Best 10 Betting Sites For 2024
Ten of the top betting sites for 2024 (as decided by the Legalbet.uk team) are listed in the table below:
Bookmaker |
Bonus amount |
Key Terms |
|---|---|---|
Copy Bet |
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Star Sports |
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All British Casino |
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mr.play |
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#1 Bookmaker - Skybet
Sky Bet are a British-based gambling company, just one of the brands owned by the enormous Flutter Entertainment Group. They have a reputation for being one of the best betting sites in the UK, and that is why tens if not hundreds of thousands of punters place their bets here. They have it all, excellent odds, the best existing user bonuses in the business, bet boosts, Live streaming and great In play betting, a dedicated mobile app… what more could you want?
Pros:
✅ Loyalty scheme offering Free bets or Free spins if you wager £25 each week
✅ Superb CASHBACK offers if your horse fails to win but places
✅ No expiry on Free bets
✅ Huge amount of tremendous value bet boosts
#2 Bookmaker - Betfred
With over 50 years of history in the business BetFred is one of the oldest bookmakers in the UK. They are a high street brand and as you would expect the online betting site is nothing but quality. It boasts a huge range of features, a massive number of sports covered, a large number of markets for every event and an incredible amount of promotions. The promotions page details all the Free bets on offer and it is worth looking at every day to see what new offer has turned up.
Pros:
✅ Double Delight and Hat Trick Heaven First Goal Scorer Offer
✅ Best Odds Guaranteed on all UK and Irish Horse Races
✅ If you want a bet not listed you can #pickyourpunt and request odds for it via Twitter
✅ Extra Place and Refund if second offers every day on selected races
#3 Bookmaker - Betfair
Betfair revolutionised the UK gambling industry at the turn of the century when they launched their betting exchange to the UK public. The ability to lay bets (bet that a horse, or a football team, or anything at all WON'T win!), as well as back bets (bet that something WILL win), changed betting forever. Alongside the exchange the Betfair sportsbook provides some of the best existing user promotions which ensure that plenty of your bets get a boost! The Betfair betting site also has a Casino, Live Casino, and Poker site all linked by the same betting account. The mobile app can be downloaded to both Android and iOS devices and has carried over all your favourite features from the website, allowing you to pick up tips, watch live streaming, and cash-out bets if you want to as well.
Pros:
✅ Massive £100 of Free bets as a sign-up bonus
✅ The best betting odds available (on average)
✅ Acca Edge refunds losing 4 fold bets if one leg lets you down
✅ Full online gambling package
Best UK Bookmakers 2024 by Category
| Bookmaker | Category |
|---|---|
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Best Overall Betting Site |
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Best New Betting Site |
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Best Horse Racing Betting Site |
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Best Cash Out Betting Site |
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Best In play Betting Site |
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Best Live Streaming Betting Site |
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Best Welcome Bonus |
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Best Existing User Offer Betting Site |
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Best Betting App |
How Do We Rank the UK’s Best Betting Sites?
When we rank the best betting sites there are a lot of things to consider. Each is an important piece of the picture and how important will vary from person to person. We list below what we take into account and why.
Odds
Essentially this is the only thing that matters if you are betting to try to make money. No matter what, unless you are betting on value (Odds greater than the probability of it happening) you will never be able to do it in the long run. Even if you are not taking it so seriously and you are just betting for fun, to make games a bit more exciting when you watch them perhaps, the odds should still be of interest because better odds will at least help you to lose more slowly.
Variety of Markets
A factor that should concern everyone is the quantity and range of betting markets that a bookmaker provides to its customers. There is three elements to consider here:
Number of Sports: Some bookmakers may have only a dozen or so sports priced up and available for betting. It is pretty much unheard of for a betting site not to take bets on football or horse racing but if you want to bet on a mid-tier sport such as American football (NFL), it is not a certainty that every bookmaker will have this available and obviously if somewhere does not have a wide range this is a negative. There are then sites which go the extra mile and have truly vast numbers of sports to bet on including Wind Surfing, Nascar and Chess to name a few. A betting site that takes bets on everything you want no matter how obscure it may be is what will help that site be the best.
