Here we will look over the sport of Lawn bowls and bring you all you need to know whether you are just starting out betting on lawn bowls or just want some extra information on how and where to gamble on the sport

If archaeologists have interpreted cave paintings and hieroglyphics correctly then we can surmise that various forms of bowls have been played the world over since prehistoric times and it is probably one of the world’s oldest known games or pastimes. In it’s purest form the game has one simple objective: to get your object ball closer to an object of your choice than your opponents. This would have originally been played with stones by cavemen*

Whilst Lawn bowls today is a much more sophisticated game than that played by Neanderthals or Ancient Egyptians the main aim of the game remains the same, to roll from your hand your ball (bowl) to land as the nearest to an object ball (a jack) than your opponents once both bowlers have cast all their bowls. You score a point for the nearest ball, and then you score for each ball that is nearer than the closest opponent's ball.

The sport is hugely popular in the UK, Canada, New Zealand and Australia at amateur level, with games of bowls taking place at clubs on a daily basis. However the sport has failed to be well covered by Television and this has hindered it’s growth at professional level. The professional World tour is played in Australia whilst the World Championships are hosted in the UK annually. Its popularity from colonial times means it’s a protected sport at the commonwealth games however it does not have the worldwide popularity to gain Olympic status being played in just over 40 countries internationally.

You can find bookies that will cover the main events and we will endeavor to look after you here at BetBrothers by providing content enhanced and approved by our resident Bowls expert (Liam Stone- current international bowls player and former world bowls contender).

Long term it’s a sport that could well grow in the future - as he says himself

“This was formerly a sport seen as a pastime for old men, but when you look at the ages of the bowls players in clubs and internationally nowadays you can see just how many young people are taking to the sport”

*players of lawn bowls still call their set of bowls “stones”

The history of Lawn Bowls

Played in many forms since antiquity - lawn bowls derive from the French game of Le Boules played by Celts and popularised and spread by the Romans after their conquest of Gaul (Ancient France). The game spread across the channel bought by the Roman invasion of Britain,and remaining after they left, becoming a staple event played at village festivals first recorded in the 11th century.

The game evolved with the young aristocracy playing on flat bowling greens.The oldest known surviving green is in Southampton, first used in 1299.

The game suffered numerous bans over the following couple of hundred years as a pursuit that discouraged learning archery* then later in the 1400’s due to it’s association with bowling lanes in london Taverns. When the bans were lifted it was mainly restricted to the upper classes as an annual licence needed to be purchased to lawfully play the game that priced commoners out!

The most famous game of bowls that was played in these early days was by the English Admiral -Sir Francis Drake-  playing on Plymouth Hoe in 1588. Mid match he was informed that the Spanish Armada (an invasion fleet of 100 ships) was approaching the harbour. Unfazed he announced there was time both to finish the game and beat the Spanish!** Whilst you may know that he saved England from invasion, it’s recorded that he actually lost the bowls match!

The invention of the Lawnmower led to a huge growth in bowling greens, in 1864 a set of rules was written that the modern game was formed from, with English Scottish and Australian national associations being established in the late 1800s.

*Archery was vital for the army and many pastimes suffered this ban

**The bowls club at that spot bears his name

Where is Lawn Bowls Played?

Lawn bowls is played indoors and outdoors and this creates different conditions for players. While the rules are the same for both you have indoor and outdoor specialists and results are different. Don’t expect the indoor champion to beat the outdoor champion outside and vice versa. Different climates affect outdoors bowls as well of course depending on the heat humidity rain and cold weather etc. So these are factors you need to assess when placing a bet on competitions

Women’s (Ladies) Lawn Bowls

Women have always played lawn bowls alongside men it being seen as a suitable respectful sport by polite Victorian society. Whilst at club and amateur level women play against men at singles level, professionally women have their own singles world championships played co-currently as the men's events (likewise at the commonwealth games) They also compete in mixed doubles competitions.

The top Three Lawn Bowls Betting Bookies in the UK

How many and what leagues and countries covered, is there live streaming of any? How many betting markets? Can you request a bet? What are the odds like? Any bonuses or promotions - relevant ones like 2up / odds boosts? Can you cash out / partial cash out? What are they good at?

Not all bookmakers offer odds on this sport and it can be a task finding websites that will actually offer you odds and markets when the bowls are on! We have done the research for you and can confirm the following sites offer Bowls betting on the major tournaments;

Bet 365, BoyleSports, Sky Bet, Ladbrokes, PaddyPower, BetVictor, Unibet, Coral and William Hill.

