Like many reviews on here, I have discovered the hard way that Bet'fair' (how sickly ironic the name), are quite simply thieves and scam artists out to relieve you of any money, any way they can. Betfair is one of the undisputed leaders in online sports betting as well as a wide variety of online gambling, from poker and bingo to virtual casino games and live dealer games. This is not an easy status to achieve and is pretty impressive.
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- Betfair Reviews
Betfair Review: Betting on various sports and events has always been one of the most enthralling experiences for the players. There is a certain rush, risk, and overall feeling of wisdom when you win. Victory in betting is like being proven correct because you make a great judgment based on your experience and wisdom. Everyone likes to flaunt, and betting is one way to show off your deduction skills while you also make a decent profit. Recent elevation in the usage of the digital platform has brought several revolutions in various industries. Gambling and betting field has received its decent share of flares. Over the last few decades, many companies entered the online world to offer people a flexible gambling or betting platform. While many flourishes, Betfair prevails as one of the prominent choices for the betting and gambling enthusiasts around the globe.
At the time of this review, the valuation of Betfair was hovering around the 2 billion USD range. In 2014, Betfair was one a few online gaming companies to receive a license to operate in New Jersey, one of the few US states to allow regulated internet gambling.
Betfair thrives as an online betting exchange market for people to bet against each other regarding any sport, gambling events, and other cultural performances. Essentially, it encompasses all the possible mediums and methods to bet and gamble on everything it is plausible on. Its services with meticulous updates that kept up with the rapidly changing technology have incorporated it as one of the pioneers of online betting platforms. This article will offer a thorough study of Betfair review and offer valuable insights with a potent review.
About Betfair
Originally established in 1999, Betfair is in business since 2000, and by the end of 2006, it was valued at around 1.5 billion, showcasing the exponential growth in such a short period. It has contributed in, sponsored, and hosted several unique events like horseracing and others, over time. The company's headquarters are located in Hammersmith in West London, United Kingdom, and Clonskeagh, Dublin. Betfair worked remarkably well in building prestige for the company, as it became its primary selling point. Since then, the company dominated the online world as the world's largest betting exchange. Over time, it has spread its dominion in other fields like sportsbooks, online casinos, and other forms of online gambling.
According to statistics, there are around 1 million users active on Betfair at any time, and it accumulates a turnover of above 50 million euros each week. It houses the workforce of around 2,500 employees. The company has bought PokerChamps.com and also known for launching the Cash 4 Clubs funding scheme for local sports clubs.
Benefits of Betfair Online Betting
Primarily, Betfair reduces the requirement of bookies and other middle-men presents in the betting industry. You essentially act as a bookie and place your bets to earn profits over winnings. A person can start with a minimum bet of 2 euros, going up to the maximum profit of 1,000,000 euros. However, there is no exact limitation on winning imposed by the company. It offers one of the highest betting odds by up to 20% better odds than any other booker. The company also charges a 5 to 7 percent commission on each bet. Hence, it maintains an easy profit.
Multiple Options:
Betfair offers a plethora of options to its members. There are several sports, from horse racing, car racing, and others, to sporting events like football and other competitive platforms. Additionally, the company has worked on doing business out of anything that can have a ‘bet' factor. From Gambling to online casinos, cultural events included, you will find everything we can humanly possibly place bets on, ethically. As the site does not operate under the shadows, there isn't anything illegal about it. However, this entails that people have several options to keep themselves entertained and make profits.
Fair betting:
As you're not betting against Betfair, but against another person, there isn't a chance of unfair judgment passed by Betfair to benefit them. Because regardless of whichever person wins, Betfair will get the same benefit. Betfair offers ‘fair betting' and does not indulge itself in any unethical practices. As it is one of the largest platforms, it integrates the latest and high-grade security measures to ensure optimal safety. People don't try to hack into the database. Nothing is pre-planned or decided, and people are acting on their own. Hence, it also allows factor-like sure bets and such to entice the people and keep the platform appealing.
