Bet365

Bet365 are a familiar name, having held a bookmaking licence for over twenty years. They sponsor a number of betting-related events and television programmes and operate 59 traditional betting offices as well as this online sportsbook and associated casino and poker rooms.

The design of the home page isn't spectacular, and if you've seen any average Chinese takeaway menu lately then you'll have a pretty good idea of what to expect. There is one graphic on the page, but the bulk of it is dominated by blocks of green links with a menu of red links on the left hand side. Navigation is easy using the menu links, but it's not much of a pleasure.

Fortunately, sportsbook sites are about much more than pretty pages, and bet365 redeem themselves by offering betting on a wide range of events. These include the usual racing, football, cricket and so on, as well as the less common Gaelic sports, speedway and futsal. Football bettors are especially well catered for, with a whole section of statistics, including league tables, results from previous seasons and top scorers - not only for games held in Britain, but also for those on the European and International stage.

Placing bets is fairly straightforward, and involves adding selections to a virtual betting slip. However, in order to do this you need to make sure that you have logged in first - you can't complete your betting slip and then log in when you click to confirm it, as you can with some other bookies.

For those of you who like to hear what's going on with your bet as the event unfolds, the site offers a range of audio streaming broadcasts covering horse racing (including Irish racing), greyhound racing and soccer. The Saturday soccer show runs from 12pm to 5pm and provides the latest scores across the board as they happen.