The Pools Review & Expert Ratings 2026

As of September 2024, there isn’t a welcome bonus available for The Pools Sportsbook. While it would be nice to see new Sportsbook customers catered for, there are one or two existing customer promotions available which we’ll take a look at in this review.

About The Pools

The Pools was founded in 1923 with an investment of just £150. The coupons were first distributed outside Old Trafford, Manchester United’s stadium, and grew exponentially. Throughout the 1930’s and 1940’s The Pools continued to grow. While its home remained on Merseyside, the company opened new offices in both Cardiff and Glasgow with millions of new players taking part.

Over the next two decades, The Pools started to use computer technology to help with the massive demand and the checking of coupons. They became the first company to use character reading machines, as well as one of the first to integrate use of IBM systems. In 2008, the new football pools was launched. Littlewoods, Zetters and Vernons joined forces to become The Football Pools. The Pools as a new brand was introduced in 2018, with a focus on online betting.

How to register at The Pools

Registering at The Pools is very simple. To start the process, click on the link below.

The Pools Link

1. The link above will take you to the following page, click on the Join icon in the top right of your screen
2. On the first page of your registration form, enter an email address and password to use with your account. You can also choose your marketing preferences on this page.
3. On the next page, enter your full name and date of birth. Note that this information will need to be verified later.

How to deposit at The Pools

After you’ve submitted your sign up form, you’ll be able to make your first deposit. Doing so is easy, though The Pools offer limited payment methods. Follow the steps below to make a deposit.

1. Head over to The Pools site and click on the avatar in the top right of the screen. For future deposits, you can also click the Quick Deposit icon.
2. From the menu, click on Deposit.
3. Enter your card information and the amount you want to deposit. Then, click on the green Deposit icon.

The Pools deposit table

xxx_Table_xxx

How to place a bet at The Pools

Once you’ve registered and made your first deposit, you can place your first bet at The Pools. Doing so is easy, we’ll take you through the steps in a second. There are 30 different sports and events The Pools customers can bet on. To access the list of sports, use the A-Z menu found on the left hand side of your screen when you log into your account.

For our research, we placed a Match Winner bet on the Premier League fixture between Manchester City and Brentford. To access this fixture, we clicked on Football from the menu, hit the Premier League button and the fixture was presented to us in a matter of seconds.

Let’s now show you how to place your bet.

1. Click on the fixture you want to place a bet on.
2. Click on the odds you want to take. For us, we bet on Manchester City to win the game in the Match Result market.
3. Your selection will appear in your betting slip on the right hand side of the page. Hit the Bet Now button to confirm your bet. Once submitted, your bet slip will become your bet receipt.

How to withdraw from The Pools

If you win a bet, you’ll be able to make a withdrawal. There are only two payment methods available at The Pools - Debit Card and PayPal. You’ll only be able to make a withdrawal using a payment method you’ve previously used to make a deposit. If this is an issue, contact the customer support team.

Login to your betting account to start the withdrawal process.

1. Once logged in, click on the avatar on the top right of your screen. From the drop down menu, click on Withdraw.
2. Then, enter the amount you want to withdraw and click on the green Withdraw icon at the bottom of the page.

The Pools withdrawal table comparison:

xxx_Table_xxx

How to set safer gambling features at The Pools

Any time you take part in gambling, it’s important that you can do so safely. The UK Gambling Commission have introduced a series of regulations that all betting sites must adhere to in order to protect you, the customer. These rules can help you stay in control of your betting and bankroll as well as provide you with the details of organisations that can help with any issues you may have.

The Pools provide an extensive Safer Gambling feature. You can find the section easily using the menu across the top of the homescreen. In this section, you’ll find options to set deposit limits and reality checks, as well as time out and self exclusion. There is also a questionnaire designed to help you spot when your gambling might be out of control.

In addition to the above, The Pools provide you with the contact information of a variety of support organisations, featuring BeGambleAware, GamCare, Gambling Therapy and GamStop.

We highly recommend that you consider some of the safer gambling tools at your disposal.

Sports that you can bet on at The Pools

American Football

Athletics

Australian Rules

Badminton

Baseball

Basketball

Boxing

Cricket

Cycling

Darts

Esports

Football

GAA Football

GAA Hurling

Golf

Greyhounds

Handball

Horse Racing

Ice Hockey

MMA

Motor Sports

Politics

Pool

Rugby League

Rugby Union

Snooker

Specials

Table Tennis

Tennis

Volleyball

Live Betting / In Play betting at The Pools

In-play betting has gained a huge following in recent years. An incredibly popular way of placing bets, you’ll be able to find live odds at almost every online bookmaker you can think of.

There are some pros and cons associated with in-play betting. Take a look at the table below, where we’ve detailed some of these.

In Play Betting Pros and Cons

xxx_Table_xxx

How to bet In Play at The Pools

At The Pools the sports which you can bet on In Play are football, tennis, cricket, basketball, snooker, baseball, volleyball, handball, table tennis and esports. Other sports are also available on occasion.

We’ve used The Pools on numerous occasions, but for our research we focused on the Premier League match between Manchester City and Brentford. Before the game, City were 1.18 to win the game, Brentford were priced at 13 and the draw was 7.5. This gives a pre-match margin of 5.77%. There were 168 markets available to bet on pre-game.

