Betting Sites in Ireland: the Licensed Bookmakers

Betting sites in Ireland are legal online only if they appear on the register of the Gambling Regulatory Authority of Ireland: since 1 July 2026 every online bookmaker serving Irish punters needs a GRAI remote betting licence. Below is our ranking of the licensed firms, followed by the checks that separate a sound bookie from a merely loud one.

Betting sites in Ireland ranked by the desk

Every name in this table appears on the GRAI register as checked on 29 October 2026. The order reflects each firm's form line across licence, markets, payments, safer-gambling tools and terms; the method is set out on how we rate.

No.	Runner	Form	Licence	Verdict	Links
1	bet365Hillside (Europe) ENC	1-1-2-2-3	GRAI licence (betting)	NAP	Visit
2	Paddy PowerPPB Counterparty Services Limited	1-1-2-2-3	GRAI licence (betting)	NAP	Visit
3	BetfairPPB Counterparty Services Limited	1-1-4-4-4	GRAI licence (betting)	NAP	Visit
4	BoyleSportsBoylesports (Gibraltar) Limited	1-2-1-2-3	GRAI licence (betting)	Each-way	Visit
5	William HillWH Ireland Limited	1-1-3-2-3	GRAI licence (betting)	Each-way	Visit
6	LadbrokesLC International Limited	1-1-3-2-4	GRAI licence (betting)	Each-way	Visit
7	CoralElectraWorks Limited	1-2-4-4-4	GRAI licence (betting)	Each-way	Visit
8	LivescorebetLiveScore Betting and Gaming (Gibraltar) Limited	1-2-3-4-4	GRAI licence (betting)	Each-way	Visit
9	BetVictorBV Gaming Limited	1-2-5-4-5	GRAI licence (betting)	Each-way	Visit
10	UnibetPlatinum Gaming LimitedEUR 40 Money Back Offer on Your First Bet + EUR 10 Casino Bonus (new customers, min EUR 10 deposit, wagering applies) (as seen 2026-10-29)	1-2-3-4-4	GRAI licence (betting)	Each-way	Visit
11	Sky BetSBG Sports Ltd	1-2-4-4-4	GRAI licence (betting)	Each-way	Visit
12	BetwayBetway Limited	1-2-5-4-4	GRAI licence (betting)	Each-way	Visit
13	Bar One RacingBar-One Racing Limited	1-3-5-5-5	GRAI licence (betting)	Each-way	Visit
14	Bet MasterBM Solutions Limited	1-3-3-5-5	GRAI licence (betting)	Each-way	Visit
15	BetGoodwinGoodwin Racing Limited	1-4-5-4-4	GRAI licence (betting)	Each-way	Visit
16	FitzdaresFITZDARES LIMITED	1-5-5-5-5	GRAI licence (betting)	Each-way	Visit
17	TonybetTonybet OU	1-4-5-5-5	GRAI licence (betting)	Watch	Visit

Form reads licence, markets, payments, safer-play tools, terms; 1 is best. How we rate. 18+ only.

Three names carry our nap: bet365, Paddy Power and Betfair. The last two share a licence holder, PPB Counterparty Services Limited, part of Flutter Entertainment; Betfair's exchange sits under a separate intermediary licence held by Betfair International plc. bet365 is licensed through Hillside (Europe) ENC. The rest of the field earns an each-way verdict, with Tonybet on watch until more of its Irish product can be confirmed.

What a GRAI licence means, and what it does not

The Gambling Regulation Act 2024 moved betting regulation away from Revenue. Before July 2026 an online bookie held a remote bookmaker's licence from Revenue; Revenue has stopped issuing it, and the GRAI register is now the list that counts. A licence there covers betting only. Casino, slots and bingo have no Irish licence yet, because gaming licensing is not expected until early 2027, so the casino tab inside a licensed bookie's app runs under a Maltese, British or Gibraltar licence. The full background is on our licensing explainer.

Two practical points follow. A firm missing from the register has no business taking Irish bets online, whatever its adverts say. And a complaint about a sports bet now has an Irish regulator behind it, which is more than can be said for a complaint about a slot.

Irish bookmakers and the British names

The market splits roughly into three camps. The home-grown firms come first: Paddy Power, now inside Flutter; BoyleSports, whose head office is in Dundalk; and Bar One Racing, a Dundalk independent built around horses. Then the British names, all with Irish licences of their own: William Hill (licensed via WH Ireland Limited), Ladbrokes and Coral (both Entain brands) and Sky Bet, now part of Flutter. Finally the international online operators: bet365, Betway, Unibet, BetVictor, LiveScore Bet and smaller outfits such as Bet Master and BetGoodwin.

One quirk of the register: Coral's online book is licensed through ElectraWorks Limited, the Entain company that also holds the entry for bwin and Sportingbet, while Ladbrokes sits under LC International Limited. bet365, the most searched name of all, has its own full review covering the app, racing and payments.

How to pick an online bookie in Ireland

• Racing first. For most Irish punters the horses are the main event. Look for full Irish and British cards, each-way terms printed on the slip and Best Odds Guaranteed on UK and Irish races.
• Football and GAA depth. Premier League markets are everywhere; GAA handicaps, totals and county championship prices are not. Our GAA betting page explains how those markets work.
• Payments in euro. Debit card is standard; Apple Pay, PayPal and bank transfer vary by firm, so check the cashier list in the review before signing up. Credit cards are out: the Act bans credit for gambling, and that section is already in force.
• Limits and time-outs. Deposit limits are a legal right under section 164 of the Act. A bookie that buries them three menus deep is telling you something.
• Terms you can read. Free bet rules, Rule 4 handling and void-leg policy on bet builders should be findable in under a minute.

Sportsbook markets: Premier League to the World Cup

Premier League, Champions League and international football are priced by every big book, and the differences show in the margins. An odds-comparison habit costs nothing: check two or three books before a big bet and the gap on a single selection is often worth more than any welcome offer. Ante-post markets on a World Cup or a Grand National can be taken months out; read the non-runner rules first, because an ordinary ante-post bet on a horse that misses the race is a loser.

Barstool Sportsbook, sometimes searched for here, is an American brand and is not on the GRAI register. Neither are a long list of offshore sites that advertise to Irish punters on social media. Those operators have no Irish licence, Irish law gives a punter no protection with them, and the desk does not list them.

Tax, duty and the rules coming next

Punters in Ireland pay no tax on betting winnings. The bookmaker pays Revenue a 2% duty on turnover, and exchanges pay 25% of the commission they charge Irish customers. More on that in the gambling tax guide.

Further changes are written into the Act but not yet switched on as of October 2026: a 5.30am to 9pm broadcast advertising watershed, limits on inducements such as free bets, and a National Gambling Exclusion Register covering every licensed operator at once. Until that register exists, self-exclusion is done operator by operator.

The rest of the betting desk

Our sub-pages go deeper: free bets and how to value them, the betting apps worth a place on your phone, exchanges and lay betting, the bookies offering BOG on racing, and the new names on the register.

Betting is 18+ only, and every firm above must check your age and identity before the first bet. If the bets have stopped being fun, our responsible gambling page lists Irish support services and the tools each bookie has to offer.