Bet24

I deposited £60 with Bet24. This cost an additional £1.20 - a 2% charge for using a credit card, despite me using a debit card. This will have to be taken off the profit on settling the account. To get my £30 bonus, I was required to claim it by email and send a government issued ID. They confirmed that this was a driver's license or passport, so I sent the encrypted ZIP file used with IASBet (less passport and debit card images). They credited my account within 30 minutes of me sending the details.

I decided to bet the full £90 on West Ham beating Newcastle at odds of 2.05 (a potential £124.50 profit). I laid £88.28 using Betdaq at odds of 2.11 (a £97.99 liability).

Update (Sunday, 21 September): West Ham beat Newcastle 3 : 1, giving Gianfranco Zola his first win as manager of the Hammers. I contacted Bet24 by email to clarify the terms and conditions regarding betting through the bonus before I can withdraw. Interestingly, because I bet the deposit and bonus as my first bet, this counts as betting my bonus through 3 of the 4 times, so I only need to bet £30 through once more before I can withdraw. I emailed them again to make sure.

For my final bet through, I put my £30 stake on Chelsea to beat Manchester United at 2.13 - the Betdaq lay was £28.53 at 2.26 (a £35.94 liability) and a loss of £2.04. There were cheaper bets, but I didn't have enough money in the Betdaq account to cover and was reluctant to put any more money in.

Update: Chelsea 1 : 1 Manchester United, so my Bet24 bonus is 'lost'. I win £27.96 (£28.53 less £0.57 commission) with Betdaq. This means that I have put in £60 + £1.20 + £97.99 into the Bet24 wagers and got £154.50 + £27.96 out. This is a net gain of £23.27. The overall total goes up to £161.67.