Online Bookie Reviews (Sports Betting)
Sept 2011
This is an account of my good and bad experiences with various online bookies. I've been concentrating on betting on sports for some ten months now, and have turned over more than £200,000 in bet stakes. This page might be of some interest to you if you're thinking of signing up with these online bookies to take advantage of their odds, bonuses or for sports arbitrage. Again, this is just my own experience, you should research more on other sites, such as the excellent Sports Book Review, which is the main authority for online sports betting. I'll try to keep this page up to date as situations change. Using some of the smallers online bookies can be a bit of a minefield and it pays to do a little research before giving them your money. And just because I recommend a particular bookie doesn't mean you should stake your house with them. Play at your own risk!
By the way, I'd recommend using Moneybookers for payments and withdrawals from all the online bookies.
I've given a rating for each, which just reflects my personal experiences with that bookie and how safe I perceive them to be. I've given the thumbs up to some of my favourites and the turd award for bad behaviour.
Lots more reviews to come...
Please feel free to leave comments at the bottom if you have any feedback regarding any of the bookies here.
Jump To Specific Bookie
- 1Bet
- 10Bet
- 12Bet
- 188Bet
- 24hPoker
- 888Sport
- Bet-At-Home
- Bet24
- Bet365
- Bet3000
- Bet770
- Betboo
- Betclic
- BetCRIS
- Betfred
- Betsafe
- Betsson
- Betway
- Blue Square
- Bodog
- BWin
- Centrebet
- ComeOn
- Dafabet
- Doxxbet
- Expekt
- Eybet
- Fonbet
- Gamebookers
- Getwin
- Globet
- Intertops
- Ladbrokes
- Marathonbet
- Nordicbet
- Paddypower
- Panbet
- Partybets
- Pinnacle Sports
- Pulsebet
- SBOBet
- Sportingbet
- Stan James
- Titanbet
- Unibet
- Victor Chandler
- William Hill
Online Bookmakers
1Bet
http://www.1bet.com
5/10
5/10
26/10/11: Offline.
I had no problems with 1Bet but now it appears to be offline. Apparently they are suspending all sports betting activities until mid August. Which I'm sure has passed, hasn't it?
Update 22/10/11: 1Bet has just re-opened and appears to be in the mould of other asian style bookies. Looks hopeful. Will report back soon.
Update 24/10/11: 1Bet appears to use exactly the same system as 12Bet. Switching to the asian view of both reveals the same layout and odds that are exactly in line, except 12Bet has consistently slightly better odds. Can't see any reason to use 1Bet then...
I had no problems with 1Bet but now it appears to be offline. Apparently they are suspending all sports betting activities until mid August. Which I'm sure has passed, hasn't it?
Update 22/10/11: 1Bet has just re-opened and appears to be in the mould of other asian style bookies. Looks hopeful. Will report back soon.
Update 24/10/11: 1Bet appears to use exactly the same system as 12Bet. Switching to the asian view of both reveals the same layout and odds that are exactly in line, except 12Bet has consistently slightly better odds. Can't see any reason to use 1Bet then...
10Bet
Not great odds, but regular email offers of reload bonuses.
10Bet don't seem to limit your account, so you can continue to bet medium stakes with them.
Moneybookers withdrawals have taken 24 hours, sometimes a bit more for me.
ComeOn seems to be a clone of 10Bet, and their odds are always the same.
The site is fast, but I have sometimes had quite a long delay when placing bets, only to have them rejected as the prices have just changed.
Also, occasionally I've noticed that if the odds change while you're in the process of betting, the odds actually change on your betslip.
That seems a bit sneaky to me...
12Bet
12Bet offer a choice of Asian or European style websites, which are both fast and really easy to use.
Get past the slightly annoying Captcha login, and although there's no search, it's always quick to find the matches you're after.
I've put huge amounts of bets through 12Bet, and never had any real problems.
Moneybookers withdrawals are among the fastest I've used, normally money is paid within the hour.
12Bet offer similar but usually very slighty worse prices as the other Asian bookies such as SBOBet, Dafabet, and often 188Bet.
188Bet
Again, very good.
One of my favourite bookies to use.
No site search, and it can be a bit of a fiddle to quickly find your matches unless you use the Asian style interface.
188Bet have great odds and very high limits, which you can see on the betslip before you place your bet.
Withdrawals are not the quickest, but acceptable at within 12 hours or so.
188Bet, like 12Bet offer a choice of Standard or Asian style interface.
I would give top marks but occasional reliability problems with the site have prevented me logging in, but generally excellent.
24hPoker
I haven't used this site much.
