Ken Howells User Reviews and Ratings

Full Ken Howells Bookmaker Review

There is a huge range of sports to bet on at Ken Howells, including minor sports like bandy, but the racing is the key feature loved by both users and the OLBG team, alongside its variety. 

It features a really good welcome offer, Sub On Play On, instant deposits and customer support via live chat and email.

Verification is under UK Gambling Commission licence number 422 (Targetlocal Ltd).

Luke Bradshaw Lee

- Your Sports Betting Guide 👍

I review what bettors really value – that means value, transparency and reliability. In this Ken Howells review, I’ll focus on their racing betting, welcome bonus, secure banking options, trusted UKGC regulation, and what to watch out regarding deposits and withdrawals.

• Established in 1963

• Targetlocal Limited

• UKGC licence number - 422

• Payment Options include: Debit cards, Apple Pay, Revolut

• Withdrawal Time: 1-2 working days

• Customer Fund Segregation Rating: Medium

• Mobile Compatible: ✅

• Customer Support: 10am - 8pm

Advantages and Disadvantages

All explained in greater detail in this review, these pros and cons allow users to scan and understand where Ken Howells's strengths lie quickly.

My First Impressions

There is a nostalgic element to the Ken Howells site and app. It feels very old school horse racing, and is a clear nod to their bricks and mortar betting shop and an obvious display of their heritage. That aside, this all feels very easy to access, straightforward to move around and in order, with everything exactly as it should be. There is very little in the shape of bells and whistles, meaning it’s all about the betting. Lots of bettors will love Ken Howells.

- Luke Bradshaw Lee, - Your Sports Betting Guide 👍

Live Betting

If you head to the “LIVE SPORTS” part of the sportsbook you’ll find all the in-play markets. There are absolutely loads of options here, with all the big hitters, with the likes of esports and volleyball among football and tennis et al. The odds are decent and there are also plenty on in-play statistics to support.

You can check if they make it into our best bookmakers for in-play betting here.

Live Streaming

Ken Howells doesn’t offer any live streaming at the time of review.

Betting Odds

Ken Howells’s odds are really good. You can still get better value elsewhere if you properly lineshop, but they’re decent enough here. We checked a variety of sports, including racing, tennis, football, basketball and cricket. Regardless of sport, these are pretty nice. Ken Howells also offers odds on some very niche sports (bandy, for example), so by the very nature of being one of the few places to offer odds on this at all, offers value by definition.

Compare to the best betting apps in the country.

⚽ Football Betting

Ken Howells doesn’t quite make our best football betting sites in the UK, but it’s still a very decent option and one of the bookies’ strong points. There’s loads of competitions included, evidence that it covers the sport in terms of event coverage as well as most other bookies. Beyond that, you can’t argue with the market depth per event, which is also very impressive. The stats for in-play betting and pre-match stats are also well presented and easy to follow.

Bet Builder 

This is really good. Head to any football match and it’ll be one of your first options, where you can add multiple bets from an event into a multiple, or opt for some of the pre-made combos, which essentially does the same thing as a bet builder. There are loads and loads of markets available, scroll down and you can choose between most of the markets that you’d expect. 

Bonuses

Now there aren’t lots of promotions here to be fair, especially for football, but there is one that is worth highlighting that they do alongside some of the big hitters in the industry, and that’s a substitution guarantee. Ken Howells calls it Sub On Carry On.

Cash Out

Cash out is a very important betting feature for punters these days so it's crucial that bookies integrate this feature into their mobile betting apps. Ken Howells have done this well, allowing their customers to instantly cash out their bets on any device they like.

🏇 Horse Racing

This is probably the strongest aspect of Ken Howells’ product, and that comes as no surprise given its experience in betting. All UK and Irish meets are covered, with Best Odds Guaranteed offered from 10am. Punters can also bet on international meets, including the US, Australia, Brazil, South Africa and others. Flicking the race order between odds and racecard is also a nice little touch. In terms of promotions, Ken Howells offers Double Result, paying First Past The Post and Official Result

You can see how they compare to our top 10 best horse racing betting sites.

🇺🇸 US Sports Betting

A full range of American Sports is available, including all the major leagues, plus college games and the same sports across the globe.

🏈 American Football Betting

In terms of design, it’s exactly what you want, with moneyline, total and spread markets all listed on the main page, before all other markets once you click on a specific game. That said, they’re not named properly, so instead of those, they’re called Home Away, Over/Under and Asian Handicap. There are some outrights listed, but there are some things missing here. There’s very little when it comes to player props, and in terms of outrights, nothing in the way of player markets again, so no MVP odds, Defensive Player of the Year, Comeback Player of the Year and so on. It’s worth checking out our best NFL betting sites to see how Ken Howells compares. 

