You cannot fault Betway for their attempts to establish themselves as part of the fabric in the UK bookmaking industry. Established in 2006 – that’s fifty years later than some of their high street/online hybrid competitors – an aggressive sponsorship campaign and willingness to offer a huge amount of markets has helped them to get a proverbial foot in the door.
All of the ‘meat and potatoes’ you’d expect from an online bookmaker in the 21st century is in place; thousands of market across all of the leading events from the most popular sports on the planet. The gravy comes from the fantastic extras including daily Price Boosts, free bet promotions, in-play coverage, plus the Betway Plus rewards scheme which we will cover in more depth further on in this article.
All of the above is wrapped up nicely in a slick website that utilises a contemporary ‘minimalist’ black and white colourway to deliver all of the information you need in an intuitive and sensible way.
With offices in locations as diverse as London, Malta, Australia, and South Africa, Betway is truly global, but very much focusing its ambitions on UK growth – and it’s going about it nicely.
Playing at Betway is intended to be fun and entertaining. Our commitment is to our customers – sharing the thrill with you. That means it’s our responsibility to give you a safe gambling environment, which is why we’re encouraging everyone to check out some safer gambling tips and advice here: www.begambleaware.org/safe-gambling/tips-for-gambling-safely/
Odds & Markets
Like most mainstream bookmakers, Betway excels with their odds and markets for some sports/events and are less competitive in others. We took a look at a classic English football fixture – Liverpool vs Everton – to get us started.
We found that they were very much in the running for ‘best price’ honours in the Win/Draw/Win market, and offered the best odds for a number of outsiders in the First/Anytime Goalscorer markets (although they were slightly behind on the favourites). And while they didn’t offer a price for Man of the Match like some of their competitors, they were well populated in the various cards and corner markets.
Next, we picked out a random horse racing meeting at Epsom. In the 3:05pm race (chosen at random), Betway were best price outright on one runner and shared best price honours with other bookies for 5/12 of the field – and so a ‘best price hit rate’ of 50% is very encouraging indeed.
Finally we thought we’d give an outright market a try where big prices are often traded, hence our study of the Valero Texas Open golf tournament. Disappointingly, Betway were joint best price for just three of the top twenty players in the betting, which is slightly below par as a ratio, but we can conclude that for match markets they are reassuringly competitive.
In terms of market coverage, Betway has got everything you need. In football all of the usual Win/Draw/Win and goals-related markets are here, as are standard handicaps (no Asian markets to be found yet), wincasts/scorecasts and ‘combi’ bets, such as Match Result & BTTS and Match Result & Over/Under 2.5 Goals.
Site Usability
Despite its dark and moody colour palette, no demons await you within the Betway website. In fact, the black, white and occasional green splashes act as a great navigator around the site, with Quick Links, Sports, and Events listed clearly on the left-hand side of the screen on the desktop site.
The scrolling banner at the top of the screen is a nice visual touch too, and – despite its slight lack of speed – it’s worth checking out four slides on this for more information regarding the latest enhanced prices, specials, promotions and latest odds.
The right-hand side of the website is a bit busy in truth, and its mostly just ads and promotions, but your betslip will appear here when in use. The stats module and the fantastic Horse Finder, which enables punters to find horses/jockeys/trainers in good form and who are ideally suited to the inclement conditions of the day, are a couple of useful extra features.
The mobile version site is a complete redesign, rather than a simple scaled-down version of the main website, which is good news for punters who enjoy a flutter on their handheld devices. Everything here is displayed on a grand scale which enhances the user experience, and the navigation is straightforward enough. This isn’t always the case, but Betway’s mobile site is a useful addition to their portfolio rather than a token extra as can be the case with some bookmakers online.
And we’ve not even got started on the dedicated app which adds another string to the brand’s bow. This again features a unique layout that guarantees rapid market finding and bet placement. With these three weapons in their arsenal, Betway are ready to battle the other bookies for supremacy.
Features
There is plenty for punters to enjoy with Betway, and few will be disappointed with the suite of features that are on offer here:
- In-Play Betting – A comprehensive array of in-play markets are available across a multitude of sports. At the time of writing this review, we could place live bets on football from Saudi Arabia and the Czechoslovakian Under 21 division, tennis from the ATP, WTA and ITF Tours, womens basketball, handball and volleyball. Hopefully, that gives you a sense of the scale on offer. Within football numerous bet types and markets are available, including Win/Draw/Win, Total Goals, Both Teams to Score, Double Chance, Draw No Bet and Handicaps, to name just a few.
- Cash Out – You can protect your profit or cut your losses with cash out, courtesy of Betway. Available on single and multiple bets across football, tennis and more, your cash out amount is displayed next to the selection on your betslip. Partial cash out is also an option if you are in two minds.
- 4 to Score – This is one of a few free to enter competitions. You have to pick the first four goalscorers in 4 games selected by Betway to get a share of the jackpot.
Banking, Payouts & Limits
The Betway name is quite fitting really: this is betting your way. This extends to the banking options too, where players of all preferences are catered for.
Payment Methods
A gamut of different payment methods are available in each of Betway’s jurisdictions. In the UK, players can register their Visa Debit (plus Visa Electron), MasterCard and Maestro, Citadel Direct, Bank Transfer, PayPal, Neteller, paysafecard, Skrill, EntroPay and many more options. The absolute majority of players – 99.9% – will find a payment method to suit them here.
Minimum Deposit
The minimum deposit amount required by Betway is the industry standard: £10.
Minimum Bet
The minimum bet amount accepted by Betway here in the UK is £0.05p.
Maximum Bet
The maximum bet amount is not specified in Betway’s T&Cs, although it is worth knowing the maximum amount of winnings that a player can earn from a single wager – so do check this against the bet you want to make.
Payout Limits
There is a payout limit of £500,000 to £250,000 for top football and racing in place at Betway, which looks quite stingy at first glance but is just about the industry norm these days. This limit is often rescinded for special events, such as the Grand National or the football World Cup. Other sports will be less.
About Betway
Betway is a truly global operation, with offices in the UK, Europe and Australasia plus licenses that enable them to cover a number of European jurisdictions. Their website is available in a host of languages and the company states that around 1.8 million players are ‘active’ on their site. But, and this is crucial, their focus appears to be mainly on the British market; good news for punters on this sceptred isle of ours.
Founded in 2005 as part of the Carmen Media Group, Betway have become best known for their aggressive TV advertising campaigns and their sponsorship of big teams and recognisable events: West Ham United, UK Championship Snooker, Premier League Darts, Sports Personality of the Year and the Davis Cup Tennis, which is again proof of their push for dominance in the UK market.
Betway’s suite of products has won an array of award over the years, with their bingo platform winning Best New Online Bingo Site at the WhichBingo Awards in 2015, and their eSports offering scooping Best eSports Betting Bookie from eSportsBet, so it is surely only a matter of time before their sportsbook joins them in the ‘winner’s circle’ once they have ironed out some of the discrepancies outlined in this review.
Contact Information
You can get help with any queries you may have about your account, any bets you’ve placed or betting in general by contacting the Betway customer support team any time day or night. It’s easy to contact them at a time to suit you using one of the three following methods:
- Freephone – 0808 238 9841
- Email – support@betway.com
- Live Chat – via website
- Twitter – @Betwaysupport