Britain has around 6,000 licensed betting shops, and most adults have walked past hundreds of them without ever going inside. If you have never used one, or have only ever bet online, the routine inside can seem opaque. This guide explains what happens, from the slip to the payout, and the rules that every shop must follow.
What a betting shop is
A betting shop, often called a bookie’s or a licensed betting office, is a premises licensed to take bets on horse racing, greyhound racing, football and other sports, and to offer gaming machines. Shops became legal in Great Britain on 1 May 1961; before that, cash betting away from a racecourse was against the law. Today the great majority of shops belong to a handful of national brands: William Hill, Ladbrokes, Coral, Betfred and Paddy Power, with BoyleSports and a long tail of independents making up the rest.
Every shop must hold two licences: an operating licence for the company, issued by the Gambling Commission, and a premises licence for the building, issued by the local council. You can check either on the Gambling Commission’s public register.
Inside the shop
Most shops follow a similar layout. Screens along the walls show live racing and sport, plus pages of odds for upcoming events. Printed sheets of the day’s racing cards and football coupons are pinned up or stacked on shelves. A counter with one or more staff takes bets and pays out. Along one wall there will be up to four gaming machines. Seating, a coffee machine and free Wi-Fi are common in the larger brands’ shops; our data shows 454 William Hill shops list free Wi-Fi.
You do not need an account, an app or a card. Cash is still the normal way to bet in a shop, though most shops now also take debit cards. Credit cards have not been accepted for gambling anywhere in Great Britain since April 2020.
Placing a bet
- Choose your selection. Find the race or match on a screen or sheet and note the runner or team and the odds shown. Odds in shops are displayed as fractions, for example 5/1 or 11/8. Our guide to reading odds explains what they mean.
- Fill in a slip. Blank betting slips are kept in holders around the shop. Write the time and venue of the race (or the match), the name of your selection, the type of bet (a single “win” bet is the simplest) and your stake. Write clearly; the slip is your contract.
- Hand it in with your stake. The cashier scans or keys the bet, takes your money and hands back a printed receipt showing exactly what you have backed, the stake and, if you asked for it, the odds. Check it before you walk away. Mistakes are far easier to fix at the counter than after the race.
- Wait for the result. Results and “weighed-in” confirmations for racing appear on screen within a few minutes of the finish.
- Collect your winnings. Take your receipt back to the counter. The cashier scans it and pays out in cash (or to your card if you paid by card and the shop supports it). There is no tax to pay; betting duty is paid by the bookmaker, not the customer. Unclaimed winnings can usually be collected for a long period, but check the receipt for any time limit.
Most bets can also be placed on self-service terminals in the shop, which work like a simplified version of the bookmaker’s app and print the same style of receipt.
Taking the price or SP
When you back a horse you can choose to take the odds displayed at that moment (“take the price”) or leave the odds blank and be paid at the starting price, or SP, which is the official odds at the moment the race begins. Ask the cashier to write “SP” or the price on the receipt so there is no doubt. Many shops, and 376 William Hill shops in our data, offer “Best Odds Guaranteed” on racing: if you take a price and the SP is bigger, they pay the bigger of the two. It is worth asking whether a shop offers it, and on which races.
Minimum and maximum stakes
There is no legal minimum stake. In practice most shops will accept bets from 50p or £1, and some accept less on multiples. Maximum payouts are set by each bookmaker and vary by sport and by bet type; they are usually printed on the rules poster in the shop and run from tens of thousands of pounds for minor sports to a million pounds or more for major football and racing. If you are placing a very large bet, the cashier may need to phone for approval.
Gaming machines
A betting shop may have up to four gaming machines, known formally as category B2 and B3 machines and colloquially as fixed-odds betting terminals or FOBTs. Since 1 April 2019 the maximum stake on a B2 game (roulette and similar) has been £2 per spin. B3 games (slots-style) also have a £2 stake limit. Maximum prizes are £500. Machines must display the time and how much you have staked, and let you set your own limits on time and spend. Staff are required to monitor machine play and to intervene if they see signs of harm.
Age and identification
You must be 18 or over to enter a betting shop, to bet or to use a machine. Shops operate a “Think 25” policy: if you look under 25, staff must ask for photographic identification, typically a passport, driving licence or PASS card. Refusal is not personal; a shop that serves someone under 18 can lose its licence. Children may not be brought into betting shops.
Rules shops must follow
Licensed betting shops in Great Britain are bound by the Gambling Commission’s Licence Conditions and Codes of Practice. Among other things, staff must:
- refuse service to anyone under 18 or unable to prove their age;
- take part in the betting shop self-exclusion scheme, GamStop Betting Shops, and refuse service to anyone who has excluded themselves;
- display safer-gambling information and how to get help;
- offer to help customers set limits on machines;
- have the bookmaker’s full betting rules available on request, including how each-way places, dead heats and Rule 4 deductions are settled.
If you believe a shop has broken these rules you can report it to the Gambling Commission. If you have a dispute about a bet that the shop cannot resolve, ask for the bookmaker’s complaints procedure; if that fails, the Independent Betting Adjudication Service (IBAS) adjudicates free of charge.
Opening hours
Shops set their own hours within the terms of their premises licence, and in practice they follow the sport. Across the 3,492 shops in our data, the most common weekday pattern is 08:30 to 22:00, but 19:00 and 21:00 closings are common in smaller towns, and Sunday hours are shorter almost everywhere. Every shop page on BookieFinder shows the hours the bookmaker publishes and the date we collected them. No betting shop in Great Britain opens on Christmas Day. Bank holiday hours vary and are rarely published; if it matters, telephone the shop.
If you are new to betting
Start small, treat the stake as the price of an afternoon’s entertainment, and stop when it stops being fun. The staff are used to first-timers and will explain a slip or a bet type if you ask. Our glossary covers the terms you will see on the walls, and our responsible gambling lists free help if you or someone you know ever needs it.