Best Betting Sites UK 2023: Top New Online Bookmakers

How We Evaluate Betting Sites

We have developed a rating system where we evaluate all legal online sports betting sites in the UK according to nine criteria and provide an overall score. Please read more on the How We Evaluate page.

How do we process the information, and what do we look for?

Only UK online betting sites officially licensed by the UK Gambling Commission can be a part of our rating. We check if a licence is valid on the UKGC website. We also pay attention to the availability of licensing information.

We do not work with illegal enterprises and frauds. Personal data processing rules, responsible gambling policies, and other official documents of a bookmaker are evaluated for your safety before rating.

Betting sites also get a rate for the markets they offer. There are 3 criteria that help evaluate this:

The next step after the margin evaluation is assessing the UK sports betting sites based on what odds they offer.

We take margin into account when we evaluate betting odds. The margin determines a bookmaker’s fee. If the margin is low, the odds are more attractive for the customers.

Every UK online betting site has markets with low, medium, or high odds. This depends on the level of a tournament, the popularity of a market, and the possibility of finding enough information to make the right prediction.

Usually, sporting events with high margins are not good for customers. But at the same time, it may mean that the bookmaker has very little information about this niche sports event. In other words, punters can dig deep to find useful information, which could help them make better predictions. You need to choose what level of risk fits you more.

We rate online bookmakers’ special offers separately for welcome bonuses and rewards that are aimed at existing customers. Among the Welcome bonuses we highly appreciate rare non-deposit offers. Offers for current users are rated with a focus on loyalty programs, reload bonuses, active contests and other promotions.

The main criterion in this case is the number of available deposit and withdrawal methods. Good online sports betting sites in the UK have many options, so their customers can pick the one they like most.

Of course, most UK customers use just a couple of payment methods. So, the fact that a bookmaker integrates many payment methods shows that the company cares about its clients. So, UK betting sites with a wide range of payment methods have an advantage.

Every client may face issues with a bookmaker someday. In this case, the way the customer support service works is very important.

Our experts examined how this service operates at each company listed in our rating. They asked a few questions and rated the UK’s online betting sites based on how fast and well-qualified the managers responded.

Extra points were granted to UK betting sites that provide many methods of contacting the customer support service. Email, a phone number, and a live chat are available on the website and in the app.

A Betting.co.uk report says that over 50% of UK customers gamble using mobile devices. To make our rating, we analysed the apps that betting sites in the UK provide for smartphones and tablets.

For a better rating, an online bookmaker should provide apps for both Android and iOS devices. Any other software is not counted, as it’s not really widespread. StatCounter reports that Android has 48.9% of the British mobile market and iOS has 50.55%. A bookmaker gets equal points for offering both apps.

A decent bookmaker should have an attractive and convenient website. We list betting sites in our rating based on the following criteria:

A separate mobile version is counted, too. If a bookmaker doesn’t provide good service to smartphone and tablet users, the company gets a lower rating.

Live betting is attractive because it allows you to see what exactly is happening on the field before betting on a team or a player. Today, almost every UK betting site offers a live betting service. We rate online betting sites based on the variety of betting markets they offer.

Streaming demands quite a large financial investment as good technological platforms and broadcasting rights are needed. If all the features for live betting are available, that means that the UK betting site cares about its customers' betting experience.

Extra points are given to online sports betting sites that offer a schedule of upcoming sporting events, a feature to add your favourite sports events to a special list, and other interesting options.

Betting Offers Available at UK Bookies

Due to the fierce competition in the betting segment, bookmakers offer a variety of bonuses to entice customers. Here are the main types of bonuses offered by UK bookmakers.

The most common type of bonus is the bonus for activity. These can be Free bets for a certain bet amount or for betting on a certain sport. Such bonuses are usually small and have simple wagering conditions. This is often referred to as a welcome bonus.

Bet and Get is the most popular bonus of UK bookmakers. It is particularly available at Ladbrokes, NetBet, and Parimatch.

Most betting sites UK offer a deposit bonus as a welcome offer for new customers, but sometimes there are also reload bonuses for existing users. Depending on the bookmaker, the % of the bonus to your deposit varies from 50% to 100%. The deposit bonus traditionally needs to be wagered before it can be withdrawn

Dr Bet, 10bet and Fansbet offer first deposit bonuses.

Some online bookmakers UK offer insurance for your bet. If it loses, you will get a Free bet. However, you should understand that you will not be able to withdraw the Free bet right away - you need to place a bet and win. The refund of the losing bet in cash is a rarity, but it happens. Of course, it is better than Free bet. The amount of Free bets as insurance usually does not exceed £20.

Risk-free bets are offered by Quinnbet, Avabet and Lottoland.

