Betting on sports is one of the most popular pastime activities in the UK. People do it for varying reasons. It’s cool. It’s exciting and can make you money. It’s also risky and people love to take risks in life.

If you’re planning to get into sports betting, take time when choosing a sportsbook app. It plays a crucial role in your success as a punter. Here’s why. You need an app that’s reliable. It should be fast and cover your favorite sports with competitive odds.

Continue reading to discover all the reasons you need a quality betting app and how to find the right one for you.

Security and Trustworthiness

A good betting app needs to be safe and secure. That goes without saying. It should have security tools to protect your data and money. It also needs to be trustworthy. Although you can spot a secure betting app by looking at its features, a license from the UKGC also confirms an app’s security.

The UK Gambling Commission is extremely strict about security. It requires every betting license applicant to secure their sites and apps accordingly. That means they must hire professionals to build these apps and use tools like SSL, firewalls and multi-authentication to protect players.

When it comes to trustworthiness, the best way to discover reputable companies is by reading reviews. The best betting app will obviously rank at the top of reviews. By comparison, terrible apps attract overwhelmingly negative reviews.

App Layout and Optimization

Before you think about creating an account, install a few betting apps (free of charge) and gauge your experience using them. Test their loading speeds, their designs, layouts and ease of navigation. 

Obviously, you want an app that makes it easy to bet. It doesn’t matter whether you want to check odds or whether you want to place an in-play bet. If the app lags, or takes too long to open, you risk losing money.

Luckily, app design is an area many betting companies excel at. It’s probably because the UKGC requires them to create efficient apps. Or maybe it’s stiff competition that has forced betting brands to work on their apps. Regardless, it’s easy to find beautifully designed betting apps nowadays.

Sports, Leagues and Tournaments

What’s the real reason you’re looking for a betting app? Perhaps you want to make money by wagering on the upcoming English Premier League. Maybe you’re more interested in horse racing. Or maybe you’ve fallen in love with the rapidly growing sport known as eSports.

Choose an app that supports your preferred betting markets. Rather, choose an app that gives priority to your favorite sports, leagues and teams. Let’s say you love football. Then you want an app that delivers betting markets on all the big leagues around Europe, and major FIFA tournaments worldwide.

However, that doesn’t mean football is the only sport on the app. You could develop a love for tennis, basketball, cricket or golf later on. And you don’t want to start over the entire process of finding a great app.

The best betting apps support a wide range of sports, from major sports like football and basketball to minor sports like wrestling and Australian Rules. The benefit of providing lots of betting markets is that you’ll always have something to predict.

What’s more, it’s easier to find high-value odds. For the uninitiated, high-value odds are games where a team is under-valued based on its odds compared to its winning potential.

Competitive Odds

As mentioned, a good betting app provides competitive odds. If you find a good-looking app but it offers poor odds, find an alternative. You don’t owe betting apps anything. Quite the contrary, they owe you quality odds.

Picture this. You’ve found a nice-looking betting app that covers your favorite sport, hockey. It supports all the major leagues. But there’s a problem. Your friend who bets at a different app makes more money than you do even when you bet the same amount on the same game.

The explanation is that your friend is at an app that gives him better odds than you get. Over time, the small difference in profits can turn into a lot of cash. That’s why it’s crucial to ensure you pick an app with the best odds.

Free Bets and Bonuses

Let no one deceive you. Free bets aren’t entirely free. Nonetheless, they’re excellent betting tools that could boost your profits and minimize risks tremendously. That means you shouldn’t fear accepting betting freebies.

However, don’t accept just about any betting bonus you find online. Take time to discover the value you’re getting from a bonus. Let’s say you come across a bet £10 get £40 bonus. That’s 4x your money, meaning it’s worth your attention.

Next, look at the betting terms and what you need to do to cashout your profits. Most bonuses have something called playthrough: the amount of real cash you must spend at the betting app before you can withdraw your bonus winnings. Pick a bookie with zero or only a small number of wagering requirements.

Quick Payouts

For a lot of newbie punters, an app is great if it supports their favorite payment methods. Maybe someone loves PayPal. And so, they choose the first PayPal betting app they find. The problem: the banking process differs from one app to another.

Sure, you can find five apps that support PayPal, Skrill, Visa, MasterCard, Bitcoin and Google Pay. But some of them charge you for deposits. Others don’t. Some limit withdrawals at £1000 per day. The best apps have limits of up to £100,000.

Owing to that backdrop, look beyond payment methods. Find out the minimum and maximum you can deposit and withdraw from a sportsbook. Also, read online reviews to verify that a company keeps its word on charges and payout speed.

Generally, the best betting apps support instant deposits and withdrawals if you use e-wallets and crypto. Withdrawals can take longer, though, especially when using credit cards and bank transfer.