Betfair

Betfair is one of the largest online betting companies which operates as a betting exchanges. Betfair offers several categories, including sports (with over 25 sports), casino, live casino, poker, games parts, bingo and virtual sports. The promotions section is well crafted, where customers can find different types of bonuses both for football and for other categories. Like many other online betting companies, there are mobile applications available on Android and iOS (iPad, iPhone) as well as the web version.

*Bonus T&Cs apply. 18+. New users only. Place 5 x £10 or more bets to receive £20 in free bets. Repeat up to 5 times to receive maximum £100 bonus. Min odds 1/2 (1.5). Exchange bets excluded.

Betfair offers more than just sports betting. Users will also find here casino sections.

Our honest opinion regarding Betfair

Back in the old days of betting, even before the betting shops where a thing, you had to go to a bookmaker to place a bet regarding a sporting event. Also the laws were way harsher and in some states betting was illegal all together. Time went by and betting shops started to appear across UK, Europe and America. More and more options where available for the consumer thus making it way more easy to place a bet for a favorite team. After a while the internet came across and all of a sudden hundreds and hundreds of betting shops started to appear in the form of  websites. In a sports betting website the options and betting types increased drastically and in the same time making it more easy, again, to place a bet, even from you couch at home. But betting website with a sportsbook type of feel weren’t enough for some individuals and by some i refer to some millions around the globe. So, a new type of betting website started to appear in the horizon, we are talking about betting exchanges.

In our current times, websites that function on the principle of betting exchange are not that numerous as compared to normal sportsbooking websites. Why? Well even though the experience is mostly the same (compared to a sportsbooking website), a betting exchange bet is somewhat harder to place. This is simply because odds are variable and control by the players. The player has direct control over the betting odds, thus making it a more involved experience. More involved means a bigger paycheck sometimes, that’s why websites like Betfair have their own clientele. Speaking of which, Betfair is the biggest betting exchange website in the world. The company was founded in 2000 by two entrepreneurs by the names of Andrew Black and Edward Wray.

Their vision was to create the perfect betting exchange platform. Time as usual went by and the company slowly but surely made its way to the top. In 2006 the company purchased horse racing publisher Timeform, also in the same year Softbank bought 23% of the company assets. Later in 2007 Betfair lunched their own radio service available on betfair.com. Years went by and it 2010 Betfair was floated at the London Stock Exchange at a staggering £ 1.4 billion. Thanks to its success it moved some of the operations to Gibraltar and a year later in 2012 introduced the Sportsbook category on the website to keep up with the competition in the field. But this is not all, on 2 February of 2016 Betfair merged with Paddy Power making a new company named Paddy Power Betfair. Now let’s take each website main category and talk a bit about them, shall we?

Betfair has the following categories available to the public:

• Exchange
• SportsBook
• Casino (with Live Casino)
• Poker
• Slots
• Exchange games
• Virtual sports

EXCHANGE

Betfair made a name for itself thanks to its exchange type of betting. Well in this context you can really see the time and knowledge that went into building the platform. Lets us explain more in detail. The interface is what web developers say „breathable”. It’s easy to navigate and to spot the options that you want to access. All the sports and competitions are placed in the left side of the screen and on the top, right below the main menu, are some handy options. You could aspect to find in the Bet Exchange sports like: Football, Basketball, Chess, eSports, Winter Sports, Golf, Snooker, Tennis and even some special ones like Politics. Also for a number of sports there are live matches available.

In terms of the layout for the competitions themselves and the betting slip, we don’t have anything special, so we won’t get too much into detail. Competitions are listed in the middle of the screen, with the fluctuating odds next to them and the betting slip stands on the right edge of the website canvas. Above i said „fluctuating odds”, because this is a betting exchange section. Even though in some cases, odds may fluctuate in standards sportsbooking website, in the betting exchange experience this is what odds do all the time. For those who are reading this article and have no idea what is a betting exchange, i will spare you from searching on Google.