Of those the top three in our opinion are:

Bet 365

Bet365 are now the main established online bookmakers and they do everything online well, as usual making our top bookmakers in this section. They represent a safe and secure place to create an online betting account after nearly 25 years on the internet and they have regular bonuses and promotions running across the site with a friendly and quick to use interface.

In terms of the limited markets available on bowls events they generally offer the most comprehensive coverage and options for you to take a punt on. Whilst they don’t have a dedicated bowls section they will price up outright tournament winner and individual match winners during the big tournaments,

William Hill

With it’s origins in the 1930’s and with assets worth over 2 billion William HIll are a tried and tested bookmakers with a solid and secure setup that you can trust with your online funds. Whilst they don’t have an actual bowls section on the website they will price up the main bowls tournaments so keep am eye out for these. They will offer the outright winner of a given tournament and the winners of individual matches through the course of the tournament. They usually have good odds on minority sports so it’s worth checking what they are offering against the competition.

Paddy Power

Paddy Power have been around since the 1980’s originally mainly shop based they quickly spread across Ireland before moving across the channel and then developing their online stock. With such a long history they are someone you can trust when making a new online account and they have many offers and promotions on regularly.

They like to try and offer coverage of all kinds of weird and wonderful gambling options. To this end they have a dedicated bowls section on their website - though it’s usually empty you will be able to use it when a large scale tournament is on.

Is Lawn Bowls betting in the UK legal

Lawn Bowls betting is absolutely legal to do in the UK. All UK bookmakers are regulated by the UKGC who provide the licences and they ensure that all customers are over 18 to register for any account or place any bets and also that they are living in the UK. Of course you must also use your own money to gamble with and the UK differs from some other countries in that Crypto currency can not be used.

Some good news is that not only is gambling legal, all winnings are tax-free regardless of how much or how often you win.

Popular Lawn Bowls Betting Markets

With this being such a minority sport there is only the 2 markets below that you will find when you look to place a wager on lawn bowls

Match Odds (To win)

This is betting on which player will win a specific match. You are simply bettiong on the outright winner

Tournament Winner

This is also sometimes called the Outright winner market and as the name suggests you are simply betting on which player will win the tournament. There is a variation to this bet that can be used which is to bet E/W, and the place terms can vary but are usually paid at 1/2 the odds if your player makes the final.

What are the most popular types of Lawn Bowls bets

Singles

This is a single bet placed on which player will win a specific match.

Accas

An accumulator is when you make one bet made up of several selections, you would need all the legs to come in to win but the odds will increase in line with how many legs are added to the bet

To place an acca on bowls you would need to select a set of match winners from the available upcoming match list. Not all sites will necessarily let you do this

Which bookmakers offer the best in-play Lawn Bowls betting?

Betting options in-play on bowls will be hard to come by, and it is likely that you can only place an in-play bet on the match winner market. This section will be updated with the relevant information when the next major tournament takes place.

At Which Bookmakers can I Watch Live Streams of the Games and can I Make Bets on Those Matches?

Current live streaming of lawn bowls by bookmakers are hard to find, when the next major tournament is on this will be updated. Currently Bet365 are the only one we can confirm will offer it.

Your best bet to watch live bowls will be on the BBC via the red button service, or Youtube/Facebook channels that are setup to follow a particular tournament.

What payment methods do they accept?

Below are the main payment methods used across all of the UK online betting websites. The exact ones each bookmaker accept will vary, and details are available either from our reviews or the betting site FAQ page.

• Debit Cards (Visa / Mastercard)
• Pre Paid Cards (Paysafecard)
• E  -Wallets (Paypal, Skrill, Apple Pay, Google Pay)
• Bank Transfers

Lawn Bowls Bonuses and Promotions

Very few sites will run bonuses or promotions for Bowls bets, with a smaller market there is less need to offer a promotion to gain business from other sites. You may find that bets placed on lawn bowls will qualify for loyalty programmes that a site runs and we will update this page when that becomes relevant.

What are the best Lawn Bowls betting existing user bonuses

These will only come during major tournaments keep your eye on our bowls tournament preview section for what is available on upcoming events.

What are the best Lawn Bowls betting Welcome Offers

With limited markets and odds I wouldn’t necessarily recommend using lawn bowls as the best sport to use a welcome bonus in conjunction with. When there is a major tournament with odds offered we will update this page with the best Welcome offers that are compatible with bowls bets should you wish to use them.

