Last Updated on 29/04/2026 by Andy Clark
Andy is the founder, owner and editor of thatsagoal.com, with over 20 years of experience in betting on sports. He has a keen eye for stats, particularly when looking at players to be carded, and these form a large part of the bet builder tips you see on the site. As well as creating daily football tips, Andy also keeps thatsagoal updated with all the best bookmaker promotions and offers for our readers.
Star Sports are the UK’s leading independent bookmaker — a 25-year-old family-run firm that built its name on the racecourse with founder Ben Keith taking bets ringside at Cheltenham, Royal Ascot and the Grand National. Their online sportsbook reflects exactly that heritage: outstanding horse racing odds, willingness to take a bet that the corporate giants will not, and a personal telephone betting service that feels like a different industry entirely.
But Star Sports is not the right bookmaker for everyone. There is no live streaming, no cash out on every market, the app is functional rather than exceptional, and the welcome offer is small compared to bet365 or Betfred. If you want a slick mobile-first experience with all the bells and whistles, look elsewhere.
The bottom line: if you bet on horse racing, particularly at major festivals, or you place stakes large enough that mainstream bookmakers limit you, Star Sports is one of the most genuinely useful accounts you can hold in the UK. For everyday football accumulator punters, there are better options.
Star Sports at a Glance
| Feature | Details |
|---|---|
| Sign-up offer | Bet £20 Get £10 in Free Bets |
| Minimum deposit | £5 |
| Withdrawal time | 1-3 business days |
| Live streaming | ❌ Not available |
| Bet Builder | ✅ Build-a-Bet on most sports |
| Cash out | ⚠️ Partial cash out on selected markets |
| Best Odds Guaranteed | ✅ Horse racing |
| Mobile app | ✅ iOS and Android |
| Customer service | Phone, live chat, email, X – UK-based |
| UKGC licence | ✅ Licensed since 1999 (Star Racing Ltd) |
| Account restrictions | ✅ Famously willing to take large bets |
Star Sports Ratings
| Category | Rating | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Horse racing odds and markets | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 5/5 | Among the best in the UK – BOG, extra places, ante-post depth |
| Football odds and markets | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 4/5 | Strong main markets, narrower depth than bet365 |
| App and website | ⭐⭐⭐ 3/5 | Functional, clean, no live streaming |
| Live streaming | ⭐ 1/5 | Not offered |
| In-play betting | ⭐⭐⭐ 3/5 | Available but lacks live visuals |
| Welcome offer | ⭐⭐⭐ 3/5 | £10 in free bets – modest |
| Existing customer offers | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 4/5 | Star Boosts, money back, acca bonuses |
| Withdrawals | ⭐⭐⭐ 3/5 | 1-3 business days, no instant withdrawals |
| Customer service | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 5/5 | UK-based phone line, fast and personal |
| Account stake limits | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 5/5 | Will take bets the corporates will not |
Star Sports Pros and Cons
Pros
- One of the UK’s strongest bookmakers for horse racing – major festivals, ante-post, BOG, extra places
- Genuinely willing to take large stakes that other bookmakers refuse or limit
- UK-based phone betting service – speak directly to a trader
- 25 years in the industry – Ben Keith and team are recognised, on-course bookmakers
- Star Boosts on big sporting events offer real value
- Independent and family-run – not part of a corporate group
- Build-a-Bet feature works across most sports
- Best Odds Guaranteed on UK and Irish horse racing
Cons
- No live streaming on football, racing or any sport
- The welcome offer is only £10 in free bets – behind every major competitor
- Free bets expire in 24 hours – tight window
- Cash out is limited to selected markets, not universal
- App reviews are mixed – functional but not market-leading
- Withdrawals take 1-3 business days, slower than bet365 or Midnite
- No dedicated football streaming or in-play visualisations
- Some bets must go through a trader for approval – can frustrate small-stakes punters
Star Sports Sign-Up Offer
New customers can claim Bet £20 Get £10 in Free Bets when they open a Star Sports account.