An extremely rare type of promotion. The bookmaker rewards the bettor for registering on the site or in the app, without requiring a deposit. For some promotions, you have to subscribe to the newsletter and social networks. Others require you to download the app and register for it.

Right now, no UK bookmaker offers a no deposit bonus for registration. However, Sky Bet has an "almost no deposit bonus": for a 5p bet, you'll get £30 Free bets (for deposits of £5 or more).

To earn bonuses, active users can participate in special contests with free entrees. Under the Ladbrokes "1-2-Free" promotion, you need to guess the correct score of three selected matches listed on the promo page. The reward is a Free bet of up to £100. Coral has a similar promotion, the "Football Super Series", with £50 cash and £1 and £2 Free bets. You have to guess the stats of the four matches listed on the promotion page.

Livescore Bet ("Squads") and Virgin Bet ("Virgin FIVES") have free promotions. The conditions of these promotions are the same: you reveal five players who score points with real actions in the specified matches. For every goal scored by a revealed player, you will receive a cash bonus. The cash bonus amount is determined by the spinning prize wheel: you can get from £0.10 to £50.

Free bet clubs are regular promotions, usually weekly or daily, when the bookmaker provides Free bets depending on the bets turnover. The size of one bonus for such offers is small - from £1 to £10. However, the reward can be obtained many times - every day, week or month.

Regular users can take advantage of the Free Bet Club at Quinnbet, Betway and Sky Bet.

Cashback can be confused with Free Bet Club: the conditions and prizes are similar. But there is an important difference. The basis for calculating the cashback is your losses. The more you lose during a week or month, the more the cashback will be. Depending on the terms of the loyalty program, it may be a Free bet or a refund to your account. But it will always be a refund of a part of the money you have already lost to the bookmaker.

UK betting sites "thank" the participants of the Free Bet Club not for the losses, but for the activity: it only matters how much money you have bet. This is the advantageous feature of Free bet clubs compared to cashback: you can get both winnings from bets and a bonus.

For loyal customers, there are bonuses to increase the odds in single bets and accumulators. For example, if you add at least five selections in an accumulator, an extra multiplier of 1.10 will be applied to the bet, which means that the odds of the entire accumulator will increase. Sometimes the enhanced odds are also available for systems.

Enhanced odds for single bets and accumulators are offered by Bet365, Paddy Power and Coral.

Best Betting Sites Features Comparison

Most betting sites will have adapted Cash Out and Bet Builder functions by 2023. This is no longer news. But there are features that are still unique or at least unusual, and we will observe if the market will welcome them.

Let us briefly describe the possibilities of betting sites:

Safe Betting Sites — What to Look Out for?

Security is key for websites that process users' personal and financial data, including betting sites. Three aspects are important for a good experience from registration to withdrawal of winnings:

How do you evaluate how much effort a bookmaker puts into this? It is difficult to do that in advance. Circumstantial signs are important and this is what we are looking at.

Match.Center only provides information about legal UK bookmakers. The UKGC has proven to be a strict regulator, who does not shy away from issuing multi-million dollar fines to big companies, and that's a good thing because the price of negligence for a bookmaker is very high.

The licence is a sign to us that the betting company has paid millions just with the intention of entering the UK market. Presumably, the bookmaker has no plans to lose it. With that in mind, we can expect the company to behave gentlemanly when dealing with a user who withdraws their £300 winnings.

In the footer of a legal betting site, there is always information about the company's licence and clickable links to the regulator's website.

In the Match.Center ratings, we separately assess the presentation of legal info on the betting site. This is boring, but very important. If the rules are detailed, this shows that the legal and security teams are very experienced. If they are explained in a clear way, it is also an indication that they are attentive to users - because the rules are written for us.

The best betting sites will have many different documents in the public domain: general terms of operation, privacy policy, rules for settling bets by sport, general rules for promotions and rules for crediting each specific bonus, responsible gaming policy, etc. And that's the minimum list.

If something is not stated properly, it means that the bookmaker either doesn't have enough experience, doesn't have the money to pay lawyers, or doesn't declare publicly how they solve certain issues. These are all red flags. That's why we like reading the rules so much.

The legal website will certainly ask for your details as part of the KYC process. But whether or not to hand over your debit card information is something you can decide for yourself. So the choice of payment method is one of the few procedures where you can influence the security of the betting site. (Also, never write down passwords on a piece of paper!)

Above we have described safe ways to deposit your betting accounts, such as Paypal or paysafecard. If the bookmaker accepts them, it is good for security.

Furthermore, merchants who accept these payment methods are verified by, for example, PayPal when they connect.

And there are two things we do NOT look at. Many other sites will assure you that they give it top priority. It would be curious to see how they rate it - because we at Match.Center find it almost impossible to do so objectively.

