Non UK betting sites are more than happy to welcome British bettors, but finding the best one for you can sometimes be daunting. That’s why we’ve put together this comprehensive guide for anyone who’s considering betting with a non UK gambling site.
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.
In truth, non UK betting sites work very similarly to traditional UK bookmakers. Bonuses and markets may differ slightly, while you can use payment options such as credit cards and cryptocurrencies, which are forbidden by the UK Gambling Commission.
Before we explore them in greater detail, below is a snapshot of the key features of non UK sports betting sites:
🗺️ Number of Non UK Betting Sites: | 100+ |
⚽ Sports Markets: | Football, Tennis, Cricket, Boxing, American Football & more |
🎁 Bonuses & Promotions: | Matched Deposit Welcome Bonuses & more |
💳 Payment Options: | Debit/Credit Cards, Cryptocurrencies, eWallets & more |
🪪 Licensing Bodies: | Curaçao, Panama, Malta, Gibraltar, USA & more |
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 the UK 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.
UK 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 be able to make cryptocurrency deposits at international betting sites, which is not the case 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. However, there are a couple of other aspects to consider:
The best non UK betting sites are always licensed and regulated, but they’re not licensed by the UK Gambling Commission.
You shouldn’t expect non UK betting sites 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.
However, the UKGC is not exactly without its faults either, for example punishing bookmakers too lightly and individual bettors too harshly. After all, you might be looking for a non UK betting site to get away from UKGC-licensed sites.
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. But this might appeal to you in any case.
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.
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.
However, 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, foreign betting sites for UK bettors 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.
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 non UK betting sites.
You’ll also find lots of more niche sports on your travels, including bandy, surfing, bowling, lacrosse, and more. You can even bet on politics, entertainment, and other current affairs markets across the world.
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 spread, totals and moneyline, 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 (11.0) instead of 5/1 (6.0), 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 sportsbooks licensed by this regulator to adhere to the same high standards as those licensed by the UKGC.
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 CGC are expected to operate in a legal and fair manner, like other regulated sites, and to maintain the highest standards of safety and security.
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.
When it comes to making deposits, you will have a few more options at non UK betting sites than you do compared to UKGC-licensed bookmakers. 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 2020, credit cards are still very popular at overseas credit card 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.
Even though the non UK betting sites is operating from abroad, you can still bet in GBP. However, there may be a small exchange fee to consider.
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. Crypto betting sites 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, especially as deposits and withdrawals are usually instant.
Now that you have much more information about how non UK betting sites work, we have shared some guidance on how to make the most of your experience when using them:
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.
https://www.statista.com/statistics/468467/number-of-betting-shops-in-great-britain/
https://www.thejockeyclub.co.uk/the-racing/racing-explained/days-at-races/how-popular-is-horseracing/
https://www.mga.org.mt/
https://www.gibraltar.gov.gi/finance-gaming-and-regulations/remote-gambling
https://www.gamingcontrolcuracao.org/