How to claim:
- Register using the link on this page
- Deposit £20 or more using a debit card registered in your name
- Place a qualifying bet of £20 or more at minimum odds of Evens (2.0)
- Receive 2 x £5 Free Bets — the first paid automatically, the second after 24 hours
- Use your free bets within 24 hours before they expire
Key terms:
- New UK customers only, aged 18+
- Qualifying stake £20 minimum at odds of Evens (2.0) or greater
- Free bets are 2 x £5 — the first paid immediately, the second after 24 hours
- Minimum free bet odds of 4/1 (5.0) on accumulators of trebles or above
- Free bets expire 24 hours after being credited
- One offer per customer, household and IP address
Is the Star Sports offer good value? Honestly, no — not in pure monetary terms. £10 in free bets for a £20 qualifying stake is the smallest welcome offer on this site. Compared to Betfred (£10 get £50), BoyleSports (£10 get £40) and bet365 (£10 get £30), this is a long way behind.
But Star Sports is not chasing welcome offer headlines. Their pitch is to bettors who care about odds, willingness to take stakes, and personal service over short-term bonus value. If those things matter to you more than a free £30, Star Sports earns its place. If you only care about the welcome offer size, see our Bet £10 Get £50 Sign-up Offers page.
Claim the Star Sports Sign-Up Offer →
How to Open a Star Sports Account
Opening a Star Sports account takes around five minutes. Here is the step-by-step process:
- Click the link on this page to go to Star Sports’ registration page
- Fill in your details – name, address, date of birth and email
- Choose a username and password – keep these secure
- Verify your identity – most UK customers are verified automatically when they make their first deposit. If not, you’ll need to provide ID (passport or driving licence) and proof of address
- Make your first deposit – minimum £20 to qualify for the welcome offer
- Place your qualifying bet – £20 or more at minimum odds of Evens
- Collect your free bets – the first £5 free bet is paid immediately, the second after 24 hours
Star Sports Existing Customer Offers
Star Sports does not run a formal loyalty programme, but their ongoing promotions are well-targeted around major sporting events.
Star Boosts
Daily and weekly enhanced odds on football, horse racing, tennis and other sports. Star Boosts on Premier League and Champions League fixtures are typically generous — boosted odds on player-to-score, multiple goalscorers, or Build-a-Bet style combinations. Boosts on horse racing festivals are particularly competitive, often beating the corporate bookmakers’ equivalents.
Best Odds Guaranteed
Star Sports offer Best Odds Guaranteed on all UK and Irish horse racing. If you take a price on a horse and the starting price is bigger, you are paid at the bigger price. This is standard at major bookmakers but worth noting because Star Sports operates the offer fairly without the heavy account restrictions you see at corporate firms.
See our Best Odds Guaranteed guide for a full explanation of how BOG works and which bookmakers offer it on the most races.
Extra Places on Major Festivals
At Cheltenham, the Grand National, Royal Ascot and other major festivals, Star Sports run extra-place each-way races — paying out on additional places beyond the standard terms. This is one of the best ways to extract value from competitive handicaps.
Money Back Specials
Selected races and events feature money-back specials — typically your stake refunded as a free bet if your horse finishes second to the favourite, or if a specific event happens. These are advertised in the promotions section and on event pages.
Build-a-Bet Boost
Star Sports run boosted Build-a-Bet markets on selected fixtures, particularly Premier League games. The boost is applied automatically when you create a multi-leg same-game bet that meets the criteria.
Star Sports App Review
The Star Sports app is available on iOS and Android and provides a clean, functional adaptation of the desktop website. App Store ratings are middling — the app does what it needs to do, but it does not match the bet365 or Betfred app for polish.
Navigation: Sports are listed alphabetically down the left-hand menu, with featured events surfaced on the homepage. The bet slip updates in real time. The interface is uncluttered with no aggressive marketing of casino games, which some punters will prefer.
In-play: Available for football, tennis, racing and most major sports. Odds update at a reasonable pace though not as fast as bet365. The biggest gap here is the absence of live streaming — you cannot watch matches or races on the Star Sports app, which is unusual in 2026.
