How betting.bet is Helping UK Punters
Want to register with a new bookmaker? Well, you've arrived on the right website!
At betting.bet, we have compiled a list of the very best online betting sites, along with the betting deals and promotions they have to offer. This gives UK punters the full picture when it comes to their betting options. Whether you are looking for football betting sites, horse racing bookmakers, online betting tips, or the best free bets up for grabs, we have got you well and truly covered!
Betting.bet is for everyone, from gambling novices to serious punters and everyone in between. So, whether you are looking for a free bet for a weekend flutter or for your annual Grand National selection, betting.bet is your best bet!
What Makes a Great Betting Site?
The quality of an online betting site can depend on all sorts of factors, from odds value, diversity of markets to ease of deposits - the list goes on. This is why below, we have cherry-picked the most important features to look out for when comparing news betting sites.
- Sign Up Process: The sign-up process on a betting site has a significant impact on your initial moments as a player. The more straightforward the process, the better, with lengthy, tedious sign up processes often putting players off registering an account.
- Betting Site Credibility: Great betting sites will have a great reputation. You can gain an idea of a betting site’s reputation by conducting a quick Google search and reading online reviews left by real customers.
- Markets and Bet Types: Betting sites with an extensive inventory of betting markets and bet types are preferable as they are likely to feature your chosen betting market and bet format.
- Welcome Promotions: Betting sites with a generous welcome package always stand out as they give new players a great incentive to sign up and explore the free betting opportunities available. The most advantageous welcome promotions include risk-free bets, no deposit bonuses, deposit free bets and free bet bundles.
- Ongoing Offers: Although the sign up offer will be the predominant deal on a betting site, only the best betting sites continue to offer betting promos. This is why locating a bookmaker that promotes ongoing offers throughout the year should be the priority for players.
- Betting Site Security: Ensuring your personal and payment data is safe and protected when betting online is understandably of great importance. Leading betting sites utilise the most advanced SSL encryption technology to ensure this. Betting sites that start with ‘HTTPS’ rather than ‘HTTP’ are secure with an SSL certificate.
- Interface and Navigation: The ease of use of a betting site will have a significant bearing on whether or not it is enjoyable to bet on. When shopping for a new online betting site, paying particular attention to its interface and navigation is advised.
- Customer Support: An online betting site is only as good as the way it treats its players. To be a top-rated betting site, having a long list of customer support features is required.
The Best Online Betting Promotions
Betting promotions are one of the many ways UK bookmakers attract and retain players, with the more attractive the betting offers featured, the more value added to the player’s online betting experience. Below, we profile the most advantageous betting promotions you can claim from UK betting sites today.
- Free Bets: Free bets are regarded as the ultimate type of betting promotion, essentially giving players the ability to bet for free. Working as free betting tokens, players that claim free bets can enhance their bets without parting with cash they don’t want to. Please remember that there are many different free bet options available, all of which have varying advantages, deposit requirements and rollover stipulations.
- Acca Insurance: Accumulator betting holds a great deal of risk, with various selections needing to be correct in order for the bookmaker to pay out on the bet. This is why acca insurance deals are so popular as they allow for some wiggle room. Acca insurance means that if one/two of your selections are incorrect, the bookmaker will still pay out.
- Enhanced Odds: Enhanced odds promotions allow players to utilise higher-than-usual odds on a particular betting selection. These deals are commonly offered on high-profile events such as Premier League matches, The Grand National and so on.
- Refer-a-friend Betting Bonuses: Many betting sites will offer players an incentive to refer their betting site to friends and family members. Betting sites will offer players free bets in exchange for the referral which can be sent via text, email or a unique web link.
- Extra Places Offers: Extra places is an advanced betting offer for each-way horse racing bettors that pays out on additional runners. For instance, if a betting site usually pays out on the first 4 horses placed, an extra places offer will see them pay out on additional horses placed in that race.
- Loyalty Bonuses: A loyal player is gold to a betting site. This is why UK betting sites will reward players for choosing to bet with them regularly. This is often achieved via loyalty bonuses, with betting sites issuing players with regular bonuses as a way of thanks. What’s so great about loyalty bonuses and free bets is the more you bet, the more rewards you will be awarded with.
Betting Markets in the UK
Whether you are interested in betting on football matches, ice hockey games or even the Olympics, there will be a betting site ready and waiting to process your bets. Where the majority of UK betting sites used to carry just the most-followed sports, most betting sites now feature an extensive list of 50+ sports markets for players to pick and choose from.
- Popular betting markets: The most popular betting markets you will find listed by bookmakers include football, horse racing, boxing, golf, greyhounds, formula 1, darts, rugby union, rugby league, cricket, basketball, American football, MMA, athletics, tennis, snooker, pool and hockey.
- Alternative sports betting markets: Alternative betting markets, or niche betting markets as they are commonly referred to, cover unique betting selections outside of the norm. These can include anything from chess and canoeing to virtual sports.