What does annoy me about this site though is how your currency is converted when you deposit money.
Deposit in GBP and it's converted to Euros.
You end up with silly odd amounts of Euros in your account.
And what exchange rate do they use?
888Sport
888Sport and Blue Square appear to be the same company.
The site is very similar and the odds seem to be the same.
Both these bookies limit your account to ridiculously small stakes very quickly.
Occasional bonuses and reasonable website experience makes it worthwhile opening an account at each of these, but don't expect it to take long before you can only place a couple of quid on even big matches.
Bet-At-Home
Generally I was impressed with Bet-at-home.
The basic functional interface is not pretty but super-quick.
No flash, no over the top graphics, no-nonsense.
Odds are OK, and I enjoyed using the website, until...
They claimed a palp which cost me over £175.
All bookies have the palpable error rule, but I was particularly peeved that it was not an obvious error, and especially that they waited until AFTER the bet had won before voiding it.
I was not a happy bunny.
Therefore, I award Bet-at-Home the turd award.
Bet24
Quite a nice fast website and often some very good odds, especially on O/U markets.
Overall, pretty good.
Quick to find and place bets, and withdrawals have been within a day or so.
Only problem is some bets do have low wagering limits.
I did panic when they reported my account which contained £400+ had been closed, but it turned out it was just locked because I'd tried to use the wrong password.
Perhaps "your account has been locked" would be more appropriate than "your account has been closed".
Bet3000
The Bet3000 site is quick and quite nice to use, and sometimes the prices are great.
You get quite a nice first deposit bonus, but accounts are in Euro currency only.
This is the only site I've used that doesn't have proper Moneybookers intergration, you have to send your Moneybookers payment to their email address and then wait for them to credit your account.
This did scare me at first, but everything seems to work fine, and deposits went into my account quickly.
Unfortunately, smaller matches can only be bet in mutiples.
You can only bet singles on top leagues.
Another scary bit of small print states that you can only deposit, not withdraw, via Moneybookers.
Withdrawals are only available via bank transfer, although I've never withdrawn money from Bet3000, so I can't comment on that.
Overall, not bad, and email response was fast and polite.
Proper Moneybookers integration would be a big improvement.
Bet365
Bet365, or "Bet £3.65" offer the biggest bonuses out there.
Unfortunately, they limit you very quickly to microscopic stakes.
Often, you'll be lucky to be allowed to stake £3.65 on even big football matches.
On the plus side, they offer a huge selection of markets.
Being a large company, I would feel fine leaving large amounts of money with them, but why bother if they won't let you bet with it?
The site looks nice, but is horrendously bloated and slow, and also hard to navigate.
Why use flash for everything?
Yuck.
Still, I've had no problems with bets or withdrawals.
Bet770
On the plus side, Bet770 have pretty good odds (very slow to move), and offer loads of huge bonuses.
On the other hand, the website is woefully slow, and talking of slow, the money withdrawals have been by far the slowest of any site I've used.
Around ten days has been about the average time I've experienced.
TEN DAYS!
It has been most worrying waiting for £600+ withdrawals for ten days, but they eventually do come through.
Betboo
Crap name, nice website.
Haven't used it much but the odds are OK-ish, and the site is a pleasure to use.
Don't know about money withdrawals from Betboo.
Betclic
Betclic is a French bookie, but despite that, the website is very nice.
Prices are often good on French football.
It's quick and slick, and I've had no problems with betting or withdrawing money from Betclic, which has taken around 24 hours.
I have however found the customer service polite, responsive but incompetent.
BetCRIS
A bit fiddly to find matches if you're in a hurry, but a good, reputable bookie.
Very highly regarded, and good odds, but their lines move so quickly it can be quite infuriating.
I have been stuck with lots of bonus money tied up in BetCRIS, which can be quite hard to arb out.
Betfred
Betfred is another big, safe bookie, typical of the type with a chain of betting shops.
Odds are not the best and move fairly slowly.
I find the Betfred site horrible to navigate and use, especially as there is no bet search.
Moneybookers withdrawals have been within around 24 hours for me, and stakes start high, but before long you are hit with piddling limits.
Betfred do offer lots of cashback bonuses though.
BetSafe
I'm not sure how "safe" they are, but they allow such tiny piddling bets, you're never likely to have any big sums of money here.
If you want to bet anything more than a couple of pence you can submit your stake for review and if you're lucky it will be refused.
It's not real stake stealing like Globet or Expekt as you do have the option to back out before you commit to your bets.
Betsafe do have very attractive odds however, and have also given me extremely fast payouts, even within 20 minutes or so.
Betsson
Betsson is a nice quick site and is a pleasure to use.
