Written by Ciaran McEneaney |
Updated on 12 December, 2024
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There are plenty of non UK betting sites that are more than happy to welcome British bettors, but sorting the wheat from the chaff can sometimes be daunting. That’s why we’ve put together this comprehensive guide for anyone who’s considering betting with an overseas bookmaker. We’ll tell you what to look for when choosing a non-UK betting site, how to make sure a site is safe, and what you can expect when you sign up.
The UK loves betting. While the number of betting shops on our high streets has gradually fallen over the last few decades, there are still close to 6,000 that are open for business. At the same time, the number of online betting sites in the UK has exploded, so Brits have no shortage of opportunities to place a bet. This being the case, why might you choose to bet at non-UK gambling sites? Well, we can give you several good reasons:
Betting sites based in this country cover a wide range of sports, but they obviously focus on those that are most popular with British bettors. When you bet with non-UK sports betting sites, they will just as naturally cater primarily to their own domestic audiences. That means you can often enjoy deeper coverage in some sports by betting with sites based overseas. For example, a site based in New Jersey in the USA will probably cover a lot more basketball, baseball and American football games than one based in Brighton or Doncaster.
Just as you can enjoy broader and deeper sports coverage at non uk gambling sites, so you’ll also get access to betting markets that are less common here. Spreads are more common in the US than they are in the UK, while other countries might have many more Asian handicap markets for an event than a typical British bookie. Again, every country has its own preferences, so you can find one that reflects your own tastes and visit a site that best fits your needs.
English betting sites can only offer payment methods that are allowed by the UK Gambling Commission, but non-UK betting sites can offer plenty more. For example, the use of credit cards for gambling purposes was banned by the UKGC in 2020, but most other countries continue to accept credit cards without a problem. You’ll also find it a lot easier to make cryptocurrency deposits at international betting sites than at UK bookmakers.
The bonuses offered to new and existing customers of non-UK based betting sites can often be a lot more generous than the ones offered by British sites. This is especially the case with crypto betting sites. All bonuses will, of course, come with terms and conditions attached, but if you want a sizeable reward for making a deposit or being local to a particular brand, non UK betting sites are hard to beat.
As we’ve just seen, non UK betting sites certainly have their advantages. But they aren’t without their drawbacks. The main ones that you need to consider are as follows:
The best non UK betting sites are always licensed and regulated, but they might not be licensed by our own UK Gambling Commission. In that scenario, you shouldn’t expect them to adhere to UKGC regulations, and you won’t be able to complain to the UKGC if things go wrong, as they won’t have the legal power to look into the complaint on your behalf.
It’s a similar situation with GAMSTOP. This is an organisation that helps people to voluntarily exclude themselves from betting. Because GAMSTOP is focused on UK bettors and betting sites, its reach doesn’t extend to non UK based betting sites. A person who has previously registered with this organisation could, therefore, continue to bet with overseas betting sites not on GAMSTOP without restriction.
When you bet with a bookmaker based in the UK, you won’t pay tax on any of your winnings unless HMRC views you as a professional gambler. However, you can’t assume that you’ll enjoy the same tax-free position with non UK sports betting companies. Different nations have different tax laws, so you should always do a little research and find out if you’ll be liable to overseas tax on winnings.
You’re aware of the advantages and potential drawbacks of non UK betting sites, so let’s now look at how to evaluate the various sites available. There are several important areas that we recommend you look into, so we’ll give an overview of each one and explain what you should expect from sites that are best in class.
The first thing you should do when considering a non uk betting site is check to see if it is properly licensed by a reputable regulatory body. Even if a site isn’t regulated by the UKGC, it should be regulated by someone. The better the reputation of the regulator, the more confident you can be that the site will hold itself to strict standards and be fair to its customers.
Next, look at the company that operates the betting site and see what kind of track record it has. The best sites will be operated by companies with plenty of experience in the industry and no black marks against their names. If you discover that an operator is brand new and has no track record or has been around for a while but has previously got itself into serious trouble with regulators, you should tread carefully or look elsewhere.
With the legality and trustworthiness of the site having been confirmed, you can now look at the sports it covers. There’s no need for a site to cover every sport in the world, but the best site for you should certainly cover all of the UK and non UK sports betting events you might personally want to bet on.
Here you should check to make sure that the site you are looking at has all the betting features you think you might want. For example, if you know that you would like to be able to place bets while an event is in play, you should make sure that in-play betting is available. The same applies to features such as cash out, the ability to view betting odds in your favourite format, and so on.
The odds you get when you strike a bet will determine how much profit you get when a bet wins. The more generous the odds offered by a betting site, the better. You don’t need to get the best possible price for every bet you place, but you should be confident that the odds offered by a site are at least competitive with the industry average. If a site also gives you enhanced betting odds or Best Odds Guaranteed, so much the better.
If you’re looking for a site that you intend to use regularly for non UK betting, you should make sure that you’ll enjoy doing so. Take the site for a test drive and see how you like its layout and aesthetics. Ideally, the site should be easy and intuitive to use and enable you to find a given betting market and get your bets on without jumping through hoops.