Better Odds, Lower Margin, Profitable:
People can make great profits and prosper in the online betting market with the help of Betfair. It offers better odds and has a remarkably low commission margin, even lower than bookies and other middle-man. These factors are one of the reasons people prefer Betfair over any other platform or method of betting. There are around 3 million to 4 million users on Betfair. Due to the rise in the competition, you will mostly find higher bets with greater rewards than low-level bets. Hence, the system is offering your opportunities.
Back And Lay:
In a real-world, or usual scenario, the bookie tends to be a ‘lay' and betters are ‘back.' However, in Betfair, anyone can choose to be a back and lay. Hence, it makes the system more interactive and enticing to betting enthusiasts all around the globe. The system allows people to retain less loss upon losing, among other factors.
Rewards:
Betfair offers Betfair points as the most alluring form of rewards. A person can earn them to exchange them for cash and other commissions. There are several benefits to Betfair. We will explain it in a separate section for better understanding.
See Also: Bet365 Review
Betfair Points
What are Betfair Points?
Betfair offers these points when the person bets on exchange. Regardless of the results, win or lose, you get to earn points. It is an integration intended to boost the bet numbers, and it certainly pays well. The more point someone has, the less commission they pay on the bets and winning. Hence, it is essentially like making extra bucks.
How do you earn Betfair Points?
You earn one point for every 10 pence. Hence, the commission also gets converted to pounds to calculate the bet points. However, you can only use Betfair on commissions. There is no real way to use them for other platforms like casinos or sportsbook. There is a weekly reduction rate of 15%, which can be frozen if you're not betting on exchange anymore.
How do you use Betfair Points?
As stated, Betfair points are used to reduce the commission charges. The more points you have, the less commission will be charged. Hence, you are essentially accumulating cash and saving it.
A person may use Betfair point freeze for one week every three months. However, they can not be stacked to be used later together. During the frozen period, a person can still bet and do everything they normally do. But they won't earn any Betfair point.
Betfair Compatibility
Platform Available On:
With the modern digital revolution, the company has made sure to remain flexible and versatile. It supports all the significant platforms like Windows, Android, and iOS. Betfair has an interactive website that is compatible with any size and device. More importantly, there isn't an app for Betfair available in the play store and the app market in general. It is because the website itself offers features similar to a mobile app, and it is lighter. However, there is a mobile app available only for Betfair exchange for making the process easily accessible. Betfair remains one of the widely-used platforms.
Payment:
Betfair supports several online money transaction options. Paypal, Skrill, Eco Pays, and Paysafe are some of the examples of the partners. It also supports all the important cards transfer like credit and debit cards. As for currency, it supports the Australian dollar, British pound, euros, us dollar, Swedish krona, Danish krone, and hong kong dollar.
Restricted or Banned in Regions:
Due to certain laws and their enforcement, the website is not available in the following countries. Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Angola, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Canada, Chad, Cyprus, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, France, Greece, Guam, Guinea-Bissau, Hong Kong, India, Mayotte, Myanmar, Netherlands, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Singapore, Slovenia, Somalia, South Africa, Sudan, Switzerland, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, USA, Uzbekistan, Zimbabwe.
See Also:Smarkets Review
Pros and Cons of Betfair.com (Review)
Pros:
- A huge market full of various sports like combat, racing, gambling, etc. to bet on
- No middle-man or bookie
- Back and Lay feature is available for players
- No real limit to winning streaks
- Offers higher odds and probability than any other platform
Cons:
- Not a great platform for new enthusiasts in the betting industry
- There are charges for any transaction (Deposit or Withdrawal) you make
Personal Tips or Advice for Betfair
Use a VPN:
In the world where the digital world is an entirely different realm, keep yourself secured. VPN helps in maintaining your IP address and offers a ‘dummy' IP on top of your original. It keeps hackers and other potential threats off your tracks. Similarly, it also prevents unwanted third-parties from collecting data on you and potentially exploit it to lure you into their traps.
