These days we’re a little spoilt for choice when it comes to online bookies, and there are plenty to choose from. Below we’ve selected some of our favourites that we’re happy to recommend to you. Some are a little better than others, but the answer to the old ‘best betting site’ quandry will often depend on what it is you’re looking for. So read our descriptions and pick the one that suits you the best.
Boylesports
BoyleSports might not be the first bookmaker when you think of online gambling, but they have been quietly chipping away at the heels of those ‘out in front’. They’ve not had the exposure that some of the bigger players have had, but we can assure you, they are a tidy little outfit. There’s not a lot that the company don’t offer and they are one that’s worked hard to get to where they are.
Boylesport has worked hard to improve their live betting section in recent years and they’ve really upped the number of sports and matches that they offer in-play betting for. They probably aren’t up there with the likes of Bet365 just yet, but they aren’t far behind and will give anyone a run for their money, when it comes to depth at least.
One thing that has gripped us a little whilst carrying out this review is the design. It’s very dated compared to what a lot of bookmakers offer and the size of font/text is very small. The homepage includes an awful lot going on and, for us at least, just doesn’t work all that well. Design is very much each to their own though, and what works for one, might not for another.
Overall, we have to say that the site lacks a little depth. They’ve got the basics right and if you are just looking to head on to the site and make a bet then they will work quite well. But, if you are looking for a bookmaker that can above and beyond your expectations, BoyleSports might not be the answer. We aren’t ripping the site apart, far from it, but when you compare it to their peers, and that’s what you have to do in the industry, we cant help but feel that they do fall a little short in terms of additional features.
Betfair
When Betfair first come into the betting industry in 1999, few could have predicted how much they were going to change the face of betting. Back then, the company were solely a betting exchange, which means that players would bet peer-to-peer. The ‘bookmaker’ didn’t exist and it was essentially somewhere that you could both back and lay your bets.
The company have come a long way since then though and whilst they are still the biggest betting exchange in the world, and by some distance may we add, they are now one of the biggest bookmakers globally. They offer a range of products that very few bookmakers do.
As you already know by now, Betfair started as a betting exchange and whilst the exchange is still very much a thriving section of their sportsbook, it’s the original sportsbook format that has come into fruition in recent years, which has added another layer to the bookmaker. It means that you can really have the best of both worlds for betting and they allow you to have just one wallet to use both equally as quick.
It has to be said that Betfair are probably one of the best value bookmakers in the industry at the minute. Their exchange has always been insane value, but don’t forget to take off their 5% commission first. The traditional sportsbook has really started to work its way up there as one of the best and they are making a solid reputation just via this platform alone.
Betfair, unlike many sites that we have reviewed, have always gone above and beyond in terms of the features that they offer. They were one of the first to offer live streaming to their punters and they also include a ton of stats related information, as well. The inclusion of their betting blog is easily one of the best in the business, with insights from former and even current professionals from each discipline.
Betway
You may be forgiven if you’ve never heard of Betway, but listen up, as they are quickly turning into one of the most exciting bookmakers for a long time. They’ve actually been about since 2006, but it’s only been the last couple of years that they’ve really started makings strides in the industry.
The site went through a massive overhaul not more than a couple of years ago and their affiliation with English Premier League side, West Ham United, as again singled their intentions. They also provide sponsorship for the Darts Premier League, which is one of the biggest events on the darting calendar that’s shown over 16 action packed weeks on Sky Sports.
The first thing that we really want to highlight about Betway is the design of the site. It really does look awesome, especially the black and green colour coding. It allows you to access the sports and markets really easily via the side bar and the everything just seems to work (most vague review ever, but true!).
Whilst stats sections are no longer something that the minority of bookmakers offer these days, their inclusion is always welcomed for us. Betway offer up one of the more comprehensive ones that we’ve seen and you can literally click through dozens of sports to find a ton of information on each.
The sites also got it’s own live streaming channel, which is a really sweet addition. Again, there are a range of sports to choose from but we have noticed that its not as comprehensive as some. The calibre of games is always something to look out for when it comes to live streaming and, unfortunately, Betway do seem to struggle a little bit. It’s hard not to compare them to the likes Bet365 and Betfair, but fair play to them for at least providing an offering, which is much more than the majority of sportsbooks out there!
BetVictor
BetVictor is one of the biggest names in the sports betting industry. If ever there was a ranking system for all sportsbook then it’s highly likely that BetVictor would be in the top 5 around the world. They’ve been doing it for so long – formerly under the name Victor Chandler – that there is very little that the site hasn’t seen or done. They are often thought of as the benchmark for most bookmakers and, to be honest, have very little in the way of negatives.
One of the main reasons to their success is the continued strive to produce the best-priced odds in the industry. This actually got recognised by an independent odds comparison service who voted them the best-priced bookmaker on the most football games in 2014. One of the more recent additions to the BetVictor back catalogue is their live streaming channel. The downside being it technically only includes horse racing. Having said that, they do include a large number of races, as it’s essentially a stream from Racing UK. You get a massive number of domestic races, as well as a high number of international races from UK, Ireland, South Africa, and the UAE.
Their mobile betting app is also a really nice feature that includes all the sports and markets that you’d get from their online version. The app underwent a hefty makeover not so long since and we think it's now one of the best looking in the industry. It performs really well, even on limited connection, which is essential for these types of products.
One thing we would say is that BetVictor probably struggles a little when it comes to market depth. Don’t get us wrong, they cover football and horse racing as well as anyone, if not better, but you can't help but feel they neglect other sports throughout the site somewhat. It’s a small gripe, to be honest, but it’s something that the likes of Betfair and bet365 don’t have.
Coral
The Coral bookmaker has been one of the biggest mover and shaker in the betting industry over the last decade. They’ve always had a loyal following, especially in Ireland, but they are now highly regarded a one of the most reliable bookmakers in the world.
They’ve managed to create a reputation that’s allowed them to progress to a level that most bookmakers can only dream of. They cover pretty much all the bases when it comes to online betting and we will be highlighting what we think are the main reasons behind their success in this review.
One of the latest additions to the Coral bookmaker is their cash out feature. It essentially allows you to close out a bet based on the current odds and lock in the result before that market has closed. The price that you get could be lower than if you simply ‘let it ride’ but it means you can settle the bet early if you wanted.
Live streaming has been something that Coral have sanctioned for a while now and their streaming section is one that continues to grow. The sports include football, tennis, snooker, rugby and basketball, which can all be streamed from your PC. All you need is a positive balance and you will able to access all of their streaming features. Their streaming service can also be used to watch live horse racing from around the world. This works a little differently from their main streaming service in that you need to have wagered a bet of at least €1 on a specific race to access the stream, but you can access this service from your mobile, which is something that you can't do from the other service.
Finally, we just want to give a quick mention about Coral’s mobile app. It’s seen a re-design of late and is now one of the best in the business. It includes all the features of the sportsbook and allows you to access thousands of markets from anywhere in the world, pretty much. The only let down is the lack of live streaming for sports outside of horse racing, but apart from that, it’s pretty much flawless!
Ladbrokes
Ladbrokes are one of those companies that you instantly associate with sports betting. They are one of the oldest in the business and have gone on to form a stellar reputation for themselves. Like a lot of the major players, they started off from pretty humble beginnings in the form of a ‘brick and mortar’ and whilst they still provide these offerings for their users, its pretty safe to say that the majority of their custom these days comes from online.
The first thing we want to mention about Ladbrokes is their design. The site has recently undergone a re-design and it’s so much better than their previous offering. It has much more of a modern feel to it and for anyone who has used the site with the older design, then it’s worth checking back to see what’s new.
