Sports Betting
Sports are thrilling. A list minute goal in a football match, for instance, will surely ramp up your excitement levels. Of course, your adrenaline level goes through the roof if you also happen to have a few quid on the match when the ball hits the back of the net. Nothing can match sports betting for sheer excitement. If you haven’t placed a sporting bet yet, you may not quite understand what all the fuss is about. What can the sports betting world offer you? If you’re interested in betting on sports, here’s how you can go about it. A good thing to check before playing is oddschecker.
Where to bet on sports?
First and foremost, you’re going to want to find a place to play. One option is to pop down to your local high-street bookie and place a bet on any sporting event they are offering from there. That’s one option, but it isn’t necessarily the best one. When you decide to play online, you have a much wider variety of sports bets open to you, and you can do your research at the same time. Furthermore, you can bet on sports from the comfort of your own home, without ever having to move a muscle. The most popular in the UK is Football betting and Horse Racing.
The UK is home to a host of leading sportsbooks, so if you’re after somewhere to place your favourite sporting bets, you won’t be short of options. Sports betting is available at many online casinos.
| Bookmaker: | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 | 888 | Bet £10 and Get £30 | |
 | Guts | Play with 100% bonus | |
 | MrGreen | 100% Bonus up to £100 | |
 | Intertops | 100 % Bonus | |
 | William Hill | 100% Bonus available | |
 | Energy Bet | 100% Bonus up to £100 |
Choosing a sports betting market
As mentioned, online sportsbooks cover a vast array of sports. In fact, some of the larger ones cover most sports. The list of sporting events you can bet on is nearly endless. Everything from basketball to baseball, motor racing to tennis, rugby to football. And even political events and reality television shows can be wagered on at online sports betting sites.
It isn’t just the array of sports you can choose from which are vast, either. The sheer number of individual events and types of bets you can make per event mean that there are literally tens of thousands of possible bets you can make at your average online bookie.
How does betting work?
After you’ve found a place to play, the next thing you need to do is open an account and transfer some money to it. Once this is done, you can start perusing the range of sports bets. You will find a ticket in the lobby (homepage) which shows you any bets you have clicked on. Then, just enter how much you wish to bet (the ticket will also likely show you your potential winnings) and confirm. You can check your tickets at any time via the “history” or “open bet” sections of your sportsbook account.
Live in-play betting
There are other ways to bet at sportsbooks, too. For instance, live in-play betting is the latest craze. Live in-play bets allow you to place bets on sporting events which have already begun. One essential perk of this is that some sports betting sites also permit you to withdraw your winnings earlier. You won’t get the full-rate, but if it looks as though your time is about to concede a goal and thus you may lose your bet, cashing out early can come in handy. Not all sports betting sites offer early cash-out options, though most offer live betting.
Live Streaming
With sports viewership at an all-time high on the internet, it is not surprising that many sports betting sites have also acquired the rights to show live sporting events. Members who have placed a live bet on a match may be able to watch live coverage of the game from the sportsbook. Indeed, this option is often open to any player who has a funded account. Again, like live in-play bets, not all online bookies offer live coverage of sporting events.
Mobile Betting
If you are away from your home, but nowhere near a high-street bookmaker, you’re not out of luck, either. Most major online sportsbooks now offer you the chance to make bets on your favourite sporting events via your phone. Some even run dedicated mobile apps which you can download to place bets on the go. Keeping tabs on a live-bet from inside the stadium or the pub via your phone really must be the pinnacle of the evolutionary ladder when it comes to sports betting.
The best sportsbooks online UK
Of course, not all sports betting sites are to be trusted. There are many leading online bookies out there, but a few bad eggs as well. It is essential that any potential sports bettor knows what to look out for.
Generally speaking, the best online sportsbooks will be fully licensed. This means that in the UK, they will carry a UK Gambling Commission license. And possibly even Maltese, Gibraltar or Curacao licenses to boot. They will also be able to offer mobile betting, and perhaps even live in-play bets, early cash-out options and live streaming.
The best sportsbooks will also offer you a range of payment methods to choose from, offer you various currencies, languages and customer support options. They won’t charge fees for deposits or withdrawals and aim to make financial transactions as timely and smoothly as possible.
Of course, these leading bookies also need to be able to offer you not just a top range of sports to bet on. And a good selection of betting types, too. They may also offer you accumulators, or other promotions and bonuses. A welcome bonus which promises a spot of free cash when you deposit, or loyalty rewards when you frequently wager on sports are also advantages.
Most of the major UK sportsbooks will also provide their users with access to other types of gambling games. It is not uncommon for sports betting sites to dish out access to casino games like slots, online poker, bingo or even lottery games in their domain. Those that do will offer you all of this with just a single account.
Get started today
Now that you know a few of the ins and outs of sports betting, you should feel confident enough to give it a go. By using the hints mentioned above, you can get yourself set up at a leading online bookie. There is excitement aplenty to be had when you bet online on sports today.
What AreThe Major UK Sports You Can Bet On?
