The questions readers send us most often, about sports betting, about accounts and about the casino side of the same operators. If something here is still unclear, the longer explanations are linked at the end of each section.
Betting basics
What is sports betting?
You predict the outcome of a sporting event at fixed odds set by the bookmaker. The return is the stake multiplied by the odds: a £10 stake at 2.50 returns £25, of which £15 is profit. UK sites usually show odds as fractions by default — 6/4 is the same price as 2.50 decimal — and most let you switch the display in the settings.
How do I place a bet?
Open the sports section, choose the sport and then the event. Select the outcome you want and it goes onto the betslip, where you enter the stake and see the potential return before you confirm. Nothing is placed until you confirm the slip.
When can I bet?
Most UK operators take bets around the clock on events that are open for trading. What is open at any moment depends on the event, not the hour: markets are suspended during a goal, a wicket or a video review, and they reopen with new prices.
What is the betting board?
The schedule, or board, is the full list of events and markets an operator offers. In Great Britain what a licensed operator may offer is governed by the UK Gambling Commission under the Gambling Act 2005. Two sites can differ a lot: the number of leagues covered, how deep the market list goes on each match, and how early prices go up. The market types themselves are explained in type of bets.
Accounts, deposits and withdrawals
Can I bet without registering?
No. A licensed operator must verify who you are and how old you are before you can bet, so an account is required. Verification normally happens at sign-up rather than at withdrawal.
Can I bet without depositing?
Almost never. A small number of sites offer a no-deposit free bet, but the usual pattern is that the welcome offer unlocks only after a first qualifying deposit and bet.
Which payment methods work?
Debit card, bank transfer, PayPal, Apple Pay and the usual e-wallets such as Skrill and Neteller. Credit cards cannot be used for gambling in Great Britain: the Gambling Commission banned them in April 2020, and that applies to all licensed sites. Withdrawals go back to the method you deposited with, which is a rule about money laundering and not a preference of the operator.
How do I contact support?
Every licensed site publishes a complaints route, and most run live chat alongside email. What matters more than the response time is whether the site names its alternative dispute resolution provider — that is the body you escalate to if the operator refuses a complaint, and a licensed site must name one.
Bonuses
How do I get the welcome offer?
Choose it before registering, because most sites ask for the promotion at sign-up or at first deposit and cannot apply it afterwards. The number in the headline matters much less than the terms behind it.
What should I read in the terms?
Five things decide what an offer is worth: the wagering requirement, the minimum odds that count towards it, the time limit, the markets excluded, and whether the stake is returned with the winnings. A smaller offer with reasonable terms beats a large one that never clears. The arithmetic is worked through in betting bonus, and the offers that pay out over a season rather than once are in bookmaker cashback.
Licences and player protection
Are all bookmakers licensed?
No. To take bets from customers in Great Britain an operator must hold a UK Gambling Commission licence, and the licence number must appear on the site, linked to the Commission's public register. Checking it takes half a minute and is worth more than any review.
What does a UK licence actually guarantee?
Customer funds held separately from the company's own money, a published complaints route with an escalation path, access to self-exclusion through GAMSTOP, and a minimum age of 18. An unlicensed site offers none of these, whatever it says about itself. The detail is in UK bookmakers.
And in the United States?
There is no federal licence: each state licenses its own operators, and a book licensed in one state is not automatically legal for a bettor in another. The legal age is 21, not 18. The state-by-state position is in US sports betting.
Casino, poker and bingo
Are online casinos licensed too?
Yes, by the regulator of the market they serve — in Great Britain the same Gambling Commission, under the same obligations on funds, complaints and self-exclusion.
What does live casino mean?
A real table, a real dealer and a video stream, with bets placed through the interface. The round runs on the table's clock rather than yours, which is the main practical difference from the software games.
Can I play for free?
Often yes for the software games, in a demo mode that uses play money. Live tables and bingo rooms normally require a funded account. Demo mode is useful for learning the interface and the rules, and misleading as a guide to what the game pays.
Where do I learn the games?
Each game publishes its rules and its return-to-player figure on the site. Our own explanations are in online casino, online poker and bingo online.
Where to go next
The comparison of the operators we review is in online bookmakers. How we test them, and who we are, is in about Bookmakkers. Gambling should be treated as paid entertainment and never as income: if it stops feeling that way, GAMSTOP lets you self-exclude from every UK-licensed site at once. 18+.