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Best online bookmakers list for the UK in 2024

Best Bookmakers in the UK according to online-betting.me.uk

Provided here is a list of the best bookmakers in the UK based on the research done by our experts. After careful examination of many different criteria, we have created a ranking system to help you get to the best bookmakers UK. Why? So that you can get the most out of your online betting experience.

Below are our top bookmakers with their latest offer:

Bookmaker Offer Website
logo of bet365 bookmakers

Bet £10 & Get £30 in Free Bets for new customers at bet365

Bet365 Offer

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Bet £10, get £30 in Free Bets

SBK Offer

Best Online Bookmakers UK – March 2024

On this page, we look at some of the best bookmakers that our experts have tested and ranked. All the sites listed below are fully licensed and regulated by the Gambling Commission, offering safe betting platforms for punters.

These are the best online bookies for the UK & Europe which we can recommend, but there are others that are still really good – and you can find those on our Betting Bonus Page.

Remember too that you are not just limited to selecting only one of the recommended bookmakers off of the list.

You can sign up with more than one bookmaker if you feel necessary, which can help you sort of shop around to get the best value that you can for a wager. It also allows you to take advantage of different promotions and bookmaker offers.


Visit Bet365

How we review the best online bookmakers

Best Online Bookmakers

Using the knowledge of our betting experts, we have been assessing and analysing betting sites since 2002. We look at the quality of sports markets available across a wide range of sporting events. Because of all this experience which we can bring to the table, it means that we can provide knowledge insights into the many different online UK bookmakers that are out there.

The benefit of this is that you don’t have to do all the leg work. You can sit back and relax and focus on your sportsbook bet. That is because we have done all of the time-consuming groundwork for you, including offering things like football tips based on odds available at bookmakers.

Many factors have been taken into consideration through all of this research and exploration. Let’s take a quick look at some of those factors:

  • Customer service, bookmaker promotions and what extra features are available like cash out, bet builders, live in-play and live streaming are areas which have been examined. That’s in addition to the sports markets and the odds within them. A bookmaker is more than just the sportsbook that it offers.
  • Updates are important! We keep these reviews up to date on the ever-changing industry. That’s important because bookmakers are constantly updating their services. So we have to stay up to date as well. We have put everything together and because of valuable input from user-questions and issues in our chat, we know the areas of importance for punters.
  • We only recommend bookmakers that live up to the highest standards of quality (in terms of size, customer support, fees among other factors…). All of the research results have come through testing these websites, actually visiting and trying out the services which the bookmakers offer.
  • The key with a bookmaker is to be sure that you trust them and find them to be a reliable partner in your wagering pursuits. You want to go and look for important things like value, variety and security.

So rest assured that the list of best online bookies is compiled with expert knowledge. Please note that all ratings are based on our personal experience. T&Cs Apply.

Our Top 10 Bookmakers

1. Bet365 – Strong odds and extensive sportsbook

A trusted brand, Bet365 come in as one of the best bookmakers for punters. They have a lot of aspects that rank well, including an extensive sportsbook that provides some of the most competitive odds around. Bet365 were formed in 2000 and are instantly recognisable.

Features on their site include a tremendous in-play betting portal. That covers a lot of sports from football to tennis, basketball, cricket and more. It is one of the best out there both for operation and for market variety.

New customers can claim a bet365 welcome bonus when they sign up. Existing customers also have a wonderful range of long-standing promotions that Bet365 offer, like their 2 Goals Ahead You Win, Bore Draw Money Back, Bet Boosts and Tennis Acca Bonus.

Among the other features that make Bet365 rank strongly in sports betting for is their live streaming. They offer so much variety in their live-streaming service, that it’s easy for punters to bet on and watch matches. Plenty of Cash Out and Bet Builder opportunities further enhance things.

Bet365 have a decent mobile app for punters to use, and a good range of payment options. Customer service is only a couple of clicks away via a live chat.

Bet at Bet365

2. William Hill – Impressive betting market variety

As one of the biggest bookmakers in the world, William Hill delivers an excellent online service to customers. It’s a big service as well, with a highly impressive sportsbook that is one of the best that we have experienced in terms of market variety. In odds comparisons, they also come in strongly.

As one of the best bookmakers that we can recommend, William Hill does have a welcome bonus for new customers to size up. They will credit Free Bets based on your first bet on a new account. Besides that, William Hill consistently runs a lot of long-standing promotions to enhance just general daily betting.

