Star Sports Bet Sister Sites: Who Runs Them and Where to Bet Next

Star Sports Bet’s sister sites are McBookie and AK Bets. All three started out on Star Racing Limited’s UK Gambling Commission licence (number 9177) and still run on the shared Playbook Gaming sportsbook platform, so they feel like close cousins. What they no longer share is a single operator: Star Sports remains the flagship that Star Racing runs directly, while AK Bets moved to its own UKGC licence under Akbo Limited in 2025 and McBookie shifted onto Playquarry Limited’s licence soon after. The common thread is racing-led betting and that Playbook look and feel; the thing they don’t share is who actually holds the keys.

Star Sports Bet Sister Sites in Full

A quick word on what “sister site” means here, because Star Sports is an unusual case. We use the everyday UK search sense: brands tied together by the same operator, the same UKGC licence, or the same underlying platform. Star Sports is worth flagging because its two best-known siblings, McBookie and AK Bets, both began as white-label brands on Star Racing’s own licence but have since each moved onto a separate licence of their own. They are still very much in the family through the Playbook Gaming platform, but they are no longer the same licensed operator, and that distinction matters for who is accountable if something goes wrong.

How Sister Sites Work

Two betting brands are usually called sisters when they share an operator, a licence or a platform. Star Sports is run by Star Racing Limited, the Hove company founded by on-course bookmaker Ben Keith, and it sits on UKGC licence 9177. The technology underneath it, and underneath a string of other UK books, is supplied by Playbook Gaming, so brands on that platform look and behave alike even when different companies own them. That is exactly what happened with McBookie and AK Bets: same platform, same racing flavour, but their licences now sit with different companies.

If you ever want to check a connection yourself, it is simpler than it looks. Scroll to the footer of any UK betting site and you’ll find the licensed operator’s name and licence number; cross-check that number on the Gambling Commission’s public register and you can see exactly who holds it and whether they have any enforcement history. Because all three brands here are UKGC-licensed, they are also all covered by GamStop self-exclusion, which is one thing that really does carry across the family.

Best Sister Sites at a Glance

• Best overall pick: AK Bets, for sharper racing prices, a quicker site and near-instant withdrawals.
• Best for Scottish football and local markets: McBookie, if you follow the lower Scottish leagues.
• Best for telephone and VIP service: Star Sports itself, which still runs proper phone lines.
• Best for fast cashouts: AK Bets, comfortably the quickest of the three.
• Best heritage feel: Star Sports, the trackside bookmaker that went online.

Sister Sites Compared

Sister site	Status	UKGC licence	Best for	Welcome offer (always check)	Compared to Star Sports
AK Bets	Active, UKGC-licensed	Akbo Limited (66030)	Racing value and speed	Sports free bet, no casino bonus	Faster, sharper odds, slicker app
McBookie	Active, UKGC-licensed	Playquarry Limited (66551)	Scottish football and niche markets	Deposit match up to about £25 (invite-led extras)	More local character, fewer features

McBookie

Run on the Playbook Gaming platform and now licensed by the UKGC through Playquarry Limited (66551) rather than Star Racing, McBookie is the Scottish-flavoured member of the family. It does sports betting without fuss and bolts on a casino of slots and RNG tables (no live dealer at the time of writing), with debit cards and bank transfer for banking and withdrawals that tend to land in three to five working days. The welcome is a deposit match up to around £25 at minimum odds of evens, and most of the ongoing value is funnelled through the Tartan Club, which is invite-only with no guaranteed way in. That, plus a thin set of general promotions and a low Trustpilot score, are the honest knocks against it.

Versus Star Sports: same understated, no-frills feel, but pitched at Scottish football and local markets rather than VIP racing, and it lacks Star Sports’ telephone service.

AK Bets

AK Bets is the one most punters will get on with. It was founded by an ex-Paddy Power trader, started in the Irish racecourse rings in 2021 and went online in early 2023 as a white-label on Star Racing’s licence; since spring 2025 it has held its own UKGC licence under Akbo Limited (66030), while staying on the Playbook platform. The racing coverage is properly strong, with deep UK, Irish and international meetings and wide live streaming, plus football and the usual spread. Deposits start at just £1, withdrawals are close to instant, and there’s a tidy native app. The casino is a sideline rather than the point.

Versus Star Sports: same racing DNA and Playbook backbone, but quicker, sharper on price and far faster to pay out, which is why it edges our pick.

The Complete Star Racing and Playbook Network

The family is bigger than the two brands above, but it helps to split it by who actually holds the licence rather than lumping everything together.

