1. Sportsbetting options/variety
Bet365 Review
If you’re an online sports betting fan looking to win some cash with your bets, there really is only one sportsbook brand in the world that you must hold an account with, and that’s Bet365. They’re not the only bookmaker that offers high-quality betting options, but if you’re looking for a sportsbook to bet with that’s high up on any list of best bookies, this Bet365 review will explore all of the reasons why it’s one of the best and why you’d want an account.
If you’re an online sports betting fan looking to win some cash with your bets, there really is only one sportsbook brand in tThe reality is that Bet365 was built from the ground up over a number of years to provide top-level betting services to punters and deliver a near-perfect betting site and mobile app. On this page, we’ll take a look at how they have achieved this, and examine all the different aspects of the operation that any gambler will want to know before wagering any real money.he world that you must hold an account with, and that’s Bet365. They’re not the only bookmaker that offers high-quality betting options, but if you’re looking for a sportsbook to bet with that’s high up on any list of best bookies, this Bet365 review will explore all of the reasons why it’s one of the best and why you’d want an account.
Read this review to find out why and how you should be using Bet365 if you’re betting on cricket, soccer, football, tennis, or a host of other sports or types of online gambling options.
Rating
We’re not normally comfortable about giving out stars to show ratings for bookies, since the facts you’ll get from any full and detailed reviews give you more rounded info than any star ratings that might be compiled. In this case, there is no hesitation in giving the bet365 operation the maximum 5 stars. After you’ve reviewed all of the aspects in full yourself, we feel sure you’ll agree.
Real Customer Experiences with Bet365
If you’re looking for somewhere to place a bet on your favorite sport you’re best starting point is going to be a bullet point list of the good and bad points.
This section summarizes our evaluations of the experience you can expect while registering a betting account, depositing cash, and placing bets with real money at Bet365. We tend to focus more on cricket betting and to a lesser extent football and horse racing in our own betting, but really whatever sport you bet on, the overall experience will be similar.
You’ll see from this list that those experiences have been overwhelmingly positive, but let’s take a look at them in detail. These are the most obvious positives and negatives we’ve noticed as reviewers, and are based on personal experience over many years.
What we like about Bet365
- Good value welcome deposit bonus
- Follow on top-up bonuses for valued Customers
- Full range of sports betting markets, with widely varied betting options, and across virtually every sport you can imagine
- Consistently good value odds
- Fully trustworthy both from a deposits and withdrawals perspective
- High levels of safety and security for your personal details and your money
- A wide range of countries and currencies accepted
- Excellent 24-hour customer service
- No fees for deposits or withdrawals
- Helpful problem gambling tools and attention to responsible gambling
- The straightforward account registration process
- In-play live betting and event streaming
What we don't like about Bet365
Before we reveal the full details behind the Bet365 positives in the main body of this review, we do of course need to touch on some of the not-so-good points. The great news is that there are very few negatives on this betting site, it really is a good quality overall gambling destination.
Cash-out offers can sometimes be lower than you might expect
Your account may be restricted if you win too much, though this is a problem at nearly all bookies
Other Betting Fans Opinions on Bet365
Of course, it’s not always wise to take one viewpoint on any gambling operator. Fortunately, there are plenty of ways to get the opinions of other real reviewers. In the case of Bet365, it’s easy to find many other evaluations posted online that can be used to confirm the positive experience you’re likely to get.
The good news is that there are very few negative comments about bet365 anywhere online. In fact, the positive comments about them are almost exclusively glowing.
Key Performance Indicators
The experiences in our personal overview and those of other individual reviewers won’t necessarily have highlighted all of the important factors that you’ll want to know before signing up for a betting account, so now let’s reveal a more detailed list of the key performance indicators that are important when choosing an online sportsbook:
Performance Indicator
Rating
Summary
2. Trustworthiness
Rating: Excellent
Both from our own experience over many years and from reading reviews from other real punters, you can see that the trust factor here is of the highest order. Your money is safe, your personal details are safe, and we've never seen any evidence of anyone not getting paid on a withdrawal request.
