Bookies Reviews

Our top bookmakers are listed in the left-hand menu of our home page - bookies - but there are other top bookies we can recommend. They are listed below with a little information and the links to our full bookies reviews of each of them.

Blue Square Bookies

Established with a tiny staff in 1999, Blue Square was the third online bookies to launch out of the UK. They had a different name back then but quickly changed it to the 'ever so hip' Blue Square.

With a pedigree of honesty and good service to their growing customer base they quickly burgeoned with their early 'third mover advantage'. The next significant landmark for Blue Square was its acquisition by Rank Plc, under whose wing it remains to this day.

Blue Square has struggled slightly in recent times to compete against the growing tide of commendable online bookies, all of which we review on this site. There can be no meaningful reason for this except a poor marketing strategy. From a punter's perspective, Blue Square can not be faulted in any way. The website, the service, the payouts - all spot on.

Just their marketing has not developed. The fact they use inapplicable advertising catchphrases like 'telling it like it is,' wholly unsuited to an online bookmakers (but perfect for a newspaper opinion piece) does not reflect badly on the job they do for clients. However it can't help recruitment when the marketing is just going through the motions.

Along with their marketing weaknesses, the management has displayed a distinct lack of entrepreneurial flair but then they are owned by a huge parent company, so why knock yourself out?

None of this impacts on the exemplary service meted out to the Blue Square clients. In short, this is a company you ought to consider joining and they give a £10 free bet in the sportsbook.

Visit their website: Blue Square Betting Site

More info: Blue Square Bookies

SkyBet Bookies

SkyBet is from the same stable as Sky TV. It is owned by the BSkyB Murdoch empire. So it follows, this is a company you can trust with your sports bets and your money.

It made sense if they were covering the big sports events on their Sky Sports satellite channels to complement that offering with an interactive online bookies. Sky reviewed all their options and chose to buy their way into the bookmaking industry.

The first acquisition was a company called Surrey Racing which formed the foundation of what was rebranded SkyBet. Another notably acquisition was that of ukbetting, which had been the first UK-based online bookmaker when it was started in 1998 from scratch.

SkyBet's aggressive business plan saw it develop into the global media and betting giant that it is today. It can be trusted to be very competitive and provide all the sports betting choices any punter could ever ask for.

SkyBet's free bets seem to change with the wind. Sometimes it is £10 and sometimes it is nothing. They certainly do not fall into the generous category with their giveaways. Nevertheless, that is not to be held against them as competitive pricing of betting odds is far more important than an initial free bet bribe.

Go direct to SkyBet: SkyBet Online Betting site

More info and guide: SkyBet Bookies

Unibet Review

They bet on everything and if your thing is winter sports and Scandinavian type of events then Unibet Bookies may be the place for you. Set up in the late nineties, Unibet has nearly six million registered clients. So they are keeping a lot of people from a lot of countries happy.

We would say they were one of the very best online betting spots on the internet but our Unibet review reveals a major blind spot as they do not cover the daily UK horse racing.

Go straight to Unibet: Unibet Bookies

Full Unibet review: Unibet Bookies

Coral Review

No doubt you will have seen the Coral Bookies betting shops in most high streets. That is because Coral have been offering betting markets in the UK since before we were all born.

Now they have improved their online offering, which did lag behind its other main rivals for a while. Coral has put some effort into the online product and have come up trumps.

It is a betting website to compare with the best. It finally does justice to the well regarded brand of Coral Bookmaker. Read our full review using the link below.

Visit their website: Coral Bookmaker

Main Coral review: Coral Bookies

Totesport Bookies

If we were to write Totesport's end of term school review it would say, 'top of the class for improvement'. After 21 dire years under the 'control' of Lord Woodrow Wyatt, the Tote was finally set free in 1997 with a change of chairman.

This government-owned organisation, originally set up by Winston Churchill to counter the draining economic affects on horse racing of unlawful bookies, has got better ever since Wyatt's removal. A good friend of Margaret Thatcher, Wyatt had been on a long-running gravy train at the Tote's expense.

That history lesson is of little relevance to today's punters who can bet at the Totesport (the new brand name of the Tote) website knowing it is one of the best online betting sites of its kind.

It gives access to all the usual sports and horse racing bets and also to the Tote pool bets. Undoubtedly the best recent Totesport development has been the Scoop 6 pool bet. This is a Saturday bet that can roll over like the lottery. It has captured the punting public's imagination, from professional gamblers to tiny stakes players alike.

The Scoop 6 and all the Tote's other unique pool bet offerings, such as the placepot, jackpot and the Tote win and place bets, can be placed at the Totesport website.

A well directed organisation nowadays, the Totesport online sports betting site is as good as the best of them.

Go to the Totesport website: Totesport Website

Read even more about Totesport: Totesport Bookies

Sportingbet Bookies

Sportingbet online bookies set up their business near the beginning of the internet betting era in 1998. They are licensed out of Alderney and despite being UK based, their initial business model centred on capturing the little-served American market.

However many regulatory doors were slammed in their faces and with various USA law reviews Sportingbet had to reverse out of that policy. They have always also served the UK and European punters, albeit not with quite the attention they were giving our neighbours across the pond.

Sportingbet offer all sports betting events plus the mandatory online casino and poker room too. Their bookies site is easy to use and the core software is very good.

We no longer recommend Sportingbet and we give the reasons why in our full review.

Read the full review: Sportingbet Bookies

Boylesports Bookies

Boylesports has come a long way from humble beginnings. They fit a similar profile to Paddy Power Bookies in that they are an Irish firm that has made massive inroads into the mainstream UK sports betting business. Many of their customers will surely be unaware of their Irish originals, so well have Boylesports integrated their brand internationally.

Their online website is commendable. They now use the best software platform available, having launched online with diabolical 'betting shop' software. It is a measure of how well the firm is managed that they did a review and quickly binned that hopeless platform and moved on to the ultimate in sleek, scalable software. The result is a brilliant sports betting website and development of the the brand into an almost household name.

Boylesports are very aware of the competition they face and this has made them very good with their ongoing promotions for existing clients. They have cash back specials and also 'best odds guaranteed' on the horse racing. These are the sort of promos that punters appreciate, even if the sign-up free bet is a bit feeble at €20 / £20.

Visit their website: Boylesports Betting Site

Or read the full guide: Boylesports Bookies