The Pools

If you’re over the age of 30 then you will most likely remember the Football Pools being delivered through your letterbox and having to pick matches which you thought would be score draws in order to win big prizes. Well, you can still play the Football Pools online and in October 2018 they launched an online sportsbook, 95 years after starting their football pools service.

OpCapita acquired The New Football Pools in 2017 for £83m and in an attempt to grab a piece of the online betting industry pie, decided to launch ThePools.com.

The Pools sportsbook was launched in conjunction with platform provider FSB (UK) Ltd and allows customers to bet on a range of sports taking place around the world. Although the number of sports available to bet on isn’t as many as at some of the more established bookmakers, all of the most popular ones are available. Some of the available sports on The Pools are American football, Aussie rules, baseball, basketball, boxing, MMA, cricket, cycling, darts, football, hurling, golf, greyhounds, horse racing, ice hockey, motor sports, pool, rugby, snooker, tennis and volleyball. There is also a range of special bets which include betting on award ceremonies, TV shows and special Premier League bets.

We were impressed with the odds on offer at The Pools when comparing them to Bet365 as they were offering greater odds on a large number of Premier League matches. Upon checking, horse racing, golf and tennis odds were also very competitive.

The Pools Free Bet

It’s not very often that you come across a no deposit offer at a bookmaker which is why we were pleasantly surprised to see this being offered at The Pools.

New customers at The Pools can receive a £2 free bet simply for registering an account. No deposit is required making this an excellent risk-free offer.

Once registered, your £2 free bet will be available in your account and can be used on any sports market. Your free bet can only be used on win bets and will expire after 7 days if not used. The maximum odds you can use your free bet on is 100/1 (101.0) and the free bet value will not be included in any winnings.

This no deposit free bet offer from The Pools is a good enough reason to open an account and have a risk-free chance of winning up to £200.

The Pools Promotions

You often find that with new bookmakers, they tend to not offer many regular promotions to existing customers. Thankfully this is not the case with The Pools as customers can take advantage of a range of good offers which have value.

Live Premier League In-Play – Place an in-play bet of £20 on any Premier League match and if it loses, The Pools will credit your account with a £5 free bet.

10% Cashback – Receive cashback on in-play losses at selected tennis tournaments.

Live TV Racing Free Bet Club – Place 4 x £10 bets or more in a single day at odds of 3/1 (4.0) or greater on different races televised live on ITV and get a £5 free bet to use on horse racing the following day.

ACCA Boost – Place an accumulator with 4 or more selections and get a cash bonus of up to 35% on your winnings if it wins.

Best Odds Guaranteed – Bet on any UK or Irish horse race and if the starting price of your selection is greater than the price you took when you placed your bet, you will receive your winnings at the higher odds if your horse wins the race.

There are many other promotions available at The Pools. Check the promotions page for the latest offers.

The Pools Website

ThePools website isn’t 100% unique and you’ll find a similar design & layout on some other sportsbooks which have been developed in conjunction with FSB. However, the site looks great with the bright blue really standing out against the grey background.

Navigation to various markets and markets is simple with a list of sports being displayed in the left sidebar and some of the more popular sports listed in the main navbar. The latest promotions are displayed on the homepage along with a list of live in-play events and odds. There are also ‘Quick Links’ to section such as Football Specials, the most popular football leagues and ‘Footie5’ which is a free to play game for customers who get to predict the correct score of 5 nominated football matches for the chance to win a whopping £25,000.

Users can also quickly access various casino games from the sportsbook section of the account with their sportsbook and casino wallet integrated.

Overall, The Pools is a great betting site which offers very competitive odds, a range of promotions for existing customers and a very rare no deposit free bet offer for new customers.