About Bet365

If you don’t know who Bet365 are, then you must have been living under a rock. Bet365 are everywhere. If you’re watching television, it won’t be long before an advert pops up or they are sponsoring some kind of sports. Without a doubt, Bet365 must be one of the most recognised UK brands out there. But are they as good as they think?

Bet365 was founded in a Portakabin the year 2000, in Stoke-on-Trent, by Denise Coates. It sold its betting shop chain to Coral in 2005 for £40 million and focussed on its online business. Bet365 is now one of the biggest online gambling companies in the world. The bookmaker now has around 23 million customers around the world and employs around 3,500 people.

Chairman, Peter Coates, the father of Denise Coates is also the Chairman of Stoke City FC and in April 2016 it became the new title sponsors for Stoke City’s stadium for the following six seasons. Not only that, but it has also signed shirt sponsorship deals with Bulgarian football clubs Slavia Sofia and Ludogorets Razgrad.

With such impressive numbers and sponsorship deals, it is clear to see that Bet365 is here to stay. In this Bet365 review, we will be looking at how it compares to other big names on the market. Does it deserve all this exposure or is it just style over substance?

Bet 365 Market Offering

Bet365 has had almost 20 years to build up its market offering, so it should be getting it right. As you can imagine, it really doesn’t disappoint. In total there are over 35 sports to bet on, with thousands of markets, so you can be sure you’ll find whatever you want here. Not only does it cater for all of the major UK sports, such as football, horse racing and greyhounds, but it also offers other lesser-known and less popular sports and markets such as netball, trotting and even winter sports.

This is definitely a sportsbook that is aiming to tailor its markets towards everyone, not just its primary UK audience. If you take football as an example, you can bet on all different markets. Of course, there are the Premier League and major world tournaments, such as the World Cup; however, Bet365 goes even further. In fact, having just looked at all the football markets, there’s simply too many to write about in this review. You can even bet on lower league football matches in Iran if you wish…. who knew? There are all the home nation leagues and various world matches and competitions.

You can also wager on a huge number of events such as fulltime results; total goals; handicap result; both teams to score; first goalscorer; time of first goal and more. Simply put, if you want to bet on anything at Bet365 and can’t find it – I’d be hugely surprised! Here’s a full list of sports and events you can bet on:

Sports and Events

However, like all of the best bookies, this site isn’t just about betting on sports. If you want something else then you can try other areas out too. Firstly there are virtual sports, which allow you to bet on horse racing, greyhounds, motors, football, cycling, tennis and trotting. Secondly, there are also Esports such as DOTA2, Fortnite, League of Legends, Street Fighter, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Heroes of the Storm, NBA 2K, StarCraft II and World of Warcraft.

However, if you want to try something completely different then there are the Specials. Here you can bet on political events such as local and general elections in the UK and around the globe. You can also bet on TV show winners such as The Voice, Sports Personality of the Year and X-Factor.

In-Play Betting

One of the biggest draws when it comes to Bet365 is its live in-play betting. Not only does Bet365 offer a huge amount of in-play betting, but it also offers live streaming as well. In fact, it might well be fair to say that taking all into account, Bet365 has one of the best in-play betting products on the market.

The in-play betting allows you to wager on a wide range of sports and markets. If you are a fan of footie betting, then Bet365 offers one of the best lists of live football betting markets around. If there is a football market that is available for pre-match betting then there’s a very high probability that Bet365 also offers it in-play.

However, it isn’t just great at football. If you like a bit of tennis then you’ve got plenty to choose from. Whether you are into the Challenger tours or the major Grand Slam tournaments, then there’s a huge amount to choose from. No matter what sport you want, Bet365 seems to have it all on offer. The in-play product is smooth, efficient and diverse and with the addition of live streaming, it’s hard to find fault – so I won’t….

Odds

No matter how great the diversity of sports is, it needs to be competitive with the odds it offers. So does Bet365 manage that? Well, the depth and diversity of the betting odds available at Bet365 are truly impressive. It offers a range of odds that many other bookmakers can’t compete with. Whether you are looking to bet pre-match or live play, you’ll get great odds.

When comparing the Bet365 odds and prices to several other leading bookmakers, it was abundantly clear that it offers consistently good odds. There are times when Bet365 offers the best on the market. However, even when this isn’t the case the odds are generally very close to the best odds on the market. Not once did they come up as being anywhere near the lowest odds.