• Directly run by Star Racing Limited (UKGC 9177): Star Sports itself. After the recent moves, it is effectively the brand still sitting on this licence.
• Former Star Racing white-labels, now on their own licences: AK Bets (Akbo Limited, 66030) and McBookie (Playquarry Limited, 66551). Both grew up on licence 9177 and still share the Playbook platform.
• Wider Playbook Gaming platform family: brands such as PricedUp, NRG Bet, DragonBet and Planet Sport Bet share the same sportsbook technology but are separate companies with their own licences. We’d steer clear of BresBet, which has shown up on blacklists.

One honest caveat: this is a snapshot. Operators move between licences (as McBookie and AK Bets both did), and older affiliate lists still name brands that have closed or changed hands, so treat any list as a moment in time and confirm the current licence holder on the Gambling Commission register before you sign up.

What’s the Same and What’s Different

Feature	Star Sports	Sister sites (McBookie, AK Bets)
Operator	Star Racing Limited	Playquarry Limited; Akbo Limited
UKGC licence	9177	66551; 66030
Platform	Playbook Gaming	Playbook Gaming (shared)
Signature welcome	Modest sports free bet, no casino bonus	Small sports offers; McBookie deposit match up to about £25
Loyalty	Sparse, racing-focused	McBookie invite-only Tartan Club
Withdrawals	About 2 to 5 working days	AK Bets near-instant; McBookie 3 to 5 days
Telephone betting	Yes, a core feature	No
GamStop	Yes, covered	Yes, covered

Are These Official Sister Sites?

It depends what you mean by official, and three groups tend to get muddled. First, the brand Star Racing runs directly: that is just Star Sports. Second, the same-platform family, McBookie and AK Bets, which began on Star Racing’s licence and still share the Playbook software but now answer to their own licensed companies. Third, the wider set of Playbook-powered books that look similar but were never part of Star Racing at all. When people search for Star Sports sisters they almost always mean McBookie and AK Bets, so that is what we cover in depth, with the licensing spelled out so you know precisely who you are dealing with.

The Full Review

Star Sports doesn’t try to be a flashy all-rounder, and that’s rather the point. It grew out of Ben Keith’s on-course bookmaking, traded as Star Racing from 1999, rebranded to Star Sports in 2009 and only put a full website out in 2018. What you get is a racing-first bookmaker with real heritage, a Mayfair shop, racecourse pitches and, unusually, a proper telephone betting operation. It’s calm, a little old-fashioned, and clearly built for punters who value service over spinning banners. If you want a buzzing casino and e-wallet payouts in minutes, this isn’t it.

Welcome Offer and Promotions

The new-customer deal is a modest sports free bet. It moves around (we’ve seen bet £20 get £10, and at times a larger bet £20 get £40 at qualifying odds of 5.0), so check the current terms on the day rather than trusting any fixed figure. The bigger thing to know is that there is no casino welcome bonus at all, and because the headline offer is a sports free bet it doesn’t carry the kind of play-through you get on casino bonuses. Ongoing value leans into racing: best odds guaranteed has long been part of the racing pitch (it has reportedly changed, so confirm it’s live), plus daily price boosts and the odd money-back special.

Games and Providers

The casino is a side dish rather than the main course, though it’s grown to somewhere north of 900 titles. You’ll find the usual headline slots such as Book of Dead, Starburst and Gonzo’s Quest, and the live tables are run by Evolution, which is about as good as it gets for live dealer. Beyond the well-known names the library feels curated rather than vast, so slot magpies who like trawling thousands of games may find it a touch lean.

Loyalty and Rewards

This is a weak spot. For a brand with a high-roller, trackside history you’d expect a structured VIP or cashback scheme, and there isn’t much of one. Regular punters get racing boosts and specials, but there’s no real loyalty ladder or casino rewards programme to speak of, which feels like a missed trick.

Payments and Withdrawals

Here’s the most dated part. It’s debit cards (Visa, Mastercard, Maestro) and bank transfer only, with no PayPal, Skrill or Neteller. Minimum deposit and withdrawal sit at £10, and cashouts generally take around two to five working days depending on your bank. It’s safe and familiar, but in 2026 the lack of e-wallets and the wait for funds are a genuine drawback next to faster rivals.

Support and Responsible Gambling

Support is a relative strength. There are dedicated phone lines (a rarity now), email, and live chat whose hours can vary, and the team is generally quick and helpful. On safer gambling you get the standard UKGC tools, deposit limits, time-outs and self-exclusion, plus full GamStop coverage because the brand is UK-licensed. In the interests of being straight with you, the operator’s record isn’t spotless: in July 2023 the Gambling Commission fined Star Racing Limited £594,000 for anti-money laundering and social responsibility failings between 2020 and 2021, issued an official warning and added conditions to its licence. It has continued to trade under that licence since, but it’s the kind of history worth knowing before you deposit.

On Mobile

There’s a mobile site plus dedicated iOS and Android apps. You can browse markets, bet in-play, watch the streams you’ve staked on and dip into the casino from one login. It’s functional and steady rather than cutting-edge, which sums up the whole brand really.