Build-a-Bet: Star Sports’ bet builder is called “Build-a-Bet” and works across most sports. Markets available include match result, both teams to score, player to score, cards, corners and goals lines. Functional rather than market-leading — you will find more market depth at bet365 or BoyleSports.
Cash out: Partial cash out is available on selected markets. Full cash out is not universal across all markets. This is one of the more notable limitations versus the corporate bookmakers.
Downloading the app:
- iOS: Search “Star Sports” in the App Store. Requires iOS 13 or later.
- Android: Available on Google Play Store. Requires Android 7.0 or later.
For a comparison of the best mobile betting experiences, see our Best Betting Apps 2026 guide.
Star Sports Betting Markets
Star Sports cover a strong selection of sports with particular depth on horse racing and football.
Horse Racing
This is where Star Sports genuinely competes with — and frequently beats — the corporate bookmakers. Their racing offering reflects 25 years of on-course bookmaking experience and the team’s deep involvement in the sport.
Strengths:
- Best Odds Guaranteed on all UK and Irish racing
- Strong ante-post markets on Cheltenham, Grand National, Royal Ascot, Glorious Goodwood and other major festivals
- Extra place each-way terms on competitive handicaps
- Willingness to take larger stakes than corporate bookmakers
- Telephone betting line — speak directly to a trader for advice or to place a bet
Weaknesses:
- No live streaming of races (most major bookmakers stream UK and Irish racing)
- Coverage of overseas racing is narrower than that of William Hill or bet365
For our daily horse racing tips that work well with Star Sports’ BOG, see our NAP of the Day and Lucky 15 Tips. For ante-post and festival betting, see our Non-Runner No Bet guide.
Football
Star Sports cover all major football leagues and competitions:
- Premier League, Championship, League One, League Two
- FA Cup, Carabao Cup
- Champions League, Europa League, Europa Conference League
- La Liga, Bundesliga, Serie A, Ligue 1
- Scottish football down to League 2
- International tournaments, including the World Cup
Markets per match are solid for the major leagues — match result, both teams to score, over/under goals, correct score, half-time/full-time, player to score, cards, corners. The depth is not at the level of bet365 (which offers 200+ markets on Premier League fixtures) but covers all the markets a regular punter needs.
For our daily football selections, see our football tips, bet builder tips and accumulator tips.
Other Sports
Star Sports cover:
- Tennis (ATP, WTA, Grand Slams)
- Cricket (Test, ODI, T20, IPL, The Hundred)
- Golf (PGA Tour, European Tour, majors)
- Rugby Union and Rugby League
- NFL, NBA, NHL, MLB
- Boxing and MMA
- Darts (PDC and BDO events)
- Snooker
- Greyhounds
- Niche sports including Gaelic football, hurling and Australian rules
Notable absences: esports are not offered at Star Sports, which will rule it out for some punters.
Specials and Politics
Star Sports run specials on TV shows, politics and novelty markets — including the next Prime Minister, election outcomes, and reality TV. The specials section is reasonable but narrower than Paddy Power or William Hill.
Star Sports Live Streaming
Star Sports does not offer live streaming on any sport. This is the single biggest gap in their product compared to corporate competitors. If watching live football, racing or other sports inside the betting app matters to you, Star Sports is not the right account.
For live streaming UK and Irish horse racing, our bet365 review and William Hill review cover the bookmakers with the strongest streaming products. The William Hill TV guide explains William Hill’s free streaming for funded accounts.
Star Sports Deposits and Withdrawals
Payment methods at Star Sports are limited compared to bigger competitors but cover the essentials.
Deposits
- Visa and Mastercard debit cards
- Bank transfer
Minimum deposit is £5. Most card deposits are processed instantly. Credit cards are not accepted — this is a UK-wide rule introduced by the UKGC in April 2020 and applies to all UK-licensed bookmakers, not just Star Sports.
PayPal, Apple Pay and Skrill are not currently supported. If you prefer e-wallets, see our Best UK Betting Sites 2026 guide for bookmakers that accept PayPal.