Odds are good, especially for Nordic football and money withdrawals are quick, within a few hours.
Betsson allow large stakes for a short while, then will limit your account to uselessly small stakes, sometimes £1.
You have the option to send the remaining stake, or the whole stake for approval, which gets a response within a minute or two, in my experience.
Nice while it lasts.
Betway
https://betway.com
6/10
6/10
Betway seem to concentrate on their casino operation, but the sports betting side is quite good too.
I enjoyed betting with Betway and placed plenty of three figure bets, until one day my bet limit was reduced to zero.
Shame.
Withdrawals and customer service were no problem up until that point.
Bodog
Pretty website, but uncompetitive odds.
Bodog is a big company that I would trust with my money, but betting limits are very low, so don't expect to be able to turn over big bonus requirements.
I've had no problem with Moneybookers withdrawals, which have taken 24 hours or so.
BWin
BWin is one of my favourite bookies to use.
Despite being a huge company, they offer fairly good odds and allow fairly large stakes.
The site is quick and easy to navigate, but it does annoyingly log you out too quickly.
BWin also include a nice loyalty points scheme meaning you can save up for free BWin merchandise, ranging from T-shirts to iPads to motorbikes!
Payments have been fairly slow from BWin lately, around 3 days for me.
Centrebet
http://centrebet.com
7/10
7/10
I've had no problems with Centrebet.
It's Australian based and has good prices on Aussie football, although I've found it to have occasional good prices on Nordic football, for some reason.
Betting limits seem fairly high, touch wood, and the site is satisfying to use.
Withdrawals have been an acceptable 1-2 days for me.
ComeOn
ComeOn is a new online bookie, and has perhaps the most impressive website of any I've used.
It's full of flash, but despite that works really quick, looks stunning and is a joy to use.
Withdrawals have reliably been within about 10 hours for me.
Downsides are the odds aren't always the best, and occasionally I've had very long delays placing a bet.
A couple of times, the bet confirmation has taken up to a minute to confirm or reject a bet.
That has been rare though, and ComeOn often offer great bonuses.
ComeOn seems to be a clone of 10Bet, with identical odds.
Dafabet
Dafabat is another Asian bookie in the mould of SBOBet and 12Bet.
Odds are good, usually similar to those other two bookies, although usually not quite as good.
Customer service via live chat is excellent, and the site is easy and quick to navigate.
Moneybookers withdrawals have been within 12 hours for me.
There's no site search, but you don't really need it with this style of interface.
The signup bonus is a bit crap, at 15%, with a massive 12 times rollover, but you'll have no trouble turning that over.
Even though this has been a good bookie for me, I don't see any need to use it having 12Bet, 188Bet and SBO.
Doxxbet
I have found Doxxbet to be one of the better online bookies.
Odds are not too bad, and withdrawals have been among the quickest of any bookie I've used, normally just a few minutes.
They've just had a web site revamp too, which looks jolly spiffing, but has compromised its efficiency a bit.
I preferred the ugly old super-quick site.
Sometimes larger stakes are sent for approval without warning, but despite this "stake kidnapping", the best feature of Doxxbet, and one unique to them as far as I can tell is that you can cancel a bet up to ten minutes after you have placed it.
You do have to careful when placing bets to check that odds on the bet slip are the same as the ones you just clicked on.
This has caught me out before.
Expekt
Expekt is a big name internet bookie, and the slick website reflects that.
It's a joy to use, matches are easy to find quickly and Expekt often offer nice bonuses.
None of that matters though because Expekt sometimes will accept your bet then review it maybe reject it.
After you've committed to your bet.
This is unacceptable and in light of that, I have to give Expekt the turd icon.
Eybet
Eybet is another of the Oddsmatrix bookies, which means it offers the same odds as lots of other bookies using that system.
Odds are pretty average/poor, withdrawals average/slow and a promised reload bonus never mateialised, despite customer service assuring me they'd sort it out.
Fonbet
The Fonbet website is another scary basic looking Russian site converted to English but reverts to russian in some bits. I took the plunge and tried them out with small amounts and had no problems, so I've used them more. I've had a few high three figure withdrawals that arrived within 12 or so hours, no problem. Limits are quite low, only allowing stakes of low three figures on the biggest games. Odds are good, and the site is quick, if ugly. Much more professional looking is their Android app.
Rather amusing I thought was a statement at the bottom of the site that reads "Warning : Gambling involves risk. By gambling on this website, you run the risk that you may lose money or suffer psychologicial injuries." I don't think I've sustained any psychological injuries from Fonbet yet.
Gamebookers
Gamebookers and Partybets are the same company, and use the same website.