What are the Best Lawn Bowls betting Apps

Most sites won’t have a dedicated app section on their mobile, though you should be able to place a bet on outright markets and tournament winners on your mobile if you have logged into your account when you are out and about. The ones below are the best apps out there currently we would recommend.

Bet365 -Well established with quick and easy navigation with live streaming, in play bets, bet builder tools and features  Rated 4.6 Google play & 4.7/5 App Store

Ladbrokes - A simple layout and easy to use, low minimum stakes and deposits and a high number of bonuses and offers available.Rated 4.0 Google & 4.6/5 app store

Betfred - Quick to use with a simple layout and large buttons when selecting odds they also offer regular free app bet promotions. Rated 3.8 Google & 4.4/5 app Store

What are the major Lawn Bowls events or tournaments popular for betting on in the UK?

In terms of lawn bowls there are limited premium competitions due to the lack of sponsorship and television money and consequently prize money in the sport. Australia has a thriving national tour with players from all over the world with TV coverage though this is not covered by UK gambling sites.

The UK tour event is the grand prix of bowls and comprises 8 annual tournaments, Yearly national championships are held by all World bowls member associations to find the best in the nation and usually double up as selections for international competitions. These events will generally lack any coverage by online bookies and it’s only the 2 “majors” that you will likely be able to get odds on the Scottish Open and the World Championship which are listed below.

Internationally the Commonwealth Games is the biggest one.There is also the World championship of bowls played biannually between the 43 member nations of World bowls and the 4 nations is played annually between England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland, and it’s also played at both the Pacific and Asian games.

Scottish Open

This is now the 2nd biggest event on the bowls tour and is played indoors in Scotland annually. Currently played in Livingston but prone to being moved around Scottish bowls clubs. With the focus only on the men’s singles it’s a knockout draw between the best 16 current ranked players in the the UK as such it’s the best of the best against each other and is seen as the toughest to win.

World Indoor Bowls Championship

The big one is the annual World indoors bowls championship which sees 32 of the best ranked bowls players from all over the world compete in a straight knockout format in a 3 week tournament for the title of best in the world including a women's draw, plus mens womens and mixed pairs

The male singles has traditionally been dominated by the Scots and the English there hasn’t been a winner from outside those 2 since 2000

It’s the main tournament for all Lawn bowls players and there will definitely be some betting action to be had on this one.

The World Bowls Championship

Played every 2 years this is the premier world bowls tournament and as close to a world cup that Bowls has with representatives from all the World Bowls nations playing in all the various disciplines and with a final tournament table that is based on their overall results.

This is played outside and as you will notice the Australians and New Zealanders come into their own on the outdoor tracks. The show comes to Hong Kong in 2025 and should be an exciting festival of lawn bowls.

What are the main Lawn Bowls events coming up in 2026

Commonwealth Games 2026

With this being an essentially British sport lawn bowls was spread across all the colonies by British colonists. Beyond this however the worldwide appeal of bowls means it’s not made it as an Olympic sport. So for all intents and purposes the commonwealth games held every 4 years is the premier international lawn bowls competition.

The next Commonwealth games is to be held in Scotland and the lawn bowls will be one of the blue ribbon events for the locals as it’s one they historically do well in and they will have a strong team competing on home turf.

We will run a full event preview of the Commonwealth Games on the website so keep your eye out for that.

Pros and Cons of betting on Lawn Bowls

Frequently Asked Questions

How can I start betting on Lawn Bowls as a beginner?

You will need to do good research or have a good knowledge of the sport before you start wagering on bowls do some research and keep your track of form in the smaller tournaments

Other than surfaces what else affects competitors?

Bowls takes a surprising strain on the joints especially the knees players will struggle when this flares up and can play it’s part in surprise upsets. Keep your eye on players ages younger players will likely be in better health as well as you go deeper into a tournament.

Are Lawn Bowls matches rigged?

With players needing every penny of tournament prize money income and the lack of coverage it seems unlikely this is an issue. The biggest case was when New Zealand lost to Thailand at the 2009 Pan-American games in a group match and were accused of throwing the match to get a better draw in the knockouts

What is the most I can win betting on Lawn Bowls?

You are likely find that bookies will limit the amount you can wager on any lawn bowls match with a lot of variables they won’t want to take too much of a risk of a big loss.