In basic terms, it’s a type of betting experience where the users controls the odds. When you see a match that sparks your interest for some reason and later added it to the Betting Slip, there you can input what odds you want. Also there are two ways of betting: for the team to win or to lose. Those are just the basics of exchanges, you have to read more about them and study the strategy behind. Just like on a stock exchange (with assets of numerous companies) you must analyze closely the teams and their evolution over time. Thus making it nearly impossible for a novice to place a winning bet. That’s why you should start your journey with standard sports betting websites.

SPORTSBOOK

Sportsbook section. Here you will find the standard sports betting experience that is the most well know around the world. The websites book takes place the odds for each competition present in the section and you have to select the preferred match and odd, and then place a sum of money on it. A standard booking experience that is easy to comprehend for a novice, compared to the Exchange.

Now let’s move on with the Sportsbook analysis. We really like the way the website is put together and the number of options it offers to the consumer. In the case of the Sportsbooking category there is a slight interface change. On the left side of the screen you can find some useful shortcuts for popular sports and competitions around the globe. The sports categories are found in the menu, there are more than 20 types. Just to name a few: Tennis, Football, Basketball, Cricket, Greyhound racing and so on. Betting slip is on the right side of the screen, like stated above in the Exchange and besides singles bets you have the option to place multi bets. Also what we find very helpful is the fact that you have to confirm your slip before submitting. A good betting experience overall, nothing negative to point out.

CASINO

One of the most beloved attractions in the biggest cities of the world must be the casinos. But thanks to the progresses made in the techie part of things, now you can enjoy a fully almost immersive casino experience right at your home. On Betfair you have Live Casino and Casino available for your bets. On Live Casino you will see table games like Roulette and card games Blackjack, Sic-Bo, Baccarat, Casino Hold’em, Hi-Lo. The games are running in a proprietary interface developed by Betfair and each game has a host that is assisting you live through the course of the game. In the offline Casino (or the standard Casino) there are a wide variety of cards games, table games, slots and arcade. Some of the games display the biggest win and the jackpot. As you would expect, the entire Casino experience is accessible only with an account.

POKER

If those mentioned above are not presenting an interest for you, Poker may be the right thing. Either way, we analyzed the experience and here are our findings. In order to access the poker client you need an account and the client installed. The client, as of now, is only compatible with Microsoft Windows machines. If you have a MacOS or Linux computer you are out of luck. Although there are some options that can allow you to run Windows applications on Mac and Linux,  there are a bit technical and most of the users won’t bother (you can search online though). The Poker client is developed by Betfair and offers a standard experience for the most part. In the image displayed above is the Pokers Client interface. On the top there are the games type from which you can choose and right below there are filters that can help you find the right table for your budget. What is nice here is the fact that on Betfair you can play Poker also for fun, not just with real money. Games load fast and the the gameplay is good, like most of the poker clients. A big thumbs up from us!

SLOTS

The games are spread in three categories. You can find them in Arcade, Vegas and Macau. The games are divided in this way because they provide a different look and feel. Also, beside slots, in the Arcade section there are Roulette games, Blackjack and Deal or no Deal that we don’t see that often. In Vegas you will encounter the Vegas type slot machine type games. Some of them are replicas of popular games from Vegas casinos and others are new interpretations that are meant to give you a Vegas like experience. Last but not least is Macau that has slot games with Chinese influences and details. This section is starting to appear on more and more betting website and seems to be very popular. We can see why… The users are starting to seek for more interesting and unique experiences.

Also in Macau, there are 4 Live games (they are cards games like Baccarat) that you can join. Across the board the games are optimized really well and work perfectly on the browsers that we’ve tested those (Opera, Mozilla, Chrome). The loading times are good and most of the games offer some ingame options that is standard for most part. So there is nothing special in terms of the overall gameplay. But it’s kind of impossible to be when the games do the same tasks across the board. Overall it’s a well put together experience for virtual slot machines player’s aficionados.

