Football Betting Sites in the UK – Best UK Football Bookmakers [2024] | Complete Guide

Once you have perused our array of UK football bookmakers and decided which website works for you, it is time to bet. A host of different football odds are online. These betting odds vary, depending on what you select. In the UK, most are decimal odds. If you are a beginner and want to know how to win big on football bets, just stick with the simpler bets for a start.

Here are the most common bet types from the biggest bookmakers UK has to offer:

• Full-time result: A wager on the outcome of a match, displayed as 1X2 (or home win, draw, away win).
• Halftime Fulltime bet: A wager on both the outcome of the match at half-time and full-time (from a combination of 9 possible outcomes).
• Full-time score: Alternatively, you can bet on the full-time score. This must be correct to see your winnings paid out.
• Goals over/under: Over and under bets are popular in football, as well as on cricket betting sites UK available in UK and worldwide. With these bets, you are wagering that a team will win (or lose) by a certain number of goals. You can be over or under by a specific amount, according to each bet. Alternative goal line bets are a variation of over/under bets.
• Both teams to score (BTTS): A simple bet which stipulates that both teams will score in a match. This would be the simplest answer to the question “What is BTTS?”. There are two main types: BTTS yes and BTTS no. Other types of BTTS bets would include: BTTS and win, BTTS both halves, BTTS over/under or combined with other types of bets.
• Combinations: Combination bets can involve any of those listed above with one stake, such as the full-time result and BTTS, or the correct score plus a draw. You must win both bets to land a payout, but the winnings are richer the more bets you add to a combination.
• Bet draws: another simple bet on whether the game will result in a draw.
• Futures: Future involve something happening throughout the season. These bets can include the next manager sacked, for example
• Outrights: Simple stakes on who will win a tournament, such as the league or a cup.
• Accumulators: Like combination bets, these are several wagers on one ticket. However, accumulators are always on the correct score or result. The winnings of one stake become the wager on the others, so you could end up with epic wins. However, just one defeat could see you lose the lot.
• System bets: A system bet is more advantageous compared to accumulator bets and still allows you to get high payouts. It has multiple combination bets on the same betting slip. A system bet can include between 3 and 8 combinations. Some examples of system bets would include: System bet 2/3, System bet 3/5, Trixie bet, Patent bet, Yankee bet, Goliath bet or even the Round Robin bet, just to name a few.
• Asian handicap: This type of spread betting is not particularly popular with UK audiences. This bet handicaps teams according to their form, so the stronger team must win by scoring more goals. There is also alternative Asian handicap betting (available at Asian handicap bookmakers), which supposes betting on half-line and quarter-lines (like Asian handicap 0.25 and Asian handicap 0.75).

A few other “odd” bets which you may wish to check out include:

• Double chance: A wager which sees you cover two of three possible outcomes, such as a home team win and a draw.
• Double delight: A bet on the first scorer in the game. If he then goes on to score the second goal, too, the bookmakers will pay out at double the odds.
• Hat-trick heaven: As with a Double Delight bet, this bet is initially a wager on the first player to score. If he goes on to score a hat-trick, you’ll get double or triple the odds, depending on the betting site.

It could also be possible for you to request a bet from the bookie. This is usually something found on sports betting exchanges, not standard online sportsbooks. However, requesting bets is quite common in UK land-based betting outlets.

Some of the best bookmakers by country are those which offer great odds and bets. In some cases, these will represent the new football betting UK companies, as they tend to go the extra mile to get ahead of the competition. However, in other cases, it is reliable, experienced bookies which do this.

Unibet and 888 Sport aren’t the only top UK sportsbooks offering great odds. You will find that plenty of GamblingJudge’s top UK bookmakers have their fair share of cracking odds to have a punt at, too.

One of the most innovative things to hit the UK sports betting world is the early cash out option. Your team is 1-0 up and its entering injury time. The opposition has been knocking at the door. You know they’re going to score. They do, but worse still, they score two and win the game. If only you could have cashed out at 89 minutes. With some of the best bookies for football in the UK, you can, with no restrictions.

Some of the new betting companies UK and leading online bookies and such as GentingBet, Novibet, and William Hill carry such a feature. You will find many top bookmakers offering similar services here at GamblingJudge. Early cash out bets are part of the perks of live betting. The trick here is knowing when to cash out, and to do that you need to keep tabs on the game. This is where live in-play betting and live streaming options come in. You must not confuse the cash out feature with the early payout promotion, where you get to cash in the full payment, once the condition in the offer is met.

The very best betting sites for football in the UK will offer live betting or in-play betting. These bets are staked long after a match has kicked off. These feature live odds in real-time. The odds will adjust according to the action which is taking place in the game. So, betting on a team in a match which is 85 minutes on and sees them 4-0 up isn’t going to pay very much. However, betting on a team which is 2-0 down after just 24 minutes means you’ll get great odds. Now all you need to do is hope the losing side can turn the fixture around.

