There are so many online bookies in the UK, it’s sometimes difficult to know which ones are decent and which ones are to be avoided like the plague… When you make a bet online or on your mobile, you need to know that the company you are dealing with offers top service, top odds and fast pay-outs. Choose unwisely and you will be offered crappy odds and end up having to wait weeks or longer to get your payout, as well as getting made to pay all kinds of hidden fees. Trust me, I have been there and it’s rather bothersome, so in order to save you this hassle I have compiled a list of the best and brightest bookies for UK punters based on my (embarrassingly vast) experience betting on sports.
Bear in mind the list below are my personal favourite bookies, where I have had the best experiences, they come in no particular order and you don’t have to be loyal to any of these. In fact, I recommend you try out a few of them with small bets to begin with, take advantage of the various bonuses and free bets on offer and then make up your own mind who you want to stick with.
William Hill was established in 1934 and is one of the largest betting companies in the world, with over 2,300 shops and processing over £15 billion in stakes yearly. As you probably know, William Hill are one of the premier bookies in the UK, covering on average over 19 betting events every hour. The company is listed on the Stock Exchange (so you can rest assured that your money is safe with them). The range of sports on offer at this bookie is truly staggering and you can also try out their great casino, poker and bingo games, all of which are available from one account via your mobile or desktop.
Sports betting lies at the heart of William Hill and the business prides itself on its fantastic odds and offers.
When you sign up with William Hill and place a bet you will receive a free bet of equal value, up to £25!
Click here to visit the William Hill website
Another giant of the UK betting scene is Gala Coral – a well-established company that can trace its history back to 1926. Gala Coral operate more than 1,100 shops across Britain and employ more than 16,000 people, so we are not talking about a boiler room operation here!
The highly competitive odds and range of sports that are on offer Coral Bet rival all of the other premier UK bookies, but it is their incredible special offers and promotions that make them truly shine. They consistently offer cash back specials and free bet promotions on all major sporting events – including offers for football, horse racing, cricket, rugby and many more.
Sign up and make a small bet of only £5 and they will give you another free bet of £20!
Click here to visit the Coral Bet website
Betfred was founded by Fred Done, a professional gambler and the site’s slogan is “The Bonus King”. The company began operating back in 1967 and now has more than 1,350 betting shops.
Betfred consistently offer some truly amazing offers, especially on football games, including double/triple odds on winning first goal scorer bets when the player scores again (these are called Double Delight/Hat Trick Heaven) and double odds on winning correct score markets when a goal was scored in added time.
Also take advantage of their great value offers like Double Delight & Hat-Trick Heaven, exclusive coupons like Goals Galore and a £25 Matched Bet when you sign up with Betfred online or on mobile.
Simply make your first real money bet of £1 or more and the nice folks at Betfred will match it all the way up to £25 with a free bet!
Click here to visit the Betfred website
bwin is an Austrian based betting company that started in 1997 and has since grown to be one of the largest online bookies in the world. As part of the largest public online gaming company, bwin offers over 30,000 bets on more than 90 different sports, serving over 20 million customers! The company is publicly traded so you can rest assured that they have a lot of money and financial security, meaning you can bet knowing that your payouts will be handled safely and that everything is done by the book.
If you’re into football, you probably know bwin as they have been jersey sponsors for AC Milan, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich for many years. The company is definitely a leader when it comes to betting on the footie, and consistently has more games to bet on than most other bookmakers. They even offer second division football in Spain, Germany, Italy and England.
As expected from one of the largest gambling businesses in the world, they have fantastic live-betting services, a great mobile betting app and promotions galore, as well as great casino and poker games.
As a new customer, you will receive a 100% match bonus on your first deposit (up to £30 FREE).
Click here to visit the bwin website
About the Author:
Jason Channing has been living in London for the past 8 years, after finishing his Masters in Mathematics at the University of Edinburgh. He is a fanatical sports fan and also places the occasional (analytical) bet here and there… His favourite saying is: “It’s better to regret something you did than something you didn’t do”.
