History Of Betting Shops In Uk
Ladbrokes is perhaps the world’s most trusted gambling site.
Available in 23 languages and 16 currencies, it offers sports
betting, horse racing, financial betting, poker, bingo, and
casino from a single login and centralized player bank. Their
parent company has been in business since 1886, owns over 2100
brick and mortar UK betting shops, and is publicly-listed on the
London Stock Exchange. We will cover their impressive history
in depth.
But when betting tax came in and we started trimming the odds, it became a business.' John Banks, who owned a chain of betting shops in Scotland, and who later became one of the biggest racecourse bookmakers, described the shops. The UK passed the Betting and Gaming Act in 1960 allowing betting shops to be legally operated in the country for the very first time. The UK Racecourse Betting Control Board was then able to license. The biggest change in the history of Gambling in the United Kingdom came in 1961 when Harold McMillian's government legalised betting shops under the 1960 Betting and Gaming Act.
It Began in Ladbroke
Depending upon where you live in the world, the brand name
Ladbrokes might seem odd. The name, however, is derived from the
village of Ladbroke, located about 2 miles (3.2 km) south of
Southam in Warwickshire, England, UK. The founder, W. H. Schwind
(nickname: Harry / legal name: Messrs), once lived in the
Ladbroke House (now part of the University of North London) and
trained horses from Ladbroke Hall, now a listed building (UK’s
equivalent of what the US calls a Historic Landmark). The
third partner of Ladbrokes, Arthur Bendir suggested the name
during his first visit upon seeing Ladbroke Hall on a sign post.
BetFred was founded in 1967 by two brothers, Fred and Peter Done, who opened a betting shop in Salford, UK. The brothers financed the opening of the first BetFred betting shop mainly because of the big bet. The 1960 Act legalised gambling in the UK. From May 1961, betting shops were allowed to open, which paved the way for wagers on the sport to extend beyond assocation pool betting.
The Start of Ladbrokes
Without an official name, the company started in 1886 when a
man known only as Pennington went into partnership with Mr.
Schwind. The former bet horses were trained by the latter. In
1902, a bookmaker named Arthur Bendir joined the partnership; under the name Ladbrokes, they took on a new model. Rather
than just backing horses, they changed their focus to laying
them: working as both punters and as a bookmaker. Bendir’s
vision for the company was to service an elite clientele; with that, he was a big success.
The majority of Ladbrokes’ early clients were members of such
clubs as the Whites, the Carlton, and the Athenaeum. After moving
their offices from Hanover Square to Six Old Burlington Street,
Mayfair in 1913, Ladbrokes began focusing on attracting punters
from the tracks. In doing so, they recruited a female decedent
of a noble Scottish family named Helen Vernet. Extremely unique,
she became their on track representative, earning a place in
history as the first lady bookmaker. Ms. Vernet became a partner
in Ladbrokes in 1918 and spent many years as the face of the
company.
Unfortunately for Ladbrokes, between the war and aging
partners, business declined greatly in the 1950’s. Upon the 1956
death of Vernet, age 80 at the time, the company was sold to
Mark Stein (known as Max Parker) and his nephew, Cyril Stein,
for £100,000. From here, the history of the company we now know
as Ladbrokes began.
The Start of Ladbrokes Plc
When the Stein’s took over the business in 1956, most of the
clients were upper class members of various gentlemen clubs in
Central London. Cyril Stein, however, recognized the need to
take on new clients. The laws at the time in the UK restricted
cash betting to on course, and all off course bookmaking had to
be done on credit. The laws also favored criminals, because
gambling debts weren’t enforceable. With his hands tied on the off
course side, Stein began sponsoring small greyhound tracks with
no minimum bet requirements, giving the Ladbrokes name greater
exposure in less privileged circles, while still maintaining
their privileged class clientele at major tracks. When the UK
legalized betting shops in 1961, this strategy paid off.
When betting shops first opened, they were strictly
regulated. Windows had to be blacked out: they had strict
opening and closing times and didn’t take bets on Sundays.
However, the ability to bet ante-post for even small stakes
attracted bettors from all circles to patronize such shops. At a
rate of about 35 new shops opening per week, over 15,000 were
available by 1968. Ladbrokes purchased their first shop in 1962,
and began using a strategy of investing most of the profits into
acquiring more. They became the first retail chain bookmaker in
the UK.