Odds and limits are also the same.
Wagering limits are often huge for big games, and odds are often very useful.
Withdrawals have also been a quick 12ish hours for me.
The website itself is pretty uninspiring, and the search results sometimes link to the wrong games.
Having said that, the two sites are both really quick and efficient.
Getwin
http://getwin.com/
3/10
3/10
Getwin have a pretty looking website but the odds are nothing special.
My experience with Getwin wasn't the best.
Withdrawing money simply didn't work, and apparently it was down to a bug in the website.
So was I the first person to ever withdraw money then?
I didn't get an explanation, but eventually received my money.
In the wrong currency.
Which cost me for the currency conversion, and eventually it was sorted after some more email inconvenience.
Not the most professional outfit I have ever dealt with, but customer service was friendly and polite.
Globet
Shocking.
Honestly the worst bookie I've dealt with.
One of the few online bookies to practice stake kidnapping.
Not only do they dishonourably steal your stake and decide whether to accept or reject it later, the site is crap, unintuitive and the withdrawal process is slow.
Bugs in their website software would only let me bet £49.99 just after depositing £50.00.
Rounding errors creep in, such as your balance showing as £68.4875 after betting, or attempting to bet with whole numbers.
It took me six tries to find any bet that would be accepted for my first bet.
Every time, it came back after a few minutes rejecting it.
At least they do have live chat so you can vent your frustrations at the customer support people.
Pretty poor all round really, but it's the stake stealing that means I'm giving Globet the turd award.
I won't be using Globet again.
Ladbrokes
Ladbrokes offer great prices, massive betting limits and are a dream for any arber.
...Until your daily betting limit is reduced to zero.
I regularly placed £500+ on football matches with Ladbrokes and made use of some massive arbs.
It was good while it lasted, hey-ho.
Obviously Ladbrokes is a huge company, giving you confidence in leaving your money with them.
The site is great, large cash withdrawals were quick, within 8 hours or so, and they offered the odd bonus too.
Intertops
Rubbish web site, and crap odds, but Intertops have a good reputation for being a good, safe bookie.
Occasional bonuses are welcome from Intertops, but turning them over is nigh on impossible after quickly being slapped with miniscule wagering limits.
Nordicbet
Unsurprisingly, Nordicbet seem to offer more competitive prices on Nordic football, in my experience.
They offer the odd reload bonus and the site is nice, if a bit heavyweight.
Withdrawals have been hassle-free for me, and have completed within about an hour.
Quite impressive, but unfortunately the site is Euro currency only.
Paddypower
Paddypower is the biggest Irish bookie.
I've had no reason to complain about the money withdraway time (12 hours) or the site reliability, but the stake limits are very quickly reduced to a few pence, even 1p in some cases. :-)
At least you can see the min and max stake on the bet slip.
Panbet
I think Panbet have recently merged with/taken over Marathonbet.
The two sites have the same layout/odds.
They're not pretty, but are super quick to navigate and use, and the prices are excellent.
I was scared off at first by Marathonbet being Russian, but now their site is mostly in English.
It can be confusing though when you try to check your bets and find the teams are listed as Russian gobble-de-gook.
Withdrawals have been very quick for me, within an hour, but customer service is poor.
The live chat seems to be always offline and response to emails is rare/non-existant.
I'd like to give a higher rating but reliability of the Manrathonbet website hasn't been good of late.
Despite "Panbet" sounding like a bookie for use while sitting on the toilet, I'll keep using them.
Despite "Panbet" sounding like a bookie for use while sitting on the toilet, I'll keep using them.
Pinnacle Sports
Quite simply, Pinnacle Sports is the Daddy.
It's widely regarded as the best online bookie.
Massive stakes are no problem, and sports arbitrage is even encouraged.
Pinnacle Sports is essential for any sports arbitrage bettor.
Money withdrawals are really quick, normally within the hour, even for large amounts, although you are only allowed one free withdrawal per calendar month.
The site is no-frills, super quick, and easy to navigate.
The biggest attraction of Pinnacle Sports is their odds, without doubt the best out there.
I'd like to give Pinnacle a perfect ten, but reliability of the site has occasionally be an issue.
SBOBet
Along with Dafabet and 12Bet, SBOBet is one of the very best online betting sites.
It uses the same format and mostly the same odds as Dafa and 12Bet, and often has very slightly higher odds than them.
I find it slightly more awkward to find selected markets than Dafa and 12Bet, but generally it's a joy to use.
I've put loads of money through SBOBet and never had a problem.
Moneybookers withdrawals have been very quick, about an hour.