Pretty much all major sports can be wagered on at any top class UK sportsbook. However, some sports are more popular with sports betting fans than others, and they tend to be national sports. Sure, you can wager a bit of cash on cricket and golf if you want to, but football, tennis, horse racing, F1, rugby and the greyhounds tend to steal the show. Let’s look at each of those in a little more detail.
Football Betting
The most popular sport in the UK by a long way, football has global appeal. Fans in the UK don’t just limit themselves to the Premier League, Champions League or major international events. They also have an affinity with other major European leagues and even lower league football in the UK. A myriad of bets can be wagered on football games, with everything from the correct score to the number of corners there for betting on. With accumulator bets and special matchday deals aplenty, this market is undoubtedly the most extensive at any UK sportsbook.
Tennis
Wimbledon is a showpiece event for the British sports calendar. It naturally makes for an exciting time to bet online, too. However, even when the most famous tennis event on the schedule isn’t going on, there are plenty of opportunities for punters to have a crack at tennis matches from elsewhere across the globe. The whole tennis calendar is covered, with a surplus of outright, game and tournament bets there for you to explore.
Horse Racing
The UK is home to some of the most famous horse races in the world. It is only natural then that most major UK sportsbooks cover horse racing. However, aside from just allowing punters to slap down a few bets on the nags, UK sportsbooks often go all out. In fact, they tend to run individual sites (sister sites, if you will) dedicated to nothing but horse racing. Known as racebooks, these can be accessed with your standard sportsbook account. The most popular day on the calendar is, of course, the Grand National, and each UK sportsbook goes to painstaking lengths to provide in-depth analysis and a wealth of bets on this annual special race.
Formula 1
Brits love F1. In fact, you could argue that more British motor-racing fans watch Formula One than in any other country. Lewis Hamilton has been boosting national pride in the competition for a few years now, and British teams such as Williams and McLaren have long been successful. Formula One bets may be a touch less frequent than other sports markets (they race on average once every 2 weeks from March – November), but there are plenty of different ways to bet. Betting outright during the pre-season on who will win the drivers and constructors championships can bring dividends, and there is always the option of placing bets on the finishing positions of teams and drivers in each race.
Greyhound Racing
Outside the UK (and the US) there won’t be too many takers for greyhound racing, and its popularity is dwindling in this country, too. However, for now, at least, greyhound racing has a lot of backers. Many of the bets are similar to those you will find in horse racing. And the odds of success are equally so. If greyhound racing is your cup of tea, you won’t be short of options at most major UK sportsbooks.
Rugby
Rugby Union tends to be more popular than Rugby League, but both events draw big crowds at online sportsbooks. Whether you fancy a punt on the Six Nations, the Rugby World Cup, or the Super League, there are plenty of ways you can go when betting on rugby. Like football, UK rugby fans also look beyond their own borders at international competitions and leagues, and many Australian, South African and New Zealand rugby competitions are also widely covered and backed, at UK sports betting sites. In the USA American Football Betting is the most popular sport to bet on.
Others Sports
If none of those floats your boat, you always have other options open to you. Whether you love it or hate it, cricket bets are incredibly popular at UK sportsbooks, as is golf. Both are sometimes called boring games. But if you’ve got a penchant for betting on them, you won’t exactly be short of options. Other sports you may wish to have a punt at and can do so at UK sports betting sites. These include American football, basketball, boxing, Gaelic football, ice hockey, snooker, and athletics, amongst many others.
E-Sports Become Popular
As well as sports, most major UK sportsbooks will also offer you wagers on e-sporting events. E-sports are becoming big right now. UK sports betting sites have already prepared themselves and made the jump so that you can wager on them. Financial bets, wagers on your favourite reality television series, wrestling and talent competitions, as well as political bets are also available at these sites.
Sports Betting UK
Few sports betting markets are as lucrative as that which is found in the United Kingdom. With millions of punters regularly wagering on their favourite sporting events, teams and players, it is a big market with a lot of money involved. The best thing about the UK sports betting market – as opposed to some others in the world – is that is all entirely legal and above board. Betting on sports in the UK has never been easier. Even so, there are a few things you should know.
Things to Note About UK Sportsbooks
Before you dive off into the fantastic world of UK sports betting, there are a couple of final things you may wish to know.
First and foremost, if you’re going to play at a UK sportsbook. Always make sure that it is one which is licensed by the UK Gambling Commission. It is better safe than sorry. As well as being a secure place to play, they will also be offering you English language and British pound sterling betting options, the choice between decimalised and fractional odds, as well as popular UK payment methods such as e-wallets.
Many UK sports betting sites also offer you access to other gambling domains. With your sportsbook account, you will likely be able to access casino games like blackjack or scratch cards. This means that you can experience all manner of online betting options under one roof with a single account.
Lastly, many of the top UK online bookies will also offer you a live betting experience, as well as a mobile-friendly interface. The latter is ideal for gamers on the go, but the live betting experience is one most players may wish to try. It involves betting on games as they happen. Some even offer you the ability to cash out early. Many of these sites which offer live betting also provide live streaming, so you can watch the big game live and keep tabs on the action from within the site.
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