Fixed Odds Football
Quite often, articles on the
history of
gambling sites erroneously credit Ladbrokes as the inventor
of fixed odds betting. In reality, well before Ladbrokes, a
bookmaker named Charles K. McNeil offered fixed odds on US
sports from Chicago in the 1940’s. While also credited as the
inventor, he likely wasn’t the first. Even the claim of creating
fixed odds for football (soccer) isn’t true. If you read
our
article on William Hill history, you’ll discover that the
public record properly refutes such a claim.
In any case, Ladbrokes might possibly have been the first to
offer a legal opportunity to wager fixed odds on football using
cash post up in the UK. A quite famous story tells of the final
Saturday of 1963 when football results cost them over £1 million
in a net player win. Enough to crush most of their competitors,
this proved barely a hurdle; Ladbrokes would go on to become a
multibillion pound Plc.
Ladbrokes Goes Public
In 1967, Ladbrokes owned approximately 100 betting shops and
5 credit offices when they offered 1,350,000 shares for £0.50
per. It turned out that there was £60 million in application
orders, making it one of the most oversubscribed IPO’s in
history, perhaps a testament to the type of clientele and fan
base Ladbrokes had attracted over the years. For reasons that
will become obvious after reading the next section, no matter
what share price was obtained early on, those who held on
long-term made a bundle owning Ladbrokes shares.
Ladbrokes Expansion
The rapid expansion of Ladbrokes as a corporate conglomerate
could fill another article; however, we’ll give a quick run
through. In 1972, Ladbrokes acquired London & Leeds Development
Corporation through which the company expanded to over 1,100 UK
betting shops. Many were more developed than those of the 1960’s
and had more of a casino-like atmosphere. In 1984, Le Tiercé SA
was purchased, giving them ownership of 400 established betting
shops in Belgium. Marking their expansion into the United
States, in 1985 they purchased Detroit Race Course followed by
the purchase of over 100 UK outlets for £200 million in 1987.
These are only some of their acquisitions over a 15-year period.
Their biggest coup came in 1988 with the £645 million
acquisition of Hilton International, giving them ownership of
hotels in all markets other than the United States. This proved
to be a worthy investment when they sold back to the Hilton
Hotel Corporation in 2005 for £3.3 billion. Even with a cursory
overview of the non-gambling related activities of Ladbrokes Plc,
you can see that it’s no run-of-the-mill bookmaker. On the
contrary, it’s one of the richest companies in the world, and
it grew from an honest betting business founded in 1886, followed
by a series of calculated investments.
Ladbrokes 1990’s
No doubt Ladbrokes made many smart moves in the 1990’s,
including one blocked as a monopoly that could have been huge.
However, a lot of their breaks in this decade were based on how
large and dominate they were in the legal bookmaking business.
In 1993, after 37-years running the ship, Cyril Stein retired.
The company he initially purchased with his uncle for £100,000
had grown such that issued shares alone had a market value that
exceeded £2 billion.
In the year that followed his retirement (1994), the UK
national lottery went live and also removed several restrictions
that betting shops previously faced. They were now allowed to
open on Sundays, display advertisements, market on radio and
television, serve food and beverage, and offer slot machines and
scratch cards. This change saw the 1,750 betting shops Ladbrokes
held in the UK convert into the mini-casino style shops known
today. On top of this, they began purchasing actual casinos, the
first group of which included City Clubs, and their three
casinos: Maxims, Chesters, and the Golden Horseshoe for £50
million.
In 1997, Ladbrokes made a huge acquisition, purchasing their
second largest competitor, Coral, for £375 million, which
included 800 betting shops. The deal was ruled a monopoly and
they were forced to sell the following year. With the proceeds,
they acquired Stakis, adding 22 UK casinos and 54 hotels to
their list of held assets.
Ladbrokes Goes Online in 2000
In 2000, Ladbrokes expanded its service to the Internet. Due
to the massive brand recognition and ability to advertise in
well over 2,000 UK betting shops, theirs almost instantly became
the UK’s most active betting website. Despite being
predominately UK, where their brand is as well-known as
McDonald’s fast food elsewhere, the company was quick to expand
to markets unclaimed by other bookmakers.
An early failed attempt at expansion came in 2001 when they
partnered with Playboy Magazine to launch a horse race betting
website targeted at the United States. There was much talk at
the time that the Wire Act would soon be repealed to give the US
much-needed tax revenue. Of course a decade later the same
conversation is still taking place and the Ladbrokes / Playboy
partnership has long since been abandoned. However, while the US
expansion proved a costly test, another around the same time
paid off with great dividends.