One of the outstanding areas in which they really hit the nail on the head, is for horse racing betting. It’s exemplary coverage, with stats, bonuses and live-streaming to help punters really get into the heart of things. William Hill streams international racing along with domestic cards from all UK and Irish racing.

There is a Betting TV channel that they run for live streams of other sports, which is another of their strong points. There are a lot of daily enhanced specials they provide, along with Cash Out options and easily accessible customer service to boot.

Bet at William Hill

3. Ladbrokes – Good sports betting app

Another of the major players that rank strongly as one of the best bookmakers, is Ladbrokes. They are another staple of the British betting scene like others on this list. Ladbrokes retain a High Street presence along with their online operations. Their betting site and brick-and-mortar services can be linked through the Ladbrokes Card.

Ladbrokes have a very good sports betting app, which is available for both iOS and Android. It’s a good, strong, secure and functional platform making betting on the go nice and straightforward. Punters don’t miss out on any features by using it.

Ladbrokes are another of the betting sites that are on the list, who have a superb horse racing betting section. They throw a lot of stuff out there for both domestic and international racing from Extra Places to Best Odds Guaranteed and Live Streams.

They do also rank well for their promotions, starting with a sign-up bonus which credits free bets. Along with free bet offers for existing customers, Ladbrokes also have free to play prediction games for punters to dip their toes into.

Throw in nice little extras like news and blogs, plenty of payment options, competitive odds and cash out, it all comes together to form a very good sports betting platform.

Bet at Ladbrokes

4. Coral – Excellent in-play sports betting

Another of the famous High Street bookies from Britain and Ireland is Coral, who make it onto our list of the best bookmakers. Coral was established back in 1926 and offer a lot of top services. That includes the Coral Connect Card where you can deposit and withdraw to your online account in shops.

One of the reasons why we rank Coral strongly is because of their in-play betting coverage on football. It’s exemplary in terms of betting options. Overall their in-play section is just wonderfully extensive from football to cricket, table tennis, golf and a lot more.

The good in-play interface for live-betting at Coral, also functions really smoothly on their apps. The links to the Coral apps for Android and iOS are on their site.

Coral’s sportsbook is outstanding, covering an incredible amount of football matches from around the globe. They provide nice bells and whistles on their site for further engagement, like their Football Super Series and Racing Super Series which are free-to-play competitions.

Coral also have live streams that funded account holders can dip into, including football matches from Europe. There are a fair amount of Cash Out options running through their sportsbook as well. Coral do offer a welcome bonus of free bets for new customers and they have further ones for existing customers.

Bet at Coral

5. Unibet – Wonderful website design

One of the first things that the Unibet rank well for, is their betting site. It looks fantastic and they have always been one of the stronger betting sites in the UK when it comes to aesthetics. But not only does it look good, but there is also an excellent service at Unibet to back it all up, so they are on the shortlist of the best bookmakers.

New customers can claim a Unibet welcome package that includes free bets when they register an account with Unibet. They offer a lot more promotions for existing customers, particularly for horse racing, football and tennis. That includes things like profit boosts and Best Odds Guaranteed on horse racing.

The in-play betting portal at Unibet is really out of the top drawer and as with everything at Unibet it’s very accessible with looks and function. Users can filter the in-play sports that they see and marry it up with a great live-streaming service that they provide. Streaming at Unibet has always been one of their strong points, and provides football, live Esports, pro tennis and even international test cricket.

They havee a dedicated sports betting app, giving users full functionality, good speed and reliability and access to some unique features as well.

Bet at Unibet

6. BetVictor – Great for accas

BetVictor are an independent bookmaker and they are well known for having wonderfully competitive sports betting odds. BetVictor have great variety in their sportsbook, not only in covering the top sporting action but also for novelty bets like Reality TV and Politics.

The main betting site on a desktop looks and feels like using a sports betting app. It’s simple to use, and very well laid out, so specific betting markets are easy to find and read. Two of their big areas in the sportsbook is their exemplary coverage of football and horse racing. They are one of the best sports betting sites and one we highly recommend.

BetVictor are great for specials and football accas, as they make it really easy to build them from Both Teams To Score markets, to simple match outright picks. They also provide a lot of pre-built enhanced accas.

There is a BetVictor welcome bonus for new customers, which is a package of free bets. They also run the BV Loyalty Club in which existing customers can work their way towards free bet bonuses from their weekly betting.

