Best UK online sports betting sites that are reliable and safe to use
When you do a quick search on the internet for the best UK online sports betting sites you find hundreds of options. There are a lot of sports betting options available but there is also a lot of trash. You don’t have to find the gold between all this trash. We already did this for you.
”A decent sport betting site should meet certain standards including high odds, fair bonuses, and superior customer support.”
Our team finds, plays and reviews sports betting sites. Every day we play at betting sites and we bet on all kind of sports. In the table below you find the best betting sites for 2024 :
How does betting on sports sites work?
Understanding how sports betting operates may not be familiar to everyone, but the fundamentals are relatively straightforward. In sports betting, individuals place monetary wagers on the outcomes of sports events or various other occurrences. These events can range from football matches and tennis tournaments to non-athletic events like national elections, horse racing, or even illegal organized activities such as dog fighting. Depending on the sport or event, there may be a multitude of betting options available, ranging from a few possibilities to dozens or even hundreds of potential outcomes.
For instance, in football, betting options may include predicting the winner, halftime standings, the number of cards issued, the number of goals scored, or even the first corner or goal scorer. The frequency and amount of money wagered on sports or events can vary significantly depending on the cultural norms of the country where individuals reside. Additionally, the prevalent sports or events people choose to bet on are heavily influenced by their geographical location.
For example, many Europeans are inclined to bet on football, the Tour de France, or tennis, whereas Americans are more likely to wager on sports like ice hockey, basketball, the Super Bowl, and baseball. Cultural preferences and regional sporting interests play a significant role in shaping individuals’ betting habits and preferences.
How to choose a sports betting site in the United Kingdom
More and more betting sites are being launched on the internet. The online betting industry is growing and growing. It is essential to know what key qualities you have to look at before you select a betting site.
Each online sports betting site has advantages and disadvantages. We have the latest info for you on this.
Focus on a few key points when you want to choose a sports betting site that is right for you. Main key points are:
- Reliability
- Bonuses
- Devices
- Betting options
- Payments
- Customer service
- Terms and Conditions
1. Reliability – Does a sports betting site have a valid license?
Don’t play at sports betting sites without a valid licence.
Companies are only allowed to offer online sports betting options when they have a valid gaming license. Before getting a valid gaming license companies need to meet up with strict rules.
Online betting sites have to share their license information on their website. Most sites add the license information to their footer. Scroll down a website and you find the information. You can click on the license number in order to see the status of that license number.
On BestBettingCasinos.com UK you only find the best sports betting sites. They all have valid licenses and are reliable sites to bet on sports.
Please do mind that some gambling licenses are more valuable then others. This is simply possible due to the fact some gaming organisations are stricter than others.
In my opinion online betting sites licensed by the UK Gamblin Commission are the most reliable. But sites with other licenses can be fine as well. But it cannot harm to always checkup a site reputation before joining them.
2. Bonuses – Don’t miss interesting rewards
All sports betting sites offer bonuses and promotions. They offer these bonuses to attract new players and to keep existing players coming back. Every sportsbook offers different bonuses, rewards and promotions.
New players will be attracted with welcome bonuses, free bets and no deposit bonuses. These bonuses give you extra value when you start playing at the betting site.
Before you use a sports betting bonus it is smart to have a closer look at the bonus terms and conditions. Chosing a bonus with good bonus terms can be worth a lot of money.
We did all the research for you and you find the bonus terms and conditions of each betting website on our website (and in the sports betting tables).
Best sports betting sites offer you the following kind of bonuses:
- No Deposit Bonus
- Welcome Bonus
- Free Bets
- Boosted Odds
- Contests
- Loyalty Bonus
- VIP Bonus
Find your favorite bonus and choose a sports betting sites which offers the bonus that works for you.
3. Devices – Play at sites which perform on all devices
Before delving into online betting, it’s essential to consider the device you’ll be using to place your bets. Are you planning to bet from the comfort of your home, while on the go, or perhaps while watching sports with friends at a local sports bar?
When betting away from home, mobile devices become the primary option. Thus, you’ll need access to a sports betting site with either a mobile app or a mobile-friendly website. Efficient loading times are crucial for betting on the go, making a betting website with fast-loading pages indispensable.
The majority of sports betting sites featured on our platform offer either a mobile app or an exceptionally mobile-friendly website. For Apple users, many mobile betting apps are available for download from the App Store. However, it’s important to note that betting apps may not be permitted in every country. In regions where betting apps are prohibited, you can access the mobile website instead.
4. Betting options – Live betting or pre-match betting
Betting sites boast an extensive array of betting options, typically organized into several categories. Among these, live betting and pre-match betting are the most popular.
