Not to be confused with the Betfair betting exchange, this review is solely for the Betfair sportsbook.
The Betfair sportsbook is fast becoming one of the most popular bookmakers on the internet, and our review will show you why. Most reviews can be a boring read, so we're going to try and keep this one short and to the point, giving you all the information you need as quickly as possible.
Betfair Sportsbook New Customers Offer
First up is the new accounts offer, and Betfair are a market leader here. There is not many bookmakers offering a sign up offer a £100.00 in free bets, although they do make you jump through hoops for it.
As you can see, the £100.00 in free bets comes in 5 lots of £20.00 free bets. It's clearly a free bet designed to keep you betting with Betfair for a decent period of time.
To claim the first free bet of £20.00, you will need to place 5 bets of £10.00 (or more) on different markets. This means you can't place 5 ten pound bets on Man City to beat Norwich, etc. All of the £10.00 bets have to be placed at minimum odds of 1/2 (1.50).
Once you have completed the process, you will have a free bet of £20.00 within 24 hours.
Repeat the same process another 4 times, and eventually you will have a total of £100.00 in free bets. You can see now why I said the free bet is designed to keep you betting with Betfair for a decent period of time. A total of 20 bets are required to get the full £100.00.
BETFAIR LICENSING AND REGULATIONS
Like a lot of UK based bookmakers these days, Betfair is licensed both offshore, and in the UK. Don't let that bother you, as this is standard practise.
Betfair is part of PPB Counterparty Services Limited, which is the licensee for both Paddy Power and Betfair. The company is based in Malta, and as such is regulated and licensed by the Malta Gaming Authority.
Betfair itself is actually regulated in the United Kingdom, Australia, Denmark, Gibraltar, Italy, Spain, Bulgaria, Romania and Malta.
What does this mean for Betfair's UK customers though? Well, Betfair is licensed and regulated by the UK Gambling Commission. What this means in plain English is that we are protected under the rules and regulations laid out by the UK Gambling Commission, and they will take action if Betfair are found to have behaved in an inappropriate way.
Right, I hope that's clear now!!
SPORTSBOOK ODDS AND MARKETS
I find the sportsbook doesn't have the same variation in markets and sports as the betting exchange does. For example, there are far more sports to bet on with the betting exchange. There are also far more football matches on the exchange, and within a football match, there is a much better selection of markets available on the exchange.
There are though, well over 20 events categories on the sportsbook - which is more than enough. And as you can see below, all the main sports and events you are likely to want to bet on, are all there.
DEPOSITING AND WITHDRAWING
Right, next we look at depositing and withdrawing. As all gamblers and casino players, etc, know, bookmakers and gaming companies have no problems when it comes to taking our money. It's generally when we want it back that the problems arise.
So what about Betfair? Well, after you open your account, Betfair will attempt to verify you electronically (KYC). If they can't do this, they will ask you to provide documents to complete this process. The documents usually include two of, a recent utility bill, bank statement, copy of passport or driving licence.
I'm not going to bore readers with a list of methods for depositing and withdrawing. Common sense tells us all that we can deposit using our bank debit cards, or Paypal. When it comes to withdrawing, using the same methods will see funds arriving back in your account in around two days.
A common rule of thumb I find with depositing and withdrawing is that if you use a conventional method, it generally runs smoothly. Stick to your debit card, or Paypal, and you shouldn't go wrong.
Once you start going down the route of ecoPayz, cheques, wire transfers, etc, you can start occurring charges and delays. Keep it simple folks!
Under new regulations in the UK, from April 2020, you will no longer be able to deposit using a credit card.
BETFAIR LIVE STREAMING
You can watch a whole array of sports on Betfair if you have a funded and/or active account. The live streaming is free of charge except on certain horse racing and greyhound events. In these instances you will need to place a bet of £2.00 (or currency equivalent) on the relevant 'day of the race' market to qualify to watch that particular race - Betfair’s words, not mine!
I think that roughly translated, that means Betfair will decide what the specific terms are at a time of their choosing.
Also live streamed on Betfair is a whole host of football from around the world. You can watch the likes of La Liga, Serie A, Bundesliga, Ligue 1 and a whole host of other matches from across Europe. There is also live streaming of different South American leagues, and top flight football from USA, and Australia.
WHAT’S BETFAIR SPORTSBOOK LIKE FOR FOOTBALL BETTING?
As a football betting website, the main thing we are looking at with Betfair, is are they any good for betting on football?
Personally, I think they're okay. These days I prefer to trade on the exchange, but when I have an accumulator or stray onto a bookmaker's site, Betfair is one of the ones I will use.
They cover all the main aspects punters look for when betting on football, doing the basics well. We don't want flash fancy stuff when we place a football bet, we want to keep it simple. Without being exceptional, Betfair ticks all those boxes.
There is also the Betfair cash out option which is handy. And cash out is not only just for individual bets, but you can cash out accumulators as well.
BETFAIR ACCA EDGE IS ANOTHER HANDY TOOL
Another plus point is Acca Edge, where Betfair gives you reduced odds in return for you getting your money back as cash, if one leg of your bet lets you down.
Again, not world beating, but a handy option to have if that's your preference.
Well, there you have it, our review of the Betfair sportsbook. As we eluded to earlier, we've tried to keep it as brief as possible. Below we've added a FAQ section where we will try and clear up any items that have been left out of the review.
If you think of anything that we have missed, please don't hesitate to leave a question below, or drop us a line and we can add it to the list.