Ever made a bold claim to your friends about something potentially occurring in a sporting event but haven't known how to go that one step further by placing a bet to back up your words?

I am sure you have. It has happened to us all at some stage. The scenario plays out where we are watching a major football match in the Premier League or Champions League, or maybe taking an interest in a worldwide event such as the Olympic Games, and we become convinced that a certain incident or result will materialise and we want to make some money out of it.

If you have not placed a bet before, you will feel inclined to get up off your sofa and head down to the local betting shop but you could make everything much easier for yourself (and use less energy!) by placing a bet online or by using an app on your mobile phone or tablet device.

You may already be aware of some of the names of the major bookmakers but what you may not be aware of is that they tend to offer bonuses or free bets to new customers. For example, some bookmakers will automatically give you a small free bet - usually either £5 or £10 - after completing your registration or they may offer an option of giving you a free bet which matches the value of your first bet on their app of website. So, if you placed £10 on a particular event, you would be credited with a £10 bet to be used on something else!

This weekend sees the return of the Premier League and what better way for the action to kickoff than with a game between Manchester United and Arsenal - two of European football's biggest clubs. It is a game which will divide opinion and that is represented in the odds but it could also result in you making a sizeable profit. United are priced at 13/8, which means that if you have been offered a free bet of £10, you would make a profit of £16.25 should Jose Mourinho's team get the better of the Gunners. Arsenal are priced at 7/4 - which leaves the possibility of a £17.50 profit - while a £10 bet on the draw at 9/4 would earn you £22.50.

Of course, some matches are more of a mismatch and that will not reflect kindly in the odds. Celtic's home fixture with Barcelona in the Champions League next Wednesday is a clear example of this with the Spanish side a measly 2/7 to defeat Celtic in Glasgow. A £10 bet would see you win just £2.86 but while a heavy favourite brings minimal returns, it also sees the outsider potentially earn you a huge profit should they prevail against the odds. Celtic are priced at 10/1 so if they can repeat their memorable triumph from 2012, that would earn you an attractive £100!

All the leading bookmakers can be found by simply typing their name into a search engine but if you would like to see some of the bonuses on offer all in one list, check these sport betting apps and you can then decide whether any of the offers take your fancy.

If you are not familiar with the world of sports betting, the same will likely apply to casino games offered by the same companies but fear not. Not only do you get a number of casino bonuses to choose from, you also get a clear explanation of how each bonus works. Different bookmakers and companies offer varying types of bonuses so make sure that you have a read through everything. Remember, one free spin could make all the difference! body check tags ::