Experienced sports journalist and editor covering multiple aspects within the sports and betting industry. A football, NFL and rugby specialist, he is a judge at the Football Content Awards.
Latest The Pools Free Bet Offer - Full Details
This page focuses on what our expert team and users have found when using the Football Pools betting site and app; for more information on the welcome offer, check out the Football Pools Sign Up Offer. We recommend that when signing up for any betting site you don’t base your decision purely on that site’s current free bets or welcome offers, so read on for a full Football Pools user review.
It's definitely the right bookie for markets that gives you the best results
OLBG user Donald0
Fantastic concept
OLBG user MABetting
Great offers and competitive pricing. Plenty choices for types of bets
OLBG user walesy61
Banking Options
The Pools covers a few payment options. Punters can use VISA, Mastercard and Maestro to deposit funds, with a £10 minimum.
Method | Min | Max | Processing Time | Fee |
---|---|---|---|---|
£10 | £0 | Instant | ||
£10 | £0 | Instant | ||
£10 | £0 | Instant | ||
£10 | £0 | Instant |
Method | Min | Max | Processing Time | Fee |
---|---|---|---|---|
£10 | £0 | 1-3 business days | ||
£10 | £0 | 1-3 business days | ||
£10 | £0 | 1-3 business days | ||
£10 | £0 | 1-3 business days |
The Pools Key Features
- Best Odds Guaranteed
- Live Stream
- Asian handicap
- Bet Builder
- Acca Insurance
- Early pay out
- Welcome / sign-up offer
- Odds Boosts
- In-play
- Cash Out
- Partial Cash Out
- Free Bet Club (or similar)
- Exchange betting
- Spread betting
- In-game statisitcs
- Pre-match form/statisitcs
- Request a bet (or similar)
- Virtual sports
Full The Pools Bookmaker Review
The Pools Review Contributors
Data Collection and Research By - OLBG's Expert team See details at the bottom of the page
Advantages and Disadvantages
All explained in greater detail in this review, these pros and cons allow users to scan and understand where the strengths lie quickly.
Pros
Free bets on every UK horse race
Weekly free bet promotions
Footie5 £25k free to play game
Cons
Not a lot of live streaming options
Who Is The Pools?
The Pools is the original sports betting company, with over a century of paying out billions of pounds to football-loving punters. The Football Pools isn’t nearly as popular as it used to be, and The Pools has added a sportsbook and casino to its service, but the iconic name lives on.
Established in 1923
Football Pools Ltd
UKGC licence number - 48272
First Impression of The Pools
By Luke Bradshaw Lee - This review will reflect the service offered at the time of writing. I signed up on the desktop version of The Pools, but also used the mobile version to compare, but there is no app to download.
Given the historical nature of The Pools, you’d be forgiven for thinking that the site would be archaic or clunky. A better way of looking at it is that this is a business with more than a century of experience, and so must be doing something right.
Unlike other sportsbooks, the non-Pools part of the product isn’t front and centre, and is found from the “Sports” option in the main menu at the top.
Win Up to £3million Weekly on the Pools
Score the maximum 24 points from your best 8 selections to win the jackpot on the football pools. Easy entry and costs from only £1
The Pools Live Betting
The live betting at The Pools is nice. Head to their “Live Now” section and you’ll see all their in-play markets. At the time of review there is some football, tennis, esports, cricket, table tennis and a few others – it’s a broad selection overall.
The in-play graphics are very good indeed. For a football game there is plenty of stats, live ball tracking, squads, standings and more. And if you don’t want any of it, you can collapse it all and just see the markets. It’s a similar story for tennis and snooker, with all of it supplied by StatsScore.
Overall, The Pools doesn’t quite make our list of best bookmakers for in-play betting, but they are not far off, and it’s still an excellent part of the The Pools product.
The Pools Live Streaming
As it stands The Pools doesn’t offer any live streaming of events.
The Pools Betting Odds
After looking through some comparison sites – OddsChecker and a few others – as well as a deeper dive across alternative bookmakers, I can see that the odds offered at The Pools are okay. They are neither market-leading, nor something to be concerned about, just what you’d expect and be happy with. We checked football, tennis and table tennis for in-play odds, plus horse racing and a few other sports for pre-match stuff. Their horse racing odds look the pick of the bunch, with good value across a good number of the day’s meets.
