What is the SBK Welcome Offer & Promo Code? Enter LOCALS for £40 Free Bets

You’re heading down to Royal Ascot for the day, and Tuesday’s card has the Queen Anne Stakes at 14:30. Or you’re settling into a corner table at your local in Soho ahead of a 17:30 Premier League kick-off. Or you’re on the train home from a weekend up north and want to punt a fiver on the Saturday football accumulator while you’ve still got phone signal.

These are the moments a good UK mobile betting app earns its place on your home screen. Big bet365-style desktop platforms with sixteen menus and a thousand markets aren’t built for one-handed phone betting at the rail or in the pub. You want clean odds, a quick bet builder, and an app that opens in under a second.

Some Locals Insider writers have been using SBK — the mobile-only UK sportsbook from Smarkets — for exactly these moments, and we’ve now got an exclusive Locals Insider code to share. New readers can sign up with code LOCALS to claim the current welcome offer: bet £20 at minimum odds of 3.0 and get £40 in free bets, paid as six £5 tokens spread across the next 48 hours.

Here’s the full breakdown on the app, the code, what you’re actually claiming, and whether it earns a spot on your phone alongside the betting apps you already use.

What is SBK? Your Pocket Bookie

SBK is a mobile app that offers sports odds you can use to place bets online. The brand is operated by Smarkets (Malta) Limited (Registration Number C 44795), based at Level 7, Ir-Rampa ta’ San Giljan Street, St. Julians STJ 1062, Malta. The platform is licensed and regulated by the UK Gambling Commission for UK customers.

For context: Smarkets is one of the largest betting exchanges in the world, originally launched in 2010 with a financial-trading-inspired interface. SBK was launched in 2019 as a fixed-odds sportsbook spin-off — the goal being to take Smarkets’ sharp pricing and repackage it in an app-led interface for punters who don’t want to learn exchange trading mechanics.

Practically, this matters because the operator has been around for over a decade, holds proper UKGC compliance (affordability checks, GAMSTOP integration, identity verification), and has built a credible reputation in the UK betting market. SBK isn’t a fly-by-night startup — it’s a mature operator with serious sports-trading roots.

What You Get With SBK Code: £40 Free Bet for Race Days, Match Nights and Train-Home Punts

The Locals Insider promo code for SBK is LOCALS, and it unlocks the standard SBK welcome offer for new UK customers. Enter it in the promo code field when you register, or click through via our link below and it auto-applies.

The current offer for new SBK UK sports betting customers: sign up i, deposit at least £10, place one £20 bet at odds of 3.0 (2/1) or bigger, and once that bet settles you’ll get six £5 free bet tokens released to your account across 48 hours. Total free bet value: £40.

Worth knowing upfront — and we’ll come back to this — every free bet token has to be used on a Bet Builder or Multiple with several legs. You can’t just use a £5 free bet on a single match-winner bet. More on that further down.

How to Claim the SBK Welcome Offer with Code LOCALS

How the £40 in Free Bets Arrives

Most UK bookmakers credit your free bet in one lump as soon as your qualifying bet settles. SBK do it differently — they stagger the £40 across three release windows over 48 hours:

On settlement (right when your £20 bet finishes):

• £10 Bet Builder free bet
• £10 Multiple free bet

24 hours after settlement:

• £5 Horse Racing Multiple free bet
• £5 Football Bet Builder free bet

48 hours after settlement:

• £5 Bet Builder free bet
• £5 Multiple free bet

Six tokens total, all £5 each, totalling £40. Each token has its own 5-day expiry clock starting from when it lands — so the tokens that drop on Day 0 expire on Day 5, but the tokens that drop on Day 2 don’t expire until Day 7. Practically, you need to remember to check the app three times across the week or you’ll lose value.

Set a phone reminder for +24h and +48h after your qualifying bet settles. Without one, the staged release works against you.

When SBK Earns Its Place on Your Phone

Genuine UK use cases where SBK has been the app we reached for first:

On a racecourse day. Standing at the rail at Ascot, Goodwood or Newmarket, you don’t want to be fiddling with a clunky betting site that takes ten seconds to load between races. SBK’s app launches fast, the bet slip is one-tap clean, and they offer Best Odds Guaranteed on all UK horse racing from 8am on race day. Worth noting they only offer win-only racing markets — no each-way places — but their win-only prices are often sharper than what the bigger chains offer.

