The Pools Sports Betting Review 2024

Pools Review
The Pools
4.5
GET £20 IN FREE BETS
18+, UK only. Deposit and place a minimum £10 cash bet at single or accumulated odds of 1/1 or greater and we will give you 1 x £5 in free bets plus an extra 3 x £5 Free Bets the following day. Applies to first cash bet only. Free bets credited as 4 x £5 bets to use on 3x Any sport & 1x Virtuals. Cashed Out, Void or Draw No Bet wagers do not qualify for this promotion. 1 x £5 Free Bets are credited upon qualifying first bet settlement, other free bets credited by midday the day after your first bet settles. 7-day free bet expiry. Available once per customer. This offer cannot be combined with any other promotion. Full T&C's apply.

Pools Sport Types

  • Football Icon
    Football
  • Tennis
    Tennis
  • Golf
    Golf
  • Basketball Betting
    Basketball
  • Horse Racing
    Horse Racing

Pools Features

  • Great sports promotions
  • Free to play games
  • Live racing streams
  • Classic Pools betting available
  • Betting Variety
    4.5
  • Banking Options
    4.6
  • Mobile Experience
    4.5
  • Betting Experience
    4.5
  • Customer Support
    4.5
Total score
4.5
4.5
By:Scott McGlynn

For those old enough to remember The Pools where you had to fill out paper coupons, I can inform you that things have come a long way since then.

The Pools is a fully modernised and up-to-date betting site, but it also nicely incorporates those classic Pools games. With good bonuses and features too, I found a lot to look at and enjoy

So let’s get started with The Pools Review.

The Pools Profile

Website: play.thepools.comYear founded: 1923
Company: The Football Pools LimitedLicense & regulation: UK Gambling Commission #48272
Contact information: support@thepools.comSponsorship deals: 
Address/Headquarters: Walton House, 55 Charnock Road, Liverpool, England, L67 1AACustomer support: live chat Monday - Saturday 8.30am - 10pm, Sunday 12pm - 10pm, email
Features: Pools games, live-streaming, cash out, bonuses Payment methods: Visa, Mastercard, PayPal
Owner: Apps devices: No

The Pools Strengths & Weaknesses

There were some strengths and weaknesses that I came across when looking at The Pools new betting site. So next, we’ll explore some of those.

✔️ The Pools Strengths

  • Promotions - Without question, one of the strengths of The Pools is the sports promotions side of things. They are varied and offer some nice touches of extra value for regular punters.
  • Loyalty Club - As a regular bettor, I can appreciate the value of a loyalty club. There is a generous one at The Pools which credits a £5 free bet for every £10 placed in bets, which is a really low threshold, in my opinion.
  • Competitive Odds - In my experience, you aren’t going to find odds at The Pools that will excel above and beyond what other major bookies are putting out there. But they are competitive, with reasonable margins on football markets, so I rate that as a strength.

❌ The Pools Weaknesses

  • No Betting Apps - At the time of visiting the bookmaker for The Pools review, there weren’t dedicated betting apps available. That feels like a shame because their layout would translate so well as an app and give punters extra convenience instead of using the mobile site in a browser.
  • Sportsbook - Once I started shifting beyond the major sports of horse racing and football, other markets were a little thin on the ground compared to other bookmakers I’ve visited. However, if you don’t stray much from football or horses, you’ll find excellent coverage of both.
  • Limited payment options - The only way to fund an account at The Pools is by PayPal or debit card. Would that be a deal-breaker? Not personally, but the lack of other options can be considered a weakness of their operations.

Conclusion

I found a lot to enjoy at The Pools - indeed, the design grabbed my attention. It’s not a site laden with extra features, but it’s a solid betting platform nonetheless.

I imagine it will serve many UK punters well because of the excellent football and racing markets.

The Pools Promotions & Bonuses

GET £20 IN FREE BETS
18+, UK only. Deposit and place a minimum £10 cash bet at single or accumulated odds of 1/1 or greater and we will give you 1 x £5 in free bets plus an extra 3 x £5 Free Bets the following day. Applies to first cash bet only. Free bets credited as 4 x £5 bets to use on 3x Any sport & 1x Virtuals. Cashed Out, Void or Draw No Bet wagers do not qualify for this promotion. 1 x £5 Free Bets are credited upon qualifying first bet settlement, other free bets credited by midday the day after your first bet settles. 7-day free bet expiry. Available once per customer. This offer cannot be combined with any other promotion. Full T&C's apply.

The Pools Full Review

I had a positive experience over at The Pools, and I think they are worth checking out.

As mentioned, The Pools have a very nice website design, which helps along, as it has a calm, relaxing feel and offers an excellent user experience.

Beyond the surface stuff, the Welcome Bonus at The Pools was a little disappointing, in my opinion. I was surprised that the bonus, which is just £5, can only be used on Virtual Sports.

Those are games of chance and have nothing to do with testing my betting skills, which I found a little frustrating.

I have to get another slight weakness out of the way, and that’s their sportsbook. Their market coverage and variety for things outside of football and horse racing aren’t the greatest. Expand their main sportsbook menu, and you’ll see a lot of sports, but options within are limited.

They have two significant areas of focus - football and racing. On the upside, though, their horse racing is excellent as you can get strong early prices on many races at home and abroad, plus there are live racing streams to boot.

I was also happy to see an option for Classic Pools on the site. That’s where you make picks for a given round. For example, make ten picks, and big cash prizes can be snapped up if you get at least eight score draws.

There is a good range of sports promotions on their site. The Pools are excellent in this area, from Acca Boosts to the loyalty club and money-back specials on horse racing.