Once you have found a bookmaker that offers odds on the sport you are interested it, the depth of coverage is what becomes important now. For example, as mentioned it is realistic to think that every site is going to have football to bet on, but how many leagues in how many countries can you bet? Some bookmakers might only have the major European football leagues, rather than those from far flung places such as the Asian or African leagues. If you were only interested in UK football betting anyway what will still be a factor is how many leagues they cover, do they go down to the foundations of the football pyramid and display non-league games to bet on? Do they price up Under 23 games? Women's games? The best betting sites will.
Finally assuming you have found your desired sport and located the specific game or match to bet on, once you open it up the last question is “how many markets are there to choose from”? Some sites will only offer the basics for a game, who will win obviously, depending on the sport you will probably get some over/under goals or points markets, who will score first, perhaps some handicap markets, but maybe not much beyond that. The best betting sites will have literally hundreds of bets to choose from, looking at the full time result and also the half time result, they will price up a large range of over/under bets not just for goals but in football for cards and corners too. They will have player proposition bets for you, and as IF all that is not enough, more and more common these days is the ability of players to interact with the bookmakers via social media and some allow you to request your very own unique markets if what you want is not there.
Welcome Bonus
Although it only matters once, it is still true that if you are going to go to the trouble of joining a new bookmaker, you want to get the best reward possible for doing so. Some bookmakers have no Welcome bonus for joining whereas others might be giving away up to £100 worth of Free bets. Clearly a site offering new users closer to £100 than to £0 is a better site than one offering nearer to £0 than £100 if everything else remains equal.
Promotions for Existing Users
Much more important than the Welcome bonus in our opinion, and one of the most important things to consider when trying to rank the best bookmakers is looking at what promotions they offer to existing users day in and day out. The reason for this is simple, any Free bet offer or bonus promotion is either increasing your odds or increasing the chances of you not losing. Both of these things are raising the value of your bet, and as we spoke about earlier value is the main function of whether you win or lose in the long run.
Different bookmakers will have different Free bet offers Emailed to customers randomly and these are hard to quantify because they come and go but some common promotions to look for which are there all the time are:
- Best Odds Guaranteed Horse racing bets
2 Up Winner Football bets
Acca Insurance
Extra Places for selected Horse races
Refunds if 2nd or 3rd for selected Horse races
Run for your money and first past the post
Variety of Payment Methods
One of the golden rules when gambling online is to do it your way. Using a dedicated betting bankroll is a good way to ringfence your funds and help prevent you from tilting and losing more than you can afford to lose. If a bookmaker has a large range of payment methods you can use an E-wallet to do this, maybe PayPal or Neteller, or more recently ApplePay is growing in popularity. The best betting sites will rank more highly if they accept more than just the standard debit card option (which someone may be uninclined to use if it mixes there day to day finances).
Speed of Withdrawal
We know the feeling, you have had a nice win, and now you want to enjoy the money! There is nothing worse than waiting for days (even weeks!) on end for your bookmaker withdrawal to hit your account. The delays could be due to excessive KYC requests or just a lethargic payments department, but whatever the reason, the best betting sites will pay you quickly, usually on the same day. When we look to rate a bookmaker who takes longer than a day to make a withdrawal payment they would be marked down for this.
In-Play Betting
Long gone are the days when it was common to place some bets on upcoming events and then that was the end of it, there was nothing else to do but wait for the final scores to come in. Nowadays it is incredibly common for people to bet on games that have already started known as “In play” betting.
Why is this? Sometimes this is done because certain people believe you have a better idea of how a team will play if you watch them for the first ten minutes, you can make a more informed bet. Sometimes it is done to place mini bets that settle very quickly, for example will a team score in the next five minutes, which can certainly add to the short term excitement. The most common thing people do In play though is deciding to Cash out bets before they reach their natural conclusion. Bookmakers who have a large range of In play betting options, dynamic statistics and graphics or even live streaming of the match, good odds and quick bet acceptance, and a Cash out feature (with partial Cash out you control) are going to be ranked very highly.
