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Betfair have over 20 years of experience as a sportsbook but can they still offer a gold medal service? To address that, I’ll assess their whole provision in my complete Betfair review.
It will include the strength of their customer service, the simplicity of their payment methods, and the variety of their betting markets – all to tell you why I believe Betfair is worthy of your attention.
Payment Provider | Deposit min/max | Withdrawal min/max | Fees | Deposit time | Withdrawal time | Safety | Approval rate |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
at least 7€ | at least 1€ | Deposit 2.5% | instant | 1 days | very high | High | |
15 - 50€ | 4 - 50€ | instant | 1 days | high | |||
at least 10€ | instant | 1 days | high | ||||
10 - 100€ | Deposit 2.5% | instant | high | ||||
at least 15€ | 1 - 3 days | 1 - 5 days | very high | ||||
at least 10€ | instant | 1 days | high | ||||
at least 15€ | at most 48€ | Deposit 1.5% | instant | 2 - 5 days | high | ||
at least 15€ | at most 48€ | Deposit 1.5% | instant | 2 - 5 days | high | ||
high | |||||||
1 days | high | ||||||
high | |||||||
high | |||||||
2 - 5 days | high | ||||||
instant | 1 days | high | |||||
instant | 1 - 5 days | very high |
Betfair have over 20 years of experience in the online sports betting world, and demonstrate their punter knowhow with two choices of well rounded bonus offers:
Whichever Betfair bonus you choose, they both have some requirements, with the most important being:
It's hard to fault the Betfair website. The black and yellow colour scheme smacks you in the eye and shows you they mean business, but sports are arranged in common sense categories that makes finding your favourite events a cinch. Tabs at the bottom direct you to your bets or the casino section of the website, while the all important login button is clearly visible at the top of the page.
On the home page, Betfair provide you with a comprehensive look at the latest events and odds, and you can also see popular acca bets other punters have made, which might offer some inspiration, or at least give you an insight on the daily market.
Before I move on, it’s worth just saying that Betfair is both a sportsbook and a sports betting exchange, also being the first platform to combine the two. The exchange effectively allows you to act as a bookmaker and set your own bets. Betfair is one of the best betting exchanges but, in this review, I’m going to focus on their sportsbook provision.
If a modern sportsbook wants to have any hope of keeping up with the competition then a superbly optimised mobile site or an app are a must. Betfair have opted to deliver both, with a great mobile site and full apps for iOS and Android. These apps are superbly designed, and easy to use, and the iOS app alone has a rating of 4.6 out of 5 stars on the App Store with over 93, 000 reviews.
Betfair accepts an impressively varied range of payment methods for deposits and withdrawals so all punters should be able to find a method to suit them. As well as Visa and Mastercard, there are popular e-wallets, such as PayPal and Skrill, as well as online banking, and wire transfer.
Apple Pay is a recently introduced method to add even more convenience for app users. Minimum deposits are low; Visa and Mastercard both have a minimum of €6, while Apple Pay allows €5 deposits.
Withdrawals can be made at Betfair using the same methods as deposits. As one of the top betting sites with cash out features, it’s good to know that there are no minimum withdrawal limits for most methods, apart from Trustly and EcoPayz, which both have a lower limit of €10. Withdrawals are processed quickly and, for the majority of these withdrawal options, will be with you in 24 hours. Online bank transfer, Visa, and Mastercard take slightly longer, but payments should be in your account in 2-5 working days.
When I put together my Betfair review, I found very few areas to criticise, but customer support was sadly one of them. There’s a very comprehensive FAQ section which addresses a lot of issues that you’re ever likely to come across, but their main method of contact is a live chat feature.
The live chat is quick loading, easy to use and, when I tested it out with a simple query, was responsive. It’s also available in several different languages, including German, Portuguese, and Russian. However, information on alternative support options, such as telephone and email, is a little lacking.
Betfair holds licences from both the UK Gambling Commission and the Malta Gaming Authority, which are two of the most stringent authorities. They’re no fun at parties but guarantee that any site they licence upholds strict standards to ensure fair betting and player security, and boosting my Betfair rating.
Betfair also emphasises safety and security by using SSL/ TLS technology to encrypt player’s information, as well as firewalls, intrusion detection systems, and traffic analysis solutions to immediately identify anything dodgy. In addition, Betfair is ISO27001 certified, which is the gold standard internationally for safe information management.