In recent years, betting sites have significantly expanded their live betting offerings, providing a plethora of new options for bettors. With live betting, you can wager on sports events in real-time as they unfold. This includes predicting the next goalscorer, winner of the next hole in golf, or the player who will win the next game or set in tennis. Major sports events often feature over 150 live betting options.
Engaging in live betting necessitates different skills compared to pre-match betting. Bettors must analyze games while simultaneously monitoring the best odds and identifying the optimal moments to place their bets.
The top sports betting sites consistently offer a diverse portfolio of both live betting and pre-match betting options. Rest assured, all the sites listed on our platform provide an extensive range of choices in both categories.
5. Payments – Choose a betting sites that offers your preferred payment option
Before you can bet on sports you have to add real money to your account. You need to select a payment method available in your country. Of course you want to use a payment methods which is reliable and frequently used. Major betting sites offer hundreds of different payment methods. On their website you can check if your preferred payment method is available.
Popular payment methods are:
- Credit and Debit cards
- E-Wallets (Skrill, Neteller, MuchBetter)
- Paysafecard
- Bank transfer
- Trustly
- Astropay
- Local payment methods (Sofort, Interac, Giropay, iDeal, Qiwi)
All selected sports betting sites on our website offer the major and most used methods for payments.
6. Customer service – 24/7 live chat
Of course we hope you never need to use customer support. But when you need it, you need it instantly. You never know if you have a question or an issue while placing a bet. A good customer support is very important in those cases. You don’t want to miss a bet because customer is not responsive.
Best betting sites offer you 24/7 customer support. You can open live chat and within a few seconds you can chat with a support employee. This employee will help you with questions and issues. They can also offer you interesting rewards and bonuses.
We recommend our visitors to play at sports betting sites with 24/7 live chat.
7. Terms and conditions – Choose sites with the best possible terms
there are a few important terms and conditions you have to look at when you start playing with real money at betting sites. The most important ones are listed here:
Wagering/ Rollover
Minimum deposit
Maximum Win
Popular criteria for selecting a sports betting site
- Bonuses
- Good variety of betting options
- A lot of banking options
- Super-fast withdrawals
- Mobile website available
- 24/7 Customer support
- Reduce juices
- Live Betting
- Valid UK gaming license
Betting on sports – How do odds work?
When considering betting on sports, it’s essential to identify a wager that aligns with your preferences and examine the associated odds. Generally, higher odds correspond to a greater potential return on investment. High-risk bets typically offer high odds, implying a lower probability of winning but a more enticing payout if successful.
For instance, when a strong team competes against a weaker opponent, the odds will likely favor the stronger team. Betting on the favored team increases the likelihood of winning, although the potential payout may not be particularly substantial.
Furthermore, many betting platforms allow users to combine multiple bets into one, creating a higher-risk, higher-reward betting profile. This strategy can transform several low-return bets into a single wager with the potential for significantly greater returns.
Since different bookmakers often offer varying odds for the same events, maintaining accounts with multiple bookmakers can be advantageous. By doing so, bettors can compare odds and place their wagers with the bookmaker offering the most favorable odds.
When exploring odds on an online betting platform, you’ll typically encounter two main formats: decimal odds (common in Europe) and fractional odds (common in the United Kingdom). Decimal odds represent the potential payout relative to the stake, with odds of 2.00 indicating an even bet. In contrast, fractional odds express the ratio of winnings to the stake, where a 1/1 bet implies an even wager, and a 3/1 bet suggests a £3 return for every £1 wagered.
Additionally, some bookmakers may offer different odds for players in the United States or Asia. Most online bookmakers also allow users to switch between various odd formats, which can be useful when comparing sportsbooks or catering to individual preferences.
Popular sports to bet on
Currently, there is a plethora of sports available for online betting, with most popular sportsbooks offering over 50 different options. Among these options, some sports garner more attention and provide a greater variety of events and betting possibilities.
Football remains one of the perennial favorites, particularly during prestigious tournaments like the World Cup and Champions League. Many individuals enjoy betting on football games to heighten their excitement while watching matches unfold. In addition to these major events, numerous bettors regularly engage in wagering on matches within national leagues such as the English Premier League, Italian Serie A, and German Bundesliga. Whether supporting their favorite team or seeking enticing odds, football enthusiasts find ample opportunities for betting.
Aside from football, several other sports attract significant betting interest, including tennis, basketball, golf, rugby, e-sports, and MMA/boxing. The appeal of these sports lies in the multitude of events they offer, as well as the diverse array of betting options available.