The Pools Betting App or Mobile Site
There is no app, and the mobile version of the site works much in the same way as the desktop version. The major difference is that the sidebar, that runs down the left-hand side on the desktop, is split between a collapsable menu from the top, and an added section below the carousel above the fold. It’s not the cleanest way of doing things, and does take a little getting used to – trying to find the A-Z sports took me longer than expected, for example – but once you’ve done it once, it all starts making sense.
The Pools Football Betting
First off, you can still play the classic version of the Pools, that being picking football fixtures to end in a score draw. It’s a very difficult game to win, similar to the lottery (not as long-range odds as that), but is a very specific type of bet. Essentially, you’re picking a 10+ match result acca, with all bets being on score draws.
Win up to £1million with a BTTS Acca
With near-miss prizes and a jackpot for picking the first games to see both sides score take your BTTS betting to the next level
On top of that, The Pools has added additional games, but in the same style. Their Goal Rush is a simpler, eight-leg version where you need to pick just BTTS markets, and Premier Six involves picking the result in six selected matches. There is also Preimer 10 and Premier 12.
You can of course, just bet on football like any other sportsbook – it’s completely up to you.
Bet Builder
There’s an absolute load of markets within their bet builder feature – called “Create a bet” on The Pools. There’s a decent enough selection of markets within this, although I like to see a few more (there are no player fouls committed, or player tackles), but to be honest, these might be added closer to the time.
Bonuses
As well as the welcome offers, plus some casino offers, too, there are a couple of football promotions to consider. Most of these involve money back or free bets back based on your bets eg a £10 free acca if you place two or more accas during the week.
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. The Pools have done this well, allowing their customers to instantly cash out their bets on any device they like.
The Pools Horse Racing
The horse racing section at The Pools is very good. There’s the usual selection of Winner, Each Way, Forecast and Tricast, all at impressive odds. There are extra places on selected races too.
The Pools US Sports Betting
A full range of American Sports is available. Of the major leagues in the US, there’s no MLB season currently, but it’s good to see some futures and outrights, regardless.
American Football Betting
I don’t like the fact that it’s just the moneyline (match result) odds shown on the main page. Ideally, I’d like the three main game lines listed from the off (moneyline, spread and total). You get these once you click into the event, but it’s a miss. And if you are just going to have one first off, it should really be the spread. I’d also like to see more markets within the game – I can’t see any player props, for example, but it’s worth checking out our best NFL betting sites to see how The Pools compares overall.
Basketball Betting
The Pools has a really good selection of basketball leagues and competitions to bet on. There’s obviously the NBA, but The Pools covers a wide range of EuroLeague and domestic world competitions, also. I expected Italy, Greece and Spain, but it’s also good to see leagues in Uruguay, Israel and The Philippines and others. I can’t see much in the way of outrights, or player markets, so perhaps the depth isn’t as good as the width, but I still like it nonetheless. You also get StatsScore graphics for in-play events. Keep tabs on the top basketball betting sites though, to see if they make it onto our list.
Baseball Betting
The Pools’s baseball section is fine, but it’s a bit difficult to tell right now given the lack of games. The markets that they do have for games are decent aside from that, and the odds on MLB outrights look as good value as anywhere else.
Ice Hockey Betting
The NHL takes up the bulk of space here, as expected. But there are also some Danish, German, and Kazak fixtures included. I selected an upcoming NHL game and there 12 markets listed, which is okay. For the smaller leagues that reduces a bit more, which is understandable. Overall, I think this is a fairly standard offering.
The Pools Greyhound Betting
You can live stream greyhound racing on The Pools (alongside horse racing). They have a full offering of UK and Irish races, and of the four different meets I saw, three of them featured live streaming (all clearly visible with a green play icon on each). You can sort through quick picks, build a racecard or go through their ante post markets.
The Pools Darts Betting
By Matt Edgar, professional darts player – In terms of darts betting sites in the UK, The Pools is a very decent option. There are markets for the Bahrain Darts Masters, European Tour, and Modus Series, and the upcoming Premier League, with an okay selection of markets within. When betting on darts I often shop around for different lines, as the odds here are as competitive as anywhere else I would normally use, which is great to see.
The Pools Snooker Betting
By Steve Madgwick - As with the best snooker betting sites, there are markets for a few different tournaments, including the World Championships, the Masters and World Grand Prix. If I’m being honest there aren’t a huge amount of markets within each contest, most have four or five of the main ones – result, handicap, correct score and total frame markets – but I’d like to see some more, things like race to (frames) or any more novelty bets like odd/even total frames etc. That said, the odds here are really good.
