Best Betting Sites Ireland: Top-Rated Bookies According to Our Reviews

Date IconLast Updated: 25 Oct 2023

The best betting sites available in Ireland, reviewed and compared by our online betting experts. Check out our updated rankings of the top Irish betting sites below.

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How we Rate & Rank Online Bookmakers

Every bookmaker we review gets a rating out of 100. This helps us decide where to rank each betting site in our list. To calculate a rating, we score bookmakers out of 10 for the following categories:

 

Award-Winning Betting Sites 2023

Award-Winning Betting Sites

A reliable way to identify a good betting site is by looking at the most recent online betting award winners. Below, we have highlighted some of the top bookmakers that have won prestigious awards in recent years:

🏆 Sportsbook Operator of the Year 2022: bet365 (SBC Awards)

🏆 Esports Operator of the Year 2022: Betway (SBC Awards)

🏆 Best Football Betting Operator 2022: William Hill (EGaming Review Awards)

🏆 Mobile Operator of the Year 2023: LeoVegas Sport (International Gaming Awards)

🏆 Rising Star Operator of the Year 2021: Betiton (SIGMA Awards)

The Best Betting Sites For Every Type of Bettor

We go the extra mile when reviewing the best Irish betting sites to ensure our readers can pick one that suits their preferences. Below is a closer look at some of our top picks for November 2023:

Best Betting Site Welcome Offer: BetiBet

Best Features: The BetiBet welcome offer comes with up to €1600 in free bets. Bettors can also activate an additional OnlyWin Free Bet worth 10% of your first deposit over €20.

Biggest Negatives: Bonus paid out in installments (as you continue to place bets) rather than one lump sum.

Alternative: Bzeebet

Our View: This is one of the most generous online betting welcome offers for Irish bettors. It may not be as straightforward as other new customer offers, but €1600 is a great reward for patient punters.

Best GAA Betting Site: BoyleSports

Best Features: As an Irish bookmaker with headquarters in Dundalk, BoyleSports has offered GAA betting for over three decades. Here you can choose to insure or boost your hurling and football accas, meaning you get either improved odds or money back if one leg lets you down.

Biggest Negatives: Welcome offer could be improved.

Alternative: Ladbrokes

Our View: BoyleSports gives GAA the attention it deserves with more markets for club and inter-county games than its rivals offer. Seven-time All-Ireland winner Diarmuid Connolly is the GAA brand ambassador here, providing expert predictions and analysis on Gaelic football.

Best Bookmaker For Bet Builders: BetVictor

Best Features: BetVictor makes it easy to place bet builders by listing all of the games available for same-game accas in one place. You also get a list of suggested markets to combine.

Biggest Negatives: BetVictor is great for football bet builders but you can't yet place same-game accas on every sport.

Alternative: William Hill

Our View: We love this betting site's range of live streams across multiple sports and we were able to watch our bet builder picks play out in HD live on our phone. Boosted accas, best odds guaranteed and money-back specials are also worth a mention here.

Best Live Betting Site: bet365

Best Features: bet365's live betting service is second-to-none. You get more live streams here than with any other betting site and there are a range of offers tied to in-play betting, like early payouts, bet edits in-play and a partial cash-out feature.

Biggest Negatives: Acca insurance isn't available at bet365, so you can't get money back if one leg of your accumulator lets you down.

Alternative: Betway

Our View: bet365 is one of the most complete online betting sites and has the best live betting platform of any bookmaker we've reviewed. Even when a match isn't streamed, we get instant updates from bet365's live tracker. There are also in-depth stats available during live events.

Best Mobile Betting Site: 888sport

Best Features: 888sport has the most user-friendly betting app in Ireland, which comes with a free football score prediction game where you can win up to €10,000 in cash. You also get a €5 free bet whenever you land a horse racing winner at 4/1 or bigger.

Biggest Negatives: The desktop version of this betting site isn't laid out as well as mobile.