Let’s delve into some of the most popular sports and the various types of bets commonly associated with them.
Football – one of the biggest sports
The most popular sports to bet on is football. Why? One of the reasons for this is the fact that football is the most played sport worldwide. Especially in Europe and South America football is the number one sport. But also in other parts of the world more and more people start playing and watching football. Some of the most upcoming football countries are Asian ones like China, some Middle Eastern countries and multiple countries in Africa. And because more and more people play and watch football, more people start betting on this sport.
A second reason why a lot of people bet on football is the fact that a lot of major clubs get sponsored by betting companies. For example; BetVictor is Liverpool’s Principal Betting Partner, Betway sponsors West Ham United and Bet365 sponsors Stoke City. On top of that Zlatan Ibrahimović now promotes the launch of Bethard in the UK! And this doesn’t only happen in Europe, there are also a lot of big football clubs that already have betting contract with large Asian bookmakers and casinos.
A third reason why a lot of people bet on football is because the are used to bet on games. Why? We used to compete at home in order to win a small amount of money. And at work also a lot of people like to fill in a prediction for all the World Cup games. On top of that many UK stadiums offer betting facilities around the field. Besides that you will find bookmaker offices in most streets in large cities.
The last reason why a lot of people like to bet on football is the fact you can choose and combine a lot of betting possibilities. At some bookmakers you can place up to 1700 different bets on one singe match. Because of this many people feel like they can pick bet which they think they will win. Some of them are for example the winner of a match, the first goal scorer of the player to score 2 or more goals.
Tennis – also a major sports betting driver
A second very popular sports to bet on is tennis. Since the launch of online sports betting tennis has been one of the most popular sports to place bets on. There are multiple reasons why this is one of the most popular sports to bet on. One of them is that tennis is becoming more and more popular as a sport to watch in the stadium or on TV. At the moment almost all countries have a national TV station that broadcasts live footage of the Grand Slam tournaments. But besides the Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon and the US Open also smaller ATP tournaments get more and more TV exposure. With this growing attention more and more people start betting on the sports to raise the excitement and fun.
On top of the growing popularity of the sports also big stars like Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal boost the game of tennis. The high competitive element in the game and the sometimes role model athletes attracts a lot of new watchers. And while Tennis doesn’t offer loads of betting options, the live betting options for the game can be very exciting. While betting live you can place money on every action in the game. Who will win the next point, in how many games will the match be finished, who wins the current set, or will an Ace or Double occur? You can place (low) bets on all kind of things in order to keep the match even more exciting.
Darts – booming in many markets
During the last few years the sports of darts really exploded. It is only maybe 5/6 years ago that almost nobody watched darts, and that no TV station would broadcast any events. But since the last few years the sport of darts really got a place in many people’s hearts. Why? Because the game is very exciting, fast paced, there are a lot of colourful players and the show element is very high. During all major tournament you will see darters entering the arena with their own song, brand shirts and their own brand of darts. On top of that the crowed will be filled with dressed up people that sign songs, shout the names of the darters and drink and enjoy their evening. This makes the sports very attractive to watch, and to bet on.
At the moment loads of events are broadcasted live on the internet and TV. Every week there are (sometimes multiple) large tournaments across the globe. On top of that all top players compete in a League (PDC), the Premier League of Darts. With the rise of darts a lot of heroes appeared on the stage including Michael van Gerwen (MVG / Mighty Mike), Phil Taylor (The Power), Gary Anderson (The Flying Scotchman), Peter Wright (Snakebite) and of course Raymond van Barneveld (RVB). These heroes, and the tournaments, get a lot of attraction of sponsors that want to promote their products. And of course there are also a lot of sports betting companies that sponsor Darts events. At the moment you have the Unibet Masters, the Coral UK Open, the Unibet Premier League, the bwin Grand Slam of Darts, the BetVictor World Matchplay and more. The sponsoring of these tournaments made darts a very popular sport to bet on.
At the moment you will be able to bet on darts at all major sportsbook. During darts you can bet up front or live. During these bets you can for example bet on who will win the match. On top of that you can also combine multiple match winners to increase the return. Besides these bets you can also bet during a game (live). Because of this you will for example be able to bet on the player who wins the leg or set. On top of that you can bet on for example a nine darter, the first 100+ check out, the highest checkout and the player with the most 180’s.
Curious on which events you can bet in the coming days? Then have a look at the tournament calendar of the PDC.
e-Sports – bet on competitive gaming
e-Sports is maybe one of the most upcoming sports to bet on. With e-Sports you can bet on players or teams of players who play games during events on a competitive level. A few popular e-Sports to bet on are Counter-Strike Go, Hearthstone, King of Glory, Rocket League, World of Tanks, League of Legends, Heroes of the Storm, DOTA 2, Starcraft, Starcraft 2, Overwatch. And with more and more people playing games online we expect that betting on e-Sports will become more popular very quickly.