🏀 Basketball Betting

Ken Howells has loads of basketball leagues to bet on, with hundreds of competitions. What’s nice to see are some pre-made, featured Bet Builders. There are also plenty of markets per game, with game, team and player markets covered impressively. Take the WNBA, for example, with a fantastic range of markets – match, halves/quarters, points, player probs on points, rebounds, assists etc. – right across the board. It’s quite impressive. You can also compare Ken Howells to the best basketball betting sites.

⚾ Baseball Betting

Ken Howells obviously covers the MLB, with an extra smattering of some international leagues. The odds, especially on the outrights, look pretty good, but there is a limit on the amount of markets per match. Keep tabs on the top baseball betting sites though, to see why they make it onto our list.

🏒 Ice Hockey Betting

The NHL takes up the majority of space here, which I’d obviously expect. But there are also some Australian, Finnish and German fixtures included, among others. I selected an upcoming NHL game and there are loads of markets listed – more than pretty much anywhere else. For the smaller leagues that reduces a bit more, which is understandable. It’s quite nice to see some odds on the NHL Draft, also, that’s definitely something that you won’t get everywhere.

🐕 Greyhound Betting

This is pretty good, although we’ve already mentioned that Ken Howells doesn’t have Best Odds Guaranteed or live streaming, so it may attract punters for greyhounds specifically given how many other bookies do. Beyond that there markets for all races today in the UK and Ireland, with Winner, Trap Winner and Forecast options available. 

Check out our best greyhound betting sites.

🎯 Darts Betting

Matthew Edgar

- Your Darts Betting Guide 👍

Ken Howells does some good things. The outrights on future events are great, and once you click through to the match ups you’ll find an absolute load of different markets per match. Most major competitions are covered – there’s outright markets on the World Championships, despite it being way off – and each match has markets for result, legs, checkouts and handicaps, among others.

Compare to the best darts betting sites in the UK. 

Snooker Betting

Steve Madgwick

Editor-In-Chief

Ken Howells covers all the major competitions that you’d expect. At the time of review the Welsh Open is currently on, and the market depth for competition is impressive enough. Each match has markets on the result, frames, points, century breaks and more. The odds are nice and I can see snooker fans betting here.

Compare to the best snooker betting sites in the UK.

🏉 Rugby Betting (Union & League)

By Luke Bradshaw Lee - Union and League are split into different categories which, I think, makes sense. For both, there is pretty much every competition that you’d want to be included here, with the big domestic competitions, as well as any Test matches going on, and that goes for both codes. The one omission to that is the Japanese domestic league (in Union), but that’s being very nit-picky, because overall the coverage of competitions is decent. One drawback is the lack of player markets per match. See how they compare to our best rugby betting sites.

🏏 Cricket Betting

James Banting

Expert Guide

There are absolutely loads of competitions, events and matches listed here - it’s an impressive selection. That means domestic competitions in South Africa, the UK, India, Zimbabwe and more. For international matches, and that means Twenty20 games as well as Test matches, there are loads of markets per game. Expect the likes of wicket betting, over betting, four and sixes betting, as well as plenty of player markets. The only things that let it down are the lack of live streaming and the lack of stats.

We list the 10 best cricket betting sites here.

🎾 Tennis Betting

By James Banting - I feel like their tennis betting is similar to their cricket betting in that there is a huge range of events covered, which is fantastic, and there are plenty of markets per match, with decent odds, but it ends there. Other bookies will give you sport-specific promos (retirement guarantee, for example), or odds boosts or live streaming, but this feels very all business, no frills. Which isn’t a bad thing.

See if they make it into the top 10 tennis betting sites on OLBG.

🏌️ Golf Betting

By James Banting - Ken Howells’s golf offering is about par for the course I reckon. There are futures markets on all the majors (including the Ryder Cup and Solheim Cup), and there is a selection, around six or seven, of upcoming tournaments of varying importance. Yes, you’ll find a bit more at some other bookies – and it’s worth checking our best golf betting sites to see how Ken Howells compares – but generally this is fine.

🏎️ Motorsports Betting

Andy Powell

Expert Guide

This isn’t bad at all. For most motorsports you navigate from the Motor Racing tab, but Formula 1 and Speedway have their own dedicated sections. In the general one you’ll find MotoGP, NASCAR, IndyCar and Formula 2, which is a very generous selection. I’d like some more F1 markets, they feel a little thin for the upcoming Grand Prix, but overall this is pretty good.

