How To Bet Online in 2023 (UK) - Ultimate Guide for Beginners

What does placing a bet online mean?

Betting is extremely popular. Placing bets online is even more so. These days, there are endless possibilities to take advantage of. Punters now have a wide variety of websites to select from, many of which consistently promise the highest odds possible and a free bet welcome bonus or promotion to all new consumers.

When you place a bet online you are putting money down on the outcome of an event in the hopes that you have predicted correctly in order to win some profits. But there are multiple ways a person can place a bet with countless betting industries and markets, not to mention the sheer number of online bookmakers now. 

Understanding odds when placing bets online – Probability value of an outcome

Fractional odd	Can be calculated as	Chance of this outcome
4/1	1/(4+1) = 0.20	20% chance it will happen
1/1	1/(1+1) = 0.5	50% chance it will happen
2/1	1/(2+1) = 0.33	33% chance it will happen
10/1	1/(10 +1) = 0.09	9% chance it will happen

Any chances where the first number is more than the second number are considered against the bet, and any odds where the first number is less than the second number are considered in favour.

When trying to understand decimal odds, the potential profit you might win actually includes the stake so all you need to do is multiply the odds by the stake in order to find your winnings value. This means that if you had 10.0 odds, and you made a £1 stake, your earnings would be £10 including the stake.

Here is another example: 4.5 odds and you make a £1 bet means if you outcome wins you’d receive £4.50. So when you factor in much larger stakes (£10 instead of £1) you could end up with £45 instead!

Different types of bet to place online

Betting has come a long way from just purchasing an in-person bet on a racecourse. Now you can bet on almost any sport or popular event and we are really spoilt for choice. Here are three popular sporting examples to give you an idea of how you could possibly make a bet online yourself.

Football Bets

Football is easily one of the most popular sports in the UK so it’s no surprise that so many people bet on it too. The team that wins the match, the first goal scorer and how many goals a team wins with, are all typical bets you’ll see on bet slips when placing bets on football matches online.

Horse Racing Bets

Horse racing is another very popular sport in which fans place bets online for. It has a huge fanbase checking into the many races that are held each year and almost every one can be bet on. Whether you are betting for a horse to finish in the top 3 positions or to win the outright race you have many betting markets to choose from.

Cycling Bets

When it comes to cycling, there are similar betting markets to those you would find in horse racing – simply because they are both a form of competitive racing. Some common markets where punters place bets online are winner of the tournament, winner of the race, top 3 positions and sometimes over under on the speed of the competitor.

Best Places to Bet Online:

bet365

Betfred

BoyleSports

888sport

William Hill

Coral

10Bet

Step by step guide on how to place a bet online

We will use Boyle Sports bookmaker as our example for placing a bet online.

Step #1: Create a new user registration and log in

If you are new to betting and don’t yet have an account with Boyle Sports then you can create one from the homepage at the top right hand corner of the screen. Clicking that will open a two page registration form for you to start inputting your personal information.

From the first page of the registration form you will need to select your title (Mr/Mrs etc) before typing in your first and last name. Make sure these are the same details that match your legal identification. Next, you will need to put in your date of birth to prove you are over the legal gambling age of 18 and your email address as this is what you will use to log in. The country is auto populated by your device location (for example I am a resident and based in the UK) and you will finally need to enter your phone number.

Once page one is complete you can confirm and continue to page 2. On this page you will need to enter your postcode which will then allow you to select your residential address from a drop down menu. Next you need to choose your currency (this is usually populated based on location too) before you choose your security question and password that help you keep your account safe. Finally you will need to choose a memorable username and password for you to use when logging into the account.

Once finalised you can click “agree and open account”.

Step #2: Deposit your funds into your account

After creating your account and being logged in you will be sent straight to the home page where you can deposit your funds. In the top right of the screen where the registration button was before, you will now see a red cash button. Click this and you will see the form below appear. Fill this out by entering your debit card information correctly so that you can successfully deposit funds into your account.

Once your account is funded you will be one step closer to learning how to place bets online.

Step #3: Choose a sporting event and find your betting market

What’s great about this website is that the sportsbook is clearly listed on the left side of the homepage. All you need to do is find and click on the sport you want to open that section of the website. We are going to use football for our example since it is so popular.

As you can see in the image below there are multiple football matches available for you to bet on. Now if you look above the decimal buttons on the right hand side, these are the odds for each of the outcomes on this betting market. The betting market in this example is based on booking on a match outcome.

This means you choose to back Team A to win, a tie game, or back Team B to win.

Step #4: Create a bet slip and place your bet online

Now you know what your betting market options are on this page, let’s create the best slip. For the example we are going to find the 4th football match down in the list between Portugal and Spain. We want to back Portugal to win the match. So to understand which odds decimals are relating to which team it’s simple really. The first team name in the match is the first decimal on their line. Our example means that Portugal is the “home” team and the 2.45 odds are on value for them winning the match.
(If we were to back Spain for example the odds for that would be 3.25).

So you have your bet and once it’s been clicked it will be added to the bet slip on the right side of the screen. This is where you can play around with your wager. If you want to bet £15 the possible returns if your bet comes true will be £36.75. That’s more than double the value of the original wager!

Step #5: Wait for the bet to settle

As with any bet, once it has been placed there is nothing to do until the event is over. When it has completed, you will then be notified whether you have won or not. If you are lucky and your bet has finished then you will be giving the money and profits into your e-wallet. if you are not lucky and your bet has lost then your account will just stay the same.  If you do not have money or profit in your account you’ll be able to withdraw your funds using the same payment method that you deposited your funds into the account to begin with.

So there you have it, that is how you successfully place a bet.

What to look before placing a bet online

You will need to find a bookmaker with the following few traits:

• Multiple payment methods

You will need to narrow down the options to find the brands with the same payment methods you were hoping to use. The more methods they have, the more opportunities you have to be tand take part since you are not limited to the type of transaction you make.

• Have a good reputation

As with anything, you don’t want to throw your money at something that has a negative reputation. You will want to go for a bookmaker that is trustworthy and has loyal returning consumers before you place a bet with one online. You wouldn’t just pay for something that had lots of bad press would you? 

• Correctly licenced

This is connected to being trustworthy and reputable since it means they are doing things the right way. You should never make bets with a bookmaker that doesn’t display their licensing information as this could mean they are not licensed at all. It is a legal requirement for all sports betting sites and bookmakers to be licensed with the UK gambling commission in order to legally operate here in the UK. Make sure you can find this information before you place any bets online.

• Good odds

You will need to find a betting site that has good odds because betting odds lets you calculate how likely an event is to occur and how much money you will win if your wager is successful. If you have low or “bad” odds then it is likely you won’t make much profit at all if your bet comes in which can seem slightly pointless. However, if the odds probability is too high then it means the chance of your outcome coming true is less likely. When you compare odds between different sites you can decide which has the most appropriate odds value before placing your bets online.

• Large range of events and markets

Preferably you will pick a brand that has multiple sports and betting markets to choose from. The more selection you have the more chance you have of actually betting on what you want. If you want to bet on the Tour De France cycling tournament but the betting site you visit only covers football and horse racing, it would be a waste of time registering since they don’t have the sport or event you’re after.

Final thoughts on placing a bet online

Now that you have learned the basics of placing a bet online you will be able to successfully place your own bets without any issues. When looking for a bookmaker you really need to focus on picking out the positive points that make a trusted site. By following the tips above you will be able to have a successful betting experience with placing your own bets online – even if your bets don’t always win. Research, choose wisely, and stay safe when it comes to placing wagers on your favourite events online.