Back in 2001, Ladbrokes was a principle sponsor of the
Liverpool FC’s 2001-2002 Asian tour that saw them compete in
both Thailand and Singapore. The company shortly translated
their website into Thai and Chinese, and they began supporting many
Asian currencies with banking methods and support available to
most of South East Asia. This proved to be a great success, and
Ladbrokes is still a popular site for Asian handicap (hang cheng)
betting. They also support more football and sport leagues from
around the world than any other gambling website.
After their expansion into Asia, Ladbrokes continued to
market in their staple, the UK, while expanding to many
additional European markets. In 2004, they added a Microgaming
powered poker room to their sports and casino platform. As
mentioned, today Ladbrokes offers sports betting, horse racing,
financial betting, poker, bingo, and casino in 23 languages and
16 currencies.
The company has remained active as a legal global bookmaker.
After obtaining French and South African licenses for
Ladbrokes.co.za in 2011, in 2012 they obtained a Spanish license
as well. The majority of their business is licensed in
Gibraltar, a reputable gambling district. If you’re
looking for one of the safest and most financially secure legal
betting websites to patronize, ladbrokes.com is an excellent
choice.
Gambling has been with us almost since time began and it even exists in mythology with the ancient Greek Gods drawing lots to decide who received the sky, the seas and the underworld.
In the real world, crude dice were fashioned from animal bones and rolling the bones became a popular pastime with various stakes involved. But without delving too much into prehistory and those games that eventually evolved into modern day casino culture, the question concerns gambling and how it developed into the Billion Dollar industry that people know today?
To answer that, let’s start with one of the oldest sports on a typical bookmaker’s list.
We often talk about the history of gambling in glowing terms. Fond nostalgia is recalled as we talk about physical betting shops and the lost art of actually leaving the house and placing a wager.
Further back in time, we also have the origins of the ‘sport of kings’. Horse racing stretches back for centuries and it has a very colourful history all of its own. It’s a largely wholesome look back but things weren’t always like this.
The Dark Ages
A lot of early wagering took place in taverns around the UK and the subjects of gambling interest could be quite unsavoury at times. We’ve all heard of the practise of cockfighting which has long been outlawed yet it still remains noted in names of hostelries up and down the country. Ever visited a pub called the Fighting Cocks? The name is not a coincidence.
There is no great mystery to the name either. Two cockerels are placed into a pit and what follows is literally a fight to the death. Bets are placed on each bird with profits going to those who have backed the winners. We must be thankful we won’t be witnessing such horror on a trip to our current local but it’s all part of a rich betting history and that’s why it’s recorded here.
Optional Bloodsports
Talking of pub names, have you ever wondered about the origins of the Dog and Duck? On the face of things, it all seems fairly wholesome and the two beasts are not exactly sworn enemies in the natural world. Once upon a time, however, it was all very different.
Legend has it that ducks would be released into a nearby pond with their wings taped. This had the effect of allowing them to float on top of the water but they were unable to fly away and escape the attention of a ferocious dog. The ravenous canine would be released and punters would bet on which of the defenceless ducks it would capture first.
Those taverns also played host to bare knuckle boxing fights. There was a notable absence of rules between these early pugilists but it was largely a case of last man standing. Tavern going people simply looked to bet on the winner and claim their share of the pot after helping to wipe the blood from the walls.
A bare knuckle boxing fight
A series of legislation was slowly brought in to combat these brutal sports. Cockfighting was addressed in 1849 but it largely carried on in defiance of any new rules, Over a century later, the Betting, Lotteries and Gaming Act of 1963 looked to go a stage further.
1963 Rulings
The Betting, Lotteries and Gaming Act of 1963 looked to repeal and clarify some earlier laws. In 1960, the UK paved the way for licensed betting shops to be opened and this helped to take gambling away from the pubs and into more regulated premises.
The 1963 act simply tidied up some of the earlier rulings and the biggest development saw the establishment of the British horse racing levy board. It had built on earlier rules but the acts of 1960 and 1963 did the most to take the bloodsports out of the taverns and to put an end to them as far as they possibly could.
The Sport of Kings
The first reference to the sport of horse racing dates back to England in the sixteenth century. We know that the concept of riding a horse and competing against an opponent predates that by some margin but this is the first time that we see horse racing listed as a competitive and largely friendly sport.