Alternative: Novibet

Our View: We like a freebie at Gambling.com, so the 888sport mobile app is right up our street. It comes with weekly free bets, a decent welcome offer and a free prediction game with big cash prizes. The app works seamlessly on Android and iPhone devices, allowing bets to be placed quickly and easily.

Best Pools Betting Site: Tote

Best Features: The Tote is a feature-packed pools betting site where you share in a pool of the money that's placed on a market if your bet is successful. The placepot is this bookmaker's most well-known promo, with a prize fund up to €100k if you have horses placed in the first six races of a selected meeting. That prize fund is bumped to €250k on Saturdays.

Biggest Negatives: There are only three sports to bet on here - horse racing, greyhound racing and football. 

Alternative: TonyBet

Our View: We enjoy mixing things up with pools betting and the Tote is the ideal betting site for this. Along with the placepot, there are pools betting fantasy games like Ten to Follow (minimum €10k top prize) and Tote Fantasy (€8.12 entry and winner takes 25% of the jackpot).

Best Spread Betting Site: Spreadex

Best Features: Spreadex is the #1 sports spread betting site. Here, you choose to buy or sell a potential range of outcomes instead of placing simple win/lose fixed-odds bets. This is also one of the few Irish betting sites with credit facilities.

Biggest Negatives: Spread betting can carry additional risks if you aren't experienced with this type of gambling.

Alternative: bet365

Our View: We usually review fixed-odds bookmakers at Gambling.com, so it's nice to try out a site like Spreadex for something a bit different. They don't neglect fixed-odds customers either, with first goalscorer insurance (football) and '2nd to a rag' insurance (racing) among their fixed-odds promotions.

Best Football Betting Site: 10bet

Best Features: 10bet has some great betting offers available for football punters. We especially like their acca boost offer which boosts your winnings by up to 100% - up to a maximum of €5,000.

Biggest Negatives: 10bet doesn't offer football live streaming, but the in-play match centre has live updates and stats

Alternative: Luckster Sport

Our View: 10bet keeps football betting interesting with odds boosts and Champions League free bets. We'd love to see football live streams added to the package, but there are racing live streams, so football streaming could be added as an option soon. 

Best Horse Racing Betting Site: William Hill

Best Features: William Hill is the standout online betting site for extra places when betting on horse racing. The 'Pick Your Places' promotion allowed us to customise our each-way betting by picking the number of places paid out for a race.

Biggest Negatives: Not the best option for betting on niche sports.

Alternative: BoyleSports

Our View: If you're a keen horse racing fan, we recommend William Hill as your go-to betting site. Aside from extra places, we enjoyed best odds guaranteed, odds boosts, live streams and a dedicated Racing Radio channel with expert tips, analysis and commentary. 

Meet Our Team of Irish Betting Experts

Our bookmaker review team is made up of active bettors, former betting industry employees and prolific sports betting writers. Get to know our team members a bit better below:

  • Kevin Taylor

    Kevin Taylor

    Kevin Taylor is a respected sports betting writer based in Dublin, with almost a decade of experience writing about betting for publications like The Irish Sun, The Irish Mirror and now Gambling.com. Here's what he had to say when asked for his #1 online bookmaker:

My Favourite Bookmaker: Betway

💬 "I'm always on the hunt for price boosts, as I find this is the best way to consistently get extra value from a bookie. For this reason, Betway is my current favourite bookmaker, as 'Betway Boosts' are available every day and always make a big difference to the odds."

  • Colm Phelan - Fact-Checker

    Colm Phelan - Fact-Checker

    Colm Phelan is an eagle-eyed football and horse racing betting expert who brings a wealth of experience to our betting sites review team. He has fact-checked sports stories for leading news outlets and now brings that attention-to-detail to Gambling.com, having joined the company in 2019. His current favourite betting site is:

My Favourite Bookmaker: Bzeebet

💬 "For me, Bzeebet stands out from the crowd at the moment as the #1 Irish betting site. I tend to opt for fresh, new bookies as they have offer lots of promotions and free bets to keep up with their established competitors. Bzeebet has free bets every Thursday, along with a free bet welcome offer and a new bet builder for placing same-game multis."

