Before You Bet

This page applies to every review, odds snapshot, offer summary, table and explainer published on transparentbets.com, including pages added after today.

Our ratings are editorial opinion

What goes into them

Each rating reflects how our editors judged a bookmaker on its check date across the points set out in How we rate bookmakers: licence standing, what the welcome offer is honestly worth once its conditions are applied, price competitiveness, market depth, payment speed and the safer gambling tools on the account. It is a comparison between operators, not a forecast of your results and not an assurance that any operator will treat you well.

Why your order may differ

Two punters rarely want the same thing. Someone who mainly bets on greyhounds, uses a single e-wallet or cares most about in-play prices could reasonably prefer a brand we placed lower.

Nothing here is personal advice

Your salary, borrowing, betting record and the size of loss you could absorb are invisible to us. For that reason the decision to bet at all, the choice of bookmaker and the size of a stake rest with you, never with one of our articles. Everything here is general reading for British adults. For financial, legal or tax questions, book time with an adviser who can see your whole picture.

Offers and prices move faster than we can

Welcome offers

A bookmaker can shorten a deadline, raise minimum odds, exclude a deposit method or withdraw a promotion overnight, and it does not have to warn us. The binding version of an offer is the one in the operator’s terms when you open your account. Before depositing, find the qualifying stake, minimum odds, expiry and any excluded payment methods there.

Odds snapshots

Prices quoted in our comparisons and examples were correct when taken and are shown to illustrate value and arithmetic. They are not a live feed, and the price you are offered when you place a bet may be shorter.

Free bets and boosts

A free bet usually returns winnings without the stake, and a boost can carry a lower maximum stake than the normal market. Bonus funds tied to turnover may lock part of your balance until the requirement is completed. Our worked examples show how such terms operate on the day they were checked; they do not mean you will meet the conditions or keep what you win.

Licence details are checked, but can change

We confirm licence status on the Gambling Commission register and record the date. In the weeks between two checks the Commission might attach new conditions or a suspension, the holder might give the licence up, or the trading name might be transferred to another company. If the register and our page disagree, rely on the register and let us know so we can fix the page.

TransparentBets itself does not need a gambling licence: it takes no bets and holds no funds. Licences belong to the operators we cover.

A high rating is not a safety certificate

Scoring well means a bookmaker beat its rivals on our checklist, nothing more. The figure cannot speak to the company’s solvency or how your particular account will be handled. British licensees must tell customers how well their funds are protected, and the levels differ; check that statement in the operator’s terms before you deposit a significant sum.

Restrictions on your account

Operators’ terms allow them to exclude customers from promotions, limit stakes on particular markets and ask for documents before paying out. We cannot predict how any one account will be treated, and describing an offer does not mean you will be eligible for it.

Payment times and app features are snapshots

Withdrawal speeds, accepted payment methods and app functions come from the operator’s published information and our own tests on the date shown. Your bank or e-wallet may hold a payout for a further day or two, apps change with each update, and features may differ between Android and iOS. If speed of payment matters most to you, check the cashier page before registering.

Commissions do not decide the order

Certain bookmakers reward us for new customers who arrive via our buttons. Those payments keep the site running, and Commissions and independence sets out how. Payment does not buy a rating, a higher place or the removal of criticism. Brands that pay us nothing still get reviewed if punters ought to hear about them, and a paying operator can be marked down like any other.

Guides explain the rules, not a way to win

Our explainers cover each-way terms, Rule 4, dead-heat rules, cash-out and acca insurance. Understanding them helps you avoid surprises at settlement, but it does not remove the margin built into every price. Over time most bettors lose more than they win. Stake only what you would happily spend on a night out.

Account disputes belong with the bookmaker

We cannot see or change your betting account. If winnings are held, bets voided or your account closed, use the operator’s complaints process first and then the independent dispute resolution service named in its terms. Tell us as well if you like: repeated reports of the same problem lead us to re-test a bookmaker, though we cannot act on your behalf, and we never publish a reader’s name or message without permission.

The site is written for Great Britain

Our pages cover operators licensed for British customers, and some of them do not accept players from elsewhere. Outside Great Britain your local law decides what is allowed, and checking it is your responsibility.

Errors are corrected, liability is limited

Once a factual slip is confirmed, the page is amended and its “Last reviewed” stamp moves forward. Email [email protected] with the link and a line on the error; a screenshot of the bookmaker’s terms speeds things up. So far as the law of England and Wales permits, Meridune Media Group DMCC is not liable for information that was right when checked and changed later, for operators’ decisions or for interruptions to the site. None of that trims our liability for fraud, or for carelessness on our side that costs a reader life or limb. The full conditions are in our reader agreement.

If betting stops being fun, stop

Talk to someone you trust. Every bookmaker licensed in Great Britain must let you set deposit limits and take a break from your account. GAMSTOP locks the door on every one of them in a single step, and the minimum exclusion lasts half a year. The National Gambling Helpline on 0808 8020 133 is free and open 24 hours a day, and BeGambleAware can direct you to support near you. None of these services is connected to TransparentBets.

TransparentBets is operated by Meridune Media Group DMCC, Mazaya Business Avenue BB1, Cluster BB, Jumeirah Lakes Towers, Dubai, United Arab Emirates.