We also know that wagering took place prior to this time so we can be almost completely certain that when the sport became official in Great Britain, gambling came along too and was synonymous with it.
1504 marks the year when James IV of Scotland is said to have attended a meeting at Leith and just eight years later, the UK had its first official thoroughbred race in the shape of the Chester Cup, first run in 1512. The sport intensified from that period and we know that betting took place but how, exactly, did a transaction take place in the absence of a Tote or a Ladbrokes Tent?
A Gentleman’s Wager
Bookmaking in its present form, where an individual or organisation sets up an official betting book, didn’t start until the nineteenth century so before its inception, racegoers had to sort things out for themselves. Remember, this was a time before most of the major sports in the world – football, cricket, rugby, golf etc – had even been invented by people so we have to take horse racing as the example and here we find the Genesis of sports betting.
In the 16th century, bets were made between friends and rivals. One would bet on a horse to win and the other would take that bet and collect if it lost. Effectively, this would form the basis of back and lay bets which were picked up by the betting exchanges centuries later.
In time, these straight ‘win or lose’ punts were replaced as one individual would essentially set odds. ‘You bet Five Guineas and if the horse wins I give you Twenty Guineas’. But there was no sense of organisation – just a bet between two racegoers.
We know that this type of back and lay dates back to Roman times at least when the lives of the Gladiators were laid on the line for the sake of entertainment, and the chance to win some money through gambling…
Problems, Problems
The thorny issue of responsible gambling is very much at the forefront of our consciousness in modern times and it was a concern in the early days of gambling too. By 1722, some 122 towns and cities in the country were holding race meetings with money changing hands at each one.
Worried by the escalation in betting, the government introduced the Gaming Act of 1739 which included a number of measures that were intended to deter likely bettors from attending a day at the racing. Entrance money and prize money were increased to a minimum level of £50.00 and that prevented all but the richest owners from entering their horses into any race.
Documents at the time link gambling on the sport to idleness and impoverishment and the new act did much to deter the poorer citizens from attending and from entering into organized meetings. However, as an overall means for social reform, it was worthless as illegal meets were set up around the country and racing, and gambling continued as before!
Order, Order
The government could therefore do little to reduce gambling and so, in the second half of the eighteenth century, two separate bodies were set up to regulate the sport. One was intended to bring more order to meetings while the other was established to bring the gambling world into line.
In 1750, the Jockey Club was formed in Newmarket with a specific brief to bring order to the chaotic world of horse racing. The first set of rules was to be introduced while an overall organisation of the various meetings across the UK was also set up.
Their actions aided the introduction of Tattersalls in 1789 which was a body for the regulation of gambling. The order brought about by the Jockey Club had seen the introduction of many famous races such as The St Leger, The Oaks and The Derby so while its goal was being achieved, the betting fraternity had become increasingly dysfunctional.
At that point, betting had effectively remained a wager between two people but as demand increased, so did the need for proper facilities. Previously, the majority of races had seen two horses go head to head but with some of the sport’s great ‘classics’ having been born, there were greater fields. The original ‘back and lay’ system had started to become redundant and in the years that followed, bookmaking as we know it finally saw the light of day.
The Godfather
The man credited as the first ever bookmaker is a certain William Ogden. Curiously, for a man who essentially gave birth to one of the most popular pastimes and biggest industries in the world, very little is known about his life.
What we do know is that Ogden became the first man to offer fixed odds on all horses in a specific race. At that point in history of betting, all you needed was a head for mathematics, an entrepreneurial disposition and, of course, a fair amount of money to back you up if things went wrong.
Uk Betting Online
Ogden was followed by colourful characters such as Facetious Jemmy Bland and Crutch Robinson who became familiar faces around the tracks of the time. Again, we know little about many of these men but perhaps Bland is indicative of the type of person who would become one of the pioneers of bookmaking.
‘Facetious’ Bland owned a house on London’s Piccadilly so his wealth inspired a certain level of resentment among his fellow man. However, during his time spent dealing with the betting fraternity, he built up a reputation for honesty and fair play and in those early days of cash only transactions, that was all you could really ask for.
In fact, such was Ogden’s honesty that he was to become the only bookmaker ever to be allowed into the hallowed rooms of the Jockey Club at Newmarket. We often think of early sports bookies as being ‘shady’ characters and certainly over the years there have been some who operated on both sides of the law but clearly in these early days, many were considered to be respectable and honest businessmen.