Live Streaming
As we just mentioned briefly above the live streaming options provided by bookmakers help us in ranking who are the best. The majority, but not all, sites will have horse racing streaming but we will rank more highly those who allow you to watch the race without having to bet on it. Some bookies JUST have horse racing but the better ones will allow you to watch a large range of sports live to help with your In play betting or just for you to watch for fun. Some sites even have football streams so you can watch games live but unfortunately, due to licensing restrictions, it is not UK Premier League games.
Mobile Experience
As we have touched upon with In play betting and Live streaming, although they are not exclusively activities to be done on your mobile phone they are likely to be. Being able to bet on the go, from anywhere and at any time is what the best betting sites provide, and doing so via a dedicated mobile app is what we are looking for. Having a good mobile betting experience with easy to navigate layouts, information well presented, all the features of the desktop site transferred over and a smooth deposit and withdrawal process will make a betting site rank highly.
Customer Support
You hope that you will never need them, and you can argue that to be one of the best betting sites then you will never need them, but sooner or later it is almost inevitable that you will cross paths with a bookmakers customer service team. It may be that you have a query with a betting market, with a promotional bonus, or with a withdrawal. Whatever the reason being able to get hold of a human, and a human who knows what they are talking about is what the best betting sites have and what we rate highly. There is nothing worse than going on live chat and having to fight your way through an AI bot that can not help you at all for several minutes. Any bookmaker who goes straight to a real agent gets a thumbs up.
Licence & Industry Reputation
All bookmakers will have to have a valid UK licence to make it onto our website and reviewed bookmakers list so that is a given for them all. We will consider to a degree their heritage, how long they have been operating and what their reputation is like. It is not the be all and end all, because things change, but if somewhere is known for being sub standard in the past, alarm bells will be ringing.
Best New Online Bookmakers for 2024
As time marches on new betting sites are always appearing on the scene. They all aim to bring something new, different, and exciting along with them and sometimes they succeed, but more often than not they don’t. Some of the newest betting sites on the UK betting market that have a UKGC licence we list below:
Bookmaker |
Founded (UK) |
Star Feature |
Welcome Bonus |
|---|---|---|---|
|
2019 | Live Betting |
£20 of Free bets |
| 2019 | Great Odds |
£30 of Free bets | |
2019 |
30 Sports to bet on |
£20 of Free bets | |
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2017 |
Charities benefit |
£10 Free bet |
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2021 |
Best Odds Guaranteed |
N/A |
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2022 |
Esports specialists |
£30 Free bet |
|
2022 |
77% Acca boost |
£15 Free bet |
|
2021 |
Huge number of markets |
£15 Free bet |
Top Ranked New Betting Site - 21LuckyBet
21LuckyBet is an exceptional online gaming platform that offers a diverse range of casino games and sports betting options. The user interface is sleek, intuitive, and easy to navigate, making it perfect for both seasoned gamblers and newcomers alike. The site's sportsbook also offers competitive odds and a wide range of betting markets, making it a top choice for sports enthusiasts. Customer support is available via live chat 24/7 and they are responsive and knowledgeable.
2nd Placed New Betting Site - LiveScore Bet
As the name suggests they are the new branch of the livescore group, evidently not content with promoting other bookies they decided to capture some of that market for themselves. Using the same software as the Virgin group they have an incredibly generous range of existing user promotions including several Free to enter games offering real cash prizes.
Third Best New Betting Site - SBK
SBK is the sportsbook betting app brought to you by the betting exchange Smarkets.com. You can use the same account to log into both versions of the site (Exchange and Sportsbook) but you can only access the SBK sportsbook via your smartphone after downloading the app. This is something well worth doing as SBK brings you the odds of a betting exchange with the simplicity of a sportsbook!
Football Betting Sites
The most popular betting sport in the UK, in terms of the number of people who place a bet on it each week, is football. Football is also the most popular betting sport in the whole world. The rapid growth in the popularity of The Premier League, propelling it into being a truly global brand, has gone hand in hand with a rise in gambling on the outcomes. Today 8 of the 20 football clubs competing have shirts sponsored by a gambling firm. If you are going to be betting online there is a massive probability that you will bet on football sooner or later so lets look at how we decide what makes a good football betting site and who we have chosen as the best ones.