Withdrawals
- Visa and Mastercard debit card withdrawals: 1-3 business days
- Bank transfer: 1-3 business days
Star Sports does not offer instant or same-day withdrawals. If withdrawal speed is important, see our Fast Withdrawal Betting Sites guide — Midnite, BoyleSports and bet365 all process withdrawals significantly faster.
Star Sports Account Restrictions – The Honest Truth
This is the single biggest reason punters open Star Sports accounts.
The corporate bookmakers — bet365, William Hill, Ladbrokes, Coral — are well known for restricting or limiting accounts that win consistently or place large stakes on certain markets. Bonus exclusions, stake reductions and outright closures are documented across thousands of Trustpilot reviews for each.
Star Sports is different. The firm’s roots are on-course bookmaking, where the business model is built on taking bets, not avoiding them. Founder Ben Keith publicly takes substantial bets on television at major festivals. The online platform reflects that culture — they are willing to take stakes that the corporates will not.
That said, Star Sports is not entirely free of friction:
- Some bets on selected markets must be approved by a trader before being accepted
- This applies even to small stakes on long-priced selections in some cases
- The trader approval can take seconds or minutes
- Bets are sometimes accepted at SP only rather than the displayed price
This is the trade-off. You get a bookmaker that genuinely takes bets, but the price is occasional friction on the bet placement journey. For most regular punters, this is a fair trade. If you want every bet accepted instantly without trader involvement, the corporates work fine until they restrict you.
Star Sports Customer Service
Customer service is genuinely a Star Sports strength.
Phone: UK-based phone line on 08000 521 321. Open standard betting hours. Calls are usually answered within seconds and the team can take bets directly over the phone — a feature most online bookmakers no longer offer.
Live chat: Available on the website and app during betting hours. Response times are typically under a minute.
Email: cs@starsportsbet.co.uk — email response times are slower at up to three business days.
X (Twitter): Star Sports are active on X and respond to direct messages and tagged posts reasonably quickly.
The personal touch is unusual in 2026 — most major bookmakers have moved to automated chatbot-led support. If you value being able to speak to a human being when you have a query, Star Sports stand out.
Star Sports Licensing and Responsible Gambling
Star Sports is licensed by the UK Gambling Commission under the name Star Racing Ltd, licence number 9177. The company has held a UKGC licence since 1999 — among the longer-standing licences in the UK market.
Responsible gambling tools available include:
- Deposit limits (daily, weekly, monthly)
- Loss limits
- Time-out periods
- Reality checks
- Self-exclusion
- GamStop integration
Star Sports also work with IBAS for independent dispute resolution and link to GambleAware, GamCare and BeGambleAware in the site footer.
Our Verdict – Should You Open a Star Sports Account?
Star Sports is a genuinely independent UK bookmaker with a 25-year track record, strong horse racing odds, willingness to take large stakes, and a personal customer service model that differentiates them from the corporate giants. They are not for everyone — the welcome offer is small, there is no live streaming, and the app is functional rather than exceptional.
Open a Star Sports account if:
- You bet on horse racing — particularly festivals, ante-post and competitive handicaps
- You place stakes large enough that mainstream bookmakers limit you
- You value being able to speak to a UK-based trader on the phone
- You want an alternative account to balance corporate-only restrictions
Look elsewhere if:
- You want the biggest welcome offer (try Betfred £50 or BoyleSports £40)
- You need live streaming inside the app (try bet365)
- You want the deepest football market coverage (try bet365)
- You want fast e-wallet payments and same-day withdrawals (try Midnite)
For most punters, Star Sports works best as a second or third account alongside a corporate bookmaker — held specifically for racing festivals and larger stakes the corporates will not take.
Star Sports FAQs
Is Star Sports safe and legitimate?
Yes. Star Sports is licensed and regulated by the UK Gambling Commission under the name Star Racing Ltd, licence number 9177. They have held a UKGC licence since 1999 and are members of IBAS for independent dispute resolution.
What is the Star Sports sign-up offer?