The Nay-Sayers
Although transactions at the start of organised bookmaking seemed to have, in the main, progressed very well, there was a predictable outcry against the dangers of betting. We’re back to the claims of idleness and poverty and the feeling amongst many that it was something of a curse on the nation.
External factors would also affect the public’s attitude to gambling – Ponzi schemes and the South Sea Bubble have been cited as factors behind a general resentment. The collapse of the first national lottery and the concerns over the fledgling stock market had also raised public ire so once again, it was back to the government to draw up legislation that would address any problems – perceived or otherwise.
Admittedly there had been some very high profile betting frauds being carried out but the Gaming Act of 1845 effectively outlawed the practise making all betting contracts void and unenforceable. Those who sought support from the state were backed up quite readily as the government had been forced into a bailout in the light of many of these frauds.
Going Underground
Having been out in the open for over half a century, bookmakers were forced to go underground once again. Bets were still made and accepted but they were naturally clandestine in the wake of the 1845 set of legislation.
In the first half of the 19th century, betting houses had been cropping up in towns and cities all over the country but these were to be outlawed in the wake of the Gaming Act. In turn, that led to street betting which eventually become subject to further rules but the practise didn’t go away.
Arrests for breaches of the law increased but so did the increase in betting. It was clear, even though the rules remained in place, that the gambling community wasn’t going to go away and that they merely had to be more careful as to how they went about their business.
Betting House Act of 1853
Like a number of gambling rulings, the Betting House Act of 1853 was introduced to answer some issues that hadn’t been addressed by previous legislation. In this instance, the earlier Gaming Act of 1845 had sought to deal with the rise of gambling and the feeling at the time that this was a social problem.
The Act didn’t actually outlaw gambling but it ruled that a wager was an unenforceable contract and the subsequent problem was that the losing party simply didn’t have to pay up. Some bookmakers that were in existence just ran away with clients’ money and it’s largely fair to say that the 1845 act did more harm than good.
In order to take advantage of this new landscape, unlicensed betting shops began to crop up in all places. Private houses saw an opportunity and this was the primary issue that the Betting House Act of 1853 sought to address.
The 1853 ruling made it illegal to use or to provide any property for the use of betting. Once again, it wasn’t perfect as a lot of wagers were suddenly being made on the street but it did deal with those unlicensed houses.
The main benefit of the act saw a limited amount of licensed betting at racetracks around the UK. In Victorian Britain, this proved to be a popular pastime and this was essentially the birth of on track betting which continues to thrive in the present day.
Tolerance
The first quarter of the twentieth century saw a shift in public and legal attitude towards gambling. It was evident that even with laws that had been put in place, the practise wasn’t going to disappear so rather than try to abolish it, questions were asked as to how gambling could be regulated.
There had been a precedent in regards to alcohol where fair licensing laws had helped to calm social excess so how could the same be done with betting?
The 1906 Street Gambling Act had sought to wipe out gambling but it only saw an increase in arrests and bookies, like publicans, were seen to be providing a useful service to the social community. It wasn’t until the outbreak of the First World War that a greater level of tolerance was seen as the police clearly had more important issues to deal with.
William Hill and Joe Coral – the Bookies Runner
This was the time when important gambling characters such as William Hill and Joe Coral began to appear. Officially, the Coral Group was first established in 1926 but young Joe had started his bookmaking career much earlier. Having left school at 14, a talent for mathematics also landed him a job as a clerk in a lamp making factory and it was there that he came into contact with several private bookies.
Joe became unofficially employed as a Bookies Runner – one occupation that has ultimately led to many of the established brands that we know today. The mechanics of the job are not widely published but the clue is in the name. People such as Joe Coral would literally ‘run’ the bet between client and bookmaker, handling the cash and delivering any winnings back to the customer.
Trustworthiness was therefore vital although the consequences of a runner stealing money from some of the more shady bookmakers would have been grim. The issue of trust also meant that runners were often young boys aged around 14 – 16 – people that the police would tend to turn a ‘blind eye’ to as they went about their business.
William Hill’s entry into the world of bookmaking provides interesting parallels to that of Joe Coral. Hill ran away from his schooling at the tender age of 12 and by the start of World War One had begun an apprenticeship at the BSA Motorcycle Company in Birmingham. From there he got into ‘running’ and by having access to a bike he could do his job far more efficiently.
