Best UK Betting Sites

This is always number one on all of our recommendation criteria lists. Why? Well, it’s not by chance or because we put them alphabetically. It’s because safety and security are the two most important factors that you need to be looking at when evaluating or choosing a UK betting site. You need to be 100% sure that your personal information, your bets, and your money are safe and secure from the wide range of threats floating around the internet these days.

Site owners need to have dedicated teams working on security daily, proper encryption systems installed, and constantly be updating their software and practices to adapt to any new or growing web threats. The main thing we’re looking for here is proactivity. We don’t want to bet with a site that only reacts to threats, or even worse, doesn’t react at all.

The UK market is one of the most regulated online betting markets in the world. This is a big win for UK bettors. Why? Heavy regulation might sound like something bad, but in fact, it just means that the UK betting sites you’re going to be dealing with are held to higher standards. They have governing bodies and licensing boards that they have to answer to if they don’t play by the rules.

All this means for you is that you’re going to have a much better and much safer online betting experience. We can guarantee you that bettors in the rest of the world are jealous at the quality and trustworthiness of the options you have available in the UK.

Nobody wants to bet with a site that makes things more challenging. Winning at sports betting is already tough enough on its own without adding in unnecessary stress and difficulties. Unfortunately, this is exactly what happens when you choose to use a betting site that doesn’t understand the importance of a quality user interface and what sports bettors really want. You run the risk of not only having an awful experience, but you risk making errors or incorrect bets as a result of the cruddy interface.

We look heavily at the ease of use that a site offers. We don’t really care too much about all of the bells and whistles. What we are really interested in is how easy is it to find the bets you’re looking for and make those bets without making mistakes. It shouldn’t be that hard, but unfortunately, a lot of online sportsbooks struggle with this.

Typically, it is the result of one of two things. It could be because they never put the right resources or manpower on the job and have always had a terrible interface from day one. Or it could be because they didn’t properly build their systems for expansion. As more and more sports become popular, these sites have to find a way to accommodate for this. If they didn’t have a good scaling plan from the start, they’re going to look like a jumbled mess with way too much information crammed into too small of a package.

Here’s something that you’re going to want to check on before you make a final decision on a UK betting site. You need to make sure that the site you’re betting with offers action on the sports, leagues, and bet types that you’re interested in. For example, let’s say you like to bet on cricket and American football. Let’s also say that you like to bet individual player props when it comes to American football. What good is a UK betting site to you if they don’t offer basic action on cricket and extensive prop betting action on American football?

The obvious answer is that the site is pretty worthless to you. Figure out what sports you want to bet, what leagues within that sport you like, and what types of bets you want to make. Then, check out the sites you’re interested in and see if they offer that action. We’ll discuss this in a bit more detail in the steps to select a UK betting site section further down in this guide. The bottom line is pretty obvious, though. Make sure the UK sportsbook you choose offers the action you’re looking for.

One of the coolest parts about online sports betting is that you can start to get bonuses and rewards from the first bet you make. In fact, a lot of UK betting sites have welcome bonuses that include free bets, deposit matches, and more. Additionally, many UK sites have VIP loyalty programs that reward you for being a customer and continuing to bet with them. The more that you bet, the more you get back in rewards.

When selecting the UK betting site that’s right for you, you should take a look at the different promotions being offered. Keep in mind that a lot of different sites will have vastly different promotions. Sometimes they will be site-wide, sometimes they will be sport-specific, and sometimes they will be directed toward specific types of bets or special events. This is something you’re going to want to investigate and weigh when you’re making your selection.

Keep in mind, though, that you shouldn’t let big promotions cloud your judgment. We’ve, unfortunately, seen a lot of terrible online sportsbooks that use promotions to try and attract customers to their subpar product. They figure that if they throw out enough “free candy,” you’ll neglect to look at the negatives surrounding them. This puts you, your personal information, and your money at risk. Is it really worth risking your whole bankroll to get a few extra bucks back on a bet?

Now, we want to make sure that we’re clear that we are not saying to run when you see a great promotion. Some of the best UK betting sites have incredible promotions because they understand the importance of marketing and customer retention. We’re just saying that your determining factor of the quality of a UK betting site should not be based on their promotions. The bonuses and promotions should be things that you look at after you’ve identified the quality, trustworthiness, and reputation of an online betting site.

With such regulated sites operating on the up and up, the movement of money in and out of your UK betting account should be quick and issue-free. Here’s what we’re looking for. We want quality options on both sides of the transaction that are low-fee or free, quick, and reliable. Basically, when we want to load money into our UK sports betting account, we want to be able to do it quickly. On the flip side, when we win and want to enjoy our spoils, we want to be able to get that money out fast.

In the UK, some betting sites even have brick-and-mortar locations where you can go and deposit and collect your winnings. While this isn’t really necessary, it is something cool that you might want to keep an eye out for if it interests you.

In other markets, we might be a little more lax when it comes to the banking options. We usually have a little more patience for time frames, fees, and overall option quality. In the UK, though, this patience goes out the window. The market is set up too well for there to be any issues unless a betting site is just being lazy or doesn’t want to commit the necessary resources to their banking side of things. Not on our watch.

This might seem like an interesting and rather specific thing to have on our list of review criteria. Well, first of all, you are correct. But there are two main reasons that we have esports betting on our list of review criteria. One, esports is exploding in popularity, and while it’s not a “sport” where you have to have any athletic ability, you can still make a ton of money from betting it. The betting markets are exploding and are flooded with amateur bettors that don’t know what they’re doing. This creates some incredible value opportunities that we know you’re going to be excited about.

The broader reason that we included something so specific in our review is it allows us to see which UK betting sites are innovating and staying with the times. If a sportsbook hasn’t adopted some form of esports into their lineup, it’s pretty clear that they don’t have a great pulse on the industry and the direction that it’s heading. While this isn’t an immediate disqualifier, it isn’t something that we think looks great for a site.

On the flip side, betting sites that have gotten with the times are actively demonstrating a willingness to grow with the industry in real-time. This means that in the future, you can expect them to be on top of any new sports or trends that you might be interested in.

The very last thing we want to point out about our UK betting site rankings is the frequency at which we update them. There’s a pretty annoying trend in the sportsbook review industry that we bet you’re probably not even aware of. Sites love to come up with great lists of the best sites out there and then never update them for all of eternity. This means that the list that you’re seeing might be from five or more years ago!

Do you think that all the same UK betting sites that were great five years ago are the same ones that are great now? We can go ahead and answer that question for you and let you know that it is not the case. This is why we’re pretty proud of the fact that we update our recommended betting site lists frequently. We try our best to stay on top of industry changes, new players, and any growing complaints that come out. With this information coupled with updated reviews, we can provide you with an accurate and up-to-date list of the best UK betting sites available.