A large number of punters in the UK in particular seem to forget about betting online on the American Sports Betting markets. You can sill sign up and get your free bet from a UK bookmaker to punt on some of the American Sports that are very popular over here.

 Many people seem to be under the misapprehension that, due to the unfortunate events that took place in the online gambling world in the states last year, you can still bet on American sports through a UK bookmaker. What has actually happened is that American punters can infortunately no longer bet gamble online but this doesn’t stop us from betting over here on events over there.

American Football, basketball, baseball and ice hockey have become very popular, especially American Football after its’ successful coverage began in the early eighties. If you haven’t tried a punt on any of these sports, why not give it a go? If you’re in to rugby, I’d be surprised if you don’t become a fan of American football pretty quickly. Cricket fans could enjoy baseball and basketball and ice hockey go without saying as to the thrills that these fast moving sports can bring.

We have completed the re-design of our website last week which was aimed at a return to a basic layout which everyone could understand how to get around and to facilitate the addition of Spread Betting, poker, casino, games and bingo! These are all following the theme of where punters online can make the most of free money offers and we are now able to give a more concise yet broader range of what is available with our new look.

The site also demonstrates our approach to uncomplicating a website for our customers to be able to get around quickly. When you’re looking for a free bet for example, you may have already made your mind up as to what you wish to flutter on. What you need next is a website that will tell you quickly and clearly what is out there in the form of free bets. We lay out the offers in clear fashion to suit your budget and even have our free bets site map which breaks it all down into one page.

 We always listen to feedback on our site and will continue to develop it to the highest standards.

If you watched the first rugby Test in South Africa on Saturday, you wouldn’t have enjoyed betting on the result but you would have been even more frustrated at the site of an under strength side that could have competed.

I’m going against what I’ve blogged about recently by saying that this side actually had the players to give a better game to the bocks and at a certain period in the second half looked as though they can play to the standard needed.

Not to take anything away from the Springbocks, because they were their normally powerful selves up front, but England seem to be hustled off the ball too easily and lacked composure when off loading.

The tackling let them down but not due to man on man tackling necessarily (although this was an issue) but more that the lack of thinking on their feet and keeping the defensive formation.

 Brian Ashton’s got his work cut out to get his squad to turn it around for the next test only this Saturday away. It seems a tall ask but I think there was a framework there on Saturday from which the English players can take something positive.

Hey – you’ve got to keep hoping, haven’t you?

I think nobody would have really stuck there neck out when football betting that David Beckham would have returned to the England camp. I wouldn’t have bet that he would have ever returned after being left out by Steve McClaren when he took over.

So, is it looking to build a stronger side or just a lack of options? Its’ no secret that McClaren hasn’t found the right recipe so far for some sort of success but is he now forced to look back rather than forward because of this lack of strength in depth?

We’ve blogged about this before and it’s a situation that seems to be affecting England team sports. With the amount of football being played in this country, it’s hard to see why we can’t achieve a solid squad where places are competed for in a much fiercer way and when one of our super stars is injured, you can think to yourself, ah well, never mind, we’ve got so and so to come on as a replacement.

So there seems to be a two -pronged problem : lack of strength in depth and the injuries that our top players seem to be consistently suffering from.

You can bet that Brazilian and Italian football, Australian and Kiwi rugby and Australian cricket replacements will all plug any hole as strongly as the player that left it.

Michael Owen returns to the England Football fray after a long term injury stay away and Michael Vaughan returns to the England Cricket setup. It would be cruel to bet against them completing their matches but that’s what betting’s all about.

We wish them well on their return and hope that they can both prove that they are worth there places so soon after returning from recovery. Questions marks will be over whether they are match fir and have played enough to be sharp at the highest level.

Michael Owen will be a boost to the England front line, as Steve McClaren mentioned this morning, “we need strikers”. It’s worrying that we don’t have the strength in dept to the England squad, even now. We strive to find goal scorers of Owens’ calibre and pace to support Rooney and create some space for them both to use in attack. Owen will pull defenders off Rooney more as he shows he can outflank them with his superb turn of speed.

The return of Owen will make a difference to Football Betting Odds in Englands’ favour.

 Michael Vaughan in the cricket, on the other hand, is a worry as to whether he can just stay fit for one test at the moment but, more importantly, he could do with a big score to prove that he is worth his place. We have too many players now that could develop quickly for England if their given their time to learn and improve their game in the test arena. Shah didn’t take his first chance in the first test against the Windies but make no mistake – he is a player of class and will be back!

That said, if Michael Vaughan can get going again, cricket betting on England will show us as favourites more often than not. He will strengthen our middle order but he will have to be consistent with Bell and Collingwood constantly proving tha they’re now permanent fixtures in the England test side.