Betfair keep players invested in their site with a collection of the best free bet offers you’ll find, as well as regular promotions and offers for players. They especially favour free bets when you build a wager on selected football matches and horse races.
Casino punters can also enjoy a free daily turn on the Prize Pinball game. This gives you a shot at some fun prizes, from free spins on selected slots to a €1000 jackpot. And as if all that wasn’t good enough, there’s a Refer a Friend bonus that hands out €10 every time you get a friend to join the site using your code.
Betfair score more points in our rating with their seriously extensive range of betting markets. Popular sports such as football and tennis have the largest selection of possible wagers, and cover leagues, levels and events from around the world, but other sports are very well covered too.
Odds on football and tennis at Betfair are especially strong. In fact, they guarantee the best odds on major football matches. For other sports, odds are broadly in line with the rest of the market.
Live betting is, quite simply, a punter’s dream at Betfair. All you have to do is go to the match in question, and click to see all of the live markets. Odds are refreshed every few minutes, so you’re always working with the latest information and you can also live stream dozens of top sporting events – which is a good thing for live betting.
The minimum bet you can place on any market is €2. The maximum profit you can make on big sporting events, such as horse racing and football, is €1.000.000. This amount goes down for other sports and lower level leagues.
The odds at Betfair aren’t necessarily more competitive, but the sheer volume of other special features gives Betfair quite an edge. The range of promotions, and the outstanding welcome bonus also give our Betfair rating another big boost.
Betfair have gathered up a website full of games from the best makers, and true titans in the industry, like Pragmatic Play, Octoplay, Light and Wonder, and Blueprint.
Slots are usually the first thing I look at when I head to an online betting site and Betfair sure was a sight for sore eyes! The megaway and jackpot slots filled up my first glance. Giving you a chance of larger prizes with no extra outlay, these slots are some of the most popular. A few of the best known titles on Betfair are:
If live casino games are more your particular cup of tea, then you’ll be able to find a steaming potful of the best at Betfair. There’s live blackjack, roulette, baccarat, and live game shows.
My Betfair review found that minimum and maximum bets at the live casino vary by games. Nonetheless, there’s a good range to suit all punters. Many slots have a starting stake of 0.10.
The casino at Betfair demonstrates this site’s quality once again. It’s easy to use, and there are fresh games delivered regularly to keep things interesting. And with slots coming from the best names in the industry, you know all of the games are going to be high quality. The welcome bonus is pitched perfectly too, giving players enough free spins to test the site with no complex wagering requirements.
Betfair has all of the bases covered with their selection of esports. Call of Duty, CS: GO, League of Legends, Dota 2, they’re all here.
To give punters the best chance of finding the esports action they want, Betfair cover all of the major UK and international tournaments across the most popular esports. For FIFA esports, that’s the GT Leagues, for Dota 2, its events like the BB Dacha Tournament, and for Counter Strike, it’s the European Pro League Division 2.
Esports odds at Betfair easily match those from other leading sportsbooks and, in many cases, beat them.
Esports is still a growing market at Betfair and there aren’t the same opportunities for placing in play bets or watching matches live. I wouldn’t be surprised if live betting and streaming was added to Betfair’s esports provision very soon though.
Esports is a growing market for Betfair. My Betfair review found a great variety on their site, but I look forward to seeing how this develops even more in the future.
Yes, PayPal is one of the many methods Betfair accepts for deposits, along with credit/ debit cards, online banking, and other e wallets. Have a look at my total Betfair Ireland review for the whole list.
New players at Betfair can choose from a casino or a sportsbook bonus when they sign up. The sportsbook bonus gives you €20 in free bets when you make a €5 wager, while the casino bonus delivers 50 free spins on selected slots, with another 50 free spins up for grabs when you deposit €10.
Betfair is a very well established brand with a great reputation. They have over 20 years of experience in the sports betting industry and are fully licensed and are 100% safe for players in Ireland.
Betfair has some really excellent features that feel both innovative and exciting. For example, their option to ask for a bet via X (formerly Twitter) is like an extra course at a Michelin starred restaurant, unexpected and delicious.
If we judge a betting site by its convenience, its special features, and its ability to make the sports betting experience just downright entertaining then Betfair scores very highly. I was pleased to see such a big choice of betting markets and, being a slots fan, I really liked the welcome bonus. However, I would like to see them put more emphasis on customer support in the future.