Sports betting is huge amongst the UK bettors, so whether you are looking for the newest online bookmakers in the industry or chasing the best betting promotions in the UK, Legalbet.uk is the place to be. Finding the best bet offers in UK is no easy task, but we have done all the hard work for you and compared all the best bookmakers out there following a rigorous selection process.
To sum up, here is what you will find on this page:
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The best bookmakers in UK
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Bookmaker reviews
How do we choose the best betting promotions in the UK?
There is a whole process behind the task of finding the best bet offers in the UK and there are several key factors to take into consideration before deciding which bookmaker fits your needs. Our bookmaker review process is based on a number of criteria which include important aspects such as:
- The diversity of payment methods available
- The quality of the customer service
- The functionality of the platform
- Odds quality
- Range of betting options available
It may sound like a complicated process, but don’t worry as you don’t need to do all the hard work. Our experts have done all of this time-consuming work for you, as they are always looking for the newest betting promotions available, welcome bonuses, odds charts, etc.
It is important to know that not all the UK sportsbooks are the same, as some of them are focusing on football, some are strong on greyhounds and horse racing, while others are good at offering solid betting offers. Our main goal is to combine all these factors and to conclude a list of online bookmakers that have all these aspects wrapped up into one quality package.
We will be looking to provide you with all the necessary info about what makes a bookmaker reliable, but first of all, we want to assure you that all the sportsbooks on this page are fully licensed by the UK Gambling Commission.
This is actually the most important aspect of a reputable brand because customers are always looking for the safety of their transactions. Secondly, we will take a closer look at the most important factors we take into consideration before adding an online bookmaker in our list.
Sports betting odds comparison
To some bettors, the quality of the prices and odds offered by a UK sportsbook is the main reason for choosing that bookmaker over another. In the meantime, the strength of the odds provided by a reputable bookmaker places them into the so-called winner sportsbooks category.
It’s pretty difficult to find the best sportsbook in terms of odds as the UK market is very competitive and diverse. However, our team of experts have gone through the top 100 bookmakers in the UK and have analyzed the price offered by those and put together a list with the best sportsbooks in terms of odds.
Finding value in the betting odds provided by a bookmaker is definitely the best way to make money in this industry. The most important factor in sports betting is to find the best betting odds available and therefore you need to follow several bookmakers at once, and not using the same bookmaker when you want to place a bet.
Another good tip is to check out the odds of an event with several bookmakers in order to find the best price and value. Nowadays, there are several odds comparison websites out there that can show you the price of an event with different bookmakers and the odds fluctuations. Anyhow, we have already compared the odds of several bookmakers and have put the data we’ve gathered in our bookmaker rating system.
What are the main features of a bookmaker account?
There are a couple of things that each bookmaker account must have in order to be a reputable brand. Firstly, the website and the mobile app should be easy to navigate, as you won’t want to waste time while finding your favourite match, team or betting markets.
Deposit methods are also an important feature of an online sportsbook, especially that people nowadays are using eWallets like Skrill, NETELLER or PayPal more often. However, you need to pay attention to some small but important details such as the minimum and maximum amount allowed for both deposit and withdrawals, along with the processing time for all of the payment methods.
Without a doubt, the sportsbook section of a bookmaker is probably the most important aspect to look for when signing up for a new bookie. This section covers a lot of key factors such as the number of events and markets, the variety of in-play fixtures, early prices and odds, enhanced odds and guaranteed odds, and the quality of the welcome bonuses and loyalty programs.
Finally, there are the extra features that some of the biggest brands in the betting industry are offering to their clients such as live streaming services, cash out or partial cash out options and top customer services.
It’s more fun to place a bet and be able to follow your team in real-time and use the cash-out feature if you believe that it’s profitable for you. A bookmaker is more than just a sportsbook service and the relationships between them and the customers are vital, so that’s why a strong customer support service is crucial.
How to find the latest betting promotions and sportsbook offers in the UK?
Every sportsbook out there offers Welcome Bonuses and Free bet offers nowadays, but it’s pretty difficult to choose the right one. Obviously, there are some key things to look for and here we talk about minimum deposits, the stake amount, the expiry date of the bonus and most importantly, the wagering requirements.
We only promote bookmakers that hold a license from the UK Gambling Commission and the GBGA in Gibraltar, so we want to assure you once again that all the bookmakers on our pages are fully licensed. Most of the best bet offers the UK has to offer are accompanied by Terms and Conditions, but we’re always trying to cover all the qualifying attributes of a bonus and the wagering requirements.