Online Rugby Union Betting will heat up this weekend as England take on South Africa in the First test in Bloemfontein where you can bet the stadium will be cooking with action. It’s always a mouth watering encounter for rugby union fans when they play the bocks. Their brutal forward play and all round physicality will test England to the full.

From my point of view, it’s very disappointing to hear that Pat Sanderson will be out for this first match. I think he is a flanker in the mould of Peter Winterbottom and Richard Hill – just gets on with the job and is generally not as noticed as other players but is their reliably doing the donkey work.

Again, in the forwards, Nick Easter is one of the exciting prospects for the future. A big and powerful No. 8 forward, he actually reminds me of a South Afican style of forward – but I wouldn’t want to tell him that!

In the backs, they’ve got a lot to prove in defence and attack. There were signs of some organisation being built into the back line in the six nations but this takes time. But there’s no better test than these two in South Africa. The Boks have a young side that is building in confidence.

Check out Betfair for a great rugby betting website.

The French Open starts this weekend of Tennis Betting with some of the big online betting bookmakers offering their free bets as normal for tennis fans. The free money is normally available for a tennis bet with the well known names : Stan James, Ladbrokes, Betfair, etc.

Bit of an intriguing one this rally as some of the crowd pullers such as Roger Federer and Pete Sampras aren’t usually as successful on the unique surface which tends to hold the ball up a little bit and force a higher bounce. The surface is basically clay and brings a completely different tennis arena than anything else, a bit like Wimbledon does with grass.

The women also get underway with the number one being Maria Sharapova who’ll be looking for a title win after a shocking exit from the Australian Open Final earlier this year. The culprit of course was Serena Williams who herself will be getting ready for a revenge attack!

Sharapova had had an injury recently to her shoulder but hopefully has recovered enough to free the arms up and be fully fit.

Who would bet on Liverpool not beating AC Milan tomorrow evening in Athens? If you’re a betting person, get your football free bet ready because tomorrow nights game will be a corker.

On paper, Milan are probably favourites in most books, particularly as they finished off Manchester United by just blowing them away. But Liverpool are a gritty side that can really dig deep on these occassions and my money will be on them to snatch this title with a dogged brave performance.

I’m not just being patriotic here. If you look back over the decades of European football, the british sides have generally not been favourites and have won by guts and determination, sometimes – it’s not pretty!

With Steven Gerard in command, they have the skill base and leadership to take this game but it’ll be close whatever happens. Everything will have to click and everyone will have to give their all. I really hope it doesn’t end up with penalties!

So, it’s the best of British luck to the Steven Gerard and his merry men!

Recently we blogged about the great fun to be had by all on Eurovision. It was as popular as ever (despite the result!) and this type of online betting continues with bets on Any Dream Will Do.

It’s proving to be a real winner, as was its’ predecessor last year – How Do We Solve A Problem Like Maria – which turned Connie Fisher into a huge overnight star. Now the contest for who will be the lead in Joseph and the amazing technicolour dreamcoat is well underway and this attracts a large betting fraternity as people discuss the competition and put their money where their mouths are.

After this weekend, they’re down to the last six and on Saturday, one of the favourites (Daniel Boys) was the surprise ejection from the show. A big shock for many, many people but isn’t that what entertainment and shows like this are all about?

The final takes place on 9th June which is fast closing in. Some of the major UK bookmakers are offering free bets for you to sign up with them, so even if you’re a part-time punter and want a little flutter like £10, then there are bookmakers who will allow you to deposit your £10 and then give you a matched free bet of £10, giving you £20 to bet! You’ve doubled your money and you haven’t even done any betting yet!

At Free Betting Online, we continue to expand our choices of online betting alternatives for punters and this week sees the addition of Sporting Index to our online portfolio and the arrival of Spread Betting through our website.

If you’ve never tried Spread Betting then it’s definitely worth a look. I always explain to people that it’s similar to the way the commodity market goes, which means of course – you’ve got to know what you’re doing and what risks are involved.

Why the caution?
It needs to be understood that in Spread Betting, you can lose much more than you stake!

This is the big difference from Fixed odds betting. In fixed Odds betting, you stake an amount, say £50 and if the result doesn’t go your way then you lose the £50, no more, but you knew this when you planned your strategy.

The Upside :
Your winnings can be substantially leveraged by the power of spread betting as compared to fixed odds betting.

The Downside :
In Spread Betting, you bet outside the “Spread” and if the result goes against you, then depending on by how much it does this by, you could lose as much money relative to how far out your judgement was.

Take a look at our Spread Betting article for background and guidance.