Largest betting sites
Other sources of online revenue include exchange betting, online bingo, and pool betting. Lotteries have not been included here. Evolution of High Street to Online Betting Apart from the odd independent bookie and some of the stalls you see at racecourses, all bookmakers now provide online betting. Of course, it didn't used to be this way, and prior to the internet age breaking into the industry was easier said than done.
For a full history of gambling see our dedicated page. Pre's Prior to in the UK it was illegal to take bets away from horse and greyhound tracks. Gambling was heavily regulated by the government and although illegal operators did exist, overall you would find it hard to place a wager away from the track. Bookies did still take bets off-course through loop-holes in the law that allowed bets to be taken by phone or through postal order. This is how William Hill started out. If you were rich enough of course there were always options open to you, Ladbrokes for example started out as a gentleman's bookmaker for high profile clients.
If you were however a normal working-class lad or lass however, there were very few options open to you. Even then most betting at the time was for horse and dog racing only. Football betting was largely outlawed, except for low stakes pool betting syndicate games, such as the football pools which still exists today. Basically before betting wasn't very easy as you needed to go to a race-track to do it or do it illegally in a back street gambling den.
That is unless you were rich when the law didn't really apply to you and you could bet through discreet merchants. Normal people had more disposable income in their pockets and they wanted more freedom with how to spend their money. The betting act for the first time allowed off-course gambling and by the following year, May , a whole host of new betting shops opened across the length of the country at a rate of a week.
Betting was still largely restricted to horse racing, with rules in place such as the 'trebles rule' on football. This meant all footy bets needed to be accumulators with at least 3 or more selections otherwise you couldn't bet. The only sports you could place singles on was racing.
Still this new industry was embraced by the people of Britain, sowing the seed that eventually led to the UK becoming the biggest gambling nation per head in the world. One of the first people to open one of these new betting shops was Joel Coral and 10, shops are reported to have opened within the first 6 months.
Ironically the UK's now biggest high street bookie, William Hill, initially refused to open betting shops, stating they were a cancer on society. He reneged in By the 's there were 15, shops in the United Kingdom. This is the time when many of the biggest names we know today made and solidified their reputation.
Britain's oldest bookmakers, Ladbrokes, William Hill and Coral were earning so much that they even began to invest in other leisure sectors. The vast majority of punters using betting shops were working class men and the reputation of stores as being seedy dark dens full of smoke and foul language didn't help to change this.
Bookies sought to create a larger customer base by introducing new features, such as live sport in shops and new football coupons to encourage more diverse customers and bets. The removal of the 'trebles rule' on football in 's went a great way towards helping the bookies branch out, with punters now able to back singles on a range of sports.
A progressively better image, wider range of bets and markets, more televised sports especially Premier League football and an ever-increasing disposable income, saw the fortunes of bookmakers rise again. By the mid's the industry seemed locked down with five massive companies dominating the landscape, along with a few independents across the country. Many thought betting and gaming would be like this forever. That was until the internet came along. New Millennium and the Internet As the 's drew to a close a new threat began to emerge to the old established order, online betting.
This was more dangerous to the established high street bookies than you might imagine. Online gambling however was a little bit like the wild west, you could basically set up wherever you wanted, launch a website and start taking bets from customers — tax free. Although avoiding tax on gambling stakes and winnings was at the time technically illegal it was almost impossible to police. New companies along with the old high street bookies began to set up new websites, mainly based off shore in Gibraltar or Malta, to take advantage of this tax free trade most are still based there today.
In the late 's and early 's the market share online was still very low and although the new unregulated online trade was a concern it was not prevalent enough to cause changes yet. The bookies were still making enough from the high street even though tax avoiding new brands were now taking a slice of the profits.
This allowed Victor to provide betting opportunities to world-wide clients, particularly from Asia, without paying UK tax. Mobile bettors seem particularly pleased with BetVictor which is backed up from our analysis of the best betting apps where they come out on top.
Kwiff - Super Charge Your Bets! Kwiff have been making great strides in the UK online betting space with a modern and innovative approach. As a Kwiff user you can be surprised with extra payouts, supercharged bets up to x the odds, promotions and loyalty rewards. If you want to experience a slightly different way of betting, try Kwiff. Unibet A well rated UK bookie with a quick sign up, low minimum deposit and excellent in play betting offering. Unibet have been growing their position in the UK market over recent years.
Pari Match A lesser known betting brand , although one of our reviewers pointed out that they have been around for over 17 years. The OLBG user ratings are very strong which is little surprise when you understand that behind the different branding you essential have the same site as BetVictor. Great esport coverage, great in play offering and very highly rated customer service. Fitzdares Bringing something different to online betting, Fitzdares is styled as the Worlds finest bookmaker and has built its brand offline appealing to higher end punters.
However the online offering is designed for all stake levels and aims to give you a bit more than other online bookmakers do. It certainly feels like a different experience betting with Fitzdares. Best Betting Sites for you Based on Sport or Bet Type Aside from looking at the overall best betting sites in terms of user rating, we have also dug deep into many other factors. So if you are looking for a new betting site for a particular reason, perhaps you place most your bets on one sport or you like to place certain bet types or use certain features, then we will have a guide for you.
Here is a summary showing the best betting sites for some of these areas, please explore the guides for more detail. Which are the best football betting sites? The best football betting sites are bet William Hill Paddy Power bet stand out in our review of best football betting sites for their huge range of worldwide markets. They claim to be the home of the in play and with the popularity of in play betting now, this really makes a difference to the regular football bettor.
William Hill offered some niche markets and an excellent BetBuilder product. Read the full analysis here. Which are the best horse racing betting sites? The best horse racing betting sites are bet BetVictor Betway bet have always been popular with horse racing bettors at OLBG, offering consistently good odds, a great best odds guaranteed promotion, ITV racing free bets and extra places in big races.
Odds seem to be key for a betting site to get a good rating from horse racing bettors as BetVictor are also recommended in this category. Betway don't consistent fair so well for odds but their free bets club which includes horse racing is highly attractive and they offer a range of tote options as well as a good all round betting experience.
You can read more about the best betting sites for horse racing here. Should I Use Big Brands? The biggest betting brands like bet and betvictor have the biggest customer base, but it could be argued this can effect customer service if not the range of sports, events and markets available to the online punter. For this reason, when choosing your betting site you might want to select a private or independent bookmaker with a smaller customer base, who specialises in a sport like horse racing, offering a heightened level of personal customer service and an air of exclusivity for you.
Which are the best betting sites for casino games? The best betting sites for casino games are Kwiff 32Red Quinnbet If you like to play casino games alongside placing bets on sports, you may be looking for a strong betting site that offers a solid casino option too. The betting sites appearing highest in our best casino sites listing are 32Red, Quinnbet and Kwiff. You can separately look at our list of best casino sites. Which are the best mobile betting sites or UK betting apps?
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