2024 Betfair Review: Does Their Past Fraudulent Behavior Overshadow Their Good Qualities?

Chances are you’ve heard of Betfair. I mean, how could you not?

Betfair is a MASSIVE company – a true all-in-one gambling site. They offer sports betting, an online casino, poker room, bingo hall and arcade.

They do a great job across the board. All their products are topnotch. Which explains why they have millions of customers around the globe, spending tens of millions with Betfair every year.

So, