This How to Request a Bet guide provides a full explanation of a useful betting feature that many online bookmakers make available to customers. The feature allows you to ask for tailor-made odds about any outcome or combination of outcomes you would particularly want to bet on. In this guide, we explain how it works, how to use it, which bookmakers offer it and how to get the most out of it.
Let’s start by getting straight down to the practical matter of how to request a bet. This feature is being made available by a growing number of online betting sites in the UK. We’ll highlight some of the best ones later. But for now, we’ll take you through the process of using it, step-by-step. For purposes of this example, we will assume that you want to use the William Hill request a bet feature. This is known as William Hill YourOdds. There are some very slight differences between bookmakers in how the feature works, and we’ll address those differences later in this guide. But in general, we can summarise the process as follows:
Many people think that request a bet is just another name for the Bet Builder feature that is also available at most betting sites. That isn’t the case. When you use Bet Builder, you select various outcomes from existing betting markets and your bet is priced automatically. Request a bet is quite different because it’s designed to help you bet on outcomes that aren’t already available in existing markets, or on events that don’t yet have any markets.
The way these special bets work is quite simple, and it doesn’t matter whether you’re betting on football, horse racing, or any other sport. When your bet request is received by the bookmaker, it is checked over to make sure that it’s viable. Not all proposed bets are logically possible or in good taste, so this first inspection is to verify that it is. The request will then get sent to the traders, who are the experts assigned to the task of looking into the probabilities and setting odds accordingly.
Every enquiry needs to be priced up individually. The length of time needed for the team to get back to you with odds will therefore depend not only on how busy the bookmaker is but also on the complexity of your requested bet. A straightforward request for odds on the winner in a fairly obscure event might be fulfilled in a matter of minutes. But more complicated propositions could take quite a bit longer.
Now that you’ve seen how to request a bet and how the feature works, you’re probably wondering where you can put your knowledge to good use. You’ll be pleased to hear that a growing number of betting sites are catching on to its popularity. Here are some of the best bookies that allow you to request odds, and how.
The Betfair request a bet feature is called OddsOnThat. To use it, send a tweet on the X social network to the customer service team at @BetfairCS using the hashtag #OddsOnThat. You’ll be notified when your request has been forwarded to the trading team and updated when the bet has been priced up. Follow the link provided in that response to go straight to the new market and strike your bet.
PickYourPunt is the name of the football-focused Bet Builder feature at Betfred. If you can’t find the event or outcome that you want to bet on, you can tweet @Betfred on X using the #PickYourPunt hashtag. The request will then be processed in the usual way. While it’s request a bet football that’s most commonly advertised here, you can ask for odds about other sports and outcomes and the trading team will do their best to accommodate you.
The Paddy Power request a bet feature is called WhatOddsPaddy? This bookmaker is famous for its enthusiasm for unusual betting markets, so you can request odds on just about anything and – if it’s possible – you have a good shot at getting a price. Send a tweet on X to @AskPaddyPower using the hashtag #WhatOddsPaddy with a summary of your request. If the traders can give you odds about it, they’ll include a link so that you can take them straight away.
There should be no confusion about how to request a bet on SkyBet because the feature is called exactly that – Sky Bet Request a Bet. If you come up with something that you want to bet on that you can’t find at the site (be sure to check request enquiries that have already been fulfilled) head over to X. When you’re there, tweet @RequestABet with your requirements using the #RequestABet hashtag. There’s also a handy tool on the Sky Bet app which allows you to bypass X.
When it comes to the question of how to request a bet at Bet365, you’ll find that there isn’t much information about it on the site itself. Don’t despair, however, because you can still do it. To request a bet Bet365 style, simply hop on the X social network and tweet @bet365 with details of your proposed wager. There’s no hashtag to use, so simply ask for odds and the customer service team will pass it on to the traders.
This is another bookmaker that doesn’t exactly shout about the feature, but you can use it at Boylesports in much the same way as at Bet365. Head over to X and tweet @BoyleSports being sure to include the term ‘request a bet’. The team will then pass your wager on to the traders to see if they can come up with some odds for you.
We’ve already outlined how to use this feature at William Hill, so we won’t repeat ourselves too much here. Just tweet @WilliamHill using the #YourOdds hashtag and your query will be processed as described earlier.
Bookmakers are very good at providing markets that will suit the needs of most bettors, so you probably won’t need to request a bet very often. That said, here are a few request a bet tips that should prove useful when you come to do so.
The next time you’re looking to bet on a sporting event or outcome that you can’t seem to find, don’t just give up. Instead, define what you’d like to wager on and use the request a bet feature to see if your favourite bookie will give you odds for it. In a survey of Twitter users, 37.3% of people who used a request a bet feature reported winning with it. As you’ll probably find out for yourself soon enough, there’s nothing quite as satisfying as landing a winning bet in a market that didn’t exist until you asked for it to be created!
Yes, but it isn’t very well advertised. Send a tweet to @bet365 with the details of your proposed wager and say that you’d like to ‘request a bet’.
To request a bet Sky Bet style, you need to send a tweet to @RequestABet which is Sky’s own X handle just for the purpose. Use the hashtag #RequestABet.
That all depends on the bookie you’re visiting. Our advice is to ask. Even if the feature isn’t normally available, the staff might go out of their way to help you. This is especially the case with independent bookies.
To request a wager with William Hill, tweet @WilliamHill and use the #YourOdds hashtag. Outline your bet and it will be passed on to the traders to see if they can give you odds for it.
When you request a bet with multiple legs, you can request an insurance payout (the refund of your stake) if one leg lets you down. Whether or not this is granted will depend on the details of the bet and the policy of the bookmaker. If request a bet insurance is permitted, you should expect the odds offered to be lower than they would be otherwise.
Ian Bruce joined Safest Betting Sites in 2024 as Senior Sports Editor to oversee the quality and usefulness of its gambling content. He originally developed an interest in betting after landing a winning Yankee on his first attempt. He then spent years figuring out how to replicate that success. Along the way, he became one of the UK’s leading writers on the topic of betting and gaming. Ian’s career has now spanned more than three decades, and his enthusiasm for systematic and responsible betting hasn’t waned one bit. However, his preferred approach to winning these days is Dutching, for the simple reason that “It’s a lot easier than landing Yankees.”
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