Irish Betting Sites
Sports betting in the Republic of Ireland is very big business with an estimated 10% of the Irish population regularly placing bets with online bookmakers and around 44% playing the lottery. Indeed, online betting is perfectly legal on the Emerald Isle provided that you deal only with bookmakers or casinos who are fully regulated and licensed to operate in this country. Betting with a licensed betting operator also ensures that your activities will be completely safe and fair.
This guide showcases the very best online bookmakers offering betting markets for Irish customers, many of these operators also providing online casinos, poker and bingo.
Deposit and bet an initial €10 to unlock a €30 bonus
Deposit and bet an initial €15 to unlock a €10 bonus
Deposit and bet an initial €10 to unlock a €40 bonus. Please gamble responsibly. 18+ T&Cs apply
Deposit and bet an initial €5 to unlock a €20 bonus. T&Cs apply, 18+, please gamble responsibly
Deposit and bet an initial €10 to unlock a €40 bonus
The list above comprises only of bookmakers who operate legally in the Republic of Ireland (both Irish and UK betting operators) and include many household names you will almost certainly have heard of, however the many smaller less well-known providers are all fully licensed and regulated. Rest assured, whichever betting site you register with, they have all been thoroughly tried and tested.
Welcome Bonuses For Irish Customers
All online bookmakers who operate in Ireland offer new players a welcome bonus to get them off to the best possible start. These bonuses are tailored fully to the needs of the Irish-based punter and come in a variety of forms, the most common and popular being the simple ‘free bet’.
A ‘free bet’ is exactly what it says on the tin. Quite simply, the bookmaker will ask you to make an initial deposit of a certain amount and this will release the free bet, for example ‘Bet €10 Get €30. Here you would need to make a deposit of at least €10 (you can deposit more if you wish) and this would be enough to release the welcome bonus of €30. You can’t simply cash this free bet in however, you must use it to place bets within a specified time frame.
Similarly, some bookmakers offer new players a ‘matched deposit bonus’. This effectively means that when you make an initial deposit up to a certain amount, the betting operator will match this deposit by a pre-determined percentage, for example ‘Matched Deposit of 100% up to €50. In this instance, whatever amount you deposit up to €50 would effectively be doubled, meaning that you play withy €100. Again, you can’t simply cash-in the matched deposit bonus, you need to use it to place bets.
Some betting operators offer risk-free bets whereupon you receive a refund of all or part of all losing bets on Day One up to a certain amount, while others offer a no-deposit free bet which means that you don’t need to make an initial deposit in order to claim it.
Market Variety
There is absolutely no point in registering with any bookmaker who doesn’t offer decent range of markets. Market choice must always be a huge consideration when choosing a new betting operator and all of the sites listed on this page offer Irish-based players a wide range of markets across all major sports and sporting events such as the Premier League, Champions League, Cheltenham Festival, Grand National etc.
User experience
While a welcome bonus is a useful way of getting started with an Irish bookmaker, it is even more important that you enjoy betting with them on a regular basis. To that end, the user experience offered by the online betting operator must be good, otherwise you will simply go somewhere else. Clearly the bookmakers know this and to that end they generally offer regular ongoing promotions such as cash-back offers, free bet bonuses, price boosts and VIP rewards for regular players. In the event that a bookmaker also provides a casino platform, there may be some free spins on offer and a chance to play games for free.
This user experience extends to other areas such as ease of navigation, there being little point in offering an all-singing all-dancing website if punters cannot easily locate their preferred sports and markets. Players are increasingly wanting to bet on their mobiles and this means that they need easy access to all markets in order to place bets as simply as possible.
When it comes to banking, players need to easily make deposits and make withdrawals, otherwise they will become disillusioned and stop using that particular bookmaker. Similarly there also needs to be a good customer support team who can be reached at all times in the event of any difficulties being encountered.
Mobile Betting
Long gone are the days of trudging down to the local betting shop in order to place a bet or check up on the latest odds. All of the leading bookmakers now offer websites which are fully optimised for use on mobile and up-to-date apps on which you can place bets with just a couple of clicks, signal permitting. The bookmakers listed above all offer betting ‘on the go’ using mobile or tablet with many offering dedicated apps for iOS and Android.
Safe Gambling
By far the most important thing to consider when betting online is that you are gambling within your means and not spending too much time ‘chasing that winner’. All of the bookmakers operating in Ireland offer players facilities in which they can control their online betting. You can limit the amount that you are allowed to deposit on a daily, weekly or monthly basis, while you can also ask a bookmaker to temporarily block you for a specified time if you believe that you are spending too much time gambling online.
Remember, online betting is supposed to be a pleasurable experience. This is not a way to get rich quick! Always bet within your means and use the facilities available to keep your online betting fully under control at all times. This way you will enjoy the experience even more.