The Pools Rugby Betting (Union & League)
By Luke Bradshaw Lee - This is pretty solid from The Pools. Obviously there are Six Nations outrights, alongside the Gallagher Premiership, Champions Cup, URC and Top 14. But there’s also the French D2, which you don’t see everywhere, and even some Japanese club rugby, which is very difficult to find. There aren't loads of markets within, but I am very impressed with the event coverage.See how they compare to our best Rugby betting sites here.
The Pools Cricket Betting
By James Banting - This is pretty good, all things considered. Ideally I’d like to see some more markets within the events covered, but there’s a decent amount competitions. The odds are really good, and this is probably somewhere I’ll look to when searching for value in my cricket betting, but that’s only if the markets are listed, because there are definitely some missing here that I could find elsewhere.
The Pools Tennis Betting
By James Banting - Overall, I think the tennis betting at The Pools is nice, and I particularly like their in-play offering. The odds are really good and I love the stats provided. If they could add in more markets, and some tennis-specific promotions, they’d definitely be closer to getting into the top 10 tennis betting sites on OLBG.
The Pools Golf Betting
By James Banting - In terms of upcoming tournaments, this does look about as good as you would want, with lesser competitions – such as the Sentry Tournament of Champions – listed among odds for the majors, Ryder and Solheim Cups. On top of that, you can select specific holes, see their layout, and how the current players on that hole are going round. Generally, it’s all pretty excellent, and I’ll be coming back.
The Pools Motorsports Betting
By Andy Powell - Motor Sports bettors should be happy with the mixture of events at The Pools. Understandably, the F1 grand prix takes up a bulk of the real estate, although it’s worth knowing that it doesn’t have its own tab and is housed within the “Motor Sport” section. You’ll you’ll also find Formula E, MotoGP, NASCAR, Daytona and Speedway. F1 is definitely the deepest here, which should come as no surprise, with plenty of markets and driver specials for the next Grand Prix of the season.
The Top Motorsport Betting Sites 2024
The Pools Boxing Betting
By Frank Monkhouse former professional boxer - There’s a really good amount of boxing bouts to get stuck into here, and the markets look dependent on timings. Those this weekend and over the next few weeks have a pretty good selection, but 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. Overall, I think this is all fairly standard, and I’d revisit closer to the time of a bout that I want to bet on.
The Pools 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.
Handball Betting
Betting on handball at The Pools looks great. What is nice to see, and not something everyone does, is pretty much as many women’s tournaments as men’s, with the Women's World Championships, European League, Women’s Bundesliga, and more. That’s on top of me’s leagues in Spain, Romania, Poland and more. Handball is increasingly popular and The Pools looks to be struggling in terms of providing a platform for punters to bet on various handball events and tournaments worldwide.
Cycling Betting
The Pools offers betting on cycling for sports bettors who like to dabble in cycling betting, and comparing it with others out there it’s what we’d expect. There isn’t a load of markets, but that’s true of anywhere to be honest. What you can get is odds on next year’s Tour de France winner.
Aussie Rules Football Betting
As far as The Pools is concerned, their event coverage is pretty standard – they have most parts covered. Their markets and odds are good, but not as great as others, but overall they are still a solid option.
Political Betting
By Nigel Skinner - This is pretty solid, but nothing incredible. There is decent enough event coverage for UK and US politics, including General Elections, next party leaders and next Prime Minister, with similar markets for the US. But it stops there. There are no by-election or local betting markets, or nothing from anywhere else in the world.
Top 10 Political Betting Websites in the UK
Entertainment and Specials Betting
By Jake Ashton - This is pretty poor. There’s a market for Dancing on Ice, but that’s it. No other TV shows, no sports awards shows, no usual quirky type stuff (the next James Bond, for example) and, most surprisingly, none of the big film/TV awards odds such as the Oscars, Baftas or Emmys.
Esports Betting
There is decent betting for esports, with markets available on games such as DOTA 2, Counter-Strike, League of Legends and FIFA as well as many others. Esports betting is of course not as traditional as normal betting markets but it's popularity is increasing as gaming grows in size year-by-year. All of the major matches and tournaments that are played in the games mentioned above and you can find out if The Pools makes our best esports betting sites.