To summarise, it’s a good, nuts and bolts betting platform with great bonuses and one that is worth exploring.

Is The Pools Legal in the UK?

One of the first things to always check when picking out new betting sites is whether they are fully regulated and safe.

In the case of The Pools operating in the UK, they are legal and above board. The Pools are a registered company, and they are licensed and regulated in Great Britain by the Gambling Commission.

This is an excellent example of the kind of due diligence that should be done first. You are playing with your money and want to do that as securely as possible.

There has been no evidence that I could find of The Pools having had any security issues before, nor running into problems with any legal matters.

The Pools Welcome Package 🎁

If there is a bookmaker sign-up bonus hanging around, it’s always worth a look. Collecting a bonus to kick things off is not a bad way to start proceedings. 

Here’s what I found about The Pools Sign Up offer.

The Pools Welcome Bonus

Get £20 in free bets

How to claim The Pools Welcome Bonus

I liked that the sign-up bonus at The Pools wasn’t complicated at all to get. So here’s a brief overview of what to do.

  • Sign up with them by clicking a claim button on this page
  • Enter the account details and fill in personal info
  • Add a payment method
  • Deposit at least £10Place a cash sports bet of at least £10 (minimum odds 1/1)
  • Enjoy a £5 free bet on virtual sports

The Pools Welcome Bonus Terms & Conditions

You always want to ensure you are up to speed with terms and conditions. That’s to cover yourself and ensure you get all the steps right to claim the bonus.

Looking at the full terms & conditions of The Pools welcome bonus, and there is a lot to wade through. But that can be broken down into some key points.

  • 18+, UK residents
  • Deposit a minimum of £10
  • Place a minimum £10 bet cash bet at single or accumulated odds of 1/1 or greater
  • The offer applies to the first cash bet only.
  • The bonus is credited as a 1 x £5 free bet, which must be wagered 1x on Virtual sports
  • The maximum award is 1 x £5 free bet on virtual sports for each customer
  • Free bet bonuses have to be used in full
  • The bonus will expire seven days after it has been credited to the account.
  • The free bet gets credited when the first qualifying bet is settled.

The Pools Best Features

As part of sizing up new betting sites for MansionBet, I always like to check out the significant features. But, of course, all punters will have preferences regarding what features they want to see.

Extra touches on a site can enhance an experience, be that tools to customise bets, free-to-play competitions or user engagement like live streams.

Here are some of the best features I can put forward for The Pools betting review:

  • Price Boosts - The Pools put out many price boosts on their site. These are pre-set wagers they have created at boosted odds. It’s mostly for football and horse racing.
  • Free To Play Hub - This is a nice little feature, as there are free-to-enter games to try and win jackpot prizes like Pick 5 Correct Score.
  • Acca Boost - This is a big one at The Pools. Make a minimum 5-fold Acca with a minimum £10 stake and receive up to a 50% win bonus. Fantastically this applies to all sports.
  • Cash Out - A betting site would sorely be lacking if cash out wasn’t available. The coverage of this feature is widespread in football at The Pools.
  • Subscriptions - If you don’t want to miss a coupon game or lottery betting, you can make monthly subscriptions at The Pools.

The Pools Mobile App

No betting apps for The Pools exist, at least not at the current time of writing this review. So there was no experience to be had of that.

But all is not lost as The Pools betting via their mobile site is still good. Fortunately, the overall design of their site is fluid enough to work well on the smaller screen.

I didn’t have any issues sliding around different markets and adding selections to the slip, which can be nicely tucked away when you don’t want it. However, I think loading the live in-play betting page wasn’t particularly quick.

But the full range of their features can all be enjoyed on mobile.

Banking at The Pools

The Pools does have some good stuff to offer punters, I feel. Everything is just straightforward to use, which is something to be appreciated. That goes for their banking too.

After a sign-up, before getting into The Pools betting action, you need to fund the account. So how do you make a payment to The Pools?

Well, this is where things are a little limited. It's a Debit Card or PayPal. Those are your options. In a way, it simplifies the whole thing, and in my opinion, debit card payments are usually the quickest way to go anyway.

After signing up, go to your account and hit the Deposit box. Enter the amount, confirm the payment details and submit. Payments should be instant.

How do you get your winnings via a withdrawal at The Pools? That's simple enough, and you need a valid card.

If it's one you haven't used on the account before, a small deposit from it will have to be made before it can be used as a withdrawal method.

Withdrawals should be processed in 2-5 working days.

The Pools Customer Support

What degree of customer support is available at The Pools? Foremost, I’d state that the overall help centre at The Pools is excellent.

Everything is laid out to quickly get the user to different help areas, from betting rules to gambling controls and account verification.

Their FAQs are all on one page, and you expand the relevant questions to which you want to see the answer. Answers are informative, short and sweet.

In terms of contacting their customer support, there is a live chat, although not operated 24/7. You can send them a question outside of hours, and they’ll contact you through email.

Support hours are 8.30 am - 10 pm Monday through Saturday, then 12 pm - 10 pm on a Sunday.

Their support email is support@thepools.com, and they don’t supply a telephone support number.

Frequently Asked Questions about The Pools

How do I get The Pools Free Bet?

The welcome bonus offer at The Pools is a £5 free virtual sports bet. They will credit that after an initial deposit and a minimum £10 bet on the account.

Do The Pools have live-streaming?

UK punters can log in and watch live horse racing TV at The Pools.

How long does a withdrawal at The Pools take?

Depending on the method used, it should be between 2-5 working days for a withdrawal.

How do I bet on The Pools?

The Pools are simple to use. Register an account, deposit and then find your markets. Next, add selections to your bet slip, enter a stake and place your bet.