- Special betting markets: Many betting sites now feature a ‘Specials’ tab. This page will host betting markets that do not come under the remit of sport. These commonly surround popular culture, with odds on Eurovision Song Contest winners, the next actor to play James Bond and Oscar winners being displayed.
Popular Betting Markets
| Football | Horse Racing | Golf | Tennis |
|---|---|---|---|
| Premier League | Grand National | US Open | Australian Open |
| EFL (Championship, League One, League Two) | Cheltenham Festival | PGA Championship | French Open |
| UEFA Champions League | Royal Ascot | The Open | Wimbledon |
| UEFA Europa Conference League | Punchestown Festival | The Masters | US Open |
| FA Cup | The Classics (The Derby, The Oaks, 1000 Guineas, 2000 Guineas, St Leger) | Players' Championship | Davis Cup |
| Carabao Cup | Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe | Ryder Cup | ATP Finals |
Bet Types Explained
The types of bets you can place via betting sites will be dependent on the betting provider you have signed up with. In the UK, there is a huge variety of bet types players can choose from.
| Single Bet | A single bet is when a player places one selection, with the selection having to be correct for the bet to be successful. |
| Double Bet | Double bets are bets that encompass two selections on two different events. For the bet to be successful, both picks must be accurate. |
| Treble Bet | A treble bet will include three selections in different events. All three predictions must be correct in order for the bet to be paid out on. |
| Trixie Bet: | A trixie bet is when a bettor places four bets on three selections in different events. |
| Patent Bet | When placing a patent bet, a punter will place seven bets on three selections in different events. |
| Accumulator Bet | An accumulator bet, or acca as they are also known, is a multiple bet where the bettor places two or more selections; all of which have to come in for the bet to be a success. An accumulator can have a maximum of 20 choices. |
| Yankee Bet: | A yankee bet incorporates eleven bets on four separate events. These are usually equal in value. |
| Lucky 15 | A lucky 15 bet is when a player puts on 15 bets on four separate events. These consist of 4x singles, 6x doubles, 4x trebles and 1x four-fold accumulator. |
| Heinz Bet: | A Heinz bet consolidates 57 bets into one multiple bet. These bets include 15x doubles, 20x trebles, 15x four-fold accumulators, 6x five-fold accumulators and 1x six-fold accumulator. |
Top Betting Site Features Explained
Different betting sites have different features; some unique, some standard. Special features are created to amplify players’ online betting, giving them more options and easier ways to bet on the markets that interest them.
- Live Betting: Live betting has become hugely popular in the UK. Live betting gives players the opportunity to bet on an event whilst it is in-play. For instance, you can bet on the next goal to be scored in a football match that has already started. In-play betting odds can vary hugely from one betting site to the next, as can the range of markets you can bet on in-play. The most common markets include football, tennis, golf, cricket, darts, MMA, boxing, rugby and snooker.
- Live Streaming: A large part of the betting experience is watching the event you have bet on pan out, whether that be a race, football match or volleyball game. This is why many of the best betting sites have live streaming features, permitting players to bet on and watch sporting events all in one place.
- Quick Betslip: In many cases, putting on a bet is something that needs to be done quickly. UK betting sites worth their salt will have a quick bet feature that permits plays to place a betting selection in just a few seconds.
- Cash Out: Betting sites with cash out give players the option to settle an open bet as and when they wish. This is a favourable feature if a bet you have placed is not looking likely to come in, allowing you to settle the bet early and limit the amount of money the bet stands to lose.
- Betting Promotions: Betting promotions make the time spent on betting sites more enjoyable. Whether it be a free bet, acca insurance deal or an enhanced odds offer, betting promotions are a feature everyone wants to see when signing up to a bookmaker.
- Online Betting Security: The more secure a betting site, the better. With cyber threats at an all-time high, online bettors will understandably want to ensure that their personal and payment data is safe and secure. This is why betting sites that utilise SSL encryption technology are regarded as the safest.
- Customer Support: Customer support features vary from one betting provider to the next. The most advantageous are live chat, email support, on-site FAQs and telephone helplines. However, in recent years we have seen more betting sites offer support via Whatsapp and social media apps too.
Betting Sites vs Betting Apps
Although most online betting sites are responsive and can be used on all types of devices and sized screens, many opt to bet using dedicated betting apps. There are numerous benefits to betting using online betting apps. Here are just a few:
- Convenience: Betting using a betting app is hugely convenient. This is because placing a bet via an app is much quicker than doing so via desktop. This can be beneficial when you want to place a bet quickly prior to a game or in the live markets.
- Betting App Promotions: Most UK betting sites will offer unique promotions via apps, meaning additional free bets and bonuses can be claimed when using mobile applications over betting sites. Betting sites will use push notifications to inform players as and when new promotions become available.
- Live Streaming: Live streaming is one of the biggest mobile betting trends of the decade, with live betting technology integrated into almost all betting apps. This permits players to bet and on and watch sporting events all on one screen, making way for an enhanced remote betting experience.