  • Jamie Casey - Editor

    Jamie Casey - Editor

    Jamie Casey manages a Gambling.com team that covers sports betting news from all angles. The GDC news team brings punters the latest tips, odds, betting guides and promotions from Irish betting sites. Jamie brings this experience to the table when editing this page to ensure all content is up-to-date. His go-to betting site is:

My Favourite Bookmaker: Ladbrokes

💬 "My favourite bookie has to be Ladbrokes and the reason is simple – free bets. I use their sportsbook regularly and get free bets much more frequently than with other bookies. Most of the free bets come from playing their free football prediction game 1-2-Free, which rewards correct score predictions."

Choosing Between Betting Sites

We review the best Irish betting sites by registering an account with dozens of bookmakers - including the latest new betting sites. We then place bets and try out the bookmaker in the same way any other punter would.

Here are some of the criteria that we use when testing out each bookie. These are also key factors you should consider when choosing your next betting site in Ireland.

  • Licensing & Security

    Licensing & Security

    Any online betting site we recommend has to be licensed and regulated by a reputable authority, meaning that customers can bet in a safe, secure and legal environment.

  • Welcome Offers

    Welcome Offers

    Examine a site's welcome offer as a priority when choosing which online bookmaker to bet with. The free bet bonus value should be high and the terms and conditions shouldn't be restrictive. Our reviewers go through the small print so you don't have to - before highlighting the best welcome offers.

  • Ongoing Promotions

    Ongoing Promotions

    Bonuses and free bets should be available on a regular basis after you sign up. Existing customer promotions come in the form of loyalty bonuses, free bets, money-back offers like acca insurance or special promos for major sporting events.

  • Mobile Experience

    Mobile Experience

    The best betting sites need to deliver a smooth mobile betting experience. Many top online bookmakers have downloadable betting apps for Android and iOS devices, with quick loading times and a user-friendly design.

  • Betting Market Variety

    Betting Market Variety

    Betting websites must have a wide range of markets to choose from. This has long been one of the first things we look for when carrying out bookmaker reviews at Gambling.com. A bookie can have all the fancy features it wants, but if all types of bettors aren't catered to, it's a big negative.

  • Competitive Odds

    Competitive Odds

    We expect sites to provide bettors with value for money. When trying out Irish betting sites, we compare odds from dozens of bookies. This process allows us to separate the best-priced options from the rest.

  • Payment Options & Payout Speed

    Payment Options & Payout Speed

    Licensed sports betting sites must have a wide range of payment options available to customers. We expect to see debit cards from Visa and Mastercard supported, along with popular e-wallet methods such as PayPal, Trustly, Skrill, Neteller, Apple Pay and ecoPayz. Instant deposits are a must and withdrawals should reach your account within 48 hours.

  • Quality of Customer Support

    Quality of Customer Support

    The more available customer support channels, the better. Live chat is the handiest way to get a question answered and every betting site should have this facility available. Email and toll-free phone number details should also be provided. The best bookmakers often help out customers through their social media channels as well.

  • Ease of Sign-Up

    Ease of Sign-Up

    You shouldn't have to jump through too many hoops to sign up. It should be a simple, secure process that doesn't take too much effort. Safety is a priority for our review team, so we want bookmakers to carry out the necessary legal checks. However, we don't recommend bookies that overcomplicate the sign-up process.

  • Industry Reputation

    Industry Reputation

    The best sites come from betting companies with a solid reputation in the gambling industry. We believe that betting companies should pay the price if they stop doing the right things, so you won't see any disreputable names among our recommended online bookmakers.