All in all, BetVictor consistently comes up with competitive odds that rate alongside some of the best of the other betting sites UK listed on this page.

Bet at BetVictor

7. Sportingbet – Solid, simple betting platform

Sportingbet have been around for a long time, and they cover more than 90 sports in their sportsbook with over 30,000 bets listed per day. Sportingbet remains a popular betting site, for just straightforward betting.

There are not the kind of big features knocking around the Sportingbet betting site to the extent that can be found at others. It’s not a site where you are going to find yourself distracted by looking at big flashy promotional features.

But the simplicity, with a good clean layout of markets, is their big strength. It’s just a nice platform to be on.

Sportingbet have a great sportsbook for variety and they are competitive with their odds. For football betting, they provide a lot of Build A Bet options, and they have plenty of markets covered by Cash Out as well.

Sportingbet do also have a dedicated Acca Builder tool which is worth dipping into if that’s your thing. There is live streaming on the site that includes tennis and football. Their in-play markets are good for variety, and it’s a strong, secure platform.

There is a Sportingbet welcome bonus for new customers, in which free bets and more can be claimed as they play.

Bet at Sportingbet

8. Betfair – Highly rated betting exchange

Betfair shook up the industry when they launched their betting exchange platform. It offers an alternative to traditional betting with peer-to-peer sports betting. This often translates to better odds because there is no bookmaker in the middle taking a cut.

Punters only pay a commission on winning bets, but on the betting exchange, the odds can be played with until you find what suits you. Betfair are the big pioneers of this online betting method and there is so much to explore with it.

The help and community input at the Betfair exchange are excellent and worth exploring to help the journey along. There is also a traditional Betfair’s sportsbook, so punters get the best of both worlds, and features like live-streaming span both platforms.

There is an excellent welcome bonus for UK players available at Betfair and there are plenty of other features too like cash out and betting tips, price boosts, bet builders and more. It’s an extensive site, and they are an excellent destination to find early markets for sports betting.

With the exchange, they offer something different and there are also daily rewards that can be collected by existing customers. With quality apps and extensive in-play betting, Betfair easily rank as one of the best sports betting sites available.

Bet at Betfair

9. Paddy Power – A powerhouse for promotions

One of the biggest online operators is Paddy Power who also rates very strongly for UK sports betting sites. They do have a lot going on at their site and they provide a lighter, fun and engaging platform for their punters.

Their sportsbook has always been great for variety, and their market variety is also very strong for live in-play betting. The Paddy Power sportsbook is enhanced with features like Cash Out, Bet Builders and price boosts running through it.

One major thing that Paddy Power have established themselves as being a front-runner of, is sports betting promotions. They churn out a lot of them, including plenty of event-specific offers, so their Promotions page is always worth checking out.

They have other features for customers, like their Paddy’s Reward loyalty club where free weekly bets can be earned, and their Beat The Drop which pays out cash winnings. Paddy Power continues to rank very strongly for promotions and that includes their welcome bonus offer which is a money-back special paid in cash.

Horse racing is strong with live streams of races from home and abroad, and they have live-streaming available for other sports as well. All of their services are available through betting apps as well.

Bet at Paddy Power

10. 888sport – Top odds and great in-play betting portal

Another of the industry heavyweights that rate strongly with us as one of the best bookmakers is 888Sport. There is a lot to enjoy about the 888Sport services including some of the strongest betting odds and a wide range of markets.

Whether it’s Premier League football betting, the Ashes for cricket betting, Premiership Rugby or whatever takes your fancy, the 888Sport sportsbook is stacked with options. It’s a massively strong area of their operations.

Their in-play portal looks fantastic as well, and mention should be made of their mobile app. It is one of the better ones available, which allows punters to enjoy live in-play betting and live streams.

The 888Sport blog gives punters some insights into the world of sports and betting, and other features include a Bet Builder, Acca Bonuses, Cash Outs and promotions. New customers can enjoy a welcome bonus of a package of free bets after placing a first qualifying bet.

Punters can also consider some great promotions like their long-standing 4/1 Winner Offer, an Acca Club and plenty of other ways to pick up enhanced odds and special bets. There’s good customer service at 888Sport and plenty of secure different payment options available.

