Pros and cons for the best betting sites UK players frequently use most

Sports betting is an incredibly popular activity in the United Kingdom. Football is the top betting sport, closely followed by rugby, cricket, tennis and darts. Most other sports have a core base of dedicated bettors. Big sporting events, like the upcoming Paris Summer Olympic Games, attract even more people who enjoy the novelty or who want to show their patriotism through their bets.

Choosing a betting site can be a tricky process. In pre-internet days, you simply had to walk down your local high street and choose the betting shop that looked the most appealing and had the best odds. While betting shops are still a feature of our towns and cities, an increasing percentage of punters are choosing to place their bets online.

Now that we can place bets online, a huge number of digital sportsbooks have joined the market. For the best betting sites UK residents can use, it’s easy to find review sites that lay out the best features of each sportsbook.

In this article, we’ll go over the pros and cons for the best betting sites UK players use the most. Before that, though, we’ll explain all of the factors that we considered and why they matter when choosing a betting site.

Factors we considered

The first things to consider are the least exciting but most important — licensing and security. Sports betting sites need to be licensed by the UK Gaming Commission to operate in the UK. Having encryption software to protect customer data is also essential, especially with cybercrime on the rise. Any site on our list will have the appropriate licenses and SSL encryption, this is the bare minimum.

The most important factors for most bettors are how many sports are covered and what kind of bets are available. The best sportsbooks have not only a ton of different sports, they also cover major, minor, international – and in some cases – even amateur or college leagues. Bettors also often pick sportsbooks based on the welcome bonuses and special promotions that are offered.

It is also always reassuring to see that an online sportsbook is encouraging responsible gambling. The ease of placing bets online can make it easier to spend more than you plan to. We check whether sportsbooks have responsible gambling measures in place, like the option to set deposit limits, time limits and self-exclusion.

The last factors that we consider are more technical. There should be a good assortment of payment methods accepted for both deposits and withdrawals, and they should have efficient processing times. Finally, the best sports betting sites will have an effective and responsive customer support team that is easy to get in contact with.

With these factors in mind, here are some of the pros and cons of each of the leading betting sites in the United Kingdom:

talkSPORT BET

talkSPORT BET is one of the most recently launched online sportsbooks and it’s obviously been examining its competitors, because it doesn’t feel like a new brand at all. It doesn’t have any of the usual issues you’d expect to see. This is partly because its partnership with BetVictor means it was able to use that successful brand’s platform and build from there. It offers odds on 30 sports and a selection of bet types.

The biggest con we’ve found is that it accepts a very limited number of payment methods. It also doesn’t have a great selection of live streaming events, which is disappointing, considering how popular in-game betting has become recently.

Planet Sport Bet

Planet Sport Bet isn’t one of the biggest fish in the pond but it makes up for its smaller size by doing what it does very well. It focuses primarily on trending sports and major tournaments and events, like the Six Nations and the upcoming Paris 2024 Summer Olympic Games. Its website has a sleek and incredibly user-friendly interface that is great for its user base of mostly casual bettors.

Unfortunately, customer service is difficult to get in touch with. They don’t have a live chat feature. There is a customer support email but it is not as well monitored as it should be, and getting a response to questions can take longer than expected.

BoyleSports

If you love betting on the ponies, then BoyleSports should be your sportsbook of choice. It has odds on every big horse race in the UK and Ireland, and many international races as well. BoyleSports also understands how much race bettors love complex bets and has a selection to cater to this crowd. It  doesn’t ignore everyone else, either — BoyleSports has odds on an impressive 42 sports!

BoyleSports has been in business since the 1980s and while its online sportsbook obviously isn’t that old, the site does feel dated and simplistic. It doesn’t need all the bells and whistles of some of the newest brands, but it would be nice to see an updated, user-friendly site.

BetVictor

BetVictor is one of the most popular sportsbooks in the UK. It has earned that position by offering odds on a huge number of sports (34, to be exact), by having a variety of bet types and by having competitive pricing. Its customer support team is also responsive and are able to solve problems efficiently. They can be contacted by 24/7 live chat and by email.

Since talkSPORT BET uses the BetVictor platform, the biggest con with BetVictor is unsurprisingly a similar lack of payment options. With so many safe, secure and convenient digital payment methods, it’s frustrating seeing an online business that doesn’t offer many of them.

CopyBet

CopyBet stands out from the crowd by offering one of the most unique betting options we’ve ever seen. When placing a bet with CopyBet, bettors have the option to literally copy the bet of a popular tipster. This is a fun twist that makes sports betting feels a bit more like a community activity.

Providing this service does mean that CopyBet is limited in other areas. For example, its website is fairly basic and it hasn’t invested in offering its customers an online casino.