To many people, the terms online bookmaker and betting site can be used interchangeably and simply refers to a website which will accept real money wagers. But to some a bookmaker is reserved for sports – after all, the name comes from ‘running a book’ on an event. But as you are probably aware, betting sites offer much more these days, with integrated casinos, poker games and even bingo. In fact, these multi-product monsters can offer you almost any form of gambling you want.
UK Gambling Sites
To save confusion, we’ll call these multi-product website “gambling sites”. In this next section we’ll showcase the very best all-in-one sites for pretty much anything you want to bet on.
Betting Site Features, FAQ’s and Need to Knows
Here we’ve written a series of guides to try and answer the more common questions that you may have about the other products that are on offer alongside sports betting or just how the sites work in general.
Single Wallet v Multi Wallet
With multi product sites there are two ways in which your money can be handled. It can either be lumped in together, or split into multiple wallets – usually one per product or group of products. Or sometimes there will be one main wallet and then side wallets for specific products – the reason why you sometimes have products split into different sections is explained below in the next part of the article.
There is no ‘good’ or ‘bad’ way to do it, as both has their own advantages. So at the end of the day it’s going to come down to how you like to manage your money and what is going to benefit you more:
- Single Wallet – Combining into one fluid wallet means you don’t need to transfer between sections to play different games. But it means that your entire balance will be available to whatever game you’re playing. So if you load your entire balance into a cash poker game, you won’t have anything available to bet with until you leave the table.
- Multiple Wallets – If money management isn’t your strong suite, then a multi-wallet system may actually be beneficial to you as it means you can set budgets and ensure you only bet what you intended. So if you maintain a few hundred in your account to be on sports but want to play a few hands of blackjack, you can do so whilst limiting your exposure. Ideal if you set out to risk £50 but seem to forget that and keep playing if you lose it.
Why are Casino Games Split into Multiple Sections?
Admittedly this is a little annoying, especially when there was a game you liked but can’t remember where you saw it. The reason behind this is to do with suppliers. Just like TV shows, the games are all made by different production companies. They are then syndicated and licensed either directly to the betting site or through a platform which combines multiple software. So think of it a little like having Netflix, Amazon Prime and Sky in your house – all of which have different programs, but have to be accessed separately.
So whilst it can seem like a bit of a pain, it’s done so you have more games to play.
Can You Claim Multiple Sign Up Bonuses?
This is where it gets a little tricky. Many betting sites offer different welcome bonuses for their sports, casino, bingo and poker sections, but can you claim the welcome bonus for each or do you need to choose which to claim?
Unfortunately there seems to be no set way for handling this, so it really comes down to the particular betting site you’re using. Some do let you claim bonuses from each section whilst others restrict you to one welcome bonus per account. The only real way to know for sure is to check the terms and conditions of the offer.
To add further confusion, we’ve seen some sites who would let you claim a casino bonus after previously signing up and claiming the sports welcome bonus, but not the other way around – so if you’d signed up and claimed the casino bonus first, you wouldn’t then be able to claim the sports bonus. This is a bit of a peculiar example, but it does happen.
TIP – If the site only allows one bonus then make sure you check all of the ones that are available for the products you’re interested in using, then claim the most generous one.
Caution is also needed when claiming multiple offers because the system may technically allow it, but it could still be against their terms meaning any winnings could be made void. Although thanks to the changes in the rules on how betting sites are allowed to advertise themselves it means that this is less likely now than it once was.