Online Bookies

[SecretPro]

So, I admit, I have been a bit old school in the sense that I still go down to the bookies to put my footy bets on.

 

This year though I want to go online (usually start the season with a tenner and see where I end up, just for a bit of added fun on a Saturday afternoon) so the question is, which of the 10 million is the best online bookies?

 

 

[bmt]

Depends on how much you bet and what you're interested in etc. 

 

I used to bet on lots of different things and bet365 always seemed to have the most markets, however if there is ever any form of dispute they are the least customer friendly imo.

[SecretPro]

Depends on how much you bet and what you're interested in etc. 

 

I used to bet on lots of different things and bet365 always seemed to have the most markets, however if there is ever any form of dispute they are the least customer friendly imo.

 

Just pocket change really, like I say I'll start the season with a tenner and take it from there. Mainly looking at football, cycling, golf...maybe the horses/dogs

[ScouseFox]

Use them all to start with. Start with one, say paddypower, get their stupid free money for new customer deal, then either win and withdraw and get the next companies deal, or lose and redeposit in a new company etc. The amount of companies and deals and free stuff for new customers you can comfortably bet 10 x £10 over 10 weeks and 10 different bookies and probably end up being able to bet a good £250-£300 off your original £100 just through money back losers or matched bets for new players.

Then when you max them all out decide which one you liked best and stick to it.

[Brooksy]

If you've not signed up to any yet matched betting might be worth looking at.

 

bet365 is probably the best though, always has the most games/markets available.

[ScouseFox]

Just pocket change really, like I say I'll start the season with a tenner and take it from there. Mainly looking at football, cycling, golf...maybe the horses/dogs

if it's mainly footy accas then scout through oddschecker.com and they list all the companies by best odds, but also by what deals they have. some might pay out an extra 10% for a winning acca, some might pay a consolation for an unlucky losing acca etc. Depends what you want.

oddschecker has all the offers compared bookie to bookie as well as the odds. just take advantage of the sign up offers imo, like I say you can probably treble your outlay for free just by switching accounts a few weeks in a row.

[SecretPro]

Use them all to start with. Start with one, say paddypower, get their stupid free money for new customer deal, then either win and withdraw and get the next companies deal, or lose and redeposit in a new company etc. The amount of companies and deals and free stuff for new customers you can comfortably bet 10 x £10 over 10 weeks and 10 different bookies and probably end up being able to bet a good £250-£300 off your original £100 just through money back losers or matched bets for new players.

Then when you max them all out decide which one you liked best and stick to it.

 

Is this possible though? Looking at the terms and conditions on a lot of the sites about winnings made from the promotional offer and withdrawing funds etc look iffy to me, it looks like a lot of these make it difficult to actually get your hands on the cash?

 

For eg. Bet365:

 

Significant Offer Terms & Conditions

• You must open an account and deposit £10 or more to qualify for a 100% matched amount as a bonus to bet with, up to a maximum of £200.
• You must bet the amount of your qualifying deposit once before being able to bet with your bonus.
• You must have settled bets (excluding bets that have been Cashed Out) to the value of three times your qualifying deposit and bonus before making a withdrawal.

• Bets which do not contain at least one selection at odds of 1/2 (1.50) or greater do not count towards any turnover requirements.
• You will not be able to withdraw your bonus and/or winnings generated from your bonus if you have not completed the turnover requirement within 90 days of entering your bonus Offer Code.

 

Or am I just being dumb?

[AKCJ]

Online bookies are ****ing lethal.

 

Pixels on a screen don't feel like notes in your hand. Make sure you keep on top of it because it's really fun betting from your home.

[bmt]

 

Is this possible though? Looking at the terms and conditions on a lot of the sites about winnings made from the promotional offer and withdrawing funds etc look iffy to me, it looks like a lot of these make it difficult to actually get your hands on the cash?

 

For eg. Bet365:

 

Significant Offer Terms & Conditions

• You must open an account and deposit £10 or more to qualify for a 100% matched amount as a bonus to bet with, up to a maximum of £200.
• You must bet the amount of your qualifying deposit once before being able to bet with your bonus.
• You must have settled bets (excluding bets that have been Cashed Out) to the value of three times your qualifying deposit and bonus before making a withdrawal.