Countries covered - The best football betting sites will bring you matches from all around the globe. You can place wagers on the first division games of countries you may not have known existed. For the majority of people who just want to bet on The Premier League, the FA Cup, and perhaps the odd England International this may not be so important but to some people for whatever reason it might be and that is why it is important.
League Depth - Once you have found the right country the next thing to worry about is whether or not your game is priced up and available to bet on. In the UK we have the main football pyramid comprising… The Premier League, The Championship, League 1, and League 2. There is then the non-league football, the top of which is confusingly called the National League! It then breaks down into geographic areas North and South before breaking down again to regional sub-leagues. Whilst virtually all bookmakers will cover the top four leagues, only some go further down the system, and the best will go down up to 7 rungs, useful if you want to bet on Mickleover FC - Lancaster City.
Markets - Once you have found your game what can you bet on? Obviously who will win the game, the correct score, how many goals will be scored, who will score first, these are all par for the course. The best football betting sites will have a huge amount of player proposition bets, in depth Asian Handicap markets, corners and cards markets, as well as the ability to request your own bets via Social media if there is something they have missed.
Odds - Football odds are probably the most competitive since punters are likely to be easily swayed from one site to the next in order to place their bet. You will find that more often than not it is the price of the favourite to win which is advertised and price matched, which is fine. The best betting sites though will be able to compete across the board, having low margins on the lesser markets and offer value on the long shot bets as well.
Promotions - The thing which can provide you with value when you bet other than odds is the promotional bonuses that may be running. Some bookmakers pay out as a winner if your team goes 2 goals ahead at any stage, and for anyone who has watched your team throw away a 2 or even 3 goal lead before will see the value in that. Other sites pay out as a winner if your chosen team scores in the first five minutes, never mind what happens in the rest of the match. You can get other bookmakers who will pay out on the scoreline as the clock ticks past 90 mins, AS WELL as the actual result, which means if your team are defending a 1-0 lead you can relax in injury time, and still celebrate a win even if the other team get a 90+4 minute equaliser. There is a huge number of possible offers and promotions which come and go all the time but the best football betting sites will have at least one of those mentioned, and we are sure you can picture scenarios when they would have come in handy.
Mobile exp - In 2024 it is more than likely that you will be betting on your mobile, at least some of the time. The ease of doing so, how you can navigate to the markets you want, select the bets that are right for you, potentially bet “In play” and get live stats and data, are all what the best football bookmakers will be thinking about when they develop their products. There is even live streaming of certain football games, but unfortunately this will not apply to the Premier League. Other competitions are available though from around Europe, you can watch certain UK cup competitions, and also some England Internationals.
Top Ranked Bookmaker for Football - Betfair
The Betfair exchange has one of the largest number of markets to bet on, we mean not just who will score first but will they score twice or get a Hat Trick as well, you do not even have to bet on them to score you can bet on them just to have a shot on target, or 2 shots… the list goes on and on. Whilst other bookmakers may also have a large number of markets what sets the Betfair exchange apart is the quality of the odds available on the bets. Being an exchange if the odds are not what you want you can always submit the bet at the level you are prepared to bet and see if someone else matches it later.
Furthermore as well as the odds it is the flexibility and control an exchange gives you, being able to back selections and lay others (bet it WON'T happen), you can combine liabilities to make your money go further and you can trade and hedge your bets In play giving total control of what is going on with your betting position.
Pros:
✅ Massive £100 of Free bets as a sign-up bonus
✅ The best betting odds available (on average)
✅ Acca Edge refunds losing 4 fold bets if one leg lets you down
✅ Full online gambling package
Horse Racing Betting Sites
When it comes to selecting the best horse racing betting sites we delve deep, looking at the obvious criteria of course but we also look at the more nuanced details to see who really is the best. Below we describe some of the things we asses
Races Covered - It is obviously vitally important to be able to bet on every horse race which you would like to. Every UK bookmaker that we have ever come across cover all UK and Irish races so that is not an issue. What we do look for though is how many foreign races are covered, is it just the major races like the French “Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe”, the Australian Melbourne Cup, and the American Kentucky Derby or do they also look at races in Germany, South Africa, and Japan?