Furthermore, a VPN may be a fantastic method to gain access to Betfair from the banned regions. By modifying the VPN settings, you can gain access to Betfair. However, it is not a sure-fire way. To be completely safe and secure, apply for a premium level of VPN services, they are better.
Gain Experience:
Betfair is a fantastic platform, no doubt. However, it is fruitful to experienced advanced players in general. Novice or rookies will find it hard to establish firm grounds on Betfair. It is better if you educate yourself about bet exchanges and then enter the world. You should attain adequate knowledge and experience. There are several free websites and platform you can practice on, interactive applications.
Play it Safe:
If you only want to try Betfair, then try to invest low. It will not give you many prospects, but playing it safe for the start is one of the best ways to gain experience. You will last longer and eventually learn the game and how things go around the platform. By investing a small amount, you are also essentially keeping yourself financially sustainable.
Is Betfair worth investing in?
Overall, Betfair is worth investing money and time into, as long as you have free time and money to enjoy it. You are looking at the largest betting exchange where you can trade your bets in an expansive market. It offers fantastic options for experienced players, and there is a wide variety of products other than simple sports better to keep yourself busy. There are several compatible payment methods and easy withdrawal with live streaming services that make it stand out. Surely, there have been several controversies and allegations regarding the website. But that comes with the name and brandishing the platform.
Overall Verdict
After Reviewed the Betfair site, it is an authentic and genuine website that offers reliable services. The prestigious history and achievements of the company prevent it from committing any form of scam. It comprises of rich database and fantastic players from all around the world. We can not blame the company for the behavior of other players. However, it strives to maintain a decent balance between the player base.
There are several profitable benefits for joining the website and becoming part of the online betting platform. You will have access to up to date news and information regarding any event. It offers fantastic insights and guidance to help people make better decisions. The main benefit of no middle-man remains its chief selling point. Unlike several untrustworthy websites available over the website, it is a sure-fire and rewarding platform with nothing fake.
Editors Note:
Our review compares Betfair to all the other betting exchanges out there and covers all unique offerings Betfair have for punters. Betfair are the world's biggest and best exchange so if it's backing or laying you're after then it's the place for you.
Given Betfair offer the highest liquidty and most markets on their exchange they're my go to site for sports trading and I've had an account for over 10 years.
I've also used their bookmaker service during that period and am pleased to report I've never had issues getting money on or off the site.
All new punters at Betfair can claim one of the biggest sign up offers available when they join but it's for bets placed on the sportsbook and not exchange. It's still a sweet deal though and one of the biggest bonuses around.
Review Ratings
Licensing & Safety
- Very safe & secure site
- Gibraltar Commissioner license
- UKGC license
- Founded May 1999
Betfair is the world's biggest online betting exchange and are based in Gibraltar, therefore all of the actions of the site are regulated and licensed by the Gibraltar Gambling Commissioner under the Gambling Act 2005.
They've also managed to get a UKGC license so they can serve the United Kingdom freely. Basically this means that the site is regulated by two highly respectable organizations and that it can be trusted. The terms of the licenses mean that Betfair must:
- Ensure that minors are unable to use the site for gambling purposes, until they are old enough to understand the risks that they take.
- Make sure that all of their actions are completely fair to all, and transparent to everyone.
- Provide assistance to anyone with a gambling related problem after using their site.
Given that the majoirty of bets placed on Betfair are punter vs punter transactions and not punter vs bookmaker you can live safe in the knowledge that payouts are guaranteed as Betfair hold the funds while the bet takes place.
As a publicly traded company, with profits into the millions, you don't need to worry about payouts from the bookmaker side of things either.
