If you’re a regular bettor then you probably don’t limit yourself to where you like to place your bets. The likelihood is that you’ll have a number of accounts with online bookmakers, altering which ones you bet with depending on what it is that you’re betting on, how good they are at covering the sport that you enjoy, which is offering the best odds at any given moment and whether or not you’re trying to take advantage of any loyalty scheme or other offer that they may be running.
Even with the countless betting sites and apps at your disposal, however, it’s likely that you’ll still pop into a high street shop every now and again. Whether you’ve got a few minutes waiting for your other half to do a bit of shopping, have a spare tenner in your pocket, your phone is out of battery or you can’t get any reception to place a bet online, the temptation to nip in to the bookies will be there from time to time.
For those wanting to bet in person that don’t want to miss out on the value of online betting there are now several schemes in place from UK leading bookmakers that allow you to link your online and offline betting. Some of us also like to bet in cash without going through banks and funding an online account through a shop provides a great way to do this, you can also pick up winning immediately in cash, but still get all of the benefits that come from betting online. This applies to casino, bingo and games as well as spots betting. On this page we show you some of the best schemes that link offline and online betting accounts.
UK Online Bookmakers With In Store Cash Cards
There are numerous schemes available for punters to take advantage of, though of course it goes without saying that only the companies that have both online operations and physical shops can offer this service, these also naturally tend to be the biggest operators.
Entain, who own Coral (and Ladbrokes amongst others) have effectively cancelled the Coral Connect card as it used to be. It does still exist, but only as a reward card, so it is worth hanging onto for exclusive offers and promotions, but no longer has any of the other useful functions that we mention below. This change occurred in 2023.
The purpose of the Coral Connect account is to allow you to bet whenever and however you like. It puts your account into one place, consolidating your winnings and ensuring that your money is available whenever you need it to use as you see fit. As a result, it will work with your online account, on your mobile phone, on a tablet and on the phone as well as, of course, in-shop.
The Coral Connect card allows you to get special offers and deals in shops on a daily basis, meaning that you’re less likely to miss out on an offer by placing your bet in a store rather than via your online account. You can use it to deposit cash into your online account via a Coral shop, then being able to use the funds to place a bet online. This is particularly useful if you get added rewards for betting online, if you are part of a free bet club, for example.
One of the best things about the Coral Connect card is that you can withdraw your winnings from a bet you placed online when you’re in a physical Coral shop, being allowed to do so almost the second that your bet is settled. That means that you can pop into a store when you’re on your way out for dinner or drinks and take real cash out of your online account, rather than needing to wait around for the money to clear into your own bank account and then go to a cash machine.
This also means, if you are so inclined, you don’t need to go through a bank to deposit, bet and withdraw funds, instead you can use cash all of the way. Of course you don’t have to use cash you could deposit in store with a card, but that would be much easier to do directly online. Even if you don’t bet with cash it is still useful as Coral often give additional bonuses to those that link their online account, meaning you can end up with more rewards overall than just betting online alone.
Maximum withdrawal is £500 a day although more can be taken out if pre-arranged. Maximum deposit is £5,500 per day. You can get a card by first signing up to Coral online by visiting below and then upgrade your account to a connect account and pick up your card from any shop with your username. You will need to set a 4 digit PIN that will be used to authorise deposits and withdrawals on the card.
Ladbrokes’ parent company, Entain, decided to adapt The Grid and turned it into little more than a reward card in 2023. Therefore, while it is still useful for exclusive offers and promotions, all of the other uses mentioned below such as withdrawing money in cash are no longer possible.
It would be untrue to suggest that the Ladbrokes Grid service is vastly different to the Coral Connect one, but you’d probably say that it’s a little like the plus version of what’s offered by Coral. Ladbrokes Grid isn’t just about unifying your different accounts, though it does do that, it is mainly about giving you a one-stop shop for everything that you’d need for your betting.
As with Coral Connect, it consolidates your account into one place and lets you both deposit funds into your online account in-store and also withdraw funds from it where you are as soon as your bet has been settled. You’ll also get exclusive offers both in store and online, which is great.
