Our Methodology – How We Rate Bookmakers
We take a number of different factors into account when ranking betting sites in order to ensure that our readers are able to find the right bookmaker for their particular needs. The right bookmaker will ensure the integrity of your wagers and ensure prompt and effective service should something go wrong. However, safety and security is just one aspect of the best betting sites, and you won’t be able to tell which bookmaker is right for you unless you understand the methodology we use to rate them. In this guide, we will explain the various criteria we follow when rating bookmakers.
Licensing and Regulation
Checking for a valid licence from the UKGC – UK Gambling Commission – is our first step in ranking UK bookmakers, as it indicates that the site in question is held to strict and transparent regulatory standards. The UKGC thoroughly vet online bookmakers to ensure their operation is legitimate before certifying them and issuing them a license to operate.
From the moment a UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) licence is issued to a site, the UKGC takes on responsibilities that include levying fines should they uncover behaviour that they determine violates regulatory compliance, and we will never recommend a UK site that doesn’t hold such a licence.
Safety & Security
Online bookmakers are required by law to protect their customers’ personal and betting information. There are a variety of data protection measures they use to comply with this regulation, including:
Encryption
Every legitimate online gambling site uses encryption to protect sensitive data. Encryption entails converting sensitive data into complex code that can only be deciphered by entering a decryption key. Decryption keys can take many forms including usernames, passwords and personal details. These systems use what is known as SSL encryption or Transport Layer Security to protect data that is sent through computer networks or over the internet.
Payment Gateways
Reputable online bookmakers also use secure payment gateways to protect customer's sensitive financial information. These payment gateways utilise strong encryption systems that scramble all data related to a transaction making it unreadable to potential cybercriminals, as well as additional measures designed to prevent nefarious players from gaining control of customer financial data such as:
- Tokenization stores sensitive information like credit card numbers in the form of random symbols, or tokens. It is virtually impossible for hackers to decode these tokens even if they could access them.
- Two-factor authentication requires users to provide 2 forms of verification for their account. Examples include a password and a unique code sent to their smartphone or email account.
Security Audits
It is rarely safe to assume that your security system is always working as intended. For that reason, reputable bookmakers will conduct regular independent security audits to probe for weaknesses that a hacker may be able to exploit.
Device Fingerprinting
Every time you sign into your account with an online bookmaker the site collects data on the device you are using and compares it to the device you used during previous logins. If the system detects anything suspicious, like a never-before-used device, it may require the user to provide an additional piece of information (such as answering a security question) before completing the login.
Payment Methods
When evaluating bookmakers, we look at the variety of deposit and withdrawal options they provide. The best online bookmakers provide their customers with as many proven and easy-to-use payment methods as possible.
Typical payment methods include debit cards (credit cards cannot be used at UK betting sites), e-wallets such as PayPal, Skrill, Neteller and Venmo, mobile wallets like Apple Pay and Google Pay, prepaid cards and bank transfers. But offering a variety of payment methods alone is not enough, the site must also support fast withdrawals and instant deposits.
Deposits made via any of the payment methods referred to above – often with the exception of bank transfers – will be processed instantly at our top-rated betting sites, without any fees. Withdrawal speed is always slower than deposits, but e-wallet withdrawals at PayPal betting sites should always be processed within 24 hours. We always take these speeds into account when ranking UK betting sites.
When assessing bookmakers we also look at the minimum and maximum amounts you can deposit and withdraw. The minimum deposit should be reasonable; around £5 - £10. While the maximum withdrawal should be significant. For example, Bet365 allows a maximum £20,000 withdrawal for debit cards and £100,000 on bank transfers.
Odds
Sportsbooks use different algorithms to calculate odds. Because of this, it's important to compare odds to determine who has the most competitive odds across different markets (e.g., Premier League, horse racing).
It's equally important that you understand what you're reading when it comes to odds because they may be presented in one of 3 ways:
- Decimal odds represent the total payout including your original stake. So decimal odds of 2.5 means a successful wager of £1 will yield £2.50.
- Fractional odds represent the potential profit and do not account for your stake. So fractional odds of 3/1 mean that a successful £1 wager will produce a PROFIT of £3.
- American odds are presented as positive or negative numbers. A positive number indicates the potential profit for a £100 bet while a negative number indicates the amount you need to bet to win £100.
It is also important that the bookmaker provide market variety including outright bets, prop bets on specific parts of an event and Asian handicaps where teams are handicapped according to their strength. (Stronger teams need to score more goals than a weaker team to win.)
Sign Up Bonuses & Existing Customer Promotions
Online bookmakers need a way to entice punters to sign up to their site and the most common method they use is by offering sign up bonuses. The sign up bonus can take many forms and the value of welcome bonus offers varies, but in most cases you receive either free bets or the bookmaker matches the size of your initial deposit so that you have more to start betting with. Some sign up bonuses are fairly modest while others are pretty generous. It's in your interest to shop around and find the one that makes the most sense for you, and you can compare the best betting offers here at HorseRacing.net.