3. Bonus offers
Rating: Very good
While you can get bigger bonuses perhaps with other bookmakers, if you combine the overall positivity of all the other performance indicators with the bet365 bonus and other promotional offers, you end up with a great deal.
4. Betting odds
Rating: Excellent
Pre-match odds are consistently competitive with other bookies, and on many occasions offer higher value. When you combine this with best odds guaranteed offers, you'll be in a strong position to be getting some of the best odds opportunities.
5. Banking options
Rating: Excellent
Bet365 has positioned itself effectively as the sportsbook of choice for Customers from a wide range of countries and regions. Of course, that includes the ability of those Customers to undertake financial transactions in local currencies wherever possible.
6. Payout speed
Rating: Very good
On a withdrawal request, you'll see the transfer confirmed instantaneously in your online account. Clearly, the actual transfer will take a little longer, but some of this is dependant on banking systems outside of Bet365 control.
7. Country availability
Rating: Excellent
Out of all the bookies we could review, you'll find the widest range of options available here. If it's legal to bet in the country in which you reside, then it's highly unlikely that Bet365 won't support that.
8. Website & app quality. Country availability
Rating: Excellent
No surprise with this really. One of the critical elements of running a sportsbook involves enabling fast, responsive, and easy-to-use services for users. Bet365 has had many years to perfect all of these items, and you're unlikely to be disappointed in any aspect.
Who Are Bet365? Detailed Review
Bet365 is owned by Malta-registered Hillside Gaming and cites their purpose as:
“the provision of Internet and Mobile Sports betting along with Online Casino, Games, Bingo and Poker in a safe environment offering our customers industry-leading odds across the widest range of markets together with the best product, whilst significantly contributing to wider society.”
This is the part of the review where we can start to see if they really can deliver on that promise.
So obviously Bet365 is a gambling operator and has been providing all the forms of gambling mentioned since the inception of the company in 2010. With millions of players and bettors distributed throughout just about every corner of the world, they can be considered to be well-positioned to be staking claim to be among the best of a large number of online bookmakers.
When you have a Customer base that numbers in the millions, it’s highly unlikely that you’re going to be delivering a poor product. But we need to confirm that fact, and will only be able to do that by conclusively exploring all of the faces of the Bet365 operation.
1. Are they really as good as everyone seems to believe?
2. Do they deserve to be labeled as the best online sportsbook and gaming operator?
3. How does the bet365 bonus work and is the deposit bonus the only one that's on offer?
Let’s find out in the rest of this in-depth Bet365 review. We’ll be focussing more on the sportsbetting offers for which Bet365 is best known. Sportsbetting accounts for the majority of player activity on the site – reportedly around 80%. Online poker and casino games are popular too, so we’ll touch briefly on these.
Website Design & Usability :
Most high-quality online sportsbooks know how to present a simple to use design and layout to Customers, and Bet365 is no different. In fact, the website can be navigated easily and intuitively. either from prominent menu items or by using the site search feature. You won’t find any industry jargon that’s hard to understand here, nor excessive amounts of promotional or advertising material that interferes with how you use the website.
There is a top-level menu that lists the different types of betting options, including sports, in-play sports, casino and live casino, bingo, poker, and other general games.
When choosing any of these options, one or more sub-menus will appear that then show further gaming options under those headings. So, as an example, when you are on the main sports betting page, there is also a menu listing all the different types of sports with those that you bet on more frequently shown higher in the list
Overall, it’s easy to access any part of the site you need to reach with the website presented in an appealing black, green, and yellow color scheme. The general usability level is high. Language changes can be made by selecting your own language from a drop-down menu that at the last count listed 20 options, although the software should recognize where you are accessing the interface from and present the info to you in the correct language.
Given the sheer volume of betting portions available, you might even say it’s a surprise that you would find the usability at this type of level, and considerable thought and effort has been invested into making the betting experience a great one at all times. You can read some interesting detail on many different technical elements of the Bet365 website and mobile interfaces on this Bet365 technical blog.