  • In-Play Betting Options

    In-Play Betting Options

    These days, the best betting sites offer 24/7 live betting. In-play betting is the perfect tool for strategic punters who want to take advantage of fluctuating odds while a sporting event is live. Bettors should be able to enjoy super-fast live betting with a simple click or tap of a button. It also helps if a bookmaker provides live streaming so you can watch while betting in-play.

How to Fund Your Online Betting Account

Banking options are an important factor to consider when choosing which bookmaker to bet with. There should be a wide range of payment methods when you make a first deposit. You should also be able to withdraw any winnings quickly and seamlessly. Some of the most popular payment methods at Irish betting sites are:

  • Visa Debit
  • Debit Mastercard
  • PayPal
  • Apple Pay
  • Skrill
  • Neteller
  • Paysafecard

How to Gamble Responsibly

Any betting site worth signing up for these days has to take responsible gambling seriously. At Gambling.com, we encourage bettors to keep online betting fun by betting responsibly.

Remember, for the vast majority of us, betting is a source of entertainment rather than a source of steady income. With that in mind, here are a few tips to remember to help you bet safely and responsibly at Irish betting sites.

  • Stick to a Betting Budget: Ensure that you bet within your means by sticking to a budget. Have a set amount of money you can afford to bet with on a weekly or monthly basis and don't go over this limit.
  • Don't Chase Losses: Bet with your head and not your heart. Chasing losses is never a good idea, so never bet emotionally, as you could incur greater losses if you are unsuccessful.
  • Use Tools to Stay in Control: The online bookies we recommend have tools to help keep betting fun and under control. If you need to take some time out or need to set some betting limits, use the tools provided by trusted bet sites and apps.

The Final Word From Our Online Betting Experts

Our November 2023 betting sites guide was designed to help you identify the bookmakers that suit your betting preferences. Consider what you want from a bookie and read our in-depth bookmaker reviews if you need more information on any particular betting site. Most importantly, no matter which site you choose to bet with, keep online betting fun by gambling responsibly.

Don't forget to check this page regularly for the latest rankings, as the list of Irish betting sites changes every time we update it with our latest findings.


References

  1. Gambling.com Responsible Gambling Website
  2. Problem Gambling Ireland
  3. ICLG - Ireland Gambling Laws and Regulations
  4. Rutland Centre - Treating Gambling Addiction
  5. The Independent Betting Adjudication Service (IBAS)
  6. Department of Justice and Equality Ireland - Gambling & Betting Act

FAQ

Bookmakers make money by setting odds that ensure they maintain an edge over bettors. This edge is often called the 'overround'. Bookies balance the bets on both sides of a wager to guarantee long-term profits regardless of outcomes. The difference between the odds offered and the true odds is where their profit lies.

To bet on GAA, select a licensed online betting platform that offers odds on Gaelic football and hurling markets. BoyleSports is the standout bookmaker for GAA betting, while Ladbrokes and Betway also have plenty of markets to choose from.

Best Online Betting Sites in Ireland: November 2023 1. tonybet 2. Pribet 3. Fezbet 4. Cobra Bet 5. Tote 6. Bzeebet 7. Macau Sports 8. Cashwin 9. 10bet 10. Boylesports

Online betting is legal in Ireland. The Betting (Amendment) Act of 2015 mandates all betting operators, including online services, to obtain a licence from the Irish Revenue Commissioners. The Gaming and Lotteries Act of 1956 also governs gambling. Check this page for an updated list of licensed bookmakers.

There are dozens of sports betting sites which you can sign up for in Ireland that accept PayPal. Some of the best bookmakers with PayPal as a payment option are Bzeebet, Betway, LeoVegas and Kwiff.

Irish punters are spoiled for choice when it comes to betting options. There are more than 700 bookies registered with the Irish Bookmakers Association (IBA). The betting sites we recommend here have all been tested for security, so you can sign up with confidence.