EXCHANGE GAMES

We are having a hard time remembering if we’ve seen this category on other betting exchanges (comment down below if you find it on another betting exchange). Although some said that something similar to this was found on other betting websites, for most of us this is something new, anyway… In short, there is a selection of card games like Blackjack, Hi-Lo or Baccarat and you can place a bet for the different hands that the computer show you. Each hand has an odd and you have a few seconds available to place your bet. After placing a bet, the hand that wins will appear on the screen and the game restarts. Well to be really honest, it’s something very interesting to take apart it. At first it might be boring for a short period of time, but you will get the hang of it eventually. If you like a more laid back betting game, maybe you would enjoy this kind of gameplay.

VIRTUAL SPORTS

Virtual Sports on the other hand are totally different story. They are present in some shape or another, on the grand majority of the betting websites. The experience is somewhat thrilling and interesting in some situations. If you like video games there is a higher chance you’ll feel right at home. It can be accessed from the main menu. The main categories are Horse racing (jumping and flat), Football, Greyhounds, Motor Racing, Speedway and Cycling. All the competitions have a countdown display at the top so you will know when is the most opportunistic time to place a bet. The live feed is broadcasting smooth and we don’t encounter any inconveniences. In terms of betting, it is standards. Click on the odds place below the feed and they will appear on the betting slip. Also what we found interesting is the fact that the website lets you bet for the upcoming competition. A really nice addition in our book!

REGISTRATION

As it was expected by us, the registration process is nice and smooth. When other sites confuse you with multiple step forms, that we at Betting Views really hate, Betfair lays the form on a single page! As it should be! You have to complete your personal information in order to be able to star betting and also there is the possibility to add a promo code or referral code that can get you some bonuses. In order to be able to complete the process, you need to be at least 18 years old of age, otherwise the process will stop. Also what you should take note, as a reminder, is the fact that the website charges a inactivity fee from your account. More information about this you can find on their website.

PAYMENTS

In order to start this endeavor on Betfair, you need to validate a payment method through the website. And here sadly, things get a little bit tricky. Why? Well Betfair doesn’t offer a wide variety of payment methods unfortunately. It works just with a handful of payment options, some of which being: Visa, MasterCard, Poli, BPay, Wire Transfer. In terms of major 3rd party payment solution the list resumes to just to: Neteller and Moneybookers. But don’t be discouraged! This should stop you for trying the website. The methods that are in place are pretty widely available, the limitations are in terms of the minimum amount you can deposit or withdraw. The limit is a standard on most betting platforms. Also the payment methods just listed do not charge you any fees for depositing or withdrawing.

PRIVACY

Consumer privacy and data protection are very important topics for gambling websites. Because they are dealing with sensitive information on a daily basis, and many accounts are created each week, all the information that is submitted to you as the gambling entity, needs to be stored it a safe place so no one could access it or spoof it. Well in this situation Betfair does a great job and protects your information very well.

The website runs on a encrypted connection with SSL, that allows the outgoing and incoming traffic to be encrypted. Betfair offers best in class security and consumer data protection and on their website you can see in detail how you data is secured and how your information are being used. Cookies are present here also. For those who don’t know what cookies are, basically without going to much into detail, they are some type encrypted files that create some patterns based on your behavior on the website. Information is being stored inside them (non-personal info) and the marketing department at Betfair can improve your experience on the website and also provide you with some offers that you may be inclined on. So basically you don’t need to worry too much about those. More information regarding the Privacy Policy you can find on the betfair.com website.

CONCLUSION: Our honest opinion regarding Betfair

The platform had time to grow and mature. It took small steps and with each step the platform improved and grew in what we see today. What started as a betting exchange, now it’s evolved in a complete, multi-level platform that can satisfy the grand majority of betting aficionados. Is if perfect though? If you are searching for the perfect gambling virtual place we must assure you that Betfair isn’t the one. Heck, there isn’t a perfect gambling platform that we are aware of (and we done a few betting website reviews).

Its needs some improvements in the payments department, this is the only major flow that we found, but for the most part is a pretty solid, well balanced experience. This is because you can find the best of both worlds here: Sportsbook betting and Exchange betting. That’s what makes the site unique and get our stamp of approval. Create an account and give the Betfair a change, maybe they will be your future favorite betting website.

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