Only downside is that the Asian style interface can be a bit daunting for betting numpties.
Thumbs up from me, highly recommended.
Sportingbet
Another big-ish online bookie, and likely a safe bet, Sportingbet are however aiming at numpty bettors.
They very quickly limit your account to uselessly small stakes and therefore render your account unusable.
The site is OK, and I had no problems using them for a while but such teeny stakes are as useful as a chocolate teapot.
Stan James
Stan James is another very large online bookie with a High Street presence.
They consistently offer the best prices out there, and the site is quick and easy to use.
Very quickly my account was limited, but I was able to bet with Stan James for a long time, placing small bets simply because their odds are so good.
Eventually though, they closed my account, which wasn't surprising, but is a shame because Stan James is without doubt the most profitable site for finding arbs.
Titanbet
Titanbet are an offshoot of Titan Poker.
They offer a big signup bonus and lots of arb opportunities as their odds move slowly.
However, they have used the palpable error excuse for voiding bets that's cost me.
They've done this when the odds are slightly too high because the market has moved down and they are too slow to react.
That's not a valid excuse for a palpable error.
And what's worse, they have insisted that they sent emails to say the bets were void but they did not.
And no, it's they haven't gone into my "Spam" folder, they just weren't sent.
You will read about this shameful behaviour elsewhere in forums too.
Since I wrote this, they have voided two more of my bets, that were NOT obvious palps. Not very impressive.
Since I wrote this, they have voided two more of my bets, that were NOT obvious palps. Not very impressive.
Victor Chandler
Although Victor Chandler will eventually close your account if you're a "sharp bettor", the experience of using VCBet is a good one.
This site isn't particularly pretty, but it's fast, easy and functional, and the prices are often very good.
They also allow quite big stakes, and customer support was generally good for me, both on live chat and over the phone.
Another big bookie, so funds should be safe here.
Unibet
I like to use Unibet.
Usually they allow medium sized stakes, the odds are Ok, and the site is nice and quick to use.
Sometimes, if you get a bit stake-happy, your bet will be refused and you will get the option to send your bet for review.
At least you get the choice.
I've had high three figure sums in Unibet, turned over quite a lot in stakes and haven't had any reason for complaint.
Money withdrawals have taken about 24 hours.
William Hill
Easy and familiar to use, the William Hill site is reliable and fast.
Being a huge bookie, you can be pretty sure your money will be safe here.
Quickly, William Hill limit your bet stakes on smaller markets to pathetically small amounts, but (touch wood) continue to allow larger stakes on bigger games.
Willhill have great prices and lots of bonuses.
I do remember one time when there was a problem with the website though, where only fractional odds were displaying.
Instead of assisting me in rectifying the problem, the customer support rep instead told me to "use a calculator".
Comments
3 comments so far (post your own)In relation to BET3000, the reviewer states that he has never withdrawn money from his account.
I recently opened an account with BET3000 and won my first two bets which resulted in nearly doubling my balance. I requested a withdrawal by using the withdrawal section which requests bank account details. I provided and requested the balance of my account to be withdrawn.
Immediately my balance changed to zero and the withdrawal showed in my transaction history.
On the same day I received an email from them to say that my withdrawal has been rejected and I was requested to provide identification details. I duly obliged and was informed via email the following day that "The copy of your identity card/password has been received. From now on you can make withdrawal requests from your betting account. If you have already made a withdrawal request, we will now process it instantly."
The next day however I received another email requesting a copy of the credit card I used to deposit the funds and a copy of my bank statement. I had provided both of these documents to them already and advised them of this but they were unhappy with the quality of the copy of my credit card. I provided them with a clearer copy on the 4 December but they have not replied since.
The balance of my account on their website remains at zero but I have not received the funds in my bank account.
They now don't reply to any of my requests for a status update. There is no online chat or phone number to call so I appear to be at their mercy as regards my money.
How I been robbed?
Posted by MP on Tuesday, 6/12/11 @ 15:52pm | #2169
I'd give them a little longer. The lack of response to emails is disappointing, but bank transfers can take a few days.
Good luck, and please report back with the result!
Posted by Jack Frost on Tuesday, 6/12/11 @ 16:18pm | #2170
After sending them several more emails, they asked me to be patient, claiming the verification process takes time. This was confusing considering they had originally confirmed that I could withdraw over a week earlier. Eventually once I threatened to contact the Malta regulator I received an immediate response and the funds were received today.
I think they do have good prices which was what attracted me to them in the first place but compared to the ease of with withdrawing funds from other bookies this process was long and frustrating.
Posted by MP on Tuesday, 13/12/11 @ 15:38pm | #2272