A few reliable bookmakers that offer betting possibilities on e-Sports are Betway and 888 Sports. Both these website offer odds for most of the games mentioned above. While betting on e-Sports you will be able to bet on for example the winner of a match or a winning team. On top of that you will sometimes be able to bet on some other factor but these are most of the times still limited. The extra factors are most of the times events or accomplishments that can happen during the game.
Virtual sports – available around the clock
Although you can probably bet on sports around the clock there are also a lot of people that like to bet on virtual sports. Why? Because there are not always interesting matches or events on the schedule. When this happens virtual sports can be a very nice solution. During virtual sports you will be able to bet on virtual race between for example horse or dogs. These races start around the clock and most of the times in a row. Because of this you can for example place bets on the horse race, watch and then continue to the greyhounds race. One this race is finished you can head over to the next virtual sport. Other popular virtual sports are speedway, cycling and trotting. Based on the odds and the form of a racer you can place bets on virtual races in order to win money. This may sound a bit crazy, but a lot of people really like it.
Golf – a hole in one for sports betting
Golf is getting more and more popular. Each week there are golf events across the world and a lot of them are broadcasted live on TV. There are broadcasting companies that show whole events on their golf channels. Every week you can follow the events from Thursday to Sunday. Most events are shown from the second half of each event day. Except the majors. You can watch the majors from start to end. That means a lot of live golf each weekend.
When there is live sports there is betting. Golf is an interesting sports to bet on because there are a lot of players that can win events. With more possible winners the odds are very high. When there are a few top favorites the odds on these players are very low. But at golf there are on average 10-20 players that can win a certain event. Odds on these players are most of the time higher than £10 or even £20.
With one single bet you can choose more players to spread your chances. Of course you win a bit less money when you spread your chances. But you can simply increase your winning chances. At golf it is very interesting to do some live betting because standings change every day.
On our website you find betting tips and predictions of every golf major and the Ryder Cup. We give you predictions to increase your winning chances and we also show you the best odds at reliable betting partners. For an example you can check our lates predictions on The Open in Carnoustie. We also show you predictions for The Masters, US Open, The Ryder Cup and the PGA Championship.
Cycling – Grand tours and one-day classics
Every year the best road cyclist compete each other in great events. The 3 most important events are the Tour de France, Giro de Italia and the Vuelta. Road Cyclists also compete during the Summer Olympics every 4 years. Cycling is a very popular sport and there are a lit of amateur cyclists across the world. Millions of tourists travel to the Alpes, Pyrenees and The Dolomits to ride the famous mountains. Every amateur cyclist wants to feel like a pro and wants to know what the professionals have to do to win cycling events.
It is a kick when you reach the top of famous mountains like the Tourmalet, the Mont Ventoux, Stelvio or the Gavia. Amateur cyclist feel a band with the professional riders and they like to watch the live events on TV. And of course it is fun and exciting to place bets on the major events. At our reliable betting partners you can bet on complete events or you can bet on single stages of an event. When you think you know who will win a certain event or stage you can bet on it. And the odds on road cycling are very interesting because a lot of different riders can win. The more riders who can win the higher the odds are on single riders.
I always recommend to bet on a few riders you think can win the event or stage. Spread your winning chances. It makes watching the stage on tv more exciting and fun. Keep an eye on our website for the best betting tips and our predictions on each major cycling event.
Other betting options
Although many people love to gamble online or though apps you will also still be able to place bets in land based bookmaker offices in for example England. These bookmaker offices are still very popular and widely available in most cities. Most major bookmakers still have many brick shops where you can place bets on a lot of sports. Some of the bookmakers are thinking about closing down all or a part of the shops but most of them think that risk is still too high.
Besides these shops you will also still be able to place bets at a lot of stadiums. At these offices you can bet with a piece of paper and a pen on the match that is about to start. This can be very fun and enhance the experience of watching sports at a local stadium.
One form of sports betting I like is betting with friends, family or at work. Why? Is it competitive, you don’t risk a lot of money and it very fun. Especially when you are doing good you can tease people with their bad results.
On top of these options there is one option we don’t recommend, and that is betting at a illegal local bookmaker. By betting at unregistered bookmakers you will take risks which you wont have to take while betting online at a safe and reliable bookmaker.
Last but not least you can also decide to just watch your favourite sports without betting at all. In the end sports is all about the game, and not about betting.
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