Deposits & Withdrawals
- Plenty of options
- Some fees apply
- Debit & credit cards accepted
- Major eWallets accepted
Visa
£0
Instant
£5 – £20,000
Mastercard
£0
Instant
£5 – £20,000
Maestro
£0
Instant
£5 – £20,000
PayPal
&2%
Instant
£5 – £6,000
Neteller
£0
Instant
£10 – £32,500
Skrill
£0
Instant
£10 – £32,500
Betfair Review Reddit
Much Better
£0
Instant
£10 – £20,000
Paysafecard
£0
Instant
£5 – £400
Bank Transfer
£0
Up to 5 days
£10 – £100,000
Cheque
£0
Up to 10 days
£10 – £50,000
Markets & Odds
- 25+ sports
- Great liquidity
- Better odds vs bookies
- Live streaming & In-play
Betfair is one of the better known names in the United Kingdom online gambling world, thanks to a number of high profile television adverts. They are the largest most active betting exchange in the world and have good liquidity throughout their different markers. These are:
Betfair Review India
- American football
- Australian rules
- Bandy
- Baseball
- Basketball
- Bowls
- Boxing
- Cricket
- Cycling
- Darts
- Floorball
- Football
- Golf
- Greyhound racing
- Handball
- Horse racing
- Ice hockey
- MMA
- Motor sport
- Olympic sports
- Pelota
- Rugby league
- Rugby union
- Snooker
- Tennis
- Volleyball
- Winter sports
They also offer markets on more obscure things, such as politics and television series.
As well as offering a huge number of markets, the depth that these markets go to is also impressive. You will be able to find odds for the most popular of matches all the way through to the most obscure, as the coverage that they provide aims to be all encompassing.
Just looking at the football listings shows this – at the time of writing, they have matches between international teams listed next to clashes from the Chilean league! Not only do they have basic odds either – all matches have comprehensive coverage, with a multitude of different bets which of course have both back and lay options.
Naturally the more obscure the event you are placing a bet on the lower the liquidity will be. This is a problem which doesn't affect many markets at Betfair and when you compare them to their closest rivals Betdaq it's clear to see that Betfair are by far and away the market leaders.
In-Play Betting
- Bet & trade in-play
- Quality live streaming
- Best live odds
- Fast on-site updates
The bet in-play section of Betfair is one of the most impressive aspects of the site, as it offers everything that you will need to both bet and trade sports live, all presented in a completely intuitive way. You can simply go onto the main page and select the match in question, where you will find all of the odds, which change as the match progresses.
Betfair automatically refreshes odds every few seconds so you can track the market as people back and lay different outcomes. Markets are suspended for only a few moments when game changing incidents occur. Trading in play on Betfair is the bread and butter of many online professional gamblers – it's just the best money making platform you'll find in the sports gambling industry and you be pleased to know all features on the desktop site are also available via the Betfair app.
Live Streaming at Betfair…
Betfair is one of the only bookies to offer a comprehensive live streaming service to all members, and it can be found by selecting the 'Live Video' tab on the 'Sports' page.
The range of different events that it shows is absolutely stunning, with international cricket, a huge amount of horse races and football matches from around the globe all regularly found here. All of the upcoming events are listed on the right of the window so that you never miss the one that you are waiting for.
To watch live streams at Betfair one of the follow must apply:
- You have a funded betting account or have bet in the last 24 hours (excluding horse racing).
- You have at least a 50p bookmaker bet on the horse race.
- You have a min of £5 on the horse race on the exchange.
Welcome Bonus
- £100 free bet bundle
- 5x £10 releases £20 free bet
- Repeatable up to £100
- Min odds 1.50 to release
You'll find that Betfair are currently offering all their new customers a free bet bundle worth up to £100 when they open a new account (released in £20 chunks). This offer is only valid for bets placed via their sportsbook section and not the betting exchange.
This is where we have to start marking Betfair down. They are trying to push their customers towards the sportsbook when it's likely they signed up to use the betting exchange. It's certainly not shady but it's confusing and obviously they make more money from the sportsbook so it's a little sneaky.
To claim the bonus follow these steps:
- VISIT Betfair.com by clicking this link (it will open in a new browser tab).
- Click either a green ‘Claim Now' button or one of the ‘Join Now' links on the homepage.
- Fill out all the requested details and make a username and password for your account.