They’ve also added a live streaming channel to their armoury and whilst this isn’t exactly a feature that no other bookmaker offers, they are still in the minority of who do offer it. What we really liked is the fact that they linked this up to their live betting section as well, meaning you can watch the game you are betting whilst having instant access to the live betting markets; ideal if you are an in-play betting fan.
The mobile app has also seen a bit of a facelift in recent months and with it comes a whole new way of betting. The app is available for iOS and Android devices and can be accessed by scanning the QR code on the website (iOS users can actually download this straight from the app store if they wish).
One negative that we have with Ladbrokes is that they rarely have the most enticing pricing when it comes to odds. Compared with the likes of bet365 and Bet Victor, Ladbrokes will tend to be a fraction shorter, meaning less value. It’s not a deal breaker by any means, but something that we think you should aware of, especially if you like to shop around for the best prices.
Irish Betting Shops on the High Street
The joy of the internet is that it allows anyone who can get online to do pretty much whatever they want, up to and including placing a bet. For some people, though, they prefer the physical touch of their betting slips in their hands, knowing that they can head back and cash it in if it’s a winner or enjoy the cathartic nature of ripping it into a hundred pieces if it’s not.
You can read about Ireland’s gambling laws elsewhere on this site, but the main thing to bear in mind is that it is legal to gamble at a licensed establishment, with all of the betting shops explored here definitely being so.
Online betting is all well and good, but if you want to experience what it has been like to head into a physical shop in order to place your wagers, then you need to know what your options are on the high street. As you can imagine, some of the companies that feature here have been around for donkey’s years and will be well known to pretty much everyone, whilst there are definitely others that have a lot less to say about them. This is a list of the companies that have registered premises with Ireland’s Irish Tax and Customs office.
BoyleSports
The BoyleSports online offering might not be quite as good as users would like it to be, but there is no messing around when it comes to their physical shops. This is a company that was founded in 1982 and was developed and grown by John Boyle to the point that it is now the country’s largest independent bookmaker. Growing from County Armagh in Northern Ireland to all over the island of Ireland, it opened its 100th shop in 2006. When Celtic Bookmakers closed down in 2011, BoyleSports bought their physical locations to ensure it kept growing, adding 15 William Hill locations later that year.
As you can no doubt imagine, the corporate structuring of BoyleSports has changed a lot over the years, such as in the July of 2017 when Conor Gray took over from John Boyle as the Chief Executive Officer, with Boyle himself becoming the Executive Chairman. In a little over a year, the company oversaw the opening of its 250th shop, all whilst putting plans in place to continue expanding and growing. This included a move into the retail market in the United Kingdom mainland, as well as the acquisition of 33 William Hill shops based in Northern Ireland.
In terms of what you can expect in a BoyleSports shop, you’re going to get all of the usual things that you’d expect from a bookmaker, including televisions on the wall and newspapers pinned up, as well as physical betting slips to write down your wagers on. You will be able to get odds on pretty much every sport taking place, but it’s not exactly outrageous to suggest that their coverage of football and horse racing will be top-notch, if for no other reason than the company has sponsored both sports, along with darts and Gaelic football, at one point or another.
Paddy Power
It is unlikely to come as a shock that the bookmaker that has made a name for itself by trading on its Irish origins is also one of the most popular in Ireland. Owned by the parent company Flutter Entertainment, the company was founded in 1988 when three bookies in Ireland, Stewart Kenny, John Corcoran and David Power, decided to combine their 44 bookmakers’ shops. Corcoran’s shops had traded under the name of Patrick Corcoran, whilst David Power had traded under the name of his father, Richard Power, which was decided to be the strongest brand.
As a result, the three chose to lean into the Irish theme by naming themselves ‘Paddy’, whilst keeping the ‘Power’ because of the association. If you go to one of their shops, you will soon notice the green colour that they chose to use for their branding as well as use David Power’s son, who is actually named Paddy Power, as their spokesperson. In the years that followed the formation of the company, they bought up more and more shops around the country as well as moved into the UK market, having 209 in Ireland and eight more in Northern Ireland by the February of 2010.