Mobile Betting Sites
Mobile is now the preferred method to place bets in the UK, with more and more people wanting to stake their selections while on the go. This is why UK betting sites have been under pressure to ensure their betting products and services can be accessed and enjoyed seamlessly on all types of devices. Over the past decade, a huge focus has been placed on ‘responsive’ betting sites. These are sites that automatically adjust for different-sized screens and viewports, allowing bettors to access betting sites on desktops, laptops, tablets, smartphones and even some smartwatches.
Due to the increasing demand for mobile-friendly betting sites, lots of bookmakers have gone one step further than simply making their websites responsive, launching online betting apps for players to download. In more cases than not, betting apps are free to download and can be sourced from both the App Store and Google Play
Football Betting Sites
Football bets make up over 80% of betting predictions made online, being the sport at the centre of the UK gambing industry. As the most enthralling spectator sport there is, football is, without doubt, the most adrenaline-pinching betting market. This is why 95% of UK betting sites feature football betting!
The most commonly-visited football betting sites are Ladbrokes, Paddy Power, Bet365, William Hill, Grosvenor, Coral and Unibet. However, many new betting sites are starting to gather momentum, with most football bettors switching between betting providers on a regular basis.
As well as the unpredictability of the game, football is an interesting betting market due to the incredible selection of bet types and selections players can place. At any given time, players can place a bet on a match’s final result, the first goal scorer, both teams to score, the number of cards to be issued, the number of corners in a game, the goalkeeper’s likelihood of a clean sheet, the winning margin and so much more!
What's more, football betting sites have become more sophisticated as the years have gone by, with various betting tools introduced to enhance online gambling sessions. These include in-play betting, online betting calculators, quick bet slips and live streaming.
Horse Racing Betting Sites
Horse racing is the second most popular sport to bet on after football, with both high-profile racing events and intimate meets being of interest to the UK betting community. It is important to note that not all betting sites are horse racing betting sites. This is why conducting research before signing up to a bookmaker is always advised.
Some of the most popular betting sites associated with the world of horse racing include Paddy Power, William Hill, Bet365, ToteSport, Betfair, Ladbrokes, Betway and Betfred. These are the highest ranked horse racing betting sites due to the competitive racing odds, extra places promotions and unique horse racing free bets they have to offer.
You will find that many of the aforementioned betting sites will have sponsorship agreements in place with horse racing tracks, with bookmakers eager to promote such sponsorship deals via innovative promotional campaigns.
eSports Betting Sites
In recent times, an increased number of betting sites have started to feature eSports markets on their sportsbooks. In fact, eSports is the fastest-growing market for bookmakers globally. eSports (electronic sports) is a term that covers competitive video gaming, with betting sites now permitting punters to bet on the outcome of various eSports tournaments and events.
Due to the engaging spectator quality to eSports, eSports betting is growing at a rate of knots, with all types of markets being covered by new and established betting sites alike. The most bet-on eSports tournaments in the UK are:
- CS:GO
- DOTA 2
- Call of Duty
- League of Legends
- FIFA
- King of Glory
- Starcraft II
Betting sites credited for their eSports coverage include BetVictor, Coral, 888Sport, Bet365, Sky Bet and William Hill. However, with eSports becoming a favoured market, we are seeing competitive eSports odds and free bets being offered by almost all UK bookmakers.
William Hill v Ladbokes: Head to Head
William Hill and Ladbrokes are commonly accepted as two of the biggest UK bookies. For many, deciding between the two can be a difficult task. Below, we pit William Hill and Ladbrokes against one another, comparing their top qualities to see which comes out on top!
| William Hill | Ladbrokes | |
|---|---|---|
| Live Betting | ✓ | ✓ |
| New Player Free Bets | ✓ | ✓ |
| Live Chat | ✓ | ✓ |
| Email Support | ✓ | X |
| Free-to-play Prediction Games | X | ✓ |
| Free Online Betting App | ✓ | ✓ |
Betting Sites with Casinos
As online betting has progressed in the UK, players have expanded their knowledge and changed their tastes, taking a varied approach to gambling by not sticking to just one market. Many bettors enjoy switching between placing bets and playing casino games, making betting sites with online casinos hugely desirable. Now, more than 70% of UK betting sites have casino games integrated into them. Some of the most popular include Ladbrokes, Paddy Power, Bet365, Betfred and Coral. We list many casino sites promoting casino bonuses, free spins and many other casino promotions.
Safe Online Betting Tips
Remaining safe when betting online should always be a player’s priority. This is why educating yourself on how to gamble responsibly is a worthwhile task. Below, we provide some safe online gambling tips for you to take note of.
- Set limits: By setting budgets and time limits, you will keep a handle on your betting, making sure you don't overspend or spend too much time gambling online. It is also important to never borrow money to bet with.
- The fun factor: Try to remember that online gambling is a fun pastime; not a way to make money. This will ensure you avoid chasing your bets and throwing good money after bad.
- Understand your bets: Equipping yourself with as much information about your bets as possible is advised. From potential winnings to cash-out options, knowing all the facts will only serve as a benefit.
- Keep a clear head: Avoid betting when under the influence of alcohol. This will ensure you make sensible betting decisions and are not irresponsible with your gambling funds.