In a London pub watching football. The Saturday 3pm fixtures, Sunday Super Sunday, weekday Champions League nights. SBK’s Price+ feature automatically compares their odds against the major UK bookmakers and flags where they’re offering better prices on selected Premier League events. Useful for the kind of small-stakes match-result and goalscorer bets you’d normally make between sips of a pint.

On a train or commute. The app works smoothly on patchy 3G/4G connections, the bet builder lets you put together a 5-leg acca in under a minute, and the staged token release means there’s nearly always a free bet token sitting in your account to use during the journey home.

For lower-league football fans. SBK cover Isthmian League, Southern League and other lower English football tiers that bigger bookmakers don’t bother with. If you follow non-league football or your team’s been relegated to the National League, this matters.

Honestly not the app for: desktop betting (there’s no website version — only the iOS and Android apps), in-running coverage on niche sports (smaller in-play library than bet365), or anyone who only ever bets on singles (the free bet restrictions reward accumulator punters).

The Catch Most Reviews Skim Over

Here’s the part of the SBK welcome offer that genuinely matters: every single one of those six free bet tokens has to be used on a multi-leg bet — typically a Bet Builder with 5+ markets within a single fixture, or a Multiple/accumulator with 5+ separate event selections.

(The exact leg requirement has rotated between 4 and 5 across different SBK promotion periods. Check the app at the time you place each free bet to confirm the current rule — SBK display it clearly in the bet slip.)

What this means in practice:

• No singles. You can’t use a £5 free bet on a single match winner, single horse to win, or single golf outright. The app won’t process it.
• Token type matters. A “Bet Builder” token has to go on a Bet Builder (multiple markets within one match). A “Multiple” token has to go on an accumulator across separate events. A “Horse Racing Multiple” token has to be on horse racing accas specifically.
• The “Football Bet Builder” token has to be a football Bet Builder — not a horse racing or tennis one.

The strategic reality: SBK’s welcome offer is built for accumulator punters and Bet Builder fans, not for singles punters. If you’re a regular acca builder — and a lot of pub football and Saturday-card punters are — this structure works fine. If you only ever bet on singles, you’ll struggle to extract the full £40 value from the offer.

What SBK Is Actually Good At (Beyond the Welcome Offer)

The welcome offer gets the headlines, but here’s what makes us keep using the app after we’ve cleared the bonus:

Price+ — this is the standout feature. SBK automatically compares their odds to the rest of the UK market on selected Premier League and Champions League fixtures, and flags where they’re offering better prices. If you’re someone who’d normally manually shop around three or four bookies to find best odds, Price+ saves you the time and consistently delivers improved prices on football specifically.

Win-only horse racing. SBK don’t offer each-way places — their racing markets are win-only. This means their win odds are typically sharper than at chains that hedge each-way coverage. Trade-off: no fallback on long-priced horses, so the punter takes on more variance. Worth it for confident win-only racing bets, less so for cautious each-way bettors.

Auto Acca. The app generates accumulator selections automatically based on the markets you’ve previously bet on. Useful for time-pressed Saturday morning acca builders who don’t want to manually pick six selections.

Social betting. You can follow other users, see what tipsters are backing in real time, and share your own selections. Niche but enjoyable if you enjoy seeing how other punters are playing the card.

Lower-league football coverage. Isthmian, Southern, other tiers below the EFL. Bigger UK chains don’t cover this depth.

Honest limitations:

• Mobile-only, no desktop version
• Smaller market depth on niche sports vs bet365 or William Hill
• Limited cash-out coverage on some markets
• The leg restriction on free bets (as discussed above)
• No virtual sports library worth mentioning

How SBK Compares to Other Sportsbook Offers

Quick competitive context, since most UK punters will already have one or two accounts elsewhere:

The honest take: SBK’s headline £40 is competitive with the most generous straight-bet offers, but the multi-leg restriction means the real-money value is closer to £20-£25 unless you’re a regular accumulator punter. If you only bet singles, Bet UK’s straight £40 free bet is more flexible. If you bet accas and Bet Builders, SBK’s offer is genuinely good — and you’ll likely keep using the app for its ongoing Price+ pricing edge.

SBK App Download Details

• iOS: iPhone and iPad — iOS/iPadOS 10.0+, 88MB download, available via the App Store
• Android: Phones and tablets — Android 5.0+, 50MB download, available via Google Play (or APK direct from getsbk.com)
• Desktop: Not available — SBK is mobile-only by design
• UK identity verification: runs in-app via standard UKGC checks before first withdrawal

What Local Insiders Think

We use the SBK app, and we’d recommend it to anyone in the UK who fits these criteria:

• You’re a mobile-first punter (you bet from your phone at the rail, in the pub, on the train)
• You build accumulators or Bet Builders regularly — especially Premier League and lower-league football
• You appreciate sharp pricing (Price+ saves real money over hundreds of bets)
• You can absorb the £20 qualifying stake at 3.0+ odds (this is real money you might lose)
• You’re a UK resident with a standard debit card or bank account

We wouldn’t push you to sign up if you:

• Only ever bet on singles (the free bet structure is restrictive for you)
• Prefer desktop betting (SBK isn’t built for that)
• Bet primarily on US sports or niche markets where bet365 has more depth
• Need live streaming on every race (SBK doesn’t offer that — bet365, Sky Bet and Paddy Power do)

The £40 welcome offer is solid value if you’re already an acca punter. The ongoing platform value via Price+ is the real long-term draw, not the welcome bonus.

Claim £40 Free Bets at SBK with code LOCALS →

SBK Promo Code FAQs

What’s the SBK promo code for Locals Insider readers? Use LOCALS at sign-up to claim the standard SBK welcome offer: bet £20 at minimum odds of 3.0, get £40 in free bet tokens. The code auto-applies if you sign up via our link.

Can I use SBK on desktop? No. SBK is mobile-only — iOS or Android apps exclusively. There is no website version. If you want desktop access to Smarkets-style sharp pricing, the Smarkets Exchange is the alternative, but it’s an exchange (peer-to-peer), not a fixed-odds sportsbook.

Why won’t my deposit count for the welcome offer? The single most common reason is paying via an excluded payment method. SBK only accept debit card or instant bank transfer for the welcome offer. PayPal, Skrill, Neteller, Revolut, Paysafe, all prepaid cards and all virtual cards (including virtual Monzo cards) are excluded. Stick to a standard Visa/Mastercard debit card and you’ll be fine.

Are the free bets actually worth £40? The face value is £40 — six tokens of £5 each. The real-money expected value, after accounting for the multi-leg restriction and the fact that free bet stakes aren’t returned with winnings, sits closer to £20-£25 if you use the tokens efficiently. Still a useful benefit, just not the full £40 of cash equivalent.

How long do the SBK free bets last? Each individual token expires 5 days from when it’s credited to your account. Since the tokens release in three batches (on settlement, +24h, +48h), each batch has its own 5-day clock. Setting reminders helps you avoid losing tokens to expiry.

Is SBK legitimate? Can I trust it? Yes. SBK is operated by Smarkets (Malta) Limited (Reg. C 44795), is licensed by the UK Gambling Commission, and has been operating in the UK since 2019. Full UKGC compliance applies — affordability checks, GAMSTOP integration, identity verification before withdrawal, deposit limits, and responsible gambling tools.

Can I claim the SBK welcome offer if I’m an existing Smarkets user? No. The welcome offer is exclusively for new customers — anyone who already has an SBK account or any existing Smarkets Exchange account is excluded, even if you’ve never personally used a welcome offer before.

Is the SBK welcome offer available in Ireland? Yes. The welcome offer is available to new customers resident in the UK, Ireland and Malta. Bonus terms may vary slightly for Irish customers — verify in-app on registration.

What if my qualifying bet wins? The welcome offer applies to your first qualifying bet regardless of whether it wins or loses. Win your £20 bet at 3.0+ and you collect the winnings AND get the £40 in free bet tokens. Lose the £20 bet and you still get the £40 in free bets — but you’re down £20 in cash.

Responsible Gambling

18+. UK only. When the fun stops, stop.

• GambleAware — begambleaware.org · National Gambling Helpline 0808 8020 133 (free, 24/7)
• GamCare — gamcare.org.uk
• Gamstop — self-exclusion across all UKGC-licensed sites at gamstop.co.uk

SBK’s in-app account settings include deposit limits, loss limits, session reminders and self-exclusion tools under the responsible gambling menu.

18+ UK & Ireland only. New customers only. Min £10 first deposit by debit card or bank transfer (excludes PayPal, Skrill, Revolut and virtual/prepaid cards). £20 qualifying bet at 3.0+ odds required. Free bets credited in stages over 48 hours. 5-day free bet expiry. Stake not returned on winnings. T&Cs apply. GambleAware.org · 0808 8020 133. SBK is operated by Smarkets (Malta) Limited and licensed by the UK Gambling Commission. Locals Insider may earn affiliate commission from links on this page at no extra cost to you. #ad