Once the game kicked off, City were priced at 1.57, Brentford 4.6 and the draw at 5. Note that Brentford scored after 26 seconds in this one! This explains the change in prices. The in-play odds gave an in-play margin of 5.43%. There were 115 in-play markets to choose from.

There is a comprehensive in-play feature that helps you follow the action. Provided by StatScore, customers can watch an animated view of the event, as well as access a range of statistics that could help with choosing successful live bets.

Live streaming at The Pools

At the time of writing, there isn’t any live streaming of sports available at The Pools.

In Play betting at The Pools Conclusion

We have to say, we’re really impressed with the in-play betting service available at The Pools. There’s a great range of sports to choose from, odds margins are pretty decent and there’s a variety of markets within each sports category available.

One frustrating aspect is Cash Out. To access this feature, you have to go through two different menus - it could be so much simpler to access and you can’t follow the action as you consider your options.

Live streaming would be a nice addition, but the quality of the animations, along with the plethora of stats available, still makes The Pools’ live betting facility a pretty enjoyable one.

The Pools Mobile App review

There currently is no Sportsbook app available for The Pools. While this could seem like a disappointment, we have to say that the mobile version of the desktop site works like a dream. It looks and feels just like an actual app and while it may not be optimised for mobile use specifically, it works extremely well.

The Pools Bonuses for UK Players

Welcome Offer

There currently isn’t a welcome offer available for Sportsbook customers at The Pools.

Existing User Offers

The Pools Existing User Bonuses Summary Table

xxx_Table_xxx

Best Odds Guaranteed

Best odds guaranteed (Sometimes referred to as BOG) is an offer from some bookmakers that guarantees if you back a horse at an Early Price, but at the off the starting price (SP) is bigger, you will be paid at the higher of the two.

First Past the Post

First past the post is a concession from some bookmakers who will pay out on whichever horse crosses the line first, even if they later on lose the position due to a Stewerds Inquiry.

Acca Insurance

Acca insurance is an offer which can vary in the details from site to site but the general idea is that if one leg of your Acca lets you down (and usually there is always one leg of an Acca let you down), then your stake or some of your stake is refunded as a Free bet.

Double Delight / Hat Trick Heaven

This is an offer usually on the first goalscorer market of a football game but it can also apply to rugby and American football, what it means is that if your First Goalscorer bet wins and then they score again, you get paid double your winnings. If they score a Hat Trick, then you get paid triple.

Extra Place Races

The Pools do offer an Extra Place Races promotion. On selected races, The Pools will pay out an additional place when you put on an Each Way bet.

Free bets “If”

Free bets “if” are bonuses available to existing customers which will pay a Free bet “if” a set criteria occurs, commonly it may be for your horse to finish second, or for the game you bet on to end 0-0.

Weekly Acca Offer

For fans of accumulators, these kind of offers add extra value to bets you were placing anyway. Every site’s reward scheme will vary but it usually after betting a certain amount of Accas you will be given a Free bet to place another. There are always a variety of terms and conditions attached to these which can change at any point, so read all relevant T&C’s carefully.

BetBrothers "The Pools" Research Results

xxx_Table_xxx

Conclusion & Rating

There are so many positives to The Pools Sportsbook. There is a great range of sports to choose from, with a good range of markets attached to the most popular. Both pre-match and in-play betting margins fare well against other, more commonly used Sportsbooks.

The site itself is incredibly user friendly and visually attractive. It’s easy to navigate through the site, finding the markets you want to bet on and to place bets. While live streaming isn’t available, The Pools do actually offer an enjoyable in-play betting experience with a range of animations and statistics available.

The Cash Out feature on desktop could be improved and made more easily accessible. The lack of a mobile app might also be a negative for some, though the mobile version of the site works really well. There is talk that an app aimed at Sportsbook customers could be available soon, though.

In addition, there is a serious lack of promotions available both for new and existing customers.

Back to the good stuff. The customer service is also excellent. We contacted the team using phone, live chat and email and all three services provided us with quick, knowledgeable and friendly answers.

For a site that is more popular for their range of lottery and arcade games, as well as, of course, the Football Pools, the Sportsbook is one of the better facilities we’ve come across. If the negatives we’ve pointed out could be improved on, we’d have a serious contender.

Rating The Pools is actually quite difficult. With the lack of promotions and annoying desktop Cash Out feature, probably not good enough for a 4/5 but a 3 seems incredibly low. A 3.75/5 maybe? We’ll go with a 3.5/5 for now, but we do recommend checking out what The Pools has available.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many sports can you bet on at The Pools?

There are 30 sports and events available to bet on. To access the list of sports, use the A-Z menu on the left hand side of the homescreen after you’ve logged in to your account.

Is there a mobile app available?

Currently, there isn’t a Sportsbook app available for either iOS or Android devices. According to some reports, though, a new app is mooted for release in the coming year.

Is there a welcome offer available for sportsbook customers?

There isn’t a Sportsbook new customer offer available at the time of writing.

Can you bet in-play?

Yes, The Pools offer a comprehensive live betting facility incorporating a number of sports, including football, tennis and basketball.