Good Odds - Having good odds is obviously essential if a site is going to be competing for a position on our best horse racing betting sites list. We check not just the odds for the favourites but also what the odds are like on the outsiders, and if they offer any special markets whether they are value or just there for the novelty.
Live Streaming - It is not unusual for a UK bookmaker to provide live streaming of the races so you can watch along. We look at what the qualifying criteria are, do you need to have an active account? Do you have to have placed a bet on the race? Or can you just log in and watch? The best horse racing betting sites will have the most liberal conditions.
Pre Race stats and info - It is imperative to do your research when betting on horse racing and we like it when bookmakers give us a helping hand. Some bookmakers just give a race card with limited info like who the jockey is, what the draw is and what the current odds are. On the other hand some bookmakers provide high quality content such as interviews with the jockeys, and comments from industry figures on their thoughts on the upcoming races. All of this information can potentially provide another string to your bow.
Extra Place Races - There are always a standard number of places paid by bookmakers when horses finish in the first positions and exactly how many depends on how big the field is. Some bookmakers have taken it upon themselves to select certain races (the most common example is The Grand National) and boost the number of finishing positions they pay out on. There is no official system to how many places they boost it is entirely up to them, but if you ever see one bookmaker paying out 4 places and the others all just 3, then you know where to place your Each Way bet on that race!
Refund Offers - UK betting sites are more and more frequently offering refunds to customers who lose but it is in a certain way. These can range from because your horse loses all chance at the start of a race through to being beaten at the end by just a short head! Then there is everything you can think of in between. These offers come and go and are often only for feature races but the best betting sites are the ones that have at least one type of “refund if” bet.
Large range of markets - Obviously you will want the option of betting on who will win, and then also the option to make that bet Each Way, but is that all? At some betting sites that is all you will get to choose but others go that extra mile and bring you so much more. There can be odds for betting without the favourite, to finish in the top 2 or 3, you can for some races bet what distance the winner will be victorious by and even on how many horses will finish the race. The best betting sites will have the largest amount of options for you to choose from.
Additional Features - Some bookmakers provide some extra details. Some live streaming services do not just show you the race, but before the off it displays for you the last race each horse was involved in. You can even use the interface to compare horses with variables such as flat speed and who the trainer or jockey is. Skybet has this for one and it is an incredible piece of kit. Another nice touch Skybet offer is that if you have previously bet on a horse with them, then they will Email you the next time that horse is racing again so you don’t miss their next run!
Top Ranked Horse Racing Betting Site - Geoff Banks
Amongst some stiff opposition our recommendation as the best horse racing betting site in the UK is Geoff Banks. Geoff Banks is the son of a legendary bookmaking pioneer John Banks, who was for a long time one of the highest profile bookmakers in the country, with a penchant for laying fearless wagers and known for paying out with a smile. Geoff took over his father's business in 1998 after working alongside him for many years. Geoff's heart lies in horse racing. To that end he offers great deals for his clients - best odds guaranteed and paying out first past the post which both result in extra cash in your pocket, with bets already placed at seriously competitive odds. More recently there has been the addition of a refund if 2nd up to £100 on all UK and Irish races with over 8 runners and an SP favourite over Evens. Probably the best horse racing bonus available today.
Furthermore, they live stream every race, all day long, and you can watch just by logging in. The homepage acts as a TV basically and there is no need to have had a bet or even to have money in your account, you can watch along to the races. If you have not got an account they even have a £30 Welcome bonus available, all for just a £10 initial deposit and bet.
✅ Best Odds Guaranteed on all UK and Irish Horse Races
✅ Every horse race live streamed every day
✅ Refund if second offers on all qualifying races
✅ Pay first past the post AND official result
Bookmakers with Cash Out
The idea of cashing out a bet sounds great, you are guaranteeing a profit if your bet is winning, what is not to like? Well, we should point out that the bookmakers do not offer you the true value of your bet when you cash out and you are in the long run costing yourself money, not saving yourself money.