The sports covered by Paddy Power are all of the usual ones, as well as some that are specifically of interest to Irish punters. The company also works to create controversial marketing strategies, knowing full well that it will earn press coverage that will draw attention to the shops and thereby make more money. Not that Irish punters will care a jot, happy to be able to walk into any one of hundreds of physical betting shops on the island of Ireland in order to place their wagers and look to take on the bookmaker head-on.
Ladbrokes
The last of the major names that has physical shops in Ireland, virtually everyone will have heard of Ladbrokes at some point in their lives. Nowadays, of course, the parent company of the Ladbrokes Coral Group is Entain, having merged the two companies in the November of 2016 before being bought by Entain two years later. In spite of this, they operate as separate businesses, which is identifiable in this case by the fact that there are Ladbrokes shops in Ireland but none from Coral. Ladbrokes was created in 1886, initially as commission agents for horses that had been trained at Ladbroke Hall.
They adopted the current name in 1902 after Arthur Bendir was brought on board, moving the operations to London and being based near the Strand before moving first to Hanover Street and then to Mayfair. During the company’s more formative years, the clients were all drawn from the upper classes and British aristocracy, though it’s fair to say that the company tends to lean into the ‘Lad’ part of its name nowadays. The ownership of the company has changed hands too many times to mention, but the offering has been broadly the same as the other big bookmakers in recent years.
If you want to get a bookmaker where you will know exactly what to expect, Ladbrokes may well be the one for you. The shops are perhaps not as showy as Paddy Power, whilst the lack of Irish identity that both Paddy Power and Boylesports also offer is something that some might struggle to understand in the country. Even so, you know what you’re getting and the coverage of all of the main sports will be just as good. If you’re looking to bet on more specifically ‘English’ offerings, then you might well want to head to one of these shops rather than the alternatives.
Bar One Racing
Owned by Barney O’Hare, Bar One Racing has around 60 shops across Ireland and was rumoured to be in talks to take over the 168 shops owned by Entain under the Ladbrokes banner. That gives you a sense of how big this independent bookmaker is, even if it’s one that most people outside of Ireland won’t know much about, in spite of its British origins. The company’s red branding is fixed with a couple of horses racing, letting you know precisely what it is that they look to focus on when it comes to what they offer coverage of.
Sean Graham
With 26 properties across both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, Sean Graham is one of the island of Ireland’s more popular independent offerings. Although predominantly based north of the border, there are shops you can visit in the likes of Dublin, Cork and Portadown. Sadly, the name of the bookmaker will forever be associated with the Troubles, on account of the mass shooting that took place at a shop in Belfast back in 1992.
Track Sports
Now we begin to get into the world of the independent bookmakers based around Ireland, with some having little to no information to tell you about them. In the case of Track Sports, there are around half a dozen on offer, mainly in Dublin but with some in the likes of Wexford, Waterford and County Meath. You can’t expect too much in terms of what they offer, other than to be able to enjoy a more independent feel when compared to the others.
AlphaBet Bookmakers
If you follow the news particularly closely, you might have heard of AlphaBet Bookmakers thanks to the fact that the company was sued in 2022 by SIS Media for showing copyrighted broadcasts in their five betting shops. Opened by John Patton and his daughter, Laura Celine, the shops aren’t exactly widespread around the country, but you can find them in the likes of County Carlow, County Sligo and Donegal town.
Versus Bet
Hardly one of the biggest names in betting, even in Ireland, Versus Bet has slowly but surely looked to expand its offering by opening up shops in the likes of Ennis, Cork and Tralee. In the May of 2024, a new shop labelled as ‘cutting-edge’ was opened in Waterford City, which was appropriate because the company also sponsored the clash between Waterford FC and Bohemians in the Ireland Premier Division.