Bet365 Website Performance Testing :
Despite its overall great performance as far as the betting options and other gambling options go, the Bet365 desktop home page itself doesn’t score perfect figures in terms of loading speed and responsiveness. Tests run with GTmetrix resulted in a grade C, although this was heavily impacted by a TBT of over 500ms. This means there were lots of scripts running on the page, which you might expect with so many data points being exchanged. That’s unlikely to significantly impact the user experience on the page.
On multiple tests using a high-end mobile device from within the UK on a reasonably fast broadband connection, the site loaded fast and without errors every time. You might expect a slightly less perfect experience if you were using an older mobile phone on a slower network, but it would be usable and you’d be able to place bets effectively.
Aside from loading and page transition speeds which were all acceptable on tests, the general typography of pages is consistent and easy to read. No serious technical issues were encountered.
Bet365 Website Security
Bet365 uses all of the most common technologies that improve web security.
128-bit SSL encryption ensures that all information you send remains private, and there is a robust and easily accessible privacy policy that lays out how your personal details are kept safe and secure.
When we tested with the Google Safe Browsing site status tool it showed no signs of any unsafe content, while additional checks at ssltrust.com confirmed this finding.
Other security protection features include the use of two-factor authentication, captchas, and PIN numbers.
There is a comprehensive privacy policy that can be easily reached which details how any player data is collected and used.
Is Bet365 Fair?
Different types of gambling have different forms of fairness attached, so to answer the question of whether Bet365 is fair requires a breakdown of the different types of services. We’ll look at the four main ones of sports betting, virtual betting games, casino games, and poker.
In sports betting, fairness really only becomes a question in the odds that are on offer. Results can’t be influenced by Bet365 themselves, so they have to settle bets dependent on results that everyone knows. The good news is that Bet365 odds are always good value. Sometimes they may not be the highest odds on offer, but they will be the highest frequently enough that you shouldn’t need to look elsewhere.
For casino gaming and other forms of virtual betting games, random number generators are in use and determine the outcomes of all virtual games. RNGs are designed to ensure players get a fair and unquestionably random outcome to any games that they play. They mean that no one is able to manipulate the results in any way.
Regular auditing is another way to ensure fairness, and the website is audited by the well-known firm eCogra to make sure that it’s consistent in delivering a fair gaming experience.
Bet365 Reliability, Reputation, & Trust
This is one area in which Bet365 excels, and it’s hard to think of a bookmaker that can offer equally high levels of trust and reliability, and which players or bettors themselves hold in such high regard.
bet365 is fully licensed and regulated by both the Government of Gibraltar and the United Kingdom Gambling Commission. Licensing by these bodies means that any bookie has to meet some stringent requirements, and they have to consistently prove that:
- They have the suitable financial stability to be able to settle all bets
- They operate in a fair manner, fully able to offer the services that they provide.
- That they meet and adhere to all advertising standards
- There is no chance of money laundering in any form
- That they put significant effort into gambling support for problem gamblers, and responsible gambling in general
While their commitment to the UK Gambling Commission is perhaps more important to anyone joining from the UK, they do ensure that a high level of trust and reliability are inherently built-in for punters that join from any country.
In addition to the licensing guarantees, there is further proof of the b365 trust levels in their overall transparency. Full contact details are available on the site and app plus easy-to-follow documented policies for items such as privacy, anti-spam, terms and conditions, cookies, and complaints.
Bet365 License
Bet365 has its sportsbook and other gambling products licensed separately, both with the British Gambling Commission (Account numbers 55148 and 55149). This allows it to operate legally in the UK, but there are international licenses held in Malta and Gibraltar that allow legal international operations.
Bet365 Sports Betting Bonus Offers
New account holders at bet365 are entitled to a welcome bonus. This offer is for up to £100 or equivalent in various local currencies and is provided in the form of bet credits.
Basically, bet365 will match your initial deposit in Bet Credits when you place qualifying bets to the same value and after those bets have been settled. Min odds/bet and payment method exclusions apply. Returns exclude Bet Credits stake. T&Cs, time limits & exclusions apply.
It’s best to read the terms and conditions thoroughly so you fully understand the terms of the offer, but really this is a good offer which you’d be wise to take up when you make your first deposit.
Other bonus offers apply in the case of alternative gambling games like casino, poker, and bingo.
VIP/Regular player bonus
The deposit bonus isn’t the only extra money you may get in an account. If you’re a customer that makes deposits and bets regularly, there is a form of VIP bonus that’s placed at routine intervals into your account. This is normally a fairly low amount that’s the equivalent of 5GBP, but it’s free betting money so definitely worth having.
Sports Betting Promotions
It’s not just a welcome bonus that you’ll get, there are plenty of other bet365 offers and ongoing promotions across numerous sports.
Promotions do change and new ones are added, so be sure to check the website for the latest offers. But here are some examples:
1. Price promises
2. Special bonuses on football
3. Moneyback offers on specific scorelines
4. Early payouts
5. Free bets on horse races after a winner
6. Accumulator bonuses
The Bet365 Sportsbook
Sportsbetting and the sportsbook are the highest valued and used services from Bet365. Any sports fan will be able to find their favorite in the library and be able to bet on virtually every aspect of games or matches, either before the event or in live betting in-game.
So, you’ll be able to place bets on over 30 different sports in all, ranging from cricket, football, tennis, rugby, horse racing, and basketball, to less well-known events such as badminton, virtual sports, and boxing.
Esports betting is also available, with followers of video gaming tournaments able to bet on matches based on teams battling it out at DOTA2, CS:GO, League of Legends, King of Glory, StarCraft 2 and Warcraft 3.
Each of these will offer options to bet in championship events, or league matches, or individual events such as horse traces.
You’ll be able to choose from fractional, decimal, or American odds, and the odds on offer will regularly be highly competitive when compared with other bookies.
Live Streaming
Many sporting events can be watched via the live-streaming feature, provided a qualifying bet has been placed on the event. There may be some geographic limitations, so be sure to check that this is available in your region.
Pre-match betting
Pre-event betting is, of course, the oldest form of sports betting. You shouldn’t be surprised to find that Bet365 pre-match odds are extensive, and often highly competitive with other sportsbooks odds.
In Play betting
Any punters wishing to place bets in-play on live events are spoilt for choice. Alongside the live streams and live updates, in-play bets appeal to many sports fans.
In-play odds are available for a wide range of events and matches, covering many aspects of what might happen in those events.
Cash-outs
Cash-outs is a great feature that lets you take advantage of profits you might already have made before the original bet is completed.
For example, let’s say you placed a win double bet on two selections. The first one wins, but you have doubts about the second selection. Cash-out lets you take the win amount from the first selection, without waiting to see if the second is successful or not.
Supporting Betting Information - Form & Stats
If you’re uncertain about any specific bet you’re about to place, there is a dedicated form and stats section that shows in-depth statistics across a wide number of sports and matches. You can use this information to confirm your thoughts around your selections, or indeed to rule out their chances of success.
Software/Game Providers
The software that’s employed in running a gambling website like Bet365 is hugely complex and has many elements. To understand it, you’d need to consider it from the perspective of the software that runs the site, the payments, the games, and much more.
All of this is well outside the scope of a normal sports betting review, and all we really need to know is that the betting software works perfectly, fast, and accurately.
Where software becomes more worth a deeper understanding is in casino or poker gaming.
For casino games, most options at Bet365 are powered by two big names in the industry – Microgaming and Playtech. There are games provided by other software developers though, with names such as Ash Gaming, WMS, Play’nGo, Genesis Gaming, Quickspin, and Blueprint Gaming all making an appearance.
For poker gaming, when you play at Bet365 you’ll be on the iPoker network – a network that runs on highly regarded poker software.
Registering a Bet365 Account
Have you heard enough in this review to tempt you into registering an account? If you have, then don’t be put off by any fears of it being a complicated process. Registration with bet365 is straightforward and can be completed quickly. Let’s see how:
Registration is all completed in one online form
You’ll start off by filling in simple and obvious info such as your name, country of residence, date of birth, email, home address, and telephone contact number.
You can choose how to receive future promo offers via checkboxes for either email or direct messaging in your account.
Then there is an option to choose a username, account password, and personal pin number. Passwords must be between 6 and 14 characters. Pin numbers are 4 digits.
