Ireland, it is safe for us to say, has a long gambling history. Irish sports bettors enjoy placing bets on a variety of sports, and it is believed that 1 in 5 Irish people enjoy gambling regularly, with a third of them visiting online betting sites. At the moment, there are about 300 bookmakers that are willing to accept Irish sports bettors and new Irish betting sites are popping up all the time. Out of these betting sites Ireland, there are a number that stand out from the crowd, and below you will find all you need to know about the best betting sites in Ireland.
Is Online Gambling Legal in Ireland?
Before we dive straight in and start taking a look at some of the best betting sites that Irish sports betting fans can open an account with, we thought it would be a good idea to first take a look at the legal aspect of gambling in Ireland.
Before you start placing bets online anywhere, you have to ensure that it is legal where you are. When you realise how popular gambling is in the Emerald Isle, it might be quite surprising that online gambling was prohibited until 2015. However, the government soon realised how much money could be made from the online gambling industry, so they decided to make Irish betting sites legal.
Nowadays, Irish gambling is estimated to be worth somewhere in the region of €220 million a year. Any betting site, whether situated in Ireland or somewhere else around the world, are allowed to enter the Irish sports betting market as long as they have the necessary licenses from legitimate gambling commissions. Most of the bookies that are open to Irish sports bettors have been regulated by the UK Gambling Commission, which just so happens to be one of the most respected and best gambling regulators in the business.
Top 3 Irish Betting Sites
What are the best Irish betting sites? This is one question that we are asked all of the time by Irish sports bettors and they will visit betting comparison site after betting comparison site trying to find the answer to this question. However, to be perfectly honest with you, this is not a simple question for us to answer since we all like different things. Thus, what one person might consider a perfect bookmaker, another might consider to be average.
So, in our humble opinion, you should read reviews bookmakers in Ireland and then make up your final decision based on the review that you liked the best. Below we are going to have a look at three bookies that accept Irish punters and are at the top of their game.
Betway
Betway came into being in 2006, which means that it is a relatively young bookie when compared to other online bookies. However, in the 15 years that they have been around, they have racked up millions of players from across the world, with a high percentage of those being from Ireland.
What makes Betway such a popular betting site is that when it comes to betting sites welcome offers, they have a very enticing one. Anyone who opens a new account with Betway will be able to claim up to €30 in free bets and then as an existing customer they will be able to make use of a variety of exciting promotions.
Betway has a variety of markets for no fewer than 32 sports, and the odds that they offer are extremely competitive. Another reason why Betway is so popular with Irish bettors is that the Irish love to bet on sports such as football and Betway just so happens to be one of the top football betting sites around at the moment. To top it all off, they have a wide variety of payment options, the customer support team is always on point, and they offer live streams for a variety of sports so that you do not miss out on action.
Below is a summary of the best bits about Betway:
· They have an attractive Welcome Bonus.
· They have a variety of exciting promotions.
· There are many different payment options for making a deposit or withdrawal.
· They offer plenty of live streams.
· They have one of the best customer support teams around.
Bet365
Bet365 is based in the UK, but they are happy to accept Irish sports bettors. They are extremely popular for Irish sports betting fans as they provide a comprehensive sports betting experience. Above we said that Betway has an enticing Welcome Bonus (and they do), but it is safe to say that Bet365 has one of the best betting site offers in the industry. If you decide to open an account with them, you can claim up to €100 in bet credits and existing customers will be treated to regular free bets.
When it comes to the sports on offer, you will find a variety of markets for all of the world’s most popular sports, and you will not have anything to complain about when it comes to the odds that are on offer. If you are into your Asian handicaps, then we recommend that you check out Bet365 as we generally feel that they are one of the best Asian handicap betting sites in the industry. To add to this, they have a great live stream feature, a variety of deposit and withdrawal options, very solid customer support, and a top-quality mobile app. Also, when it comes to matched betting sites, it is one of the best out there. Any new betting sites would do well to take a leaf out of Bet365’s book.
Below is a summary of Bet365’s best bits:
· A huge Welcome Bonus is on offer.
· A lot of payment methods to choose from.
· Live streams for many different sports.
