Bookmakers

If you’re in a hurry…

If you don’t wish to spend too much time choosing a bookmaker, below are our picks for the best in the following categories:

• Best for those who want just one membership – bet365, Bet Right
• Best for promotions and competitions – Picklebet
• Quick to post odds for upcoming fixtures – bet365
• Best for live (phone) betting – bet365
• Best betting selection – bet365, Unibet
• Best racing fixed odds – Betfair, Colossalbet
• Best sports odds – bet365, Betfair, Unibet
• Best for beginners – betr, Bet Right, PlayUp
• Bet betting exchange – Betfair
• Best for e-sports – Picklebet
• Best for fantasy sports – Draftstars
• Highest appeal to young punters – Dabble

Frequently asked questions

• Q: I’m a beginner, should I go with a bookmaker or an exchange?
  A: Go with a bookmaker
• Q: How many memberships do I need?
  A: Just one if you’re a casual punter. Intermediate to advanced punters should pair a bookmaker membership with the betting exchange Betfair. If you’re looking for additional memberships for the benefit of odds shopping, view our latest bookmaker margin survey.

The margin is a measure of the bookmaker’s profit for an event and can be regarded as a hidden transaction fee for punters. From a betting perspective, the lower the margin, the better.

These tables display the summary results from the latest bookmaker margins and markets survey.

bet365 came out well on top for the sports survey with a 4.9% average margin. They were particularly strong for the MLB and NHL, with average margins of 4.2% and 3.6%, respectively. bet365 also dominated for the frequency with which they offered the best odds for a particular selection. The bookmakers also had different strengths, depending on the sport. Unibet came out well on top for the EPL with an average margin of 4.4%, compared to bet365, who were next best at 5.5%.

The combined margin of 3.1% highlights the benefit of holding multiple bookmaker memberships. This margin is considerably lower than 4.9% for bet365 and 5.8% for the survey average.

For our racing survey, Colossalbet came out on top, both in terms of margins and the frequency with which they offered the best available odds on runners. Picklebet used the same fixed odds as Colossalbet, but during the survey they were slower to make these odds available for some harness racecards.

Some bookmakers like SportChamps were far more competitive for thoroughbred racing than they were for greyhounds and harness fixed odds.

Despite employing higher margins, BoomBet performed incredibly well when it came to offering the best odds on particular runners. This highlights the fact that bookmaker margins tell only half the story. Margins can be heavily inflated if a bookmaker offers notably lower odds for a few selections, even if that bookmaker offers good value on the remaining runners. A bookmaker can employ higher margins but still be worth including in a portfolio of memberships if they frequently offer the best odds on certain selections. BoomBet is a classic example of this.

View the full bookmaker margin survey results.