warn against this due to the fact it costs you money to withdraw it from your bank account after it has been sent there. For this reason, we would advise you to use another method that comes free of charge – credit card, for instance.

There are many other ways that you can collect your winnings, and these can vary from company to company. One thing is a dead certainty, though: the pile fun that you can have when betting over the web. It's versatile and secure in the sense that there are so many different ways of collecting your money over a safe connection – rather than carrying stacks of cash home exposed to robbers, as is typical of in-store gambling.