· A great mobile app.
Coral
The first coral bookmaker came into being back in 1926, and the fact that they are still going strong is a testament to their ability to adapt to changes. They have a huge Irish customer base, and this can be put down to their reputation – if you have a very good reputation, then you will go far in the gambling world.
However, it is not just their reputation that makes them so popular among Irish punters, it is the fact that they have an impressive selection of markets and very competitive odds for a variety of sports. To add to this, they stream more than 60,000 live streams every year. The Irish are passionate about horse racing and Coral are certainly aware of this, which is why they have made sure that they are the best betting sites for Cheltenham and all other major horse racing events. In addition to this, they are great for football betting, another popular sport in the Emerald Isle, so they have made sure that they are one of the best soccer betting sites around too.
If you ever encounter an issue at Coral, get in touch with their customer support team and they will do their best to make sure that your issue is resolved quickly. Once again, below you can find the main highlights of this sportsbook:
· 60,000 streams each year for many different sports.
· Very good customer support team.
· A plethora of markets and competitive odds for all sports on offer.
Other great bookmakers that we recommend you take a closer look at include the likes of:
· William Hill
· Ladbrokes
· Unibet
· BetVictor
· 888Sport
· SkyBet
· Bwin
· Mr. Green
· Paddy Power
How Irish Sports Bettors Can Find the Best Betting Sites
There are many bookies available to sports bettors in Ireland that it would be silly of you to just open an account with the first one you find. When you are choosing a betting site to join, there are a number of important things that you need to look at. We shall take a close look at what some of these are right now.
What Type of Reputation Does the Bookmaker Have?
As we said above, a solid reputation will get you far in the gambling industry, so before you go ahead and open an account with a bookmaker, it is wise to find out what type of reputation they have. The way that we suggest you do this is by checking out some best betting sites reviews. If you read a number of reviews for a particular bookie and see that they get a lot of negative remarks, then it will be in your best interest to forget about them and look for another betting site to open an account with.
Are the Odds on Offer Competitive?
We work really hard for our money, so we should always look to get the best deal whenever we are going to spend it. When it comes to sports betting, the best way for you to get the most from your money is to make bets using the best odds around. The higher the odds that you use, the better your profit will be if your bet is a winner.
Odds will always vary from bookmaker to bookmaker, so we suggest that you think about signing up with a number of bookmakers so that when you are betting on a particular market you can compare odds and select the best ones.
Is the Site Secure?
There is one thing you really want to avoid doing and that is to open a new account with a sportsbook that has poor security. If you end up doing this, then you are running the risk of financial and personal details being stolen by online criminals.
Thus, you need to find out everything you can about a betting site’s security before you deposit your hard-earned cash with them.
One way to check if a site is secure is to look at the address bar and see if there is a padlock present. If there is, then you know that they have a good level of security. Another way to see if they have suitable security levels is to check who they have been licensed by. If you scroll to the bottom of the homepage and see that they have a license from the Malta Gaming Authority or the UK Gambling Commission, you can be sure that secure and fair betting site. These gambling regulators do not hand out their licenses for fun, they have to be earned.
If you have any doubts about the security a bookmaker has, then just find another one to sign up with. There are plenty of bookies out there with great security, so you do not have to put yourself at unnecessary risk.
Are the Terms and Conditions In Your Favour?
When you are using bonuses and promotions from a sports betting site, there will always be T&Cs that apply. The main T&C that you will encounter are wagering requirements. To explain it as simply as possible, this is the number of times that you will be required to wager your bonus money before you will be able to withdraw it or any winnings you have made. For instance, if you get a bonus of €50 and the wagering requirements that apply are 3x, it means that you need to stake €150 before you can make a withdrawal.
Another common T&C that you will come across are the minimum odds that you need to use when you are spending your bonus money – the min odds will often be somewhere between 1.40-2.00. You will also usually be given a number of days to make use of your bonus, which could be 7 days from some bookmakers and 30 days from another.
Before you go ahead and start using a bonus of any type, we really do suggest that you take a bit of time to read all the T&Cs. By doing this you will decrease the odds of you making an error that will see you lose your bonus money.
