Online Bookmakers

Online Betting Sites – The best online bookmakers and sportsbooks

The United Kingdom has probably the strictest online gambling regulator in the world. In theory this should mean that UK betting sites are the safest of all to play at. Hopefully one day soon the UKGC will get everything right and it will be true that UK betting sites are the best. In the meantime there are some good and some bad online bookmakers.

Online gambling laws in the UK
The UK has some very flexible gambling laws. Flexible doesn’t mean flimsy, though. The market is heavily regulated by the UK Gambling Commission. Flexible does mean that nothing is off-limits for UK players, though. All online casinos can be accessed (there is no direct blacklisted of any casinos, even offshore ones) and all forms of gambling are tolerated in the internet betting world.

The United Kingdom gambling laws require a person to be aged 18 or over before they gamble online at casino sites, and the current laws come from the Gambling Act of 2005. It states that gambling online is legal in the UK and that online casinos which hold a license issued by the UK Gambling Commission are legally able to offer casino games to players based in the United Kingdom. Of course, at this moment in time (although probably not after Brexit) any casino holding a license issued by a European Union member state can also offer their services to players in the UK. As you can imagine, this creates a seemingly unlimited pool of betting sites for you to play at.

The UK Gambling Commission has considerable power in the UK betting sites, online casino and gambling industry. They regularly check and regulate online casinos under their jurisdiction, ensuring that they all adhere to strict rules in terms of what they can and cannot do.

UK betting sites operators must offer opt-out services and cooling down periods for gamblers, as well as make sure that they are carrying a UKGC license. They must obey the laws of the Licensing and Advertising Act (which were recently amended) and they must make sure that their websites adhere to the technical standards as set forth by the Gambling Commission, which includes hosting fair play games and being crystal clear when it comes to wagering requirements and terms and conditions.

All of this makes the UK arguably the safest country to play online casinos in.

Banking options for UK betting sites players
Almost all major deposit options are open to players based in the United Kingdom. All major e-wallets which include Neteller, PayPal and Skrill are there for players to use. Prepaid vouchers such as Paysafecard can also be used to deposit funds into your UK casino account, whilst bank transfers, wire transfers and the ability to top-up your balance via your mobile phone are also permitted. As of the 14th April 2020 credit cards (such as VISA and MasterCard) are banned for use at UK online casinos and online bookmakers as well as for funding e-wallets used for gambling.

By and large, UK betting sites do not charge fees for depositing or withdrawing funds. Deposits are usually completed instantly, and withdrawals seldom take longer than 1-2 days in total. Some bank transfer and wire transfer options could take between 5 days and 2 weeks, though, depending on the method chosen.

UK betting sites safety and security
As a general rule of thumb, as long as an online casino is carrying a license issued by the UK Gambling Commission then they are effectively a safe and secure place to play your favourite online casino games, and everything is totally legal and above board. By choosing to play at a casino which is licensed by the UKGC, you do not need to worry about a thing. If you wish to play at a UK casino site which does not hold a UKGC license, you may need to a little bit of homework before you sign up just in case there are issues with said casinos. That being said, Maltese and Gibraltar licensed casinos are usually top of the line for UK players, too.