Bet at Paddy Power

Best Bookmakers For Odds – March 2024

Best Bookmakers Apps – March 2024

Best Bookmaker for Football Accumulators – March 2024

Top 10 Football Bookmakers List

Again, we can’t stress this enough is that all uk bookmakers are different. They operate with different betting margins and some of them are stronger in certain areas. So looking at the top 10 football bookmakers, some of the key areas were market odds, variety of football betting markets and live in-play coverage. Here are the results of our research into the top 10 football bookmakers.

Some of the important things to look for when it comes to the best football bookmakers are the extra features that really help to deliver a top service. We found that mobile betting apps are so important when it comes to football betting, just because of the sheer volume of bets that are played on the sport.

So if you, like many punters enjoy a football wager, then you probably aren’t going to want to have to sit and load up your computer to do it. You want to get out your phone and place a quick bet. So finding a top football bookmaker app was an important aspect. Other things was having good market variety and a strong in-play betting service. Other features we liked to enhance football betting was bet builders and cash out options.

Top Horse Racing Bookmakers List

Horse racing is such a major part of UK betting, you will naturally find a big focus of the sport at uk bookmakers. But you won’t find the same horse-racing service at one bookmaker as you will at another. Services will vary slightly. Here is our list of the top horse racing bookmakers in the UK.

Some bookmakers go all out with their racecard stats, while others provide a wonderful range of easy-to-build bets and others excelled with features like offering extra places and having other betting bonuses like Best Odds Guaranteed applied to a high percentage of races.

Some of the things to look for in a horse racing bookmaker are racecards that have a good depth of form in them because this can be a big time saver. If you can quickly see the current form of horses then you don’t have to stop and go and visit another site to find that information and then come back again and bet.

Other things to look for are live racing streams, cash out options and variety of international racing if you like looking further afield.

How to choose the right online bookmaker

So with so many choices available out there in terms of UK bookmakers, and then the different services which they offer, how do you narrow it all down? The goal of, of course, is to try and get the right online betting sites which will tick all the boxes of your requirements. There are, of course, many, many bookmakers out there, all clamoring for your business.

Some of the most popular online betting sites and betting exchanges include Bet365, William Hill and Betfair. The choice is a good thing. It’s always good to have options available to you because, at the end of the day, it is competitive between the best bookmakers uk which ends up driving value to the customer.

There are great and many options available when it comes to looking at online bookies, but the bottom line is, is that they are all different. The differences can be small, but others can be big enough to have a detrimental effect on your online betting experience. So knowing just what bookmakers have available before signing up, can help you to avoid complications down the line.

New Online Bookmakers 2024

Things never stand still in the world of sport and neither do they in the world of online betting. There are long-established operators online offering their services, but there are also new faces joining the ever-expanding list of online uk bookmakers. So what to look for in a new bookmaker?

Well if you take into consideration some of the new operators like Tote and BetUK then you would be looking for the same things as you would at a more established bookmaker. Customer service is a key one for new bookmakers, account management and then things like welcome bonus offer, market odds and mobile betting platform options.

Don’t worry, you will find some of the newer bookmakers have ranked very well on our list of the best online bookmakers. That is after taking into consideration things like the strength of sportsbooks, market odds and website features of new online bookmakers 2024.

1. Tote – Pool betting at its best

While not technically a new site as the Tote has been around in one guise or another for some time, the fairly recent updates to this sports betting site have given it a complete overhaul.

The Tote were taken over and rebranded in 2020 and provide a platform for Tote horse-racing betting and football. Those are the only sports that are on the site, and the major focus is on racing.

That’s because it’s been synonymous with British racing since back in 1928 when the Tote was started. The Tote offers bet types like Exacta, and Triefcatas along with the Win/Place singles.

Multi-Leg bets like a Placepot, Quadpot and Jackpot can be explored on the site. The Tote does an excellent job with bonuses on their prices. The Tote Guarantee means that they are never beaten by SP on all UK and Irish Races and directly betting on the Tote means that punters can get 10% bigger dividends.

The Tote app is super convenient and easy to use, and they provide great help pages as well to get started with Tote betting for those unfamiliar with this pool-based wagering set-up. The site looks very good and new customers can also pick up a welcome bonus.

2. SBK – Quality app-based platform

It is always enjoyable when someone comes along and does something just a little different. It shows innovation and a willingness to shake up the status quo a bit. That is exactly what SBK has done because they don’t have a website-based sportsbook.

They are solely an app-based sports betting platform. Because of that, with all the sole investment in the development of their apps, they naturally have an excellent, secure betting platform for mobile devices.