Pat Toolan Bookmakers
It always feels as though a bookie is properly independent if it is named after a specific person, with Pat Toolan having launched his business with a shop in Lucan. Nowadays, there are just a couple of betting shops available in Wicklow.
Paul Fay Bookmakers
The company that bears the business name of Paul Fay Bookmakers Limited was set up in the November of 2007, boasting a corporate office in County Longford. Again, this is a small shop that will cover all of the usual sports that you could hope to bet on.
Best Bet
With only one shop on offer, Best Bet might be the definition of an independent bookmaker. The very name of the place doesn’t exactly lend itself to excellent marketing, given what will come up if you were to Google it, but above the door to the shop in County Mayo is the Irish phrase ‘an geall is fearr’, which translates roughly to ‘The Best Bet’.
KingBet
KingBet is another company with only one betting shop to speak of, located on Lower Georges Street in Dublin. You can bet on both live and virtual sports there, though, so it might appeal if you’re in the area.
McBride Racing
McBride Racing launched around 40 years ago as an on-track bookmaker, with the family continuing to work in the industry ever since. Promising locations both north and south of the border, if you want to pick somewhere you can not only place bets but also take advantage of the likes of gaming terminals, this is where to head.
Offshore Bookmakers
Nowadays, in the internet era, the phrase ‘Offshore Bookmakers’ has an entirely different meaning to the one that might have been intended when Frank Burke founded his independent bookmaker near Laytown Beach. Regardless, this is very much a small-town offering that might be your only chance to place a bet if you find yourself in Seacrest.
SB Racing
You could easily walk past SB Racing in County Galway, such is the unobtrusive nature of the shop front. There is a big sign that informs passersby that bets are taken on ‘All Major Sporting Events’, should that be enough to tempt you into this licensed venue run by Sean Browne.
Sports Galore
Head to The Square in Cornamucklaglass, County Monaghan, and you would be forgiven for not even knowing that Sports Galore is based there. That is thanks to the fact that it is tucked around the corner, but head inside and you will see an array of TV screens showing live sporting events, as well as somewhere to pick up your coupons to bet on them.
Winners Enclosure
Another of the indistinct bookmakers in a small Irish town that you might not even know existed if you didn’t stumble across it is Winners Enclosure. Although it offers wagers on all of the usual sports, it doesn’t take a genius to work out that horse racing is the main one that it covers based on the venue’s name.
Bet XS
It is possibly something of a cheat to include Bet XS in this list, given the fact that it isn’t actually a physical shop that you can go into. Instead, it is essentially a machine that looks like an ATM but through which you can place bets by using the touchscreen. There are currently only two available, with one in County Westmeath and the other in County Meath, but it is more than possible that this expands if it is a success.
Other Bookmakers
There are also some shops that have official addresses, but that information was too scant for us to include them here. They are as follows:
- All Star Betting
- All Sports
- BetByrne
- Gormley’s Betting
- J G Bookmaker
- R W Bookmakers
- The Betting Lounge
The Closure of Betting Shops in Ireland
As with countless other places, Ireland has been no stranger to the closure of betting shops in recent years. Firms that have been around for decades suddenly find that they’re no longer able to afford to keep the doors open, resulting in them being shut down as a result. Whilst the big name firms like Paddy Power and BoyleSports are able to thrive, even going to the extent that they can buy up the lesser firms’ premises, independent shops feel as though they’re barely keeping their heads above the water before they have to close their doors for good.
In 2008, there were more than 1,300 betting shops across Ireland. By the July of 2025, that had dropped to 721, which is almost half. The struggle for bookmakers includes the rising costs of operating physical venues against the ease of online betting, as well as the regulatory changes that put them under the cosh. The rise of betting duty from 1% to 2% saw in excess of 100 shops have to close permanently, leading to hundreds of job losses. Although the idea of increased regulation around gambling obviously isn’t a bad thing, it does put increased pressure on small shops in local towns.