Runners such as William Hill and Joe Coral have gone on to become household names but there were thousands like them in an industry that had been driven underground but was about to become tolerated and it was ultimately made legal to bet.
Study Group
Through 1932 and into 1933, the Royal Commission on Lotteries and Betting sat and initially, it was designed to tackle a familiar problem – the effect of gambling on society. But, as the weeks went by, the attitude of its members changed as it realised that the underground industry was never going to be stamped out.
In fact, one witness to the sittings said that it was doubtful whether a single bet had been prevented in the wake of the 1906 Street Betting Act. Ultimately, they concluded that the main problem laid in the direct contact that a bettor had with the bookmaker and that was the key issue in terms of social decay, associated with gambling.
As a result, a special system of letter boxes was set up so that bets could be posted and this in turn led to a loophole whereby postal bets by regular mail were also admissible. This particular ‘grey area’ was exploited by early brands such as Coral and William Hill who used it to build their burgeoning businesses. Licensed Betting Shops were discussed at the platform but the idea was dismissed – for now.
Essentially, another set of ‘underground dealings’ were established but in the years that followed, the inception of the welfare state and the crises that eventually led to the Second World War were to become a focus for politicians at the time.
Sea Change
At the conclusion of the conflict, the government was able to turn once again to its issues at home and in 1949, a second Royal Commission was established to see if there had been a shift in public opinion since the first sitting prior to World War II.
It was evident that sports betting was becoming acceptable in all levels of society and over the years, several factors had broken down social boundaries to an extent. Chairman of the commission Henry Willink and his partners agreed with the opinion that attitudes to gambling were stuck in a form of misplaced Victorian morality. Furthermore and perhaps more importantly, the government had also recognised that a huge revenue could be drawn from the proceeds of a legitimised gambling industry.
A number of new recommendations were made but the biggest of these surrounded the formation of legalised betting shops. The Royal Commission of 1949 stated that these premises should be introduced and that anyone operating illegally should now be granted an official gambling license rather than be punished.
Slow Change – When Did Betting Shops Become Legal?
The recommendations were taken on board and were to lead to the biggest change in the gambling industry to that point. However, progress was slow and it wasn’t until 1960 that betting shops were allowed to trade in Britain’s towns and cities.
The legislation produced in the Betting and Gaming Act of 1960 had a number of facets some of which were important at the time but seem relatively minor now. For example, gambling for small sums in games of skill such as bridge was allowed for the first time and pubs were allowed to install and openly display slot machines. But the biggest move of all saw the first licensed betting shops open their doors to customers for the first time in the summer of 1961.
Established brands such as Ladbrokes and William Hill started to get involved and it’s said that from May 1st 1961, betting shops were opening at a rate of 100 per week until there were 10,000 premises by the following November.
Over the years, other names started to appear on the British High Street such as Betfred, Paddy Power. In many cases these were regional with BetFred in the Manchester area and Stan James to the west of England and it wasn’t until the digital age revolutionised the way we bet that we began to know them just a little bit better.
Growth continued throughout the 1970’s, 80’s and 90’s and although most of us like to gamble online these days, the betting shop on the High Street continues to thrive. The Betting and Gaming Act of 1960 had finally made it possible and had paved the way for gambling operators to go to the global level that we know today.
Best Betting Company Uk
It had been a long struggle, lasting even hundreds of years but finally society had accepted an industry that simply refused to die.
Online Bookmakers
By the mid-1990s, the internet had started to take hold and it was also changing the world of commerce. Instant financial transactions had made life easier for global consumers and it was only a matter of time before sports bookmakers realised the online potential, that is, online betting.
Uk Betting Site
While many began preparing for digital trading, Intertops were the first to make their move. With a license from the Kahnawake Gaming Commission, the sportsbook unveiled its online platform in 1996. To this day, they are not open to online players from the United Kingdom but many new operators followed Intertops’ lead and began to establish their digital presence.
Sports Betting Uk
Between 1996 and 2000, some very familiar online brands began to emerge including Unibet and bet365. In time, those established betting shop brands from the high street such as William Hill, Ladbrokes and Coral began to follow suit.
In the 20+ years since Intertops broke the mould, we now have hundreds of UK online bookmakers to choose from and digital platforms have allowed for new gambling innovations. We’ve seen live betting explode while cashout and loyalty programmes are new developments that have added value to our online betting.
List Of Uk Betting Sites
It can only get bigger and better from here and when we talk about online betting, the question, as always, is ‘what’s next?’