The app can be accessed for iOS, and Android and the APK is made available as well. All the links are on their website, which again, doesn’t have a sportsbook, just information about SBK and how to get their app.

There is a lot to enjoy in the app as you can follow tipsters on there to see who might be on a hot streak and there also is the SBK Price+. This wonderful feature indicates which markets that SBK have better available odds on compared to some of their competitors. So it is clear as day to see when you’re getting the best odds.

There is a sign-up bonus that new customers can grab at SBK. Their story is rewriting the sportsbook and they have done an excellent job of that.

Bet at SBK

3. BetUK – Strong sportsbook

Another of the newer betting sites that rank well among the best betting sites is BetUK who have a pretty decent sportsbook. They come in strongly with competitive odds and with offers around the site like price boosts, things can be taken further.

There is an Acca Club at BetUK where your winnings can be boosted up to 50%, so they are a good place for building football accas. They have a dedicated section on their site for Specials where you can pick up enhanced odds.

There is free to view horse racing on the site, meaning that account holders can dip into what they want. There’s good form and tips included in racecards along with the live streams.

The sportsbook and live in-play betting portals are well-populated, with plenty of bet variety knocking around the sections.

There’s quick and easy access to a Customer Support Live Chat if needed. Payment options range from Debit Cards to PayPal. There is a welcome bonus of free bets that new customers can collect by opting into. BetUK do provide apps for both iOS and Android.

Bet at BetUK

4. Smarkets – Betting Exchange trading power with low commission

Based in London, Smarkets operate a sports betting exchange. It’s a very good-looking set-up that they have on their website and on mobile. Just landing on the Smarkets website you can see so many options for sports betting.

Everything is well laid out and one wonderful feature about them is that they provide clear graphs of how trading for a market is going. So if you were looking at England v Australia cricket test match betting, you can follow the trend of where punters have been putting their money as the match has progressed.

It’s a very good betting exchange, which is, importantly, accessible. There is in-play betting available on the betting exchange as well and they have very good match insights so that punters can follow the flow of a match.

They are really strong for delivering excellent odds and they have a low commission as well on the exchange. We should also mention that this is one of two products that Smarkets have. The aforementioned SBK app is theirs.

While that is one of the best sports betting apps around, the Smarkets betting exchange makes it one of our recommended list of new online betting sites as well.

Bet at Smarkets

 

Best Online Betting Offers

Bookmakers offer specials like enhanced odds or bet bonuses under certain conditions, such as a welcome bonus.

What to look for when choosing a betting offer

Betting offers vary a lot, in all aspects. The bonus amount of them being a prime example. There is no hard and set rule for the value of any bonus, you just have to shop around to find one that you like.

If you have two different bookmakers offering enhanced odds on England to beat Germany, one may have the offer at 11/1 and the other at 8/1. Offers come in many shapes and sizes like odds boosts, accumulator insurance and enhanced odds.

When you open an account with a UK bookmaker, you may see something like a deposit bonus, which will match the value of your initial deposit with bet bonuses (up to a limit).  That deposit would have to be made by a qualifying payment method too.

Whether you are looking at a regular sports bonus offer as an existing customer or as a new customer, there are things to look out for. The first one is any bonus code needed to activate a promotion in the first place.

Secondly, all promotions will come with terms & conditions. It is important to pay attention to them so that you meet all requirements. If you don’t hit all the requirements of the T&C’s then you would miss out on the rewards that the bonus has to offer.

Key things to look for are minimum deposits, stake maximums, expiry date of any bet bonuses collected and any wagering requirements as to what you can do with a betting bonus that is credited.

*Wagering and T&Cs Apply / T&C’s Apply on betting offers, 18+. Please Gamble Responsibly. 

Best Bookmakers for Withdrawal & Deposits

Fast, secure deposits and withdrawals are important factors for punters. The variety of deposit method options are another main element to consider. Here we look at some of the best betting sites that rank well for withdrawal and deposits.

When registering with a bookmaker, most welcome bonus offers have payment method restrictions in their T&Cs. So always check first.

Betfred

One of the best bookmakers on our list is Betfred which has some great options for punters. Along with the standard debit card payments and bank transfers, they also accept PayPal and other e-wallets.

The inclusion of PayPal is a nice addition to the deposit method options and Betfred doesn’t charge fees for payments or withdrawals to an account.