• Bets which do not contain at least one selection at odds of 1/2 (1.50) or greater do not count towards any turnover requirements.
• You will not be able to withdraw your bonus and/or winnings generated from your bonus if you have not completed the turnover requirement within 90 days of entering your bonus Offer Code.

 

Or am I just being dumb?

 

 

Bet365 is definitely the one with the harshest new customer bonus requirements, that list isn't the same for all the bookies. http://www.oddschecker.com/free-betsgives a pretty conclusive list of the different offers.

[Guest Col city fan]

So, I admit, I have been a bit old school in the sense that I still go down to the bookies to put my footy bets on.

This year though I want to go online (usually start the season with a tenner and see where I end up, just for a bit of added fun on a Saturday afternoon) so the question is, which of the 10 million is the best online bookies?

Of all the platforms, Bet 365 is the best IMO.

It's just changed too, for laptop and mobile and looks great. The odds are pretty crappy though.

For odds, go for Betfair.

[Steve_Guppy_Left_Foot]

The you must bet x times your original stakes to withdraw aren't really as bad as they sound. You need to win before it even becomes an issue, and if you keep winning it isn't an issue, if you win then lose you're losing their money rather than your own. It isn't really a catch.

 

I remember the days when being banned/limited by a bookies was like a badge of honor for a punter, now with online bookies seems you only need to win a few quid to be limited or have your account suspended completely.

 

Guy I know won £200 odd in a 3 month period on Sporting Bet and they just closed him down. Bet365 only let me have a few quid e/w on a horse and I've barely ever used them, let alone won a lot.

 

Betfair exchange is the best place to play, no restrictions, no chance of being done over by the bookies or being limited/shut down, nearly always the best prices in markets with any liquidity. Definitely where newcomers should start imo because once you have a handle on the exchanges you realise how beneficial it is. Bookies have tried to copy somewhat with the cash out feature but they're still light years behind.

[SecretPro]

Bet365 is definitely the one with the harshest new customer bonus requirements, that list isn't the same for all the bookies. http://www.oddschecker.com/free-betsgives a pretty conclusive list of the different offers.

 

Cheers bmt

[SecretPro]

The you must bet x times your original stakes to withdraw aren't really as bad as they sound. You need to win before it even becomes an issue, and if you keep winning it isn't an issue, if you win then lose you're losing their money rather than your own. It isn't really a catch.

 

I remember the days when being banned/limited by a bookies was like a badge of honor for a punter, now with online bookies seems you only need to win a few quid to be limited or have your account suspended completely.

 

Guy I know won £200 odd in a 3 month period on Sporting Bet and they just closed him down. Bet365 only let me have a few quid e/w on a horse and I've barely ever used them, let alone won a lot.

 

Betfair exchange is the best place to play, no restrictions, no chance of being done over by the bookies or being limited/shut down, nearly always the best prices in markets with any liquidity. Definitely where newcomers should start imo because once you have a handle on the exchanges you realise how beneficial it is. Bookies have tried to copy somewhat with the cash out feature but they're still light years behind.

 

See I can't be bothered with sh*t like this, it's what puts me off online betting, it's like a licence to do whatever they want.

 

I'll end up just going down the bookies at this rate. 

[Rob1742]

A friend of mine used to make £50k a year on betfair.

Used to study the football for hours and hours, then about 2.30pm on a Saturday put around £200 single bets on at the very most four matches.

I initially joked and said he must have been able to come up with more than that knowledge after all that time he spent, but his answer was, you tell me how many people get more than four matches correct, without getting one wrong.

I followed him for a period of time, he used to tell me what to bet. Made me smile when one Saturday out of all the fixtures he came out with just one game, which included me putting £200 on Peterhead. He literally did not have confidence on any other match.

Sunday's were the best for me. Often I would be putting £1000 on Barca to win, then getting out after they had scored. Used to pull around £200 a Sunday, but like he said, it was the easiest £200 I would ever earn.

The issue is the discipline. Your homework needs to be extensive, and I remember he was on around £60k profit for the year and he went through a really bad patch and it was lost £30k of it in around 8 weeks of poor decisuons.

I just made around £3k or £4k for the year, but that included the bad patch as I was up to double that.

When I first did it, he told me to put £1000 in a pot and he would make me a tidy profit. I did it, and then on a Saturday he gave me the call to put it all on Serbia I think. Went down the pub and just wasn't comfortable until that tall forward ex Brum scored and I could relax.