If you don’t know already, the wagering requirements are the conditions a player must meet in order to be able to withdraw any potential winnings which have been associated with a bonus offer.
We can see a plethora of bonus offers and betting promotions around big events across several sports, such as the World Cup in football, Grand Slam tournaments in tennis, huge boxing fights, etc. With the risk of repeating ourselves, the most vital advice that we can give is to pay attention to the Terms and Conditions attached to any bonus that you want to opt in, as it’s crucial to see if you can fulfill the wagering requirements in order to complete the bonus.
Law & Legacy of UK sports betting
The UK is definitely one of the biggest betting markets in the world and that makes sports betting perfectly legal provided the customer is of legal age, which is 18 in the United Kingdom. All the reputable betting companies have a rigid verification process upon registration in order to establish the customer’s age, residency, and eligible payment methods.
The best bookmakers in the UK are supervised by the United Kingdom Gambling Commission, which is responsible for overseeing all gambling in the UK.
This commission needs to check if the bookmakers are complying with all of the rules and regulations and there are several audits they conduct to ensure that the UK sportsbooks are running legally. Here are the most important things you need to know in order to make sure that you comply under the UK Gambling Commission regulations:
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The legal age is set at 18 years.
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Sports betting is tax-free within the United Kingdom.
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The United Kingdom Gambling Commission can block any transactions made to an unlicensed operator.
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All the transactions to a licensed bookmaker are checked by the UK Gambling Commission for your safety.
Please note that if you have a dispute with one of the online betting sites in the UK, you can submit a complaint to the United Kingdom Gambling Commission and they will go through that.
The best new online bookmakers
Finding new online bookmakers can be a thorough task and searching for them on Google or punters’ forums isn’t the best solution every time. However, you shouldn’t be worried about that, as here at Legalbet.uk we provide our followers with an in-depth table of all the newest betting sites that are available in the UK.
On our bookmaker comparison table below, you’ll find loads of new sportsbooks, all with their own unique set of features. The best thing about the new betting sites in the UK is that they need to step up their marketing campaign and provide their users with better features and higher odds in order to bring more customers than their competitors.
How do online bookmakers work?
Obviously, there are several differences between an online bookmaker and a street betting shop. The Internet has revolutionized the way sports betting works and now the punters have a lot of diversity when placing a bet, especially that they can do this from the comfort of their own home.
First of all, the users have now the ability to log in to an online platform where they can place their bets on their favourite teams. Online bookies offer odds to its customers, but the biggest difference is that bettors can now make their picks in real-time by placing bets in the In-Play section.
Furthermore, each user has full control of his bookmaker account, which is great in case you want to change the odds format, the language settings, check your previous bets or setting up some banking limits to your account.
Secondly, most of the online bookmakers nowadays offer dozens of modern features that make users’ experience of gambling websites enjoyable. For example, modern sportsbooks allow its customers to request a specific type of bet for an event and this can be done via a bet builder feature on the website or through social media.
If we’re talking about bookmaker tools that we can find in our account, then we should mention the Live Streaming service, which also includes live stats such as team possessions rate, number of offsides, cards, fouls, etc.
Finally, the Cash-Out, Partial Cash-Out and Auto Cash-Out features which are very popular amongst the punters. These functions allow bettors to take some winnings early before an event ends, although the payout is usually lower.
How to deposit with online bookmakers in the UK?
Every UK bookmaker will have a slightly different procedure but the general idea is:
- Log into an existing account or if you do not have one then register.
- Most websites have a quick link to 'Deposit' on the homepage but if not go to your account section and click on the 'bank' or 'deposit' link in there. All bookmakers include the option of debit cards (Visa and MasterCard), and most also include E-wallets such as Skrill, Neteller, PayPal, etc.
- Enter the relevant payment details in for the method you have selected.
- Enter the amount and click 'Deposit'.
- In most cases funds will be available instantly.
There are several payment methods to choose from, some of the most common that you will see as an option are:
PayPal
With just an email account, anyone can set up a PayPal e-wallet for deposits and withdrawals at many UK betting sites. With over 300 million active users they are the largest E-Wallet there is.
Skrill
Skrill is a payment method very similar to PayPal and is one of the other main methods used to fund gambling accounts in the UK.
