McBookie, founded in 2009 and sold in 2023 to Playquarry Ltd, is established and operates from the United Kingdom. Due to its growing popularity, many users have requested a review of this Scottish online bookmaker, so I decided to analyse all its features and functions, and this was the result:
McBookie information and licence
Before starting this analysis, here is an informative table that will allow you to learn more about McBookie:
Is McBookie legal?
Yes. This site operates under licence nº 66551 from the UKGC (UK Gambling Commission), which is the body responsible for regulating the country’s iGaming industry. In fact, as I mentioned at the beginning, McBookie operates from London, 167-169 Great Portland Street, 5th floor. Both pieces of information can be found in the footer of their website.
Is McBookie safe?
I was very surprised by how seriously McBookie takes security. It uses SSL-encrypted connections, server firewalls and additional security layers to keep your financial and personal information safe. Identity verification is another key point, as it prevents identity theft. Its website receives more than 8,000 visits per month, according to data from Ahrefs.
Bonuses and Promotions at McBookie
I have to be honest with you. It was a headache to get detailed information about McBookie’s welcome bonuses and promotions. In their “Promotion” section, the information is very general and poor, so I had to contact customer service. The wait time was three hours, but it was worth it because we got an accurate, albeit disappointing, response due to the small number of offers available:
Welcome bonus
As I mentioned, McBookie’s welcome bonus matches your first deposit up to £25. After creating and verifying my account, I received a notification in my profile with the welcome bonus. The bookmaker required me to make a minimum deposit of £5, with events whose minimum odds are not less than 2.00. To activate the bonus, which is valid for seven days, I used my Mastercard bank card, as Skrill and Neteller are not available to activate the bonus.
Other existing user offers & promotions
It was disappointing to find only two promotions for registered players. The first is the Coupon Buster, where I placed combination bets with just £5. If you don’t get one of the predictions right, as was my case, McBookie will refund you up to £25 in free bets to bet again.
The second promotion is Club Tartan, where I received a £5 free bet for betting £30 during the week. This allowed me to make some winnings without having to risk part of my weekly budget.
Loyalty programme
Unfortunately, McBookie does not offer a loyalty programme. This disadvantage puts it a step below some of the best online bookmakers in the United Kingdom. However, in a future update, I will let you know if one is added to the website.
Registration at McBookie
If you are over 18 years of age, have a UK-issued ID and are a resident of any of the countries that make up the UK, you can create an account at McBookie by following the steps below:
- The first thing I did was go to the official McBookie website and click on ‘Register’.
- Then I entered my email address and created a password.
- A form appeared where I had to enter my full name and date of birth.
- Next, I entered my country and city of residence, my address, my postcode, and my telephone number.
- I confirmed my account using a code that was sent to me via SMS.
I immediately had access to my profile, but it wasn’t until I verified my identity that I was able to access all the features. To do this, I uploaded my ID to the platform. Within a few minutes, the support team verified the information and approved it.
Deposits & withdrawals
The McBookie website does not specify the payment methods, so once again I had to contact customer service. Fortunately, they listed the available options, minimum amounts, processing times and fees:
As you can see, the bank deposit is low, especially if you use a bank card, as was my case. McBookie did not charge me any fees, nor did my bank. However, I recommend checking beforehand, as some banks and digital wallets do charge a transaction fee.
That said, here are the withdrawal options available at McBookie:
Limits
At McBookie, I was able to bet with £0.10, which is the minimum bet allowed. The maximum bet is £25,000. On the other hand, the maximum deposit you can make is £10,000, and you can make withdrawals over £100,000.
Sports betting at McBookie
The sports section was easy to find, as were all of its events. It includes the most popular sports in the United Kingdom: football, rugby, cricket, tennis, Formula 1, golf, athletics, boxing, cycling and swimming. In total, I counted more than 30:
What impressed me most was finding more than 18,000 odds on Champions League matches, for example, spread across multiple markets such as Asian handicap, totals and double chance. This gave me the opportunity to use some tools such as the multiple bet bonus to try to get more out of my bankroll.
McBookie’s odds are fractional, although you can also change them to American or decimal odds.
Live betting
I really liked this section because the odds are updated quickly, which allowed me to place bets on the fly during a Premier League match where I also managed to activate the cashout. In that same match, I was able to check the statistics in real time and the animated screen. The streaming service is only available for certain sports such as table tennis and e-sports.
McBookie: Casino section
I wasn’t impressed by the casino section. I only found just over 70 slots and a few scratch cards. There is also no live casino or online table games, not to mention their providers: there are only games from BoldPlay and SpinOro. Even so, I had a lot of fun with the Amazing Spades slot, a game with 20 lines and 5 reels where I could place minimum bets of £0.1. Best of all, I did it with the demo version, so I didn’t have to bet my own money.
McBookie Mobile App
McBookie offers a mobile app for both Android and iOS operating systems. Both versions are available on Google and the App Store respectively. I tried both and I must say that the download and installation took no more than 2 minutes. I immediately logged in with my email and password and the result was amazing. All the features and functions of the web version are available and best of all, there were no loading issues or unexpected crashes.
The mobile version was also satisfactory, an option I recommend for users who have mobile phones with limited memory storage capacity.
McBookie Odds and margins
The odds, at least in football, are within the average range (between 4% and 6%), which means they are not bad. For example, using automated software, I calculated the 1×2 odds for a Premier League match and the result was 5.39%. Now let’s take a look at other sports:
Customer Support and Available Languages
McBookie’s customer support is only available in English and offers the following communication channels:
Live chat is available 24/7, but you must register to access it. Any other queries you may have before creating your account should be sent by email.
Awards and Recognitions
Generally, bookmakers display their awards and recognitions in the footer of their website, but this is not the case with McBookie. In fact, no related information appears on the Internet either.
Usability, design and user experience
McBookie’s web design is neither attractive nor modern, but it is quite functional for betting or playing at the casino, both on the web version and the mobile version. It is easy to find sporting events, as well as markets and odds. In addition, the colour scheme (blue, white and black) makes the events stand out more.
Everything is perfectly laid out, including the betting slip on the right-hand side of the screen. However, I would add more and better information about bonuses, promotions and payment methods.
Responsible Gambling
At this point, I must congratulate McBookie because you can see the effort they have made to protect their users from gambling addiction. Here I found a lot of great tools to better manage my bankroll and playing time. I also consulted some professional organisations such as Gamcare and Gambleaware, which can help if you feel you have lost control of your betting.
I loved a section with recommendations for protecting minors and gambling responsibly. Below is a list of the responsible gambling tools I found at this bookmaker:
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