An example, you have 10 bets of £100 at Evens and they are all winning towards the end of the game, if they run to their conclusion each wins £100 profit. You can Cash out the bets for £175 which means £75 profit no matter what, or you can let it ride and potentially lose £100. When it is put like that you can understand why people take the profit BUT… it is bad value. Because if the bookmakers are offering you £75 profit then the true odds is probably 1/10 on. What this means is:
Cash out all 10 bets, and you get £75 profit x 10, so you win +£750 in total.
Do NOT cash out any bets, one of the ten will have a late equalising goal to mean you lose £100 but on the other 9 bets you won £100. 9 x £100 is £900 profit, minus the one losing bet of £100 means a Net total of +£800.
Although it is nice to have won every game, and this is why they cash out, because nobody likes the feeling of a loss, but it is bad value. You will make more money if you stomach the loss and let your bets ride to their conclusion.
That being said, lets turn our attention to some of the betting sites that allow the cashing out of bets and explain what we look for if you are going to be doing it and then you will hopefully see why we have chosen these to be the best.
High Cash out offers - The best Cash out betting sites will allow offer you good value on your bet but remember, they will all offer you less value than you already have. It is very hard to calculate the true value of your bet yourself but it is possible to use exchange odds on the lay side to get a good idea.
Partial Cash out - Some betting sites give more control than others about how much you can cash out. Instead of being given a binary choice of, “Take £175 or let it ride” some sites have a handy slider allowing you to sacrifice different amounts of your winnings, in order to eliminate some or all of your risk. Some people like to cash out their stake amount so that no matter what they can not lose £s but they still have a chunk of profit if the bet comes in.
Top Ranked Cash Out Betting Site - Ladbrokes
Ladbrokes are a big name in the bookmaker industry and with good reason. Whatever you’re looking to place a wager on, you’re likely to find it at Ladbrokes. They have cash out options for most (but not all) of their bets. You can cash out single bets In play or even before the game has begun if you have second thoughts. You can also Cash out Accas which may be doing well but you have some doubts about the last legs. Being able to use partial cash out vie the user friendly slider bar makes Ladbrokes the best Cash out betting site.
In-Play Bookmakers
It is incredibly likely that at some point in time you will want to bet on a game that is already in progress and is therefore “live”. This is known as betting “In play” and it is now a fundamental part of most bookmakers offering to their customers. It originally was just a few markets such as who will win and the over/under 2.5 goals markets, very basic and with very poor odds which updated infrequently. These days it is a very different kettle of fish, In play betting has expanded to cover most (but not all) events, and has now got a large number of betting markets to choose from, with competitive odds that frequently change to reflect the current situation. When we consider who is the best In play betting site we consider things such as…
Number of markets covered? - When are betting In play you will want to have as much choice as to what to bet on as possible. Some markets are a given such as who will win the game, but, depending on the sport there can be some incredibly short term markets which increase the excitement all throughout the game, for example tennis can be who will win the next point, or cricket can bet on what will happen next ball!
How quickly bets are accepted? - There is nothing worse than placing a bet and having it hanging, not knowing whether the bet is accepted or not. There is always some delay in an attempt to prevent people with faster streams from taking unfair advantage of the situation but a delay of more than one phase of play is unacceptable.
What the bet limits are like? - All bookmakers have limits as to how much you can bet on one thing at any given time, and this applies to bets placed pre match as well as bets placed In play. In play bets have notably lower limits which is not usually a problem but it can be for some, and the best In play betting sites will allow a decent amount all the time.
Do they have any bonuses or promotions? - It is possible to find various promotions and bonuses specific to In play bets. They are sometimes things like “Bet £10 In play on the X vs X game tonight and if it loses get a £10 Free bet” or similar, these are even on the bookmaker's website or they can be Emailed to specific accounts. Another promotion is that a bookmaker may refund a certain % of losses on all In play bets each week or each month, SkyBet is one who does this:
Do they have decent stats and infographics? - Some betting sites will literally just show the odds for what you can bet on, other sites may give a nice graphic display showing the current state of play, who has the ball in a football game and what they are doing with it, who is about to serve in a tennis game, etc etc, which is much better. There is also the possibility to show in game statistics, how a current team is doing in terms of shots on target, cards and corners given, etc etc, which is ideally what you want. Finally it is also nice to have a live stream of an event so you can bet on an event you are actually watching. We look at that in more detail next.
Top Ranked Live Betting Site - Betfair Exchange
Betfair revolutionised horse racing betting at the turn of the century when they launched their betting exchange to the UK public. This new technology was ideal for betting In play because it freed Betfair from having to monitor multiple markets and constantly price them up instead of handing responsibility to their customers. The ability to back and lay bets, to hedge positions as the game goes on bred a generation of sports traders making money not from the results, but from what happened to the prices (odds) as the games wore on. Betfair were the first betting exchange which allowed you to cash out, either manually, or by using a convenient button and the value they give you doing so dwarfs the In play cash out amounts from their rivals.
Live Streaming Betting Sites
Live streaming is basically being able to watch the games, matches, and races that you have bet on TV, either on your desktop PC or via a mobile device (either a tablet or your phone). It is most common to display Horse racing and Dog racing from around the UK but other sports have varying amounts of coverage too. The quality of the streams and the number of events which are streamed vary from betting site to betting site, as do the qualifying criteria required to watch.
When considering which betting site has the best live streaming there are not so many variables, the ones we look at are:
Criteria to watch:
Which sports are covered
How well is it integrated into the site
Top Ranked Live Streaming Site - Unibet
At Unibet they have gone further than most in terms of both the quantity and quality of their live streaming, as well as how it is integrated into their site. With “Watch and Bet” it is particularly exciting because it’s the very first betting site to offer punters the chance to watch sporting events live in full-screen mode via their mobile app, and also place bets without leaving the stream. This means that you can place your wager without missing any of the action. In order to watch along you must have a funded account but you do not need to have bet on any of the events.
Bonuses Available at UK Bookmakers
Promotional bonuses to either attract new customers or reward existing ones have always been a big part of the UK online betting sites attraction. They can be very generous at times and who doesn’t like Free money? There are various types of bonuses from no deposit Free bets, Wagering activated Free bets, Odds boosts, Cashable deposit bonuses, Risk Free bets, and the list goes on and on.
You would be forgiven for asking the question “Why”? Well, that is a good question and it comes down to the fact that sometimes the bookmakers really do want you to win because if nobody ever wins then it is no fun and people won't keep doing it. This is especially true of Welcome bonuses and can go some way to explaining why they are often so generous. It is very unlikely that somebody will join a bookmaker for the very first time, deposit their hard earned money, lose it, and think “that was good I will do that again”. Betting sites want customers to win the first time so people see how much fun winning is, they will possibly think it is easy to do, and they will definitely remember that feeling and come back again, and again, hoping to replicate it. This is why they put the odds in your favour, all the bonuses mean that the odds are in your favour and statistically you should win, at the very least it will take you longer to lose.
Top 5 Hot Welcome Bonuses for 2024
Bookmaker |
Qualifying Stake |
Bonus amount |
Key Terms |
|---|---|---|---|
|
£10 |
£50 of Free bets | Deposit £10 and wager it with min odds of 5/1 (1.2). A 500% bonus will be credited on qualifying bet settlement. |
|
£10 |
£40 of bonuses |
New 18+ UK customers only. Register using the promo code WELCOME40, deposit and place first bet of £10+ on Sports (cumulative Evens+) within 7 days of registration. First bet must be on Sports. £30 in Free Bets and £10 in Free Spins (50x20p) credited within 10 hours of bet settlement. Free Bet stakes are not included in any returns. Bonuses have a 7-day expiry. Payment restrictions apply. SMS verification and/or Proof of I.D and address may be required. Full T&Cs apply. |
|
£100 |
£50 cashable bonus |
Make a deposit of at least £15. Use code PLAY10 to get a 50% matched bonus up to £50. To withdraw wager a total of 8 times deposit + bonus, with the max qualifying bet stake equal to your initial bonus amount. Bonus expires after 60 days. Min odds of 4/5 on singles, or 2/5 per leg for an Acca. |
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£5 |
£20 |
Deposit and bet £5 on any sport. (Minimum odds 1/2). Your account will be credited with 1 x £20 Free bet instantly. |
There are many different types of promotional bonus offers awarded by the UK betting sites, not just the Welcome bonus but Existing user bonuses too. We will describe some of the promotional offers that you may come across.
The top betting sites are…
Here at Legalbet we have also categorised the top betting sites and their features to make them easier for you to find. They are:
By Sport: Football | Tennis | Boxing | Cricket | Snooker | Golf | UFC | Darts | Greyhound | Rugby | Horse Racing | Basketball | Baseball | Formula 1 | Ice Hockey (NHL) | Volleyball | Cycling | Netball | AFL
By Payment Systems: PayPal | Skrill | Klarna | Boku | Debit Cards | Apple Pay | Paysafecard | Neteller | Google Pay | Prepaid Cards | Revolut
By Features: Cash Out | £5 Minimum Deposit | Minimum Bet Sizing | Live Streaming | Betting Exchanges | Safest | Fast Withdrawal | Daily Free Games | New Betting Sites | Horse Betting Apps | Football Betting Apps | Virtual Sports Betting Sites
By Events: Politics | WWE | NRL Grand Final | MLB World Series | Euro 2024
By Esports: CS:GO | Dota 2 | League of Legends | PUBG | Valorant | FIFA | CS:GO Betting Sites with Paypal
FAQ
It is not really possible to say who is the best because everyone looks for and values different things, and there is not one bookmaker who is best at everything. One may be best for odds, one may be best for a range of markets, one may have the best Free bets, another the best live streaming, another the best In play betting interface, and the list goes on and on. We have listed which we think are among the best, and the reasons why, in the article above.
The short answer is yes, sports betting online in the UK s perfectly legal. There are the caveats that you must be 18+ years old, be using your own money, not betting on an event you are competing in (or have an interest in), and the bookmaker is licenced by the UK Gambling Commission.
In the UK you must be 18 years old to legally place a bet on a sporting event.
This question is a little bit like how long is a piece of string, because there is no one answer, it will vary from person to person and from betting site to betting site. Bookmakers do try their best to make signing up as quick and easy as possible though, so on average it should take you a little less than five minutes.
Well it depends on what definition of “biggest” we are using. There are many ways you can argue something is the biggest, it could be who has the most staff, the highest turnover, the largest market value, the largest number of shops, or who operates in the most countries. For most of these metrics the largest bookmaker in the UK is the Entain Group, which includes the brands Ladbrokes and Coral.
To say which is “best” does come down to personal preference and what is best for one person will not necessarily be the best thing for the next person. We have looked at some of the betting apps we consider to be contenders for the title of the best betting app in this article, so you can read what we think in more detail there.
As a rule we would have to say yes, because in order to operate they must have a licence from the UK Gambling Commission and that gives them a fair amount of legitimacy. However, just by having a licence does not mean you know how to price up events and run a profitable bookmaker, and it is just a fact that newer sites are much more likely to cease trading than older ones. If they cease trading whilst you have a balance in your account or outstanding bets then you are very likely to lose that money.
At the time of writing virtually all betting sites give you a Free bet of one kind or another, either in the form of a Welcome bonus or as an existing user offer. For a guide to the current offers you can visit our UK bookmakers bonus page HERE
Yes they can ban you if you breach their terms and conditions but this is very rare. What is more likely to happen if they do not want you as a customer is to limit your max bet stake to pennies, which means although you can still bet there, it is fairly meaningless to win or lose, so not worth your time.
No you can not, this was banned in early 2020 in an effort to reduce the amount of problem gambling. Not only can you not deposit with a credit card directly you also can not use any other source of funds (such as an E-wallet) if they have ever been funded by a credit card.
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