Reputation. Firstly, the bookmaker's marketing efforts are hard to separate from the facts here. Secondly, the bookmaker's reputation won't help if it is you who will be subject to a lengthy security check. But the meticulously written rules, which exhaustively describe the process and requirements, are very helpful.

Reviews. As with other online services, reviews of bookmakers are most often written by unsatisfied users. If everything works as you expect, you're just taking advantage of it. After seeing only negative reviews (which is understandable), some betting websites start praising themselves, publishing hundreds of purchased reviews. Then the objective picture is completely distorted. This is why we don't rate reviews. Perhaps the situation will change if we at Match.Center start collecting, verifying and publishing reviews ourselves.

How To Sign Up At Betting Sites

According to UK law, only people over 18 can register with a bookmaker. If you are an adult citizen, you should have no problems with registration. When creating an account with a UK bookmaker, the customer must provide the following details:

Here are the step-by-step instructions on how to create a betting account:

Homepage. Paddy Power

Account Details. Part 1. Paddy Power

Account Details. Part 2. Paddy Power

Your Details. Part 1. Paddy Power

Your Details. Part 2. Paddy Power

How To Place A Bet At Online Bookmakers

After registering on the website, you can start betting straight away. Log in, make a deposit and then go ahead:

Homepage. Paddy Power

Select a sport. Paddy Power

Choose a market. Paddy Power

Enter the bet amount and press "Place Bet". Paddy Power

How To Get the Most Out Of Sports Betting

Sports betting is a gambling hobby, but as with other intellectual activities, it is much more enjoyable to bet knowing that you fully understand the subject and are doing everything (or almost everything) right. Let's dispel the most popular myths among beginners: how to choose a bookmaker, whether to pay attention to bonuses and what really matters, whether to get carried away with accumulator bets and how to control your bankroll.

Choosing a bookmaker

We evaluated more than 70 original bookmakers for our rating. Among those who received the highest scores are:

These are all giant companies and pillars of the UK sports betting market. And from this list, you can see that most people choose a UK sports betting site based on brand strength and popularity.

But there are a number of other criteria that are good to consider:

Bookmaker’s promotions

For many people, the key factor in choosing a sports betting site is the availability of a good welcome bonus. For example, a Free bet for the first real money bet.

And yes, bonuses are nice. It's pleasant to bet with the bookmaker's money, and win, too.

But be careful: it's always important to understand what's "under the bonnet" of the promotion before you sign up. To illustrate, consider the following two promotions that appear to be identical at first glance. In fact, they are very, very different.

Does everybody like accumulator bets? No

At first glance, an Acca (or Parlay) seems to be a good deal for the bettor. You can put a number of events together in one bet and increase your bankroll by several times. However, at a distance, Acca bets are more profitable for the betting site than for the punter. The main reason for this is the bookmaker's margin.

Margin is the commission that is put into each betting market. The betting site takes this 2-10% from every bet won, at a distance of 90-98% instead of 100% of the fees collected. It doesn't matter to the company whether the client wins or loses now. Every odds already has a profit in it.

And if you place an Acca, you pay that margin multiple times - from every selection you include in the accumulator.

How to manage your bankroll

You will read on every betting website how important it is to manage your budget properly. But what does it mean?

We'll dispense with nerdy terms like "Kelly Criterion" or "Martingale System", especially as these approaches don't work for most people.

Our approach works. The rule is very simple: allocate a specific amount of money within your entertainment budget for sports betting. If you win, great. But if you lose everything you've allocated, that's the end of the story. Wait for next week or month - depending on what period you're planning for. By the way, many betting sites offer a weekly/monthly deposit limit.

Even though betting is an intellectual hobby, it is still a gambling hobby. And in order to control your bankroll, it is important to know how to:

Odds and markets comparison

A good way to find favourable odds is to register on several online betting websites. Very often there are situations where betting sites estimate the probability of the outcome of the same event differently. This means that someone may have higher odds on the same betting markets. It's worth fighting for every 0.01. It may look petty now, but even at the distance of the month you'll feel it if you bet at odds of 1.87 instead of 1.86.

Summary Of UK Betting Sites

We've done everything we can to make sure you choose the betting site that suits your needs best. In the selection, we have presented the best 35 online bookmakers according to our comprehensive rating.

We have prepared 15 reviews of betting sites so that you can get to know more about their functionality and strengths. We have also chosen the best platforms for betting on different sports: Football, Tennis, Horse Racing, Cricket, Esports and Formula 1. We have picked the best betting sites with mobile apps, Cash Out and live betting.

To sum it up, we would like to show you the betting sites that got the highest score in our rating in 6 out of 9 criteria, where high scores are the most difficult to achieve. Here are our top scorers: