Jumping into the industry at the start of the online era back in 2000, bet365 has quickly risen to become on many levels the single biggest bookmaker in the business.
Their platform is pretty much unrivalled in terms of what it offers both sports bettors and those looking to play online casinos, with a massive number of betting markets and extra features always available.
bet365 by our reckoning has precious few weaknesses. Take a look at leading odds comparison sites and you’ll see their prices listed first. Their owner is the richest in the business for a reason too and so, when thinking back to how rivals are rated, we’d have to be incredibly picky to mark them down in any area.
Here’s how we evaluated bet365, section by section:
Only the addition of more eWallets could improve the banking section of their product. Everything else is superb and can hardly be faulted at all.
The above scores are more important than the pros and cons in bet365’s case, so it’s important to keep that in mind. The cons here are simply the things we liked least rather than things we ‘didn’t like’ per se. Here are the highlights:
If we could nit-pick to the nth degree, we would add a second new player bonus which is not a 100% matched deposit offer, and we’d add more eWallets to the payment options for those who prefer the likes of Neteller or Skrill but essentially the platform has very few faults.
All of bet365’s basic company information at a glance.
Company
Bet365 Group Ltd (bet365 – registered as Hillside (UK Sports)
Via Account
Phone
No
Live Chat
Yes
Founded
2000
Location
Stoke-on-Trent (registered in Malta)
Licence
UK Gambling Commission
Mobile App
Yes – for iOS and Android devices
In-Play Console
Yes
Live Streaming
Yes
Minimum Deposit
Customer Support Types
Email, live chat, FAQ
It was a pleasure to tour around the bet365 website, their mobile site and the app. Customer service issues are dealt with very professionally and the interface is excellent.
There are no technical faults, hundreds of markets and submarkets are offered, live betting is the best in the business and the streaming is first class.
All the features you’ll find at any of bet365’s rivals are also here, while the odds they display on market leading contenders in major events are usually the best or near the best you will find which makes them great value.
Usually when odds are good, promotions are kept low to keep the bookmaker’s liabilities to a minimum. In this case, despite the value for money in the markets the promos are vast and usually quite valuable meaning there is no other bookie we’ve found so far that can match bet365 on a financial level.
While casino bonuses are also offered, bet365’s sports betting new customer bonus absolutely has to be the best around.
While major rivals offer around the £20 – £40 mark, bet365 give new customers £100 in bet credits for signing up. Naturally there are caveats but overall, you will struggle to ever get a better sign-up bonus than this. Here’s how it breaks down:
This offer is brilliant. It caters for smaller gamblers who can come in at the entry level of £5, or for those who want to go for the big one and bet up to £100 with bet365 matching it.
Shortly after the qualifying bet has settled, bet credits are released. These show in your account and when you want to use them, simply tick the box marked ‘use bet credits’ the next time you add a bet to your slip.
In theory the familiar ‘bet £5 and get £20’ etc is better for smaller players, but does nothing for those wishing to go above that mark. At least here, as long as you are willing to bet to a better level bet365 will back you all the way.
As it becomes abundantly clear from the offset that bet365’s platform is huge, their promotions page wasn’t a surprise in terms of its comprehensive offering.
Ongoing offers can change over time, but usually you’ll find the following deals week-by-week:
On selected football games if your team goes 2-0 up, bet365 automatically pays out the win regardless of the final result.
On pre-match football accumulators of 3 legs or more, bet365 offers bonuses for successful bets (anything up to 70%)
On pre-match tennis singles, if your selection’s opponent retires hurt you are automatically paid out as a winner. There is also a tennis bonus similar to the soccer accumulator offer.
Back a horse in a race shown live on ITV or ITV4 and if it wins at odds of 4/1 or more, you get a risk-free bet next time at the same stake (up to £50).
If you’ve backed a player to score (first/last/anytime) and they are substituted before half-time, your bet is refunded.
bet365 offers BOG on all UK and Irish horse racing. Back your horse and take the price and if it wins at a bigger SP, you are paid at the higher odds.
Even more specific promos are offered on certain sports, including each-way first goalscorers, full-time result enhanced prices, bore draw money back, feature race 4/1 offer and many, many more.
This is the most comprehensive list of ongoing promotions we’ve seen to date. Promos target not just general sports fans, but those whose interests surround specific sports and offer genuine value to the punter.
If we were being very, very picky then we’d say there could be more payment methods offered but that really is a stretch. All the major methods are covered and the range of amounts accepted is also very good.
We should always bear in mind that credit cards are no longer allowed by law for gambling online, which has removed an option for some people without input from the bookmaker.
bet365 accepts Visa, Mastercard, Maestro at between £5 and £20,000 for deposits which are all instant. Apple Pay and Google Pay can be used between £5 and £5,000, while the only eWallet option is PayPal which can be used for payments of £10 to £5,500.
Paysafe Card is available at £5 to £770, Click to Pay is £5 to £5,000 and Bank Wire can be used for payments of £100 to £100,000 for the big-hitters.
While the site states that debit card withdrawals can take 1-5 days, we’ve noticed that all withdrawals appear to be instant, which is terrific on bet365’s part. Maximums are similar to the deposits; £20,000 on debit cards, £2,000 on Apple Pay and £5,500 on PayPal.
The addition of Skrill and Neteller would be good, but frankly we can’t expect much more here. Minimums are low, debit cards and eWallets are covered as well as the ultra-modern mobile forms of payment such as Apple and Google.
bet365 reviews its markets constantly, so they are forever changing. Around 40 sports and events are listed, many with multiple betting odds and submarkets you can wager on. You will find:
American football, athletics, Aussie rules football, badminton, baseball, basketball, boxing/MMA, cricket, cycling, darts, eSports, football, Formula 1, futsal, Gaelic sports, golf, greyhounds, horse racing, motor sports, netball, politics, rugby league, rugby union, snooker, speedway, surfing table tennis, tennis, virtual sports, volleyball, winter sports and more besides.
Football and horse racing are huge despite the fact that so many other sports have well thought markets attached to them at bet365. Even for major players, bet limits can be set quite high meaning some serious punters use this platform to place odd-influencing bets.
A look at the favourites for major sports events will show that bet365 get the most important thing right too; their prices. They are at least competitive and very often even top-priced on major selections so you can guarantee that you are always getting good value for money as well as bonuses and promos to back it up.
bet365 rakes in about £3 billion annually, so it’s no surprise that they take security very seriously indeed. Top-level encryption protects them, and you, from hackers and breaches with all personal and financial data kept extremely secure. They licenced and therefore heavily regulated by the Gambling Commission in the UK.
Responsible gambling is a key focus too. bet365 has hooked up with BeGambleAware, IBIA, GamStop, the National Gambling Helpline and other organisations to ensure help is available for those suffering from hambling-related harm.
They are also registered with IBAS meaning that, should any bet disputes remain which we feel is unlikely, they can be mediated by a third party.
We have no worries as far as security and responsibility goes, but bet365’s reputation has actually only grown over the years when it comes to all matters.
While lead figure Denise Coates is the highest earner in the whole industry, she does also pay her tax in the UK and gives money to various charities, as does the business itself.
bet365, as well as sponsoring hometown team Stoke City, are regular contributors to other teams and events via heavy sponsorship, including many top-class horse races meaning they put millions back into sport.
Customer service is crucial to us and in our direct experience, bet365’s is among the best around. Amy communication with their team is dealt with professionally, in good time and usually with gestures of goodwill offered even when a customer is not due something according to the brand’s T&C’s.
The help section has many FAQ’s which will answer most general queries, but the real proof of how good they are comes when you have to directly get in touch.
Those holding accounts can email via the account section when signed in. This leads to replies within a few hours typically, usually in a friendly and well-informed tone.
The best way to get in touch, as always, is via live chat. Here, your initial message will be answered either instantly or within just a few minutes. This also means that you can have your query handled in real time and in writing.