Klarna
This method is only available to customers in certain countries at the moment, and not many bookmakers accept it as a method of deposit in the UK.
Boku
Boku is an online payment company that allows customers to fund their online gambling by using a mobile phone bill rather than a bank account to deposit into a betting account.
Debit Cards
Debit card transactions are an incredibly common part of day to day life, and we don't know of any legal bookmaker who wouldn't accept debit card deposits.
Apple Pay
This is an electronic payment system from Apple that doesn't transfer unrelated personal data to third-party sites (in this case the bookmakers) when paying them money.
paysafecard
paysafecard is used and accepted by a wide range of betting sites and is one of the few payment methods which allows customers to have their bank account and personal details completely separate from their betting account.
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paysafecard betting sites
Another important aspect of your first deposit should be the fact that usually, bookmakers are offering you bonuses in this phase. So, you can get a welcome bonus that requires a specific deposit amount, but there are also offers and bonuses that require no deposits at all.
To sum up, there are some key things to look for when making the first deposit and the most important ones are: the eligibility of the payment method you choose, the minimum deposit amount required, the availability of a promo code that can give you a bankroll boost.
How can you beat the bookies?
This is definitely the most common question amongst the online sports betting punters. Since the evolution of online gambling, people have always searched for a solution to beat the bookmakers, but the truth is that sports betting is awfully difficult to predict. There are no guarantees when it comes to predicting the outcome of a sports event, even when a team or a player is a huge favourite to win that match or competition.
Here at Legalbet.uk we give our best to share the best betting tips, analysis and Free bets offered in order to give you a better chance to make some money from the bookmakers. Our team of experts is working hard to produce the very best betting tips across multiple sports, as they continuously analyze the recent form of a player/team, head-to-head records, key stats, and injuries.
The best advice we can give is to create a betting strategy that fits your needs and always bet with your head, not your heart. Another good tip to take advantage of the bookmakers is to carefully search for the best free bets, welcome bonuses, special offers and the enhanced odds provided by the bookies.
How do we rate the UK’s Best Online Bookmakers
There is a whole list of online bookmakers out there, but the ratings and rankings displayed on the Legalbet.uk site is based on our personal experience and valued after our criteria. Our team of experts is spending enough time on each online bookmaker platform and conducting detailed research in order to separate the best bookmakers in the UK from the regular ones. We don’t want to be boring and repeat ourselves, but as we have already mentioned, the key facts to look for when choosing new sportsbooks are:
Furthermore, Legalbet.uk ratings are being made in a more in-depth manner, as we also rate most of the top 100 bookmakers by odds, lines, betting offers, In-play betting or by the quality of their mobile apps and mobile versions of their websites.
Here at Legalbet.uk, you will find a comprehensive online bookmaker review for each of the bookies available on the website, which covers all the important aspects from the registration process and website navigation to odds competitiveness, market variety and so on.
More than that, Legalbet.uk allows its users the chance to create a community and rate the bookmakers based on their personal experience. This is a great thing for the punters as they can make up their minds after seeing the ratings provided by the other users.
What are the main features of an online bookmaker?
Each of the main features that an online sportsbook has such as live streaming, in-play betting, cash out options, regular betting offers are explained in our bookmaker reviews. The extra features can be useful for a punter as it offers more diversity and better betting experience. For example, mobile betting apps can be considered a vital feature for both online bookmakers and bettors, just because people can place their best while on the go.
Some of the best UK sportsbooks host live scores and statistics features, while others offer audio commentary if the live streaming service isn’t available for that fixture. As you can see, the best UK bookmakers are jam-packed with extra features and we love to highlight those on our website. At Legalbet.uk, we like to keep our followers informed, and that’s why we give our best to keep our bookmakers’ ratings at top-level with the newest betting sites reviews.
The main features of our top 5 bookmakers
Betfred
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One of the best UK bookmakers in terms of special bets and regular promotions.
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Dozens of horse racing offers are available for bettors.
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Unique football first goalscorer enhanced odds.
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Unique #PickYourPunt feature for exclusive Betfred betting markets.
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Full range of early prices available on a daily basis.
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Unique and stylish mobile betting app.
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Acca Insurance features if one of your teams lets you down.
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Betfred pays for First Past the Post and the official result on UK & Ireland horse races.