The current Star Sports welcome offer is Bet £20 Get £10 in Free Bets. New UK customers receive 2 x £5 free bets after placing a £20 qualifying bet at minimum odds of Evens. The first £5 free bet is paid immediately and the second after 24 hours. Free bets expire 24 hours after being credited.
Does Star Sports offer Best Odds Guaranteed?
Yes. Star Sports offer Best Odds Guaranteed on all UK and Irish horse racing. If you take a price on a horse and the starting price is bigger, you are paid at the bigger price. See our Best Odds Guaranteed guide for full details.
Does Star Sports have live streaming?
No. Star Sports does not currently offer live streaming on any sport. If live streaming matters to you, see our bet365 review or William Hill review for bookmakers with strong streaming products.
How long do Star Sports withdrawals take?
Star Sports withdrawals to Visa or Mastercard debit cards take 1-3 business days. Bank transfers take 1-3 business days. Star Sports does not offer instant or same-day withdrawals. For faster payouts, see our Fast Withdrawal Betting Sites guide.
Does Star Sports restrict winning accounts?
Star Sports is significantly more accommodating to winning customers than the corporate bookmakers. Founder Ben Keith and the team built the business on on-course bookmaking, where the model is built on taking bets rather than avoiding them. Some bets must be approved by a trader before being accepted — particularly on selected markets — but outright account restrictions are far less common than at bet365, William Hill or Ladbrokes.
Can I bet by phone at Star Sports?
Yes. Star Sports operate a UK-based phone betting line on 08000 521 321. You can place bets directly with a trader, ask for a price on a specific market, or get advice. This service is unusual in 2026 — most major bookmakers no longer offer phone betting.
Does Star Sports do horse racing?
Yes — horse racing is Star Sports’ strongest product. They offer Best Odds Guaranteed on UK and Irish racing, extra place each-way terms on major festivals, deep ante-post markets, and willingness to take larger stakes than most online bookmakers. Their racing heritage goes back to 1999 as Star Racing.
Does Star Sports do esports?
No. Esports are not currently offered at Star Sports. If you bet on esports, see our Best UK Betting Sites 2026 guide for bookmakers with strong esports coverage.
Is the Star Sports app available on Android?
Yes. The Star Sports app is available on both iOS (App Store) and Android (Google Play Store). The Android app requires Android 7.0 or later.
What is the minimum deposit at Star Sports?
The minimum deposit at Star Sports is £5. To qualify for the £20 get £10 free bet welcome offer, you need to deposit and stake at least £20.
When was Star Sports founded?
Star Sports was founded in 1999 as Star Racing by Ben Keith. The company rebranded to Star Sports as it expanded beyond horse racing into a full sportsbook. It remains independently owned and is one of the longest-standing UK Gambling Commission licensees.
Does Star Sports have a Promo Code?
Star Sports occasionally run promo code offers — for example BET50GET25 for a Bet £50 Get £25 free bet variant. See our Star Sports Promo Code page for the latest active codes.
Compare Star Sports With Other Bookmakers
- bet365 Review — best for football markets and live streaming
- Betfred Review — biggest welcome offer at £50
- BoyleSports Review — strong £40 sign-up and Irish racing focus
- William Hill Review — long-established with strong horse racing
- Coral Review — solid all-rounder with retail integration
- BetVictor Review — strong football pricing
- Midnite Review — fastest withdrawals in the UK
- Ladbrokes Review — high-street giant
- SBK Review — newer bookmaker with strong app
More Bookmaker Reviews and Offers
- Best UK Betting Sites 2026
- Best Horse Racing Betting Sites
- Best Premier League Betting Sites
- Fast Withdrawal Betting Sites
- Best Betting Apps 2026
- Bet £10 Get £30 Sign-up Offers
- Bet £10 Get £40 Sign-up Offers
- Bet £10 Get £50 Sign-up Offers
- Best £5 Deposit Betting Sites
- New Betting Sites
- Promo Codes
- Free Bets
Andy Clark is the founder, owner and editor of thatsagoal.com, with over 20 years of experience in betting on sports. He has tested every major UK bookmaker and writes all bookmaker reviews and offer guides on the site.
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