There is a £10 minimum deposit and for Betfred withdrawals, there is no minimum amount. Anything under £5 though, has to be done by contacting their customer service team.

For the Betfred welcome bonus there are payment method restrictions; prepaid Visa and MasterCard, and any e-Wallets don’t qualify.

Bet at Betfred

Boylesports

For deposit options, another of the recommended best betting sites is Boylesports. They have excellent security for payments including 3DSV2 Two-Factor Authentication.

Their variety of deposit methods is excellent as well. Visa and Mastercard are accepted for debit card deposits, along with bank transfers. They also have payment options available for Paypal, Apple Pay and GooglePay.

Another good thing with Boylesports is that a deposit to an online account can be made in one of their shops. Boylesports also have Same Day Withdrawals available for supported banks, allowing punters to get their hands on their money quicker.

There are no fees made by Boylesports for any transactions.

Bet at Boylesports

10bet

10bet, which has a very user-friendly help guide to everything to do with deposits and withdrawals, also ranks highly. The betting site has a minimum deposit of £10 on all their accepted methods.

They include options like Paypal and Apple Pay which can be super convenient options for mobile deposits.

10bet also has tools where customers can set their deposit limits to help them stay in control. The withdrawal minimums at 10bet are also great because three is a minimum of £1 on any of their methods.

They have a very good payment portal, which is secure and 10bet supports Fast Withdrawals too.

Bet at 10bet

How to deposit to your betting account

Deposit methods at online bookmakers are important. One of the first things to take into consideration is whether the method that you use is compatible with any welcome bonus. Generally, you will find that with sources like Skrill, Paypal and Neteller, when making an initial deposit with them (or just funding an account in general) those funds cannot be applied towards any bonus offers. Always check for minimum deposit amounts as well.

But there are many different ways to deposit to your betting account. You can use direct bank transfers along with debit cards or wallets to get funds into your account. More often than not the UK bookmakers are not going to charge you fees for transactions, but your financial institution may well do so, so just check both to make sure that you don’t get any surprise fees anywhere.

There will be a minimum deposit amount that bookmakers will require and in the UK, you will find that it is generally £10. But again, check with the operator that you are signing up with to see what their minimum is. You will have to first make a qualifying deposit (minimum amount and valid payment method) to take advantage of any welcome bonus that is on offer at a particular bookmaker.

So when registering at a bookmaker, those are some of the key things to look for. Note that when you do deposit with a bookmaker, more often than not they will want any withdrawn funds to go back to the same source as the payment method that the funds came from. So if you have deposited with your MasterCard debit card, for example, that is where the withdrawal has to go back to.

Using multiple betting sites

If you find that you are getting poor service, having difficulty with deposits and withdrawals or experiencing limited coverage of the areas on which you would like to bet, then it may be time for you to explore other options.

Sometimes online betting is just a learning curve in terms of experience and what you can get out of a particular operator. The more you come to use a uk bookmaker the more that you will find out what you like about them, and in some cases, what you don’t.

It is important to understand that you don’t have to simply be loyal to one bookmaker. Just because you have signed up at one bookmaker doesn’t mean that you can’t do the same at another. It is perfectly acceptable to use multiple bookmakers all once and if you stop and think about it, that has its advantages.

The advantages of multiple betting sites

Let’s assume for a moment that you have signed up for an account at three different bookmakers. What does that give you? Well maybe you wanted to go and back to Brazil to win the World Cup, but one of the three bookmakers has better odds on that outcome than the other two. If you were locked into just one of those bookmakers who were offering at a lower price, you would be missing out on value.

Just signing up with different uk bookmakers allows you to shop around a little bit to get the best price possible. Further to this end, and as you can see from all the research that we have done on this topic, is that there is absolutely no shortage of good online bookies for you to choose from. When it comes to the world of sports betting, then there is a lot to explore out there.

Choice and variety are good

You may find through your exploration that you consistently get better horse racing odds at one particular bookmaker. But you may want to do all of your football accumulators betting at another bookmaker because of an Acca insurance promotion that they have running. So that is a good example of some of the advantages of being signed up with more than one bookmaker. Just remember that you can’t hold more than one account at the SAME bookmaker, which is a different thing.

So it all comes back around to the wonderful value of choice. There are so many bookmakers out there, so use our ratings and rankings as a starting point. Then take a look at them from your betting perspectives and needs and try some on for size. Then you will be able to settle where you have your go-to bookies available at your disposal. But just as a caveat to that, don’t forget about those new bookmakers which crop up and just what they could offer.