New customer offers aren’t the only bonuses up for grabs at UK betting sites, however. Loyalty programmes typically work by providing you with increasingly valuable rewards in the form of loyalty points the more you bet. Once you reach certain thresholds these loyalty points can be redeemed for cash or free bets. Transparent bonus terms and conditions are also important when redeeming sign up bonuses or free bets, so that you are not taken by surprise by restrictive T&Cs like bonus expiry or wagering requirements.
Betting Features
The number and variety of features offered by the online bookmaker today is many times what it was 10 or 15 years ago. The advent of wireless broadband and the speed of technological innovation means it is now possible for online bookmakers to offer live streaming availability of various sporting events on both desktop and mobile, as well as cash out options (early settlement of bets) and bet customization tools.
During the process of assessing online bookmakers, we take the variety and quality of their various betting features into account. These days, there is no excuse for not offering punters a variety of high-quality features – including mobile-specific features such as live betting and in-play options) - -that enhance their experience.
Available Betting Markets
A betting "market" is any opportunity the bookmaker creates for you to bet on an outcome. So "full time result" is a market, as is "correct score" and "over/under" in relation to a particular game or match. A good online bookmaker will provide action on a wide range of sports, and within each sport a wide range of matches or games, and within each match or game dozens of different betting opportunities, or markets. As a result, the best online betting sites will have hundreds of betting markets available at any one time, providing something for everyone.
That includes a live betting platform with live betting markets, a relatively new phenomenon in the world of online betting. Widely available wireless broadband has made it possible for betting sites to provide real-time sports coverage of events that you can access through their website, as well as real-time in-play betting that enables you to place a wager on a market while the event is being played out. This type of betting has added a new dimension of immediacy and excitement to online betting.
Website Usability & Design
An online bookmaker can have hundreds of available betting markets and highly competitive odds, but if their website design is a confusing mess or its betting functionalities are hit-or-miss it won't matter. As such, a quality gambling site will be compatible with all contemporary mobile devices, offer intuitive navigation and load quickly.
In addition, special features like Live In-Play betting will work effortlessly and no betting market will be more than a few taps or clicks away at any given time. The last thing a punter wants is for a live stream to freeze up or for a site to crash when they are in the middle of making a deposit or withdrawal. The bottom line is that there is no excuse for a poorly functioning website today.
Mobile App Functionality
Any online bookmaker worthy of that title will have a mobile app that can be freely downloaded and installed. The lack of a mobile app, while increasingly rare, is a deal-breaker for us when evaluating an online bookmaker.
The mobile app should have a user-friendly interface and offer all of the features and markets available on the PC and mobile versions of the website including Live Streaming and Live In-Play betting. It should also feature broad compatibility with iOS/Android devices.
One of the major advantages of the mobile app is that it loads instantly every time since the framework is hosted on your mobile device rather than on a server half a world away. Compare that to the mobile or PC versions of the site whose loading speed is dependent on the quality of your internet connection.
Responsible Gambling
All of the best online bookmakers listed on our site are licensed by the UK Gambling Commission. Because of that, they are required to adhere to the UKGC's guidelines when it comes to responsible gambling. They are expected to promote restraint among their customers and in some cases intervene and shut down a gambler if evidence indicates the customer’s gambling is out of control. They should also have partnerships with various responsible gambling organisations, such as GamCare and GambleAware.
In order to promote responsible gambling, bookmakers will provide customers with self-exclusion tools that enable them to adjust betting and deposit limit settings on their account and to establish a line which, if they cross, will result in their account being shut down for a given period of time.
One of the most common reasons online bookmakers get sanctioned by the UKGC is due to a failure to live up to their responsible gambling commitment by intervening in specific cases when gamblers were acting in a compulsive, destructive manner. In defence of the bookmakers, however, it is often incredibly difficult to determine if someone is truly out of control.
Customer Support
First and foremost, our main priority when reviewing customer support is the quality of the service. Support agents should be knowledgeable and responsive when responding to any issues you may have. This also extends to the number of different languages the customer support team speaks and how detailed and extensive their FAQ section is. In addition, if there is a problem with your account or with a bet you placed you want to be able to speak to someone in short order. That means short response times and good availability, with 24/7 support being preferred.
Chances are that at first, the customer care rep you interact with will be an AI. Fortunately, they are much more adept and capable today than they were just a few years ago. Still, if that fails to provide a satisfactory resolution of your problem you should have the option of speaking to a human. We consider all aspects of their support services when evaluating a bookmaker.
Our Blacklist Criteria
Unfortunately, not all online bookmakers are good bookmakers. And when we uncover one that we feel is not worthy of your business we add it to our blacklist. Some of the most common reasons for blacklisting online sportsbooks include:
- Failing to pay out winnings, or imposing unreasonable delays when paying out winnings.
- Unresponsive customer service.
- Not having a UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) license.
- Terrible odds.
- A small number of available betting markets.
- Lack of modern features like live streaming.
- Slow-loading site that is not compatible with all mobile devices.
- An unreasonably low cap on winnings.
Why Should You Trust Us?
The team at HorseRacing.net is full of betting experts with years of experience in the gambling and sports industries, each committed to providing honest tips, reviews and guides about the best betting options in the UK in order to connect our readers with the right site for your own personal needs and preferences. For more information on who we are and what we do, visit our ‘About Us’ page.