Some of our recommended top online football betting UK sites offering this service are: 888 Sport and William Hill.

What’s better than looking at detailed stats screens when betting with live, in-play bets? How about watching the game unfold itself? Many of the best UK football betting sites provide live streaming of matches.

At these sites, including mobile betting sites, you can watch the game as you would at home. In most cases, players need to be funded or wager on the game to be able to watch it live. However, some of the major UK bookies even provide this service with you having to find your account.

Here are a few top football betting websites in the UK that offer quality live streaming football.

If you want to find more top sites which provide live football services, take a quick look at GamblingJudge’s top UK bookmakers. From there, just select the “live streaming” option on the left-hand menu to find a plethora of leading UK bookies offering this service.

To help you get started, many experienced and new football betting sites provide their players with bonus deals. These are often known as welcome bonuses, and the way they work is quite simple.

A player makes a minimum deposit at a sportsbook, and they will receive a sum of bonus money based on their qualifying deposit, for instance, £100 in bet credits. Those can then be used to wager on matches. Some sites go one further and have terms which state that in the event of a loss, you’ll even get your money back.

There are bookies that have a no deposit betting UK option so you can give it a try before playing with real money.

Here are a few of the flashier ones out there:

Of course, these aren’t the only bonuses you can find at sportsbooks. Many top sites also offer other betting offers in UK on selected events. These can include money-back deals on draws, loyalty rewards, insurance if certain events happen, and much more besides. You can find all the latest reload offers UK at any UK bookie by checking their promotions page.

You now have a decent idea of what the best online football betting sites in the UK are, and the types of bets and odds available. However, we want to show you how a typical stake works when wagering online. This is how to bet on UK football.

In our example, Arsenal are set to face Chelsea in the FA Cup. Our UK bookie has Arsenal at 3.20 to win, a draw at 4.40 and Chelsea at 1.20. This means that Chelsea are the favorites, Arsenal is the underdog, and a draw is the least likely result.

If no substantial changes to the odds occur, this is what happens:

If you bet £1 on Chelsea to win, you’ll take home £1.20 in winnings (plus your original stake). If you bet £1 on Arsenal to win, you’ll land £3.20 in winnings, plus your stake. If you bet on a draw with a quid staked, you’ll win £4.40 and your stake.

But football is not predictable, and a game of two halves. In reality, this happens:

Two days before kick-off, you have decided that you’ll take a risk, and bet £10 on Arsenal winning. Your potential return is now £44.00 if Arsenal win. On the day of the game, Chelsea’s star striker is injured, and the bookie lowers the odds of an Arsenal victory to 2.20. Arsenal do go on to win the match.

The end result of your bet is…

If you placed your bet two days before the match, the initial bet is valid at the original stakes when you wagered it. You would net £44 (4.40 x £10). However, if you waited until right before-kick (after the bookie had learned of Chelsea’s injury), you’d only get £22 (the adjusted odds of 2.20 x £10). The timing of when you place a bet is essential. The more variables there are in a match, (the more difficult it is to predict) the better your return.

Of course, this is just an example. There are many other types of footy bets you can make at both established and new UK bookmakers, so it is up to you to experiment a bit.

Here at Gambling Judge, we take many things into consideration when deciding which sites we recommend and which we don’t. We only recommend the best online football betting sites in the UK. To become one of those, UK bookies must fulfil stringent criteria.

To make it onto our top UK football betting sites, a bookie must:

– Be licensed, regulated and audited, as well as promote responsible gambling
– Carry a variety of football markets, but also provide other options for betting on sports
– Feature live streaming, in-play betting, accumulators or some other form of additional bets
– Offer mobile-friendly football betting options
– Be trusted, secure and fair, and this includes offering fair terms and conditions on bonuses
– Provide speedy withdrawal times, such as bookmakers by payment methods that offer a variety of UK-friendly payment methods
– Maintain a clean record of service, with no black marks or unjust complaints
– Be open to accepting players in the UK, and they must be able to offer their services there legally

We won’t recommend any bookmaker which fails in these criteria at our website.

Before you head off to bet on football in the UK, we’re on hand to answer any questions about football betting websites you may have.

By now, you will likely know virtually everything you need to wager at UK betting sites. Now all you need to do is find the latest football betting sites or mobile betting apps UK we recommend, decide which one fits the bill and join.

After making a deposit (and possibly claiming a bonus), you’ll be ready to wager on the Premier League, English football league, non-league football, domestic and continental cup competitions and leagues, and even international football to your heart’s content.

Also, if you also want to learn how to bet online from abroad as a UK player, check here our guide.

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