No bookie can give the best odds for all markets and sometimes a bookmaker will pick a specific market and give crazy good odds to garner custom. However, they cannot match these odds in all areas. Bet365 tends to err on having a fairer spread of good odds instead of a few amazing odds and then some lousy ones to compensate.

Generally, we found that Bet365 offers you a good deal when it comes to its odds. There are certain times the odds are the best, and others when they are not the best, but still highly competitive. It is very rare to see bad value odds at Bet365 in any sport or market.

Bonuses & Offers

T&Cs Apply   Up to £100 in Bet Credits for new customers at bet365. Min deposit £5. Bet Credits available for use upon settlement of bets to value of qualifying deposit. Min odds, bet and payment method exclusions apply. Returns exclude Bet Credits stake. Time limits and T&Cs apply.

Welcome Bonus

Bet365 makes a big effort to draw in new customers, so it pays a lot of attention in competing with the best sign up betting offers out there. The Bet365 welcome bonus is currently a 100% deposit bonus up to £50. So if you deposit £50 into your account on sign-up, you’ll have £100 to bet with. This is a pretty sizeable amount, so the T&Cs attached are vitally important.

To qualify, simply open an account and deposit £5 or more. You will then be entitled to claim your 100% bonus. Make your qualifying deposit, select ‘Members’ from the Services menu, go to Offers, then Offers Available and select Claim Now. Be aware that if you deposit with Neteller or Skrill you will not be eligible to claim the bonus. To bet with your bonus you must turn over the amount of your qualifying deposit once. You must have settled bets to the value of 3-times your qualifying deposit and bonus before you can withdraw. You need to fulfill these requirements within 90 days. There are other T&Cs attached, so do check them through carefully.

All in all, this is a very solid bonus with reasonable terms attached.

Lifetime Bonuses

There aren’t just World Cup lifetime bonuses, but also standard lifetime bonuses to reward you for being part of the Bet365 family. They change at times, so be sure to check out all of the current and up to date offers:

Edit Bet: Gives you the chance to add, swap or remove selections from your bet.

Tennis Accumulator Bonus: You can earn up to 50% extra on your tennis accumulators. This is only available to new and eligible customers and T&Cs Apply.

Parlay Bonus: Bet 365 lets you earn up to 50% more on US and Canadian sport parlays. This is only available to new and eligible customers and T&Cs Apply.

Euro Basketball Bonus: You are able to earn up to 50% more on Men’s European Basketball accumulators. This is only available to new and eligible customers and T&Cs Apply.

Euro Footy Multi Bet Bonus: Get up to 70% bonus on accas including European football. This is only available to new and eligible customers and T&Cs Apply.

Bore Draw Money Back: Get Your money back in the form of bet credits if the game ends up 0-0 T&Cs Apply.

Other Rewards

You can also find other top rewards available such as the Bet365 Price Promise; Best Odds Guaranteed; Racing Value and even more. When it comes to bonuses and promotions, there are masses available. All have specified terms and conditions, so be sure to check them all out carefully first.

Security and Regulations

Bet365 doesn’t exactly try and fly under the radar in the UK, so it has to make sure that it is totally, 100% safe, secure and legitimate in every area. It is licensed by the Gibraltar Licensing Authority as well as being regulated by the Gibraltar Gambling Commission. This means that it is being governed to make sure that all of its practices are totally fair and above board.

The company has almost 20 years in the business and has established a great reputation as a result of its fairness. It is regulated not only by its licensor but also by third parties such as essa and IBAS to ensure that there is an intermediary and fair third party when it comes to dispute resolutions.

Bet365 also ensures that all of its onsite safety measures are completely up to date using the very best encryption methods. It uses top-end SSL encryption to ensure that all of your personal and financial data is completely safe at all times. It has a variety of top banking methods, all of whom also use their own security measures.

Furthermore, there is great attention to responsible gambling. It has an entire section dedicated to promoting responsible gambling. To assist you, it offers advice and account options to help you control your gambling. It aims to help you control the time and money you spend on online gambling. Bet365 offers:

• Advice on staying on control
• Deposit limits
• Reality checks
• Time-out
• Self-exclusions

It is also linked to www.gamblingtherapy.org so that you can access help from a specialist third-party organisation.

Banking Options

The payment methods available at Bet365 are pretty impressive. Any well-established online bookmaker needs to offer a decent variety of banking methods and Bet365 does this. You can choose from credit and debit cards such as MasterCard or Visa as well as eWallets such as PayPal. You can currently use the following:

As per most online bookmakers, most of the deposits you make will be instant, although bank wire and cheque may take some time to clear. Generally though, if you use card or eWallets, you should be able to get going straight away. However, if you deposit via Neteller or Skrill then you may be unable to claim specific deposit bonuses, so check that out carefully. Bet365 doesn’t specify the minimum or maximum deposits, although to get bonuses, normally a minimum deposit of £5 is required.

