Understanding Bookmakers

By backing a winner! The bookies offer a variety of payment methods for you to make a deposit such as PayPal, debit card and credit card. You generally use the same payment method to make a withdrawal from your betting account.

When you click on that Withdraw button, you can expect funds to return to your account within 2/3 working days.

The bookies are always offering special free bets and promotions to customers, If you’ve never opened a betting account before, then you are in a very fortunate position!

That is because there are a stack of bookmakers lining up to offer you free bets, price boosts and money-back specials. It’s almost an endless supply and, if you play your cards right, you can make some cash from these offers.

We look at the best way to find a bookmaker that is perfect for your betting needs.

There could be five friends who are all interested in betting. John loves getting the best prices every time, whether it’s football, racing or any other sport for that matter.

Steven doesn’t care as much about best price but he does like a money-back special when it comes to his football bets so there’s a chance of a refund should the wager lose.

Bill wants the best In-Play service around, Roger doesn’t suffer fools gladly and wants fantastic customer service. Brian wants all of the above and the best free bets if he’s going to bother opening an account.

Customers want different things from betting and we have researched every bookmaker to see who comes out best for different categories.

Coral have got the best welcome bonus, pound for pound. That’s because you get £20 free simply by staking a fiver – that’s a 400% bonus for your money.

However, should you want a bigger welcome bonus, then bet365’s 100% deposit match means you can land a £200 free bet balance if you’re prepared to deposit the same amount.

Bet365 are also very strong for In-Play and their live streaming service is unrivalled which is great news if you want to watch live sport on a daily basis.

If you want the best Premier League odds, then we recommend BetVictor who won’t be beaten on price when it comes to placing your weekend accumulators.

However, Sky Bet came out well in the rankings due to their all-round service. New customers can get £20 free and they can also use their account to play Super 6 and Fantasy Football.

Several bookmakers offer excellent live streaming to customers including bet365

A bookmaker website has become so much more than a portal where customers can place pre-match bets. Operators now offer live In-Play betting and some go even further with a live streaming service.

It means that several bookies are now online TV channels and it’s really easy to access live streaming for a range of sporting events.

Live Streaming for a start. Many top bookies such as William Hill and Paddy Power have deals in place which means they can show coverage of Wimbledon show court matches to their customers. It simply requires you to have a funded account with the operator in question and you’re able to get the quality pictures beamed through your PC, laptop or mobile! Naturally, In-Play betting goes hand-in-hand with the live streaming and you won’t be short of live markets for Wimbledon 2015. The tennis traders are out in force to cover tones of matches on a daily basis, especially in the first few days. If you’re a fan of tennis betting, Wimbledon is also a great time to be registering a new bookmaker account. That’s because there are lots of free bets available when you register and place your first bet.

You need to have an account with the bookie in question. This can be done by registering a few details and a debit card or Paypal address. You then need to either place a bet or fund your account to be able to access the live streaming.

What do I need to do next?

The live streaming can generally be accessed in one of two ways. Either by visiting a “Live Streaming” section where you will get the full hit of sporting events for that particular day. Alternatively, the betting pages often have a live stream link to the events in question.

Banking and Currencies

In the timeless words of one Notorious B.I.G, mo’ money, mo’ problems. Which is why we are here with a few tables to make your life a little easier. Below you can take a look at the payment, withdrawal and currency options of a betting site of your choice.

Please check with your bookmakers T&Cs as they may not allow certain withdrawal options for specific countries.

There are numerous payment options available to Betting Sites customers. Please make sure you chose the correct currency when you open an account.

For more details on each of the currencies , see below:

  • GBP - Great Britain Pounds
  • EUR - Euros
  • HKD - Hong Kong Dollars
  • AUD - Australian Dollars
  • CAD - Canadian Dollars
  • DKK - Danish Kroner
  • NOK - Norweigan Kroner
  • SEK - Swedish Kroner
  • SGD - Singapore Dollar
  • CZK - Czech Koruny
  • PLN - Polish Zlotych
  • CHF - Swiss Franc
  • JPY - Japanese Yen
  • USD - United States Dollars
  • ARS - Argentinian Pesos
  • CNY - Chinese Yuan Renminbi
  • NZD - New Zealand Dollars
  • ZAR - South African Rand
  • THB - Thai Baht
  • MYR - Malaysian Ringgits
  • BGN - Bulgarian Leva
  • BRL - Brazilian Reais
  • HUF - Hungarian Forint
  • INR - Indian Rupee
  • ISK - Icelandic Kronur
  • MXN - Mexican Pesos
  • RON - Romanian New Lei
  • TWD - Taiwanese Dollars
  • KRW - South Korean Won
  • RUB - Russian Ruble

Several bookmakers now give you the option to cash out your bet. So for example, you might have a £100 bet on Arsenal to beat Tottenham at odds of 2/1.

Say the Gunners take a 1-0 lead, and then the bookie in question might offer you a cash-out value of £150 which represents a £50 profit on your original stake.

The option is then available to press “CASH OUT” or alternatively continue to let the bet ride. If you do cash out, then your betting balance is immediately credited with the winnings.

Some bookmakers such as bet365 offer something called partial cash-out which gives customers the chance to take some money out of their winning or losing position while keeping some of their stake in the bet.

To find out whether a particular bookmaker offers cash out, then it is usually indicated. When it comes to match betting on football, this is a common area for cashing out although some bookies extend this service to several sports and even antepost markets.

Cashing out is a relatively new feature among bookmakers and has effectively been introduced to compete with betfair, whose exchange was the forerunner to being able to close out a bet.

This function can also be useful should you have a losing position that you don’t want to get worse. Alternatively, you might change your mind about a particular bet or opt to free up some funds to bet on something else.

The million dollar question! You don’t want to cash out a bet that ultimately goes on to win as you would clearly secure a bigger profit from staying in the wager. However, you also don’t want to miss out on making some money if your selection is getting closer to a payout.

Ultimately, you need to use your judgement each time and decide what the correct decision is going to be. Once you have pressed on that Cash Out button, you are committing to taking the money from a winning or losing position.

It can be especially difficult to take a loss from a bet by cashing out, although if you have staked £100 and claim £50 back before the bet loses, you won’t feel half as bad.

It is clear that nobody places 100% winning bets with a bookmaker and it’s all about minimising your losses and maximising your winnings. Cashing out enables you to do this.

You want to be targeting a profit come the end of the month rather than on a day-to-day basis. So don’t get too bothered if you’ve had a bad day’s punting and taken the wrong decision on cashing out. You won’t always get it right as betting on sport is an unpredictable business.

However, cashing out can be great for bets like accumulators where you might make a number of selections that are playing through the space of a few days. If the first few come in, then your cash out value will look tasty and the decision is then yours!