- The bonus code field should automatically be filled out, if not use code: ZBBC01
- Log into your newly created account and deposit £10 or more using your preferred method.
- Place 5x £10 bets on different markets at any odds of 1.50 or more and that will trigger a £20 free sportsbook bet.
- Repeat the process until £100 in free bets has been released.
£5 – £20,000
PayPal
&2%
Instant
£5 – £6,000
Neteller
£0
Instant
£10 – £32,500
Skrill
£0
Instant
£10 – £32,500
Betfair Review Reddit
Much Better
£0
Instant
£10 – £20,000
Paysafecard
£0
Instant
£5 – £400
Bank Transfer
£0
Up to 5 days
£10 – £100,000
Cheque
£0
Up to 10 days
£10 – £50,000
Markets & Odds
- 25+ sports
- Great liquidity
- Better odds vs bookies
- Live streaming & In-play
Betfair is one of the better known names in the United Kingdom online gambling world, thanks to a number of high profile television adverts. They are the largest most active betting exchange in the world and have good liquidity throughout their different markers. These are:
Betfair Review India
- American football
- Australian rules
- Bandy
- Baseball
- Basketball
- Bowls
- Boxing
- Cricket
- Cycling
- Darts
- Floorball
- Football
- Golf
- Greyhound racing
- Handball
- Horse racing
- Ice hockey
- MMA
- Motor sport
- Olympic sports
- Pelota
- Rugby league
- Rugby union
- Snooker
- Tennis
- Volleyball
- Winter sports
They also offer markets on more obscure things, such as politics and television series.
As well as offering a huge number of markets, the depth that these markets go to is also impressive. You will be able to find odds for the most popular of matches all the way through to the most obscure, as the coverage that they provide aims to be all encompassing.
Just looking at the football listings shows this – at the time of writing, they have matches between international teams listed next to clashes from the Chilean league! Not only do they have basic odds either – all matches have comprehensive coverage, with a multitude of different bets which of course have both back and lay options.
Naturally the more obscure the event you are placing a bet on the lower the liquidity will be. This is a problem which doesn't affect many markets at Betfair and when you compare them to their closest rivals Betdaq it's clear to see that Betfair are by far and away the market leaders.
In-Play Betting
- Bet & trade in-play
- Quality live streaming
- Best live odds
- Fast on-site updates
The bet in-play section of Betfair is one of the most impressive aspects of the site, as it offers everything that you will need to both bet and trade sports live, all presented in a completely intuitive way. You can simply go onto the main page and select the match in question, where you will find all of the odds, which change as the match progresses.
Betfair automatically refreshes odds every few seconds so you can track the market as people back and lay different outcomes. Markets are suspended for only a few moments when game changing incidents occur. Trading in play on Betfair is the bread and butter of many online professional gamblers – it's just the best money making platform you'll find in the sports gambling industry and you be pleased to know all features on the desktop site are also available via the Betfair app.
Live Streaming at Betfair…
Betfair is one of the only bookies to offer a comprehensive live streaming service to all members, and it can be found by selecting the 'Live Video' tab on the 'Sports' page.
The range of different events that it shows is absolutely stunning, with international cricket, a huge amount of horse races and football matches from around the globe all regularly found here. All of the upcoming events are listed on the right of the window so that you never miss the one that you are waiting for.
To watch live streams at Betfair one of the follow must apply:
- You have a funded betting account or have bet in the last 24 hours (excluding horse racing).
- You have at least a 50p bookmaker bet on the horse race.
- You have a min of £5 on the horse race on the exchange.
Welcome Bonus
- £100 free bet bundle
- 5x £10 releases £20 free bet
- Repeatable up to £100
- Min odds 1.50 to release
You'll find that Betfair are currently offering all their new customers a free bet bundle worth up to £100 when they open a new account (released in £20 chunks). This offer is only valid for bets placed via their sportsbook section and not the betting exchange.