Finally, you can specify a time zone, how odds are displayed, and make note of the bonus code ready for making a deposit. After agreeing with the terms and conditions, it’s just a matter of hitting the ‘Join bet365’ button and your registration is complete.
Bet365 Payments - Deposits and Withdrawals
One critical element of any sportsbook is their banking options, in other words, the deposit and withdrawal options that you can choose from. Getting paid quickly and without any problems is a good marker of the value in any sportsbook. Any reputable sports betting provider should be going all out to do this well.
Here, we’ll take a look at the different ways you can deposit or withdraw to a Bet365 betting account.
Deposits
You can see the true international focus of bet365 in the choice of 18 currencies you can use if making a deposit with a debit card, with a slightly lesser number for wire transfer, Paysafecard, or cheque.
The full range of deposit options includes: Maestro, Apple Pay, PayPal, Google Pay, Paysafecard, Skrill, Skrill 1-Tap, Neteller, Fast Bank Transfer, Bank Wire, Cheque
There are no fees for depositing with any of these, with processing near-instant in the case of wallets or debit cards but longer at 5-28 banking days for a personal cheque
Depending on the chosen method, there is a low minimum deposit of either £5 or £10 or equivalent in local currency. Maximum deposits are allowed up to many thousands of pounds or equivalent.
Withdrawals
When making a withdrawal you’ll also have the same options, and you’ll normally have to withdraw via the same option with which you deposited.
There are no fees for making withdrawals, and the processing time can vary. It takes up to 12 hours for some e-wallets, 1-5 banking days for debit cards, and 5-28 working days by cheque.
The minimum withdrawal amount ranges from £5 to £100 (or equivalent local currency) while the maximum goes from £2,000 right up to £100,000 depending on the method.
Bet365 Mobile Gaming
Like most sportsbooks now, the bet365 website is fully responsive when accessed on mobile screens. You should be able to easily navigate all of the betting options easily via a smartphone or tablet.
In addition, there is a fully-featured mobile app that can be downloaded from either the App Store or Google Play. Users of this app report that it would definitely feature in any list of top 5 mobile sportsbetting apps, which is no surprise given it presents an intuitive layout that makes choosing your betting selections and placing bets very easy to do.
Bet365 Other Gambling Products - Games & Game Portfolio
Any great sportsbook will make other gambling services available to Customers. For those of us that bet with Bet365, the alternatives include casino gaming, poker, and arcade-style games.
We’ll cover all of these on a different review, but as a summary, each of these offers high-quality gambling options with a wide range of games that include live dealer casino games, blackjack, roulette, video poker, and many different video slot machine titles.
Customer Support
In any form of gambling activity, it’s likely that at some point you’re going to need some help. When that’s needed at Bet365, you can be sure that you’ll get the help you need quickly and efficiently.
There is a comprehensive FAQ section that should answer the majority of queries, but if there is ever anything you can't get answered there are further options. All of these can be reached from the FAQ help pages:
Live Chat
You’ll probably have to wait in a queue for live chat support, especially at peak betting times. But you can expect polite and helpful Customer service representatives to put every effort into providing effective support. On any occasions where we have contacted Bet365 via live chat, our queries have been expertly answered or resolved.
Using email to get support is always the slowest way to get any help, irrelevant of the service or product. So, don’t expect quick answers from Bet365 either, although you might be pleasantly surprised. If you can afford to wait, then sure, use email. But really using the live chat is the fastest way to get anything answered.
There is also an instant messaging feature that you can access if you have an account, which kind of doubles up as an email alternative. We did not test this, but it would be worth a try if you’re not in a hurry.
Telephone support
If you really want to actually speak to someone, there’s also an option to contact support via a 24/7 freephone number. We tested this and got through to a Customer support specialist with only a few seconds wait.
Responsible Gaming
We all know the importance attached to responsible gambling, with Bet365 taking its responsibilities in this area extremely seriously. We covered the risks around gambling on our responsible gambling page, but anyone that’s reading this review is likely to be firmly aware that there are big risks when gambling with money.
