Sports betting in the UK

How do we calculate the bookmakers ratings?

We are proud of the ratings that we award to each betting site at BetBrothers and our researchers spend a significant amount of time and money thoroughly putting each site through their paces to really get to understand what they are all about. The results are collated and then filter through into one of ten pre defined categories and the results are scored appropriately. These individual sub categories are totalled and divided to find the mean average and this is the rating that is awarded. The variables that we measure are:

The History of Gambling in the UK

The UK has a long history of gambling and there is evidence of it taking place almost 2000 years ago with “loaded” dice found amongst the ruins at Hadrian's Wall. Since the Romans departed gambling has enjoyed phases of both legality and illegality over the years, but happily it is all perfectly legal these days. Today the UK has one of the most liberal attitudes to gambling amongst the developed world.  The positives if you are gambling in the UK are:

1. Any winnings are completely tax free no matter how much you win or even if you are gambling professionally and it is your main source of income. For the legal eagles amongst you this can be verified by referring the case almost exactly 100 years ago of “Graham v Green” or more recently by looking at HMRC’s Business Income Manual at BIM22015.
2. Online gambling is completely legal to do, you can bet on Poker, Bingo, Sports, Casino games, Lotteries, you name it, in the UK you can bet on it legally. This is of course assuming that you are over 18 years old, are a UK resident, and that you are gambling with your own funds.

In the UK there is a current trend towards tightening restrictions, for example the age to buy a National lottery ticket was raised from 16 to 18, the limits on FOBT have been reduced, and affordability checks with restrictions on how much can be deposited at online bookmakers in any given period are beginning to come into force. However even with these curbs they are there to simply protect vulnerable gamblers from losing too much and are unlikely to affect the vast majority of people.

The best bookmakers by category

We have done our research! There are a no two bookmakers that are exactly alike and finding the best is no easy task. In fact, there is no “best” because not only are no two bookmakers exactly the same no two gamblers are either. What is a great feature really appreciated by someone is an irrelevance to somebody else, and for this reason what is best for one person will not necessarily be “the best” for another. That is why we have deliberately not titled this section “the best” and instead bring you our top ten, each chosen for a different reason.

Great Value Odds

If it is great odds that you are interested in, and this alone, then you will definitely want to be using a betting exchange where even after commission is taken into account they claim to have the best odds on 98% of horses. If the concept of a betting exchange seems a little complicated to you then the answer is SBK, a mobile betting app developed by Smarkets. It provides the simplicity of a bookmaker with the odds of an exchange and is designed specifically for people like you.

Generous Free bets, Bonuses, and Promotions

It is relatively simple to find the best Welcome bonus available because you can compare them all before joining. This is only the start though, and in our experience the better bookmakers provide vastly more Free bets to existing customers than any Welcome bonus can. The past is not a guarantee of the future but over the past 6 months the bookmaker giving away the most Free bet bonus value has been BetMGM.

Massive range of sports and markets

These days there are a lot sports, not to mention political and entertainment events, on which you can place a bet. Some bookmakers just stick to the mainstream sports and offer traditional markets but that is not good enough for anyone wanting to bet on their favourite niche sports, or more exotic markets. We have found the most sports available to bet on at Boylesports, and although severely let down by not offering Horse Racing, 21LuckyBet generally has the most markets available on the sports that are covered.

Although we can not promise that between them these two will have exactly what you are after, the chances are that if they don’t have it then nobody will.

Best Mobile App

If you gamble on the go then you know what it is like trying to do it on your mobile phone accessing the bookmaker's conventional website. In short, it is a nightmare. What you need is a dedicated mobile app and we have put each and every one of them through their paces. For ease of navigation, which is a fancy way of saying logging in and getting your bet on, the full range of features, detailed account info accessible and customer support only a few taps away, you can not ask for more than the Bet365 app provides.

Fastest Payouts

It is all well and good winning, of course it is, but it is all for nothing until the money has hit your bank account. Now it is important to remember here that the main variable is going to be the payment method you use, and if you are using a slow one there is nothing the bookmaker can do about this. However the bookmakers themselves can sometimes slow things up by not processing things straight away.

In our experience though no matter what method you use, CopyBet are rarely beaten and for some methods they provide instant payments

Highest win limits

If you are fortunate enough to have a big win, a really really big win, then it is possible your joy will be tempered when you discover that you are not paid as much as you thought because you have breached the company max win policy. These will vary from site to site and from sport to sport but they do exist and obviously, especially for high rollers, this can be an issue. Our rating here is based on the publicly available win limits that apply to all players and do not take into account the fact that some players may find their accounts “limited” and different limits apply. Assuming that you are a regular player though, Bet365 have the highest possible win amounts of UK bookmakers, some £2,000,000 on Premier League football and £1,000,000 on UK horse racing.

Widest range of Live Streaming

If you are betting “in-play” or even if you just want to watch the action for bets you placed pre-match, a live streaming service by the bookmaker will make this possible to do. Coverage varies in terms of sports they show and also the depth of tournaments and leagues they make available, but unfortunately we should say now that no site have UK Premier League football as an option. The largest range of options available is usually available at Unibet.

Best “all in one” gambling site

It can be handy to do all your gambling in one location, no need to keep multiple account balances, remember various usernames and passwords, etc, etc. The vast, vast, majority of UK betting sites have caught onto this and offer not just a sportsbook but also a casino. There are other forms of online wagering though that is not possible everywhere. There is only one that offers you everything under one roof (so to speak) and that is Betfair. They have a betting exchange, a sportsbook, casino, poker site, bingo site and virtual games to boot. Honourable mention should also go to Betfred who do not have a betting exchange but do have a “lotto” vertical and are the best of the rest when it comes to the amount of gambling types available using just one account.

Best "all-rounder"

The final category is that of the best all-rounder, the place that is great at everything, just not quite the best at anything. If you are looking for a solidly performing betting site that will not let you down in any area, then 10bet is the site for you. With an upfront Welcome bonus giving more bang for your buck whilst you place the bets that you want (including small bets, there is no need to risk the farm in one go), a huge range of sports to bet on and always competitive odds this is the site that won’t let you down.