No matter how good a betting site is, there is always the possibility that a problem will arise or that you’ll have a query you need an answer to. It’s therefore important to make sure that any site you consider using has a reliable customer support team in place to help you out. Top non UK betting sites will provide friendly support around the clock that you can access by live chat. If 24/7 support isn’t available, you should at least make sure that the site will have someone around to help you during the hours in which you intend to be betting.
It isn’t always convenient to boot up a desktop or laptop computer when you want to make a bet, and in today’s world, it’s far from necessary. The best non UK betting sites go out of their way to be as mobile compatible as possible so that you can sign in from your mobile web browser and place bets just as easily from your smartphone or tablet as on a larger device. If at all possible, explore the site on your mobile to see how it feels.
Last of all, take a look at the safety and security of the betting site you are assessing. Since you’ll be giving the site your personal details and possibly also financial details (bank card numbers and so on) it’s essential that this data is encrypted during transmission and stored in a secure manner. The site’s Privacy Policy page should outline exactly how data is processed and stored, so take a look through that to satisfy yourself that the site is as secure as you want it to be.
Every betting site will offer a slightly different range of sports for you to bet on. As we said earlier, the beauty of non UK betting sites is that they might cover their own favourite sports in more depth than a UK site will. But they will also provide good coverage of the sports that Brits love, too. Here are just some of the sports you can expect to find at the best sites.
There aren’t many countries in the world that don’t have a thriving football scene, so it’s easy to find non UK football betting sites that provide all the coverage you need. Whether you want to bet on our own English Premier League, the Bundesliga, Serie A, La Liga or international tournaments such as the World Cup or Euros, overseas betting sites will be more than happy to oblige.
According to the Jockey Club, horse racing is the second-most popular spectator sport in the UK. It’s also very popular in many other countries, so you shouldn’t have any trouble making racing wagers at non UK betting sites. As well as being able to bet on UK and Irish racing, as with almost every British bookie going, you’ll also be able to bet on racing in Australia, France, South Africa and more.
Another popular sport that gets plenty of coverage at non UK gambling venues is golf. While it doesn’t grab as many headlines or column inches as football or horse racing, it still provides betting fans with a good number of opportunities to turn knowledge into profit. Key events that many sites focus on for promotional purposes include the Masters, the US Open and the PGA Championship, so keep an eye open for bonuses and enhanced odds for those.
International cricket matches always draw a crowd, so you won’t be surprised to see them featured at almost all non UK betting sites. Sites based in famously cricket-loving nations will also provide good coverage of domestic matches taking place in their own countries and around the world. Even county cricket matches in England are priced up by some overseas bookmakers.
Tennis also gets very good coverage at most non UK betting sites. While some bookmakers focus mainly on grand slam events, such as the Australian Open and Wimbledon, others are just as enthusiastic about the rest of the tennis calendar. And with plenty of men’s and women’s tennis matches taking place most weeks, you’ll have more than enough chances to hit the bookies with an ace or two.
In addition to the sports detailed above, you can expect coverage of scores more. Basketball, American football, baseball, darts, rugby, hockey and boxing will be available at most sites. You’ll also find lots of more niche sports on your travels, including bandy, surfing, bowling, lacrosse and more.
The range of betting markets that you can choose from at non UK betting venues will vary according to the preferences of the website and the sport you are looking at. Generally speaking, you’re likely to find all the markets that you currently enjoy at UK bookmakers, and you might also have more choice in the way of spreads, totals and moneylines, especially at sites geared towards US bettors. Here’s a list of markets that we’d expect to find at all of the best sites:
It stands to reason that non UK football betting sites will usually offer a deeper range of match markets than one which focuses on boxing or American football. That being the case, if you have a particular sport you are interested in, we recommend looking for a site which shares that interest.
Non UK betting sites are just as keen to attract new customers and encourage existing ones to remain loyal as those on our own shores. For that reason, you’ll find plenty of bonuses that you can claim when you get involved with a new bookie and stick around for a while. Some of these bonuses might be even more generous than their UK counterparts due to fewer regulatory restrictions. Here are the main bonus types you are likely to come across:
This is a bonus that you’ll get when you sign up with a non UK betting site and make a first deposit. It could be a sum of bonus cash, a free bet, or something similar. For example, you might be offered €50 in free bets when you deposit €10 or more of your own money. A free bet lets you make a bet without using any of that money, but if it wins, you’ll only receive the profit from that bet – the free bet stake itself isn’t returned to you.
Some bookmakers will give you a risk-free wager instead of a free bet. This is a bit different because you bet with your own cash. If your bet wins, you’ll get your stake back, plus your profit. If your risk-free bet loses, your stake will be returned – usually in the form of a free bet.
A cashback bonus deal will give you a percentage of your losses back over a certain period of time. For example, you might be offered 10% cashback on losses per month. If you have a losing month to the tune of €100, you would therefore get €10 back. This is normally awarded as a free bet, and the maximum cashback you can get will be stated in the terms and conditions
Normally used by bookmakers to highlight certain big events, odds boosts will give you a more generous price than the industry average when you make a particular bet. You might be given odds of 10/1 instead of 5/1, for example, which would give you twice as much potential profit. Of course, your bet needs to win for that potential to be realised.