Virtual Sports
One of the few places, maybe the only palace, that I’ve seen a virtual sports promotion. For every £5 you stake on Virtuals, you’ll get a free £1 bet to use on any sport, available once every day. The Pools has an excellent virtual sports section. Housed in the site’s main menu, alongside Sports, In Play and Casino, you can get straight to their virtual sports offering. There is football, racing, greyhounds, basketball, ice hockey, speedway, tennis, trotting and cycling. In short, there’s an absolute ton of virtual sports located here, with staggered timings so there’s always something going on.
Casino
The Pools does have casino. Despite the name of the brand, 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.
The Pools Account Opening Process
A very easy process. At the top-right of the screen The Pools 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]
Overall I think I prefer the desktop version of the site than the mobile. It just feels like the content included has a bit more space to breathe. On top of that, The Pools goes very heavy on in-play stats and graphics and I think these are also a bit better on desktop, because you can still see markets moving at the same time. There some getting used to moving between The Pools and The Football Pools as the latter is the older, classic version of their game, with the former their actual sportsbook.
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 The Pools 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 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. I haven’t experienced any issues logging in, or finding customer service options, either. Overall, it feels like The Pools has got this part nailed.
The Pools 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 Unibet 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. Unibet have a legal obligation to question your activity if they believe it to be suspicious.
As part of Unibet's commitment to safer gambling, they aim to make zero revenue from harmful gambling by the end of 2023.
Bookie’ Review Expert Contributing Team
Opinion, research and data collection for this The Pools review by
Darren Brett (Greyhounds expert)
James Banting (Horse Racing, Golf and Tennis)
Nigel Skinner (Football and Politics),
Matt Edgar (Darts)
Frank Monkhouse (Boxing)
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
Edited and Published - Steve Madgwick - Editor-In-Chief
The Pools Review Summary
I was ready to laugh off The Pools a bit. It’s one of those things that I remember vaguely when I was younger, and would hear about, but by that time sports betting was becoming more popular, moving online and fantasy football seemed far more prescient. It all felt a bit old-fashioned.
Joining, logging on, and getting a taste of The Pools, I expected to feel the same, but the more I explored the product, the more different sports I looked at, the more impressed I got with what was on offer.
The downside is the lack of market depth, and only live streaming for horse racing and greyhounds, but the odds are great across the board, and most sports are covered in some way or another. The real strengths on top of that are, their free bets, free to play games, and in-play betting. I loved their in-play service and for punters who love the live action, The Pools is a must.
The Pools Info & Bookmakers Reviews
Check What Others Say About The Pools and Write Your Own Review
- Ratings: 34
- Reviews: 22
“The Pools have years of experience”
The pools in the original form has been around for years , they are well established. You can still play that same game and The Pools now have some new additions , you can play other similar types games and they also have other things to play on their site , Slots and Casino type games. Easy to use website.
“New and exciting”
New and exciting is what I think can best describe this bookmarker as they are getting the marketing right and lots of good options and incentives
“Good site would recommend”
I have signed up to this site and use frequently had no problems and rate it has a good site to use good offers and easy site to use
“Bring back the pools”
If you are looking for an all singing and dancing sports betting site you will be disappointed. Thepools has all the usual online games, live casino tennis, greyhounds, horses and football. Where it stands out is both in its football bets and in the actual football pools with up to £ 3 million pounds offer. This focus makes it unique amongst the betting sites.
“A little bit different.”
Recently revamped website which is clear and straightforward. As well as usual fixed odds sports betting there is also a traditional Pools section with various slightly different Pools themed coupons. Promotions and occasional free credits are good. Overall worth a look.
“GOOD BETTING”
I HAVE USED THEPOOLS WEBSITE I HAVE SEVERALS TIMES AND I HAVE FOUND IT A GREAT WEBSITE TO BET WITH AND VERY HELPFUL IF I HAVE ANY QUERIES AND I WILL RECOMMEND IT TO FAMILY AND FRIENDS
“Pools Review”
The best part of the site is the free to enter daily question and weekly pick 5 competition. The bad points are the markets, seldom are the prices the best on offer. If you are lucky they are equal best. Settlement is fairly quick and withdrawals and deposits are straightforward.
“”
“”
“Frustrating”
A friend recommended the Pools to me. I tried it and initially enjoyed it, especially the racing markets. However, once I tired to make a withdrawal the usual issues with verification occurred and this dragged on for some time. Had I been a casino player, I'm sure this would to have happened
“They won't let me login and won't return my balance”
I put £10 in an account and then all of a sudden my login wouldn't work. I've tried and tried, contacted them and they won't help. So I hope that they enjoy my £10 because I certainly won't be
“”