This isn’t bad at all. For most motorsports you navigate from the Motor Racing tab, but Formula 1 and Speedway have their own dedicated sections. In the general one you’ll find MotoGP, NASCAR, IndyCar and Formula 2, which is a very generous selection. I’d like some more F1 markets, they feel a little thin for the upcoming Grand Prix, but overall this is pretty good.

Compare to the best motorsport betting sites.

🥊 Boxing Betting

There’s a decent enough amount of boxing to get stuck into here, and the markets look dependent on how far away the actual fight is. Those this weekend and over the next few weeks have an okay offering, whereas the further away they get the less markets on offer. That’s understandable, and I wouldn’t expect to find round by round and the like for fights that are months away, but I would definitely like more options for big bouts this weekend, and that’s definitely limited based on my experience with Ken Howells.

Compare to the best boxing betting sites.

Other Sports Betting

Whilst these sports might sound very niche, there is still a large enough market for fans, and millions of them in the UK, so good coverage of niche sports and events is key to be reviewed on OLBG; let’s dig in a bit further.

Ken Howells offers extensive betting options for volleyball, AFL betting, Gaelic sports and table tennis. Volleyball covers European Championships and various tournaments; AFL betting has comprehensive stats and GAA has football and hurling across county and club games.

🗳️ Political Betting

Ken Howells has its political betting under its own tab in the navigation. The political betting is okay, but a bit limited in parts. This is essentially split into UK and US politics,although there is some French stuff as well, with a decent amount on the General Election, next party leaders and majority. It’s a similar offering for the US, so it covers the bases without going into too much detail.

Compare to the best political betting sites.

🎭 Entertainment and Specials Betting

Jake Ashton

- Your Betting Odds Guide 👍

Be aware that the markets here are under Specials. There are a couple of markets on awards ceremonies like BBC Sports Personality of the Year, while the TV and Movie betting focuses on events like X Factor in Italy and Denmark. There’s nothing in the way of the Oscars or BAFTAs but it’s not awards season and I can see them adding to this depending on seasonality. It’s reassuringly not very UK-centric – although there some British markets – which is good to see.

Compare to the best entertainment betting sites.

Casino

Ken Howells does have casino. It’s incredibly easy to find their casino offering from their sportsbook, with banners across the top. They also have some bonuses and offers that lead to casino spins should you win sportsbook bets. Check our Casino Sites page for dedicated new online casinos and slot sites.

Account Opening Process

A reassuringly easy process. At the top-right of the screen Ken Howells has their “JOIN” button. Bettors just need to select this and follow the simple steps as guided through. You’ll be asked for the usual information – name, date of birth, address etc – and once complete be sent a verification email. Clicking this from your inbox will redirect you to the site, and then you’re free to get betting.

Navigation and user experience [desktop v mobile]

The Ken Howells app is very good. The desktop version of the site is better than most, but the app does exactly what you want and that is not to feel too far removed when you switch from one device to the next, but also being product-led, and designed to suit its purpose, rather than just be a mobile version. The app feels really clean, and is super simple to navigate. 

Placing a bet

This section should only really highlight if there are issues, as the process is almost identical on every site. Within a few minutes of signing up to Ken Howells I placed a couple of bets on different sports, one of which took advantage of the welcome offer, and I used their bet builder feature, which was very good indeed. 

Managing your account

As mentioned above, the design really helps this along. On the desktop version, it’s stuff to the  left of the screen. On the mobile version, it’s all at the bottom, with just the login at the top. I haven’t experienced any issues logging in, or finding customer service options, either. Overall, it feels like Ken Howells has got this part nailed.

Ken Howells Responsible Gambling Features

As with all online betting companies, responsible gambling should be and will be an essential element of the service provided.

Expect KYC procedures and document supply as a matter-of-course, to confirm your account after you have deposited a certain level of funds and in the event of any large wins.

You can set limits for yourself across depositing options and daily staking options too, so you can set your levels and keep control of your gambling.

Expect Ken Howells to contact you via your preferred communication method if there are suspicious activities on your account. This protects your account from being accessed by someone other than you and ensures you control your gambling activity. Ken Howells have a legal obligation to question your activity if they believe it to be suspicious.

Bookie Review Expert Contributing Team

Opinion, research and data collection for this Ken Howells review by

• Darren Brett (Greyhounds expert) 

• James Banting (Horse Racing, Golf and Tennis)

• Matt Edgar (Darts)

• Andrew Powell (Horse Racing, Ice Hockey and Motor Sports)

• Jake Ashton (Entertainment and Specials)

🛂 Fact Checked - Sam Darkens - Commercial Manager

✍️ Written by - Luke Bradshaw Lee - Commercial Content Manager

✏️📚 - Steve Madgwick - Editor-In-Chief