How to place an online bet
Here we will do our best to show you how to place a bet online. Most online bookmakers use a similar navigation menu making it quite simple to find your way around different websites. The reason for this is that the software behind betting sites is mostly similar to how it operates. The bookmaker we have used for this example is William Hill, one of the most popular gambling sites in the world. We will go through all you need to know to place your first online bet.
Below we will use an example of a bet, the example we are using is Chelsea to win the football Premier League (2015/16)
If you are not sure what to bet on you could always check out our Bet of the day, Free Football betting tips or Our Free horse racing tips.
Navigating the menus
Once you have decided on the bet you want to place the next stage is to find the market for that bet. Each bookmaker will have links to different sports, the first thing you will need to do is to click through to the correct sport (in this case football/soccer).
The next step is to find the market you want to place a bet on, so this could be a market in a single game or an outcome in a competitive tournament, in this example, we are betting on the Premier League.
After I have clicked through to the Premier League market, I am looking for the market that should say ‘to win outright’. ‘To win outright’ essentially means to win the competition.
Once you have clicked ‘To win outright’ the site will now open up a number of different teams with odds. Search for the selection that you want (in this case Chelsea) and click on it.
As with anything the more you use a website, the more you will familiarise yourself with finding your way around it. As mentioned also above most bookmaker websites are organised in a similar fashion to help the punter.
Choosing your stake
As soon as you have clicked, you will see a ‘bet slip’ appear (usually on the right side of your screen). The bet slip should contain the following… team/player, outcome, odds, stake and returns. At this point, you are required to enter a stake for your bet, basically how much you want to spend on it. The site should then tell you your potential return next to your bet stake.
Place your bet
If you are happy with your stake and return then click ‘place bet’ or ‘confirm’ depending on the site that you are using.
You have now successfully placed your bet. You should have received an online bet receipt as soon as your bet was confirmed. This will be the first thing that appears on the right side of your screen once you have placed your bet. You can also view your bet receipt in the ‘history’ area in your account. This is an area that bookmakers have set up for people to have all their bet receipts in one place.
Can I withdraw my money?
Yes, you can withdraw the money once your bet has settled. It is worth noting that this may vary depending on the terms and conditions of your bet, for example sign up offers often have wager requirements.
How do I withdraw my money?
Various payment methods can be used, here is a list that William Hill accept for example Paypal, Skrill, Debit Card and eWallets such as Neteller.
Each bookmaker will have a full list of payment methods on their website, generally, can be found by selecting deposits from the help menu.
The most popular methods used within the UK are card payments and PayPal.
Where possible the bookmaker will return any winnings back to the same payment method that was used to deposit funds into the account. This means, if you deposit via one card, the bookmaker will send funds generated from that deposit back to that card. That is a security measure.
To withdraw your money, first of all, go to ‘services’ and select the option ‘withdraw’.
To withdraw your money, you will be asked to confirm your payment method details. Once you have entered/ensured the correct details you will be asked how much you would like to withdraw.
Withdrawal time will vary depending on the bookmaker you use and the payment method that you use.
Check out more of our free bets here.