Bookmaker Reviews

  • Here are the best online bookmakers according to OLBG, The UK's Most Knowledgeable Sports Betting Community

    OLBG, The UK's Most Knowledgeable Sports Betting Coummunity, is home to thousands of regular online sports bettors.

    Our members at OLBG have been reviewing online betting sites since 2002. Who better to ask which the best online bookmakers are, than those who use them day in day out? 

    Members of OLBG sports betting community are smart. They are knowledgeable sports bettors who research all the best bets so you dont have to. Aside from picking winners, every smart sports bettor needs good betting accounts. Our members have tried and tested many online betting sites over the years and here they share with you their honest thoughts. 

  • How do the ratings work for the OLBG Bookmaker Reviews?

    Our members are asked to rate each bookmaker out of 5. You will see that we have listed 100s of reviews for UK sportsbooks. The most popular bookmaker reviewed has over 100 reviews and at the time of writing a rating of 4.7/5. This is the average rating from all the user reviews.

    If you go to the specific bookmaker page, for example bet 365 bookmaker review you will be able to read each of the individual reviews which make up this rating. You will see for this bookmaker that most of the reviews are 5 star.

    At the time of writing there is just the one review with a 1 star rating, the minimum that can be allocated. Read the comments to understand if this bookmaker will be the best for you. Each review is also rated itself so we can list what users think are the most helpful reviews at the top of the page. 

    We publish all reviews unedited as long as they do not contain any swearing, potentially libelous content or indvidual specific dispute content. Where users have individual and specific disputes with online bookmakers we feel that they should discuss these direct with the bookmaker, rather than creating a review. OLBG has always been happy to offer help and advice in dealing with such disputes. There are many discussions on our forums where fellow members also offer their help and advice. We do however always encourage intital dialogue with the bookmaker concerned. IBAS are the independent betting adjudication service to go to when users dont feel that their complaint has been resolved by talking directly with the bookmaker. 

     

  • Which factors should I take into account when deciding the best online betting site for me?

    There are over 70 online bookmakers licensed to operate in the UK. We only list UK licensed bookmakers to UK traffic on this site and if you live in the UK we would advise that you dont bet with any bookmakers which arent licensed here. Not only may they not adhere to the strict regulations laid down by the Gambling Commission, you may have trouble if you ever have a dispute with them. So point one, pick a UK licensed and regulated online bookmaker. We list the main ones on this page but you can follow this link for a full list of online bookmakers licensed in the UK.

    Our reviews should help you from then on. Think about what you want from your bookmaker and read the reviews to find users who have found that. Ask yourself, why would I open an account with this bookmaker AND bet with them regularly? That is the key. There are many free bet offers available to encourage you to open a new betting account online. But these offers shouldnt be the reason why you choose that bookmaker to bet with regularly. If you just want some free bets, then sure take a look at our Free bets list and work your way down, taking the free bet offers and trying out each bookie. But if you dont want to go through all that, then see what others are saying about the bookies and where they highlight the key things that you are looking for from your online bookmaker. 

  • Reasons why a bookmaker may achieve a high rating at OLBG

    We have reviewed all the bookmaker reviews submitted to OLBG to try to understand why our members may rate a bookmaker highly. These are some of the key reasons. 

    Great odds

    Easy to use site/app/mobile site

    Good bonuses and offers - not just the sign up offer but regular loyalty offers and bonuses

    Good live streaming of horse racing, football and other hard to find or not covered on TV sports. 

    Great coverage of events and markets. Users dont want to have to change bookie to find the event or market they want to bet on. 

    Excellent customer service

    Good provision of in play markets and betting opportunities 

    Pricing markets up early. The evening before for horse racing. 

    Dont restrict winning accounts 

  • Reasons why online bookmakers are rated poorly by OLBG

    These are some of the key reasons given by OLBG members for giving low bookmaker review ratings.

    Confusing opening account offers or big requirements to turnover many times initial deposit and bonus before withdrawal

    Hard to use, navigate site making it hard to find the event users want to bet on 

    No or poor ongoing offers and bonuses for existing users

    Poor odds

    Poor coverage - no odds on events/markets that a user wants to bet on 

    Poor customer service - slow, unhelpful, no chat facility. 

    Limit bets. Especially when they limit very soon after opening an account. 

    Charges - on deposits for example.