Online UK Bookmakers FAQs

During our research into the best online bookmakers, some FAQs kept coming up time and again. It would be impossible to address every single question that every single player has about online betting, but here are some of the common questions that we felt necessary to answer, to help the process.

Which is the best bookmaker?

So which is the best bookmaker? That’s a loaded question because we always feel things at the end of the day comes down to personal preference. Does every single Manchester United fan think that George Best is the best player in the club’s history? Of course not, people will have differing opinions. People will have different experiences and different views of the different bookmakers.

However, throughout our testing, we did keep coming back to some familiar names in the different areas.

So to answer which is the best bookmaker, there is one operator which came out at the top of our lists. According to our reviews, Bet365 was the best bookmaker when everything was tallied up. They are the only one that we tested that we could give top marks of a five-star rating to. That, of course, will naturally lead you on to another question. That is why?

Why is Bet365 the best-rated bookmaker?

Let’s take a look. Some of the reasons as to why Bet365 ranked so highly with us, is because of the strength of the odds within the sportsbook, features and customer service. Let’s start with the customer service, which is something that is often overlooked by punters, but oh-so-important. You want to know that there is easy, efficient customer support there in case you run into issues. Support comes in many different forms, from frequently asked questions to live chat and technical support.

From a playing perspective, it is all down to the sportsbook. Consistently we found tremendous variety in the bet365 sportsbook which is why it got rated so highly. In odds comparisons and not just exclusively to the major sports betting markets, we found that the operator was extremely competitive. You want to know that you are getting good value from your online bookmaker and that is what we discovered frequently with bet365. Other notable features from bet365 were their live in-play betting service and live streaming. For us, they are one of the stand-out betting sites and continue to lead the pack.

Is betting legal in the UK?

It is very much legal in the UK. All uk bookmakers have to have a current gambling licence in the UK to operate. That is in place to protect punters as all online bookmakers have to abide by the same standards.

From an individual’s perspective, it is perfectly legal to gamble as long as you are at the minimum age of 18 and a resident of the UK (if you are betting from the UK at a UK bookmaker).

Who regulates gambling in the UK?

The official regulator of all aspects of gambling within the UK is the Gambling Commission. They are the ones who keep a check on everything in UK gambling from sports betting, to casino wagering and games. All betting companies have to answer to the UK Gambling Commission.

How do I place a bet?

Placing a bet at an online uk bookmaker is a pretty easy thing. Everything is designed to ensure that that is the case. A bookmaker doesn’t want you to go through twenty different steps before placing a bet of course. They want you to part with your money as quickly and as often as possible.

So the process is simple and it can be broken down into simple steps as well. You have to, of course, be registered with an online bookmaker to start with. Then it is just a matter of browsing through the sportsbook until you find the market upon which you want to strike a bet. If it’s a popular, common market on a big event, say a Premier League match, for example, you will probably have very quick access to those events right on the homepage of an online bookmaker.

You then make your selection. That selection will then be sent to your betting slip. In the betting slip is where you enter your stake. The betting slip offers a nice pause between picking a market selection and striking the bet. So just take time to ensure that it is the bet that you want and you haven’t just rushed into things. Also, make sure your stake is correct and then place the bet.

Do I have to pay taxes on my betting returns?

All betting in the UK is subject to taxes on the bookmaker’s end of things and they actually have to pay out a hefty chunk as well. Punters, however, do not pay taxes on stakes or gains. So it doesn’t matter if you have won £5 from a short-priced horse or £50,000 from a massive accumulator, you keep the money and the taxman doesn’t get a chunk.

If however, you stick that lump sum of money where it is gaining interest, then you are going to be subject to income tax. The HMRC doesn’t consider being a professional gambler as being a job so it’s not subject to tax. Another aspect of this is that they would have to come up with a credit system if they started taxing gains from gambling.

We will just throw in a small caveat to this. If you are making a living off gambling, as opposed to just being a casual punter, then there is a small chance at the HMRC may have a peek at what you are doing. But you would just have to show your betting history to prove “good-gambling-gotten”.

While we enjoy betting on sports and hope you can take advantage of the offers, we also actively promote safety and advise that you bet responsibly. Be sure to always use trustworthy bookmakers and be careful where you open a new account.