How to fill in a betting slip - at the high street bookies and online

In sports betting, the betting slip is an important part of the jigsaw. For in-person bettors, the slip holds the key to any potential returns. While online, though the slip cannot be touched, the premise is the same. 

For beginners or those not very far down the road of sports betting, betting slips can seem a little confusing, but fear not, we’re here to help. In this guide we’ll be detailing exactly what a betting slip is, plus we’ll show you exactly how to use betting slips correctly. Let’s get started. 

What is a betting slip? 

Even if you’re far from a regular bettor, you’ll probably know what a betting slip is, or at least, you’ll have a rough idea of what it’s all about. For anybody who isn’t sure, a betting slip is typically a piece of paper on which a bettor writes down their betting selection, the odds of the selection and the amount that they want to stake. 

A paper betting slip is what you’d use in a bricks-and-mortar betting shop. You fill out the slip, hand over your cash, get the slip validated...and your bet is on. When using one of the best UK bookmakers sites, you'll find the online betting slips are much the same, there’s just nothing physical for you to hold. An online betting slip details your selection, the odds taken and your stake. It is then saved in your online account until the conclusion of the event that you’ve bet on. 

When using a betting shop, if your selection wins, you hand over your slip in exchange for your winnings, but online, your account is simply credited with the winnings. 

Read: How to bet on sports

How to fill out a horse racing betting slip 

We’ll first look at horse racing as an example, covering both in-person betting slips and online betting slips. 

At a high street bookies 

Filling out a betting slip in a high street bookies is quite simple once you know what you’re doing. In the UK, betting shops are popular, so much so that even in the age of online betting, most high streets have at least one betting shop. Many UK high streets have multiple betting shops, so finding somewhere to place your bet isn’t exactly hard. 

Once you’re in a betting shop, you’ll notice that there are little trays holding betting slips dotted around the place. You’ll notice the same thing for pens too. Grab a pen, grab a slip and find yourself a little space. The latter shouldn’t be too tricky these days as most betting shops are fairly quiet. 

Anyway, once you’ve got a pen and a slip, as long as you know what you’re betting on, simply write the event that you wish to bet on, preferably at the top of the slip, under which you’ll write your bet. For example, if you want to bet on the 14:30 race at Ascot, simply write ‘14:30 Ascot’ at the top. 

Underneath the race that you’re betting on, write the name of the horse that you’re betting on, followed by the odds. Underneath that, write how much you want to bet, before taking the slip and your cash to the desk. Hand both over and you’re off and running. 

It’s important to note that for each-way horse racing bets, under where you’ve written the name of the horse and the odds, you should write each way. You should also put how much you want each way, before writing the total stake at the bottom. For example, if you wanted £10 each way (total stake £20), under the horse name and the odds, you’d write “£10 each way”, before putting £20 as the total stake at the very bottom of the slip. 

Read: How to bet on horse racing online

At an online betting site 

The process of filling out a horse racing betting slip online is even easier. Simply head to your chosen online bookmaker, find the race that you want to bet on, then find the horse that you want to bet on. Click the odds next to your chosen horse. Doing so will add the horse to your betting slip. Via the betting slip, check the odds, enter your stake and strike the bet. 

How to fill out a football betting slip 

OK, so let’s look at football and look at exactly how you’d fill out a football betting slip. 

At a high street bookies

At a high street bookies, you’ll place a football bet much as you would a horse racing bet. The obvious difference is the information that you’ll be jotting down won’t have anything to do with horse racing.  

Let’s look at an example. Say you want to bet on Tottenham to beat Man United at home, write ‘Tottenham vs Man United’ at the top of the slip, underneath which you’ll write ‘Tottenham to Win’, followed by the available odds, followed by your stake. Take this to the cashier, along with your money, and you’re on. It’s as simple as that. 

At an online betting site

When looking to bet on football online, getting your bet down is an even more straightforward task. Head over to your chosen betting site, find the competition and game that you want to bet on by using the football menu, or by typing in the match using the search function featured on many online betting sites. 

Once you’ve found the game that you want to bet on, simply peruse the list of markets until you find the one that you’re looking for. For example, if you wanted to bet on ‘Both Teams to Score’ in a game between Crystal Palace and Brighton, you’d find the ‘Both Teams to Score’ market (also known as BTTS), select ‘Yes’ from the two options. This will add the bet to your betslip, which is usually displayed in the top right corner of the page on desktop, or at the bottom on many mobile apps. 

With your chosen bet in the betslip, simply enter your stake and place your bet. The bet will be saved on your online account until it is settled. If you’re a winner, your account balance will be updated to reflect the winnings. 

Read: How to bet on football

Different types of betting slips 

There are of course a few different types of betting slips, especially in betting shops. You’ve got your standard paper betting slip, which is usually small in size and is typically blank. As touched on above, using the standard betting slip, you can write what it is that you’re betting on, your bet, the odds and your stake. 

In betting shops, you also have some ready-made slips, typically known as coupons. Now coupons typically cover different types of football markets, and are usually available ahead of days when there’s lots of football, such as a Saturday. A common coupon is the ‘Both Teams to Score’ coupon. Here you’ll see a list of upcoming fixtures, alongside odds for ‘Both Teams to Score’ and ‘Both Teams to Score - NO’.

By ticking the games where you want to select one of these bets, before choosing your stake at the bottom of the coupon, you can easily place accumulator bets. Just hand the coupon over to the cashier, along with your stake, and you’ll get a nice printout of your selections, complete with the potential payout.  

There are also similar coupons for other popular football betting markets, such as ‘Over/Under 2.5 Goals’ and ‘Match Result’. Moreover, ahead of big horse racing meetings, such as the Grand National, betting shops typically produce a similar coupon, allowing people to easily choose from a list of horses. 

Tips for filling out betting slips 

Realistically, once you’ve done it a few times, filling out a betting slip really is a piece of cake, but if you’re doing it for the first few times, there are a few things to be wary of. 

Of course, online, it’s all done in a few clicks, so as long as you click on the right event, click on the right bet and enter the correct stake, you can’t really get it wrong. However, in person, a little more effort is required. 

We’ve looked at filling out betting slips above, but let’s summarise. Follow these simple steps to correctly fill out a betting slip: 

1. Pick up one of the many betting slips dotted around the betting shop. 
2. First write the event that you wish to bet on, such as ‘Man United vs Liverpool’ or ‘15.00 Haydock’. 
3. Under where you’ve written the name of the event, write your bet, such as ‘Man United to Win’. 
4. Underneath your bet write the currently available odds. You can leave this blank if you want, but if you do, you’ll be paid out according to the starting price (known as SP). In other words, whatever the odds for selection are at the time of the event starting, that’s what you’ll get. 
5. At the bottom of your betting slip, write the amount that you wish to stake. 
6. Once you’ve written out your slip, take the slip and your cash to the cashier and place your bet. 

When filling out a betting slip, it’s also a good idea to write clearly, so that there is no confusion or dispute over what it is that you’re betting on. You should also aim to give the cashier enough time to confirm your bet otherwise you risk missing the start of the event and thus your bet will not count.