The ‘plus’ side of the service comes into the form of being able to do so much more than just collect and withdraw winnings. For example, you’re able to track the bets you’ve placed via your Grid account, as well as live stream a number of events with it. There’s also the ability to have a look at stats on the most popular sports such as football and racing, increasing the chance of you placing a winning bet. You can also accumulate points, get access to online offers and cash out bets placed in shop. Ladbrokes also now let you generate your own bets, such as a footy acca, in the app and then generate a barcode to scan at the counter to place it, saving a lot of time writing things out. In short, it’s the place to head when you’re placing a bet, irrespective of whether you’re doing so online or in-store.
Are These Schemes Worth It?
Whether or not these systems are really worthwhile depends entirely on your own personal betting habits. If you have never set foot inside a betting shop in your life, for example, then you’re unlikely to feel as though they’re all that useful for you. Likewise, if you haven’t yet ventured into the world of online betting then you’ll be somewhat restricted in how you’re able to use the system to you’re advantage. That said, all three offer you promotions like free bets just for signing up, so it’s definitely worth investigating them before dismissing them out of hand.
Even if you’re only a casual bettor and you mostly do your wagering via online methods, it’s still worth thinking about taking out what you’ll get out of using one or all of these cards. After all, you never know when you might have money in your online betting account and need to get it out urgently, only to find that it’s going to take several working days for the funds to be moved across to your bank account. Having a card on you that will allow you to walk into a high street shop and withdraw your money could be a massive convenience to you. Although do note there are limits on what you can deposit and withdraw in store, but you can often pre-arrange higher deposits/withdrawals in advance.
As we’ve said several times now one of the biggest reason to use these schemes is to bet and withdraw in real cash, without the need for a bank to be involved. This does not however mean you do not need to verify yourself with the betting site. If you have an online account, whether you use it linked to once of these schemes to deposit cash via a shop or not, you will still need to prove you are over 18 and have residential status.
One thing that you’ll need to watch out for is whether you find yourself betting more than you’d like because of the cards. The offers are there to entice you into placing a wager or two, so make sure you don’t place bets that you wouldn’t be placing otherwise just in order to take advantage of the promotions. These cards can be a brilliant addition to your betting arsenal, but you need to be sensible with how you use them.
Which One Is Best?
This is an entirely subjective question, of course. One of the first things you’ll need to consider is whether or not you even use the companies mentioned to place your bets with normally. After all, if you’re a loyal customer of William Hill then it’s entirely irrelevant to you that if we say that Coral Connect is better than their Plus system.
The reality is that all three of the offerings are similar in terms of what they offer and what you can use them for. For us, the Ladbrokes Grid system edges out the other two because of what else you can use it for in addition to the management of your funds, offering you tips and hints from experts in the business on the likes of football matches and horse races. It’s also a lot clearer what the offers are they you can take advantage of through Ladbrokes Grid, such as the ability to get a Best Odds Guarantee on three races a day in-store when that’s normally only available online.
Everyone bets differently, so the best thing to do is to have a look at all three of the systems and see if one of them chimes more with how you place your wagers. As mentioned, if you’ve placed practically any type of bet in your life then it’s very likely that you’ll be able to make use of these sorts of services at some point in the future.
Playing Casino, Games and Bingo Online With Cash
On this page we are mainly looking at the traditional side of bookmaking, sports betting. Let’s not forget however that modern online bookmakers are gambling behemoths that offer pretty much every type of game and bet available. This means you can quite easily use the cash cards described above to deposit cash for playing casino or bingo games. Only a select number of brands with a high street presence can offer this facility to play casino without needing a bank card.
You can also do the converse and use your online account to play with the games terminals in the betting shops. This can have added benefits such as additional points and loyalty rewards. Now you certainly shouldn’t start playing these games for these reason but if you play them already online and in store with the same bookie why not get added benefits for doing so. It can also be useful for tracking bets, wins and loses by keeping this all in the same account for reference.