Withdrawing your funds takes a little longer and it depends very much on your preferred method of withdrawal. Should you choose debit or credit card, then this can take between 1 to 5 days. Generally, UK cards take between 1 to 2 days although non-UK cards can take between 3-5 days.

With Entropay and Paysafecard all withdrawals will be processed within 24 hours or less. However, if you choose a bank wire then it can take up to ten days, and a cheque can take 28 days to clear.

Bet365 doesn’t specify any specific withdrawal limits. However, if you try to withdraw over £20,000 at once then you may find yourself needing to provide evidence and documentation to support your withdrawal.

Customer Service

As Bet365 is such a giant in the industry, with so many customers, good customer service is essential. It didn’t let us down as there are plenty of ways to contact the support department.

Firstly, there’s the very popular and very convenient Live Chat. You can access an adviser within minutes, even seconds, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to resolve your queries as quickly as possible. They answer quickly and efficiently. This is perfect for an urgent issue.

Then, if you prefer to speak to someone directly, you can call them up on the phone on the Bet365 contact number +44 1782 684757. Again, this is available 24 hours a day, which is perfect. The phones are manned sufficiently and you are never left waiting for too long. This is a UK number though, so if you are contacting from abroad it might save money to use the live chat.

If your query is less urgent then you have the option of emailing them on [email protected] or even via post. The emails can take anywhere between an hour to 24 hours to answer, so it’s not ideal for anything that needs instant attention. However, they are always answered well and in-depth. All in all, we found the Bet365 customer service to be highly impressive.

Furthermore, there is also a decent FAQ section that answers many of the more popular queries such as log-on problems, withdrawals, deposits, cash-out, account verification and responsible gambling.

User Experience

Bet365 gets straight down to the nitty-gritty on its website. There are no big banners and big pictures on its home page – just cold, hard betting odds. Across the top is its instantly recognisable green branding with its white and yellow logo. At the top, in small white font, you can pick options: Sports, In-Play, Casino, Games, Poker, Vegas and Bingo. In the top right corner, you can join now or log in. A smaller menu to the top left leads you to areas of the site such as Responsible Gambling, Live Streaming, Help, Language, Odds and Services. There’s another menu down the left-hand side where you can see all the sports and events.

Bet365 takes you to the sports page already, so you’re already there. It isn’t a pretty page, but it’s practical and very easy to navigate. By default, in the centre of the home page, there are the current live bets, top coupons and highlights. If you wish to see other choices simply choose your sport from the left-hand menu and you’ll easily be able to find what you need from there. You then click on your odds, add your stake and then place a bet. Simple.

The great thing about this is that you can customise it. You can choose what language you want and what odds you want to see (decimal, fractional or moneyline). The help is very easy to access as it’s always across the top. The only area which isn’t obvious straight away, strangely enough, is the promotion area. The promotions, of which there are plenty, aren’t easy to find. You need to go onto the Services tab and from there you can see Help, Responsible Gambling, Banking, Mobile & Tablet, Live Streaming, Promotions and Open Account Offer. Considering how great the bonuses are, it isn’t that well advertised!

In general, this site offers everything. It isn’t designed to be beautiful, but to be practical and that works. The only things I’d change are to make the promotions easier to find and to add a search function. Other than that it’s great.

Mobile Experience

The Bet365 mobile app is jam-packed full of features, is a state of the art piece of technology and offers everything. However, even if you can’t download it onto your phone, for whatever reason, you can still enjoy the top mobile experience through your browser.

Firstly you need to open up an account with Bet365 and then search for the app in the App Store. Download it, open it up, log in and away you go.

You can pretty much do everything on it that you can from your desktop site. You can bet in-play from your mobile and you can even access the live streaming if you have funds in your account. Bet365 will also give you the latest odds and prices directly so you are always in the know. The app is also available in several languages, which is great. From your phone you can access the same odds, markets and sports as from your desktop, so you can have an equally thrilling experience on the move.

What’s more, is the ease of the betting app. It looks fresh and simple. The screen is easy to navigate and you can find anything you want very easily – whether it be odds, markets or even banking and help. Like the desktop site, Bet365 have definitely opted for functionality overlooks – which is great because it is quick, smooth and easy. All in all, this offers everything you want from a mobile betting app and more.