Where It Sits Among Its Sisters

Put plainly: Star Sports is the heritage option, McBookie is the Scottish niche, and AK Bets is the faster, sharper modern take. They share a platform and a racing instinct, but if speed and value matter most, the family tree points to AK Bets.

Key Facts

Operator details last reviewed: June 2026 (last updated 2 June 2026)

Operator:	Star Racing Limited
Owner / founder:	Ben Keith
Platform:	Playbook Gaming (sportsbook technology)
Licence:	UK Gambling Commission (account 9177)
Established:	1999 as Star Racing; Star Sports from 2009; online since 2018
GamStop:	Yes, covered (UKGC licence)
Sister sites:	McBookie and AK Bets (each now on its own UKGC licence)
Game providers:	Evolution (live), plus major slot studios; 900-plus titles
Payments:	Visa, Mastercard, Maestro, bank transfer (no e-wallets)
Min deposit / withdrawal:	£10
Withdrawal time:	About 2 to 5 working days
Support:	Telephone, email, live chat (hours vary)
Our rating:	6/10

Pros and Cons

Pros

• Proper telephone betting with dedicated lines and genuine VIP service, which high-stakes and racing punters actually use.
• Deep, knowledgeable racing markets with best odds guaranteed long part of the pitch (confirm it’s currently live).
• One login covers the sportsbook, 900-plus casino titles and Evolution live tables.
• Long, traceable history under a single UK licence since 1999, with a fixed Hove base and a named owner, which is reassuring next to pop-up brands.

Cons

• Debit cards and bank transfer only, with no PayPal, Skrill or Neteller.
• Withdrawals can take two to five working days, slow against instant-payout rivals like its own sister AK Bets.
• No casino welcome bonus, and the sports free bet is modest, so bonus hunters will be underwhelmed.
• A £594,000 UKGC fine in 2023 for AML and social responsibility failings means its compliance history isn’t clean.
• The casino and overall design feel thin and a little clunky next to modern all-rounders.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who owns Star Sports Bet?

Star Sports Bet is owned and run by Star Racing Limited, the Hove company founded by on-course bookmaker Ben Keith in 1999. It holds UK Gambling Commission licence 9177 and is the brand Star Racing operates directly.

Does Star Sports Bet have sister sites?

Yes. Its sisters are McBookie and AK Bets. Both started as white-label brands on Star Racing’s licence and still share the Playbook Gaming platform, but each has since moved onto its own UKGC licence.

Is AK Bets a Star Sports Bet sister site?

It is, in the sense most punters mean. AK Bets grew up as a white-label on Star Racing’s licence and still uses the same Playbook platform, so the sites feel alike. Since spring 2025 it has held its own UKGC licence under Akbo Limited (66030), so it is now a separate licensed operator rather than the same company.

Is McBookie still run by Star Racing Limited?

No longer. McBookie used to sit on Star Racing’s licence but moved onto Playquarry Limited’s UKGC licence (66551). It is still a close cousin through the shared platform and its Scottish theme, but the licence holder has changed.

Are Star Sports Bet sister sites on GamStop?

Yes. Star Sports, McBookie and AK Bets are all UK Gambling Commission licensed, and every UKGC online operator is part of GamStop, so self-exclusion through GamStop applies across all three.

What is the best Star Sports Bet sister site?

For most punters, AK Bets. It carries the same racing focus but with sharper odds, a quicker site, near-instant withdrawals and a tidy app. McBookie is the better fit only if you’re into Scottish football and local markets.

Is Star Sports Bet safe and properly licensed?

It’s licensed and regulated by the UK Gambling Commission (9177), so it must meet UK rules on player funds, fairness and safer gambling. Being straight with you, the operator was fined £594,000 by the Commission in 2023 for anti-money laundering and social responsibility failings dating to 2020 and 2021, with an official warning and licence conditions; it has continued to trade under that licence since.

Does Star Sports Bet offer a casino welcome bonus?

No. The new-customer deal is a modest sports free bet, and there’s no casino welcome bonus. If a casino sign-up offer is your priority, you’ll do better elsewhere; this is a racing-led sportsbook first and foremost.

Our Verdict on Star Sports Bet

If you came for the racing and the old-school telephone service, Star Sports earns its keep; it’s one of the most distinctive UK bookmakers and the heritage is the real thing. As an all-rounder, though, it’s dated: thin payments, slow-ish cashouts and no casino welcome offer. Of the Star Sports Bet sister sites, AK Bets is the one I’d point most punters to, with the same racing roots, sharper prices, near-instant withdrawals and a better app, now on its own UKGC licence via Akbo Limited. McBookie suits Scottish football specialists but its extras are invite-only. Star Sports itself is for the traditionalist who values service over speed; most others will prefer AK Bets.

New Sister Site rating: 6/10