Responsible Gaming To lower those risks, all major bookmakers put measures in place to help protect their Customers. Bet365 has these measures in place to give protection to players, help reduce the potential for problem gambling, and prevent minors from getting involved in any form of gambling:
My Activity
This lets you easily see all activity on your account, so you can see how much you’ve won or lost, how much you’re betting, and how much time you’ve spent on the platform over various timeframes. This can all be seen in a history that goes as far back as you might need it to.
Budget Calculator
This is a great tool that lets you enter your incoming sums of money, and then calculate how much of it is disposable and that you could safely risk making bets.
Deposit Limits
Reality checks can be quite annoying, but for some are a useful feature. These pop up as messages telling you how long you’ve been logged in, and force you to acknowledge before making any further bets.
Reality Checks
We all know the importance attached to responsible gambling, with Bet365 taking its responsibilities in this area extremely seriously. We covered the risks around gambling on our responsible gambling page, but anyone that’s reading this review is likely to be firmly aware that there are big risks when gambling with money.
Time-Out
This feature will let you take a complete break for however long you choose (up to 30 days), although it can also be customized for longer or more specific time periods.
Self-Assessment
Another good feature for anyone that’s getting concerned that they may be gambling too much. This offers a series of questions which – if answered accurately – will give you a strong indication of whether you might be heading towards gambling problems.
Self-Exclusion
Designed for anyone that really wants to stop gambling completely, self-exclusion is a good option. By taking this option, you’ll be prevented from making any form of bets or deposits. In fact, UK bettors specifically can actually self-exclude from all UK-licensed bookmakers by visiting GAMSTOP.
Alternatives to Bet365: Competitor Comparisons
Whenever you’re considering signing up with a bookie, it’s always worth looking at competitors to see how they compare in specific performance indicators.
There are plenty of bookmakers that we could compare with Bet365, and many of them offer a great product. However, so sure are we of Bet365’s dominance in the sportsbetting market that really all you need to consider is the bonuses that are available elsewhere.
We’d suggest that it’s really only worth widening your search once you have taken advantage of Bet365’s offers, and on the unlikely possibility that odds on your favorite sports aren’t as competitive as you were expecting.
How Has Bet365 Evolved?
Since Bet365 was formed many years have passed. It would be a surprise if the website and services hadn’t changed. Fortunately, any changes over time will have been positive ones or designed to maintain consistency.
In particular, developments in technology will have improved user interfaces, especially in the area of mobile betting or gaming. Betting options and the different ways you can place bets have also transformed and grown over recent years. And – as we saw in the responsible gambling section – heavy efforts have been made to provide customers with tools that can help protect them from gambling harm.
One thing is for sure, Bet365 won’t be standing still. We can expect to see many more improvements and enhancements in the years ahead.
Conclusion | Summary
We’ve reached the concluding part of our Bet 365 review, and it’s fairly easy to see how we’re going to summarize our findings around this leading betting site. In short, bet365 is good. In fact, it’s a truly great platform for betting on sports and various other forms of online gambling.
If we take all the areas of what makes a great sports betting platform into account, we can name Bet365 as one of the best.
Bet365 offers great sports betting odds, on a wide range of sports and markets and allows wagers to be placed from many countries across the world. Throw in good bonus offers, a wide range of promotions, and effective Customer support, and you have a ready-made name that will feature highly on any list of best bookmakers.
Plus, for those times when you might want to take a break from betting on sports, there’s always the option of playing games in the bet365 casino or even enjoying a quick game of online bingo or poker.
Frequently Asked Questions
Although you’ll find most of the answers to any FAQs you have about bet365 on their comprehensive help pages, you may have some remaining unanswered questions. Here are two of the most regularly asked questions which you may not find on the site:
Is bet365.com legit?
Yes, bet365 is definitely legit. You’ll be hard-pressed to find a more reliable, honest, and trustworthy bookie. Certainly, no others will be better or more legit, and you’ll be able to enjoy safe and secure betting as long as it’s legal for you where you live, and you’re of legal age.
Can Bet365 refuse to payout?
Yes, bet365 could refuse to payout if there were clear indications of cheating or betting irregularities. These types of occurrences would be extremely rare though. In many years of betting with bet365, we have never experienced any issues with payouts.