This is another promotion that will increase your potential profits, but it relates to parlays (accumulators) rather than single bets. Usually, a parlay boost will increase your payout by a certain percentage if your accumulator bet wins. The size of the boost will usually depend on the number of selections in the parlay, but it could be as much as 50% or even more.
Non UK betting sites that are kind to horse racing fans will give Best Odds Guaranteed. This allows you to make a bet at any time (from a stated start time) on the day of the race, and if the Starting Price turns out to be bigger, a winning bet will be settled at the larger odds.
Although loyalty programs aren’t quite as common at sportsbooks as they are at non-GAMSTOP casinos, they do exist at some non UK betting sites. These programs will monitor your betting activity at the site and give you a reward of some kind if you maintain a certain level of engagement. Often, a loyalty program will reward you at the beginning of the month according to your activity during the previous month.
Non UK betting sites are perfectly legal to visit and use, but as they aren’t licensed by the UK Gambling Commission, you won’t be able to complain to the UKGC if things go wrong. Non-UKGC betting sites are also outside the remit of GAMSTOP, so that is also an important point that’s well worth noting.
Because there is no UKGC protection for UK players at non UK betting sites, it’s extremely important that you only bet with those that operate under licenses issued by other respected regulators, such as the Malta Gaming Authority.
While bookmakers based in this country are regulated by the UKGC, non UK betting sites tend to be licensed by other regulatory bodies. Each bookmaker will display the regulator they operate under on their home page. Here are the main ones you’ll see:
The Malta Gaming Authority was once the gold standard among internet gambling regulators, and for most sites outside the UK, it still is. Only our own Gambling Commission is stricter, so any site regulated by the MGA can be expected to meet the highest standards in terms of safety, security and game fairness.
The GRA was set up as part of the Gibraltar Regulatory Authority Act 2000. Because Gibraltar is a British Overseas Territory, the GRA operates in much the same way as the UK Gambling Commission. That means you can expect casinos licensed by this regulator to adhere to the same high standards as those licensed by the UKGC.
This regulator is based in the Mohawk Territory of Kahnawake in Canada, so you’ll often find it licensing betting sites that are aimed at punters in Canada and North America. However, many of those sites also make their markets available to players outside those countries, which means you’re likely to come across the regulator’s distinctive logo as a UK bettor at non UK betting sites.
The Curaçao Gaming Control Board (GCB) was once viewed as one of the most lenient online gambling regulators in the world, but it has become a bit stricter over the last few years. While it’s still quite easy to obtain a license from this regulator, betting sites that do so aren’t given any kind of free-for-all. On the contrary, sites licensed by the GCB are expected to operate in a legal and fair manner, like other regulated sites, and to maintain the highest standards of safety and security.
When it comes to making deposits, you will have a few more options at non UK betting sites than you do here. That means you should find it even easier to find a method that suits your needs and preferences. The most common options you’ll be offered are as follows:
Banned for gambling purposes by the UKGC in the year 2000, credit cards are still very popular at overseas betting sites. They were used for decades in Britain, so if you miss being able to make a deposit with your flexible friend, you can usually do so at non UK betting sites.
Non UK betting sites will also accept debit cards, so if you’d like your deposit to come straight from your bank account, this is the option to choose. The best betting sites will obviously encrypt all data during transmission, so using a debit card with a bookie is no more risky than using it with a reputable online shopping site.
If you’d rather not give any of your card details to the betting site, you can use an eWallet such as PayPal or Neteller instead. These can be funded in a variety of ways, including by credit and debit cards, but when you come to make a betting site deposit, the sportsbook only gets your cash. It receives no information about the method you use to fund the wallet itself.
A payment method that’s exploding in popularity at non UK betting sites is cryptocurrency. Sites that allow crypto deposits will let you transfer Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin or other crypto funds either directly or via a crypto wallet. If you’re a stickler for privacy and maybe even anonymity, crypto deposits are well worth considering.
Non UK betting sites can be beneficial to sports betting fans in a variety of ways. They can give you more sports to bet on, more markets, a greater range of bonuses and additional payment methods that aren’t currently available in the UK. By following the advice presented here, you should have no difficulty in finding a reliable and trustworthy overseas bookmaker that suits your needs.
For the purposes of this article, a non UK betting site is one that is based overseas and is not licensed or regulated by the UK Gambling Commission.
Yes. There is no reason why a UK player can’t bet with online betting sites outside the country. Of course, they may not be regulated by the UKGC, so you will need to make sure they are licensed by another trusted regulator, such as the Malta Gaming Authority.
Betting sites geared solely to US audiences probably won’t accept UK players, but some have separate licenses for overseas bettors. For example, BetMGM is a massive American brand that also has licenses with the UKGC and the MGA.
Search engines don’t often block betting sites for users in the UK, but if someone has registered with GAMSTOP, sites regulated by the UKGC won’t give them access. Non UK betting sites are usually outside the GAMSTOP remit and would therefore continue to be accessible.
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