Paddy Power: Risk-Free £20 First Bet
What you'll learn:
- How risk-free bet offers work and differ from standard free bet offers
- Two strategies: guaranteed small profit vs. potential larger payout
- How to extract ~£15 profit from this offer
Offer Summary
Place your first bet of up to £20. If it loses, you receive a £20 free bet refund. If it wins, you keep the winnings but don't receive a free bet. The free bet is SNR (stake not returned).
What You'll Need
- A new Paddy Power account (never had one before)
- A betting exchange account (e.g. Smarkets or Betfair Exchange)
- £20 for the first bet
- £30–£50 in your exchange account for lay bet liabilities
- A matched betting calculator to work out lay stakes
Step-by-Step Walkthrough
Sign up at Paddy Power
Visit the Paddy Power website and create a new account. Complete all the registration details and make sure the risk-free bet offer is applied to your account. Look for confirmation on the registration page or in a welcome email.
Deposit £20
Deposit at least £20 into your Paddy Power account using a debit card. This will fund your first risk-free bet.
Decide your strategy
With a risk-free offer, you have two choices:
Strategy A: Normal matched bet (recommended for beginners)
Place a normal back/lay matched bet with close odds. If the back bet wins, you break roughly even. If it loses, you get the £20 free bet and can extract profit from that. Either way, you're covered.
Strategy B: Intentionally lose the first bet
Use a higher lay stake to guarantee the back bet loses (the lay bet wins more than enough to cover the back bet loss). This ensures you get the free bet but you still break roughly even on the first bet thanks to the lay winnings.
We'll use Strategy A (normal matched bet) for this walkthrough, as it's simpler.
Find an event and place your back bet
Find a football match or other event with odds around 3.0 at Paddy Power, with similar lay odds on the exchange. Place a £20 back bet — for example, “Liverpool to win” at odds of 3.0.
Place your lay bet at the exchange
Go to your exchange and lay “Liverpool to win” at odds of 3.10. Use the calculator to determine the lay stake. For a £20 back bet at 3.0 with lay odds of 3.10, your lay stake will be approximately £19.35.
Your exchange liability will be around £40.64. Make sure you have enough funds in your exchange account.
Wait for the result
Two outcomes are possible:
- Back bet wins: You profit from the bookmaker and lose at the exchange. Net result is approximately £0 (break even). You do not receive a free bet.
- Back bet loses: You lose £20 at the bookmaker but win at the exchange. Net result is approximately -£1. You receive a £20 free bet refund.
Use your free bet (if received)
If your first bet lost, you'll receive a £20 free bet. Use it on an event with higher odds (around 4.0–6.0) to maximise the value you extract. Back at odds of 5.0 with your £20 free bet, then lay at the exchange.
Since the free bet is SNR, you'll extract around 70–80% of the free bet value. On a £20 free bet at odds of 5.0, that's approximately £14.70 profit.
Withdraw your profit
Once all bets have settled, withdraw your funds from both Paddy Power and your exchange account. If you received and used the free bet, your total profit is around £15 after accounting for the small loss on the first bet.
Worked Example
Scenario: Back bet loses (you receive the free bet)
| Step | What you do | Approx. result |
|---|---|---|
| First bet | Back £20 at 3.0 (Paddy Power), Lay at 3.10 (exchange) | -£1.00 loss |
| Free bet | Back £20 free bet at 5.0, Lay at exchange | +£14.70 profit |
| Total | ~£15 profit |
Scenario: Back bet wins (no free bet received)
| Step | What you do | Approx. result |
|---|---|---|
| First bet | Back £20 at 3.0 (Paddy Power), Lay at 3.10 (exchange) | ~£0 (break even) |
| Free bet | Not received | — |
| Total | ~£0 (break even) |
With Strategy A, you either make ~£15 profit (if the first bet loses and you get the free bet) or break even (if the first bet wins). There's no scenario where you lose significant money, which is why it's called a “risk-free” offer.
Paddy Power-Specific Tips
- This is a “risk-free” offer — you only get the free bet if your first bet loses. With a normal matched bet (Strategy A), there's roughly a 50/50 chance you'll trigger the free bet, depending on the odds you choose.
- If you want to guarantee receiving the free bet, use Strategy B: slightly over-lay your back bet so the lay bet covers any outcome. The calculator can help with this by entering a small target loss on the qualifying bet.
- Paddy Power and Betfair are owned by the same company. If you already have a Betfair account, you can still open a separate Paddy Power account as they are treated as distinct bookmakers.
- Check your “My Offers” section in the Paddy Power app or website to confirm the risk-free bet offer is active on your account before placing your first bet.
Common Pitfalls with Paddy Power
- Your very first bet on the account must be the qualifying bet for this offer. If you place any other bet first — even a small one — you may void the offer entirely.
- Don't use Betfair Exchange to lay your Paddy Power bets if you're worried about linked accounts. While they're treated as separate bookmakers, some users prefer to use Smarkets as their exchange instead to keep things completely separate.
- If your first bet wins, you do not receive a free bet. Don't contact support expecting one — the offer only triggers on a loss.
- Make sure you bet the full £20 to maximise the potential free bet value. If you only bet £10, your refund free bet will only be £10.
- Check the minimum odds requirements before placing your first bet. Bets placed at very low odds may not qualify for the risk-free refund.
Key takeaways
- Paddy Power’s risk-free offer only gives a free bet if your first bet loses
- With a normal matched bet: ~£15 profit if it loses, ~£0 if it wins
- You can guarantee the free bet by slightly over-laying (Strategy B)
- Expected profit: ~£15 (best case) or £0 (worst case with Strategy A)
- Your first ever bet on the account must be the qualifying bet