A phone number is no longer provided but you can get in touch via social media if you wish, all messages and tweets being answered with similar timing to emails but this time with a personal message addressing your particular query.
The help section is split into categories and is very comprehensive, so unless your question is about a particular bet or about a withdrawal, then all of your queries are bound to be answered in advance.
You can get in touch with bet365 any time you like and, unless the member is patently in the wrong, we’ve yet to see the firm disappoint anyone in terms of their policies or their direct communication.
Having praised bet365 to the hilt so far, we didn’t really expect a lack of features. Needless to say, we found everything we’d wanted from a top brand.
Sports betting features are usually developed separately by software companies and more are heading to the market in the future which we’re sure bet365 will integrate. For now, you can expect this:
As mentioned in the promo section, bet365 will automatically pay you out on major football games when your team goes 2-0 up.
bet365 has one of the best and easiest to use Bet Builders out there. Head to any football game market, click Bet Builder and then add as many selections as you want to create your own unique accumulator.
You can bet live at bet365 with hundreds of in-play markets offered every day. Football, tennis and all the other major sports come with live betting, while the in-running horse racing section is also very comprehensive.
Cash outs are available on just about everything. As well as this, you can set your own rules so that when a cash out value reaches a certain amount you get paid automatically. You can also use partial cash out meaning you can cash out part of the bet and leave the rest of your stake running until the end.
The live streaming section at bet365 is also unrivalled. Dozens of sports and hundreds of markets can be taken advantage of while events are live. Tennis is live every day, as is football, while every British and Irish horse race is also streamed in high quality.
The bet365 sports betting app is available on all devices – see below.
The main bet365 desktop site is a huge concern technically. With that, you may expect it to be difficult for them to fit everything into a mobile site.
While keeping the same basic design, albeit a diminutive of the main one, the mobile site is fantastic. It’s easy to use, very professional in design and colour scheme, remains slick and fast and has every single property available on the main site.
An app is available too, downloadable for free from the App Store or Google Play for iOS and Android devices alike.
Again, it works well but behaves just a little differently from the mobile site. It too is a more than satisfactory app, but many bet365 customers choose to stick with the mobile site rather than the app.
If you prefer one-click opening then the app is best, however you can set a 4-digit passcode for the mobile site or even open it there biometrically and with no download making this the best option overall.
No major faults are reported for the mobile site or app and all features, including quality live streaming, can be accessed on the move.
bet365 has hit the industry hard. Having moved up the ranks quickly, they developed not only a huge sponsorship programme but also ploughed millions into marketing.
While such ads are no longer welcome in most sports, bet365’s innovative in-play commercials during football games featuring Ray Winstone really encapsulated the betting public and they backed that up with a tremendous live betting and cash out feature.
In all the areas we covered, and a few we barely touched on, bet365 excelled. They are technically proficient, fair, customer-focussed and offer tremendous value for money given their bonus value, high general odds, valuable ongoing promotions and range of bet-building and automatic early payout tools.
We loved everything about bet365’s main platforms, especially the mobile site and the streaming service, with the only tiny negative being the lack of eWallets other than PayPal in the banking section with the addition of Neteller and Skrill being nothing more than a bonus really. Top marks.
All of your key questions about bet365 answered.
Yes. They are now one of the biggest names out there and are fully regulated.
All known sports are covered with huge markets available on football, horse racing, tennis and others.
Among others, top developers Blue Print, Red Tiger and NetEnt all work with bet365.
There is a 100% matched deposit for new customers up to £100, while promos for existing customers are far-reaching.
bet365 is fully licenced by the Gambling Commission in the UK.
Excellent. The professional and knowledgeable team can be reached via social media, email and live chat.
You can deposit from £5 to £100,000 at bet365.
You can withdraw as little as £5 from bet365.
Most withdrawals are instant at bet365.
Not for sports bettors.
Yes. The app is downloadable free for iOS and Android devices.
Yes. The in-play betting library is extensive.
Yes, the live streaming service is one of the biggest available. A 50p bet per horse race is needed.
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