This is where we have to start marking Betfair down. They are trying to push their customers towards the sportsbook when it's likely they signed up to use the betting exchange. It's certainly not shady but it's confusing and obviously they make more money from the sportsbook so it's a little sneaky.
To claim the bonus follow these steps:
- VISIT Betfair.com by clicking this link (it will open in a new browser tab).
- Click either a green ‘Claim Now' button or one of the ‘Join Now' links on the homepage.
- Fill out all the requested details and make a username and password for your account.
- The bonus code field should automatically be filled out, if not use code: ZBBC01
- Log into your newly created account and deposit £10 or more using your preferred method.
- Place 5x £10 bets on different markets at any odds of 1.50 or more and that will trigger a £20 free sportsbook bet.
- Repeat the process until £100 in free bets has been released.
Overall Review
We rate all the betting sites we review with a grade based on the quality of the site and the way they treat their customers.
Betfair have been given 3.5 stars out of 5 which is the fourth highest possible. There are a couple of issues we'd like to make you aware of which are the reasons why we've not graded them any higher.
The first issue we have with Betfair is the fact that they are far to keen to put the cost of processing financial transactions onto their customers. A large percentage of the deposit options available at Betfair will cost punters when they use them and we feel that Betfair should really be paying the 1.5-2% processing fee's that they charge themselves.
Deposit fee's aside there's one another issue with have with Betfair that's even more concerning. In July 2011 they decided to up the commission for everyone who's won over £250,000 on Betfair to 40% and higher. Basically this means that if you are a successful high stakes punter (using the exchange) then Betfair don't want to know you – even though they match bets between people and don't act as a bookmaker.
They aren't losing anything when people win, in fact they take commission on winning bets only so this stance seems crazy. We don't like, it sets a bad precedent and who knows how long before they decide to hike their commissions again.
Not cool… but they're still the best betting exchange out there and if you want the option to both back and lay bets then Betfair is the only really legitimate choice.
Betfair Review Bettingexpert
User Reviews
- August 24, 2018
I'm a keen amateur sports trader and as such like to bet on the Betfair Exchange rather than through an online sportsbook. I'm having some decent success and although I'm not making enough to be affected by it the new charges they've introduced don't set a good precident.
They've introduced so-called ‘premium charges', which are impacting people who are winning betting on the exchange. Betfair's TV adverts pushing their exchange would make you think they're keen to get punters to use it, but their charges seem to suggest otherwise. What makes the charges even more annoying is that they spoil what is an otherwise great site. Betfair is by far the best exchange around and has far more money in its markets than Betdaq, which is essentially the only other exchange option.
- September 4, 2019
If you take 10 minutes to compare Betfair vs any other regular bookie you'll find the odds on their exchange are way better.
Only problem is you can't really place acca's or yankee's or any kind of multiples on the exchange. You have to use their regular sports book site which is about the same as all the others.
Would like to see the better odds transfered to the bookmaker side of things in the future.
Still get a good rating from me though as won't be beaten on singles when it comes to prices.
Betfair FAQ
Betfair Casino Online Reviews
Betfair are licensed by the UK Gambling Commission and have become a household name in online sports betting. Whilst they can not guarantee 100% uptime we'd class them as one of the most reliable betting sites around who always pay out on winning bets.
In our experience Betfair always have a free bet offer running for new customers. The amount of that offer varies depending on the time of year – you can see the latest deal listed on our Betfair free bet page.
Betfair are one of the faster paying online bookmakers but it does depend on what banking method you use as to how quickly you'll get paid out by them. They quickest options are currently PayPal (within 24 hours) or debit cards (within 48 hours).
Review Betfair Casino
Betfair offer both a regular sports betting site as well as a betting exchange. Originally the site was launch as an exchange only service, but the sportsbook was added in 2012 in order to compete with the bigger online gambling sites.
Betfair Reviews
On their betting exchange the answer is usually yes. This is the case because you're betting against another person and not Betfair themselves and therefore they don't build vig or a house edge into the market. On the regular bookmakers side we find Betvictor and Bet365 both have more competitive odds.