Winning on the football his way is very possible, but he had very strict rules he followed. Fancying a bet today was certainly not one of them. Got to be viewed as a business and you work on certain knowledge, team news, history etc etc.

[Ashley]

Bet365 probably in terms of matching deposit. Decent odds and very good RBall.

365 also do team corners and race to which is one of my favourite bets

[ramboacdc]

me personally as an ex bookie like to go for value so only use a certain few. bet 365 are good. Betvictor i like as a more english bookie but currently i am in love with betfair. not great for accas but for any singles they are great.

 

http://bit.ly/1Mu84lu

[whoareyaaa]

Bet365 for me, Top of the range website, easy to use and almost every market you could think of for every sport.

 

Plus there odds are generally better 90% of the time.

 

Also had some big wins there over the years and never have they limited my account and its in a healthy profit, Withdraws take 5hrs with Paypal sometimes instant but you have to deposit with Paypal, Card withdraws can take 1-3 days.

[Fox92]

Don't do it. I still go into the shop. With online you don't have any restrictions.

[Julian Joachim Jr Shabadoo]

Paddy Power. I like the phunny pictures.

[Hollism]

Bet365 for me, Top of the range website, easy to use and almost every market you could think of for every sport.

Plus there odds are generally better 90% of the time.

Also had some big wins there over the years and never have they limited my account and its in a healthy profit, Withdraws take 5hrs with Paypal sometimes instant but you have to deposit with Paypal, Card withdraws can take 1-3 days.

I've never used PayPal. Is that 5 hours from going from your Bet365 account to your bank account? Or is there another processing time between PayPal and the bank?

[Brenfox]

A few hours from them to your PayPal.

[whoareyaaa]

I've never used PayPal. Is that 5 hours from going from your Bet365 account to your bank account? Or is there another processing time between PayPal and the bank?

 

A few hours sometimes within the hour, then you just have to transfer from your Paypal account to your bank account which is instant now days.

[LCFC FOX]

I signed up to a lot of them a couple of weeks ago, didn't get no free bets mind

[The Blur]

A friend of mine used to make £50k a year on betfair.

Used to study the football for hours and hours, then about 2.30pm on a Saturday put around £200 single bets on at the very most four matches.

I initially joked and said he must have been able to come up with more than that knowledge after all that time he spent, but his answer was, you tell me how many people get more than four matches correct, without getting one wrong.

I followed him for a period of time, he used to tell me what to bet. Made me smile when one Saturday out of all the fixtures he came out with just one game, which included me putting £200 on Peterhead. He literally did not have confidence on any other match.

Sunday's were the best for me. Often I would be putting £1000 on Barca to win, then getting out after they had scored. Used to pull around £200 a Sunday, but like he said, it was the easiest £200 I would ever earn.

The issue is the discipline. Your homework needs to be extensive, and I remember he was on around £60k profit for the year and he went through a really bad patch and it was lost £30k of it in around 8 weeks of poor decisuons.

I just made around £3k or £4k for the year, but that included the bad patch as I was up to double that.

When I first did it, he told me to put £1000 in a pot and he would make me a tidy profit. I did it, and then on a Saturday he gave me the call to put it all on Serbia I think. Went down the pub and just wasn't comfortable until that tall forward ex Brum scored and I could relax.

Winning on the football his way is very possible, but he had very strict rules he followed. Fancying a bet today was certainly not one of them. Got to be viewed as a business and you work on certain knowledge, team news, history etc etc.

 

 

I read an article once on 442 that someone has started his own business where his staff just research matches and make bets on Saturdays (after a series of meetings to decide on which matches) he used to be like your mate when he did it all on his own but he started to rake it in and has to employ people to do more research into various leagues in order to make even more money. 

 

He said couple of seasons ago, scottish division two or three was a brilliant league for betting as it was a freak season where there was an equal amount of away wins to home wins. Eventually bookies wised up and lowered odds for these matches. 

[Steve_Guppy_Left_Foot]

That's always been the main problem for football betting as far as I have been able to see. The margins in value terms are almost non existent. It's the most popular sport and as such the bookies don't leave much left to chance. Anyone getting a ROI of over 5% punting just football in a serious manner would be doing very, very well.