Bet365 are one of the biggest bookmakers in the UK. They're a private, family-run company based in Stoke-on-Trent and continue to grow at a rate of knots. They claim to have close to a million customers worldwide and now employ upwards of 600 people.
The company began in 1974 as a series of betting shops dotted around the Midlands and North-West. During the late 1990s, a telephone betting division was set up and an online operation followed shortly afterwards. In 2005, bet365 decided to sell their several hundred shops to Coral and instead focus more on their fast-expanding online business.
You can watch all live streaming of the Aus Open at bet365 > Sports > Live Streaming
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Hits
- Quick, easy-to-use website taking you to wide range of markets
- Strong In-Play betting service, covering virtually every live event.
- Very reputable brand, fair-minded and efficient customer service.
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Paddy Power have been established since 1988 and are currently Ireland’s largest bookmaker. Although widely respected, they have something of a controversial opinion within the betting industry due to a number of close-to-the-bone marketing campaigns and their tendency to pay out on outcomes before an event has even been settled. Read full review »
Hits
- They have some excellent traders who provide tight odds and a vast range of markets
- Ridiculously early pay-outs – sometimes on matches which haven’t yet taken place! Superb range of special bets
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Ladbrokes are arguably the biggest bookmaker in the world and one of the most reputable brands in the betting industry. They appear to be at the forefront of many legal cases opposing the state monopoly of several different countries. In the UK, Ladbrokes have over 2,000 betting shops and are listed on the FTSE 100 Index. They have been established since the 1950’s and their online service has been available since 2000.
Ladbrokes are screening the Australian Open live online Read full review »
Hits
- They are a massive betting company and, as such, they’re pretty much the safest ones to bet with.
- Strong customer service, always seems to be well-manned.
- Huge range of languages available and plenty of European focus on sports and markets
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Stan James is a privately run bookmaker that originally began with a small group of betting shops in Berkshire. Founded by bookie Steve Fisher in 1973, Stan James is still family run and Steve's son Peter is the MD.
Stan James has only a small number of shops in the UK and a larger internet and telephone betting operation in Gibraltar which handles millions of pounds of bets per day. Read full review »
Hits
- Excellent In-Play service, providing tight margins in real time.
- Website interface is attractive and easy-to-navigate
- Generally provide extra value to customers with enhanced odds and special markets
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Betfair is the trading name of Betfair Limited, which was founded in August 1999 by Andrew "Bert" Black and Edward Wray.
Unlike fixed odds bookmakers such as William Hill, Ladbrokes and Coral, betfair is a betting exchange, allowing customers to choose whether to back a selection or instead effectively act as the bookmaker themself and lay a selection instead.
The first ever sporting market traded on betfair was the 2000 Oaks and, in the space of nine years, betfair has become the world's biggest betting exchange and effectively revolutionised the betting industry in the process. Read full review »
Hits
- Amazing interface
- Better odds on the more popular markets
- Betfair Starting Price product
- Ability to lay as well as back
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When it comes to bookmakers with experience, they don’t come any bigger than William Hill. The Leeds-based company were founded in 1934 and, like main competitors Ladbrokes, operate over 2,000 licensed betting offices in the UK. In addition to shops and online, Hills have a huge telephone betting operation and claim to now have nearly 300,000 customers.
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Hits
- Very simple and easy-to-use website interface
- A strong reputation for being safe, secure and well-established
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