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New Sports customers only. Promo code SPORTS60. 1st sports bet of £10+ in one transaction at Odds of evens (2.0) or greater, settled in 60 days. £30 free bet paid within 48 hours of settlement. Payment restrictions apply. SMS validation may be required. 30 Free Spins on selected games. 7-day expiry spins & bonus. Full T&Cs apply.
TonyBet
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Well-styled and easy to navigate betting platform and mobile app.
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Last-minute bets area to highlight the upcoming events.
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The ability to add sports, competitions, and leagues to your favourites for easy access.
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Wide range of payment methods and availability of SSL Web Server Certificates for encrypting sensitive data.
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Generous welcome bonus and loyalty programs.
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An excellent choice for football and basketball bettors, as it offers a variety of bets and markets.
William Hill
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Excellent welcome bonus with low wagering requirements, and a plethora of football promotions.
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Best odds and enhanced odds offered on all major sports markets.
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You can use the #YourOdds extra feature to create your own football bets.
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Enhanced Each-Way odds and Guaranteed Odds in horse-racing betting.
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High-quality Live Streaming service for several sports events.
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Cash Out feature to allow the payout before an event has finished.
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Easy-to-reach 24/7 live support & a plethora of deposit/banking methods.
Complete List of Recommended bookmakers
Bonus | Bookmaker |
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Mr.Play |
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Betfred |
100% First "in-Play" bet boost | 32RedSport |
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888sport |
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Smarkets |
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NetBet |
Sports Welcome Offer - £10 | Novibet |
100% up to £200 | Tonybet |
£40 Money back as a bonus | Unibet |
£30 in Free bets | BoyleSports |
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Star Sports |
£30 Free bet Welcome Bonus | WilliamHill |
£10 Risk-free first bet | PaddyPower |
£20 Free Bet Welcome offer | Ladbrokes |
£100 Free bet Welcome bonus | Bet365 |
Up to £100 in Free Bets | Betfair |
£10 Money back as a Free Bet | SportingBet |
£20 Back-Up Bet Welcome Bonus | Bwin |
£20 in Free Bets | Coral |
£25 Free Bet if lose | GentingBet |
Bet £10 for £20 Free Bet Offer | VirginBet |
Bet £10 for £10 free bet offer | SponsioBet |
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
By Payment Systems: PayPal | Skrill | Klarna | Boku | Debit Cards | Apple Pay | Paysafecard | Neteller | Google Pay | Prepaid Cards
By Features: Cash Out | £5 Minimum Deposit | Minimum Bet Sizing | Live Streaming | Betting Exchanges | Safest | Fast Withdrawal | Daily Free Games
By Events: Politics | Superbowl | WWE
By Esports: CS:GO | Dota 2 | League of Legends | PUBG | Valorant | FIFA
FAQ
This is actually a common question but in essence, the answer is more than simple. An online bookmaker is usually a brand or a company that accepts bets based on the price odds they establish before or during a sports event. The bookmaker will pay off the price of the bet if the outcome goes the way of the bettor, or will keep the money if the outcome isn’t the one that the punter predicted.
An online bookmaker is usually composed of a combination of an online casino, live casino, bingo rooms and a sports betting section. The sports betting section is usually known as a Sportsbook, which is actually the place where punters’ bets can be made on different sporting events.
Sportsbook offers are usually known under several different names such as bonuses, welcome offers, free bets, bonus credits, etc. These bonuses are offered by online bookmakers as incentives to attract new customers and encourage them to play on their platform. Here at Legalbet.uk, we are always looking to provide our followers with the best betting offers available on the market.
We have loads of tables on our website where you can check out the best online betting sites in the UK. Our tables have been made based on a plethora of criteria after our team of experts has spent a lot of time on each bookmaker platform from the top 100.
Every professional punter will aim to get the best possible odds, which means that it is vital to have more than one bookmaker account. Furthermore, you will need a list of a couple of online bookmakers because of the welcome bonuses and loyalty programs offered by the bookies are all going to add value to your bets.
First of all, it’s a business and similar to other businesses, you need to get the best possible start. Secondly, all bookmakers in the UK are obliged to apply for a license from the UK Gambling Commission. The Commission will then verify who is running the business and the budget. If the license has been given by the UK Gambling Commission, then you will have to pay some annual fees, which might be massive if your profit is big.
The betting industry will probably be here forever, so you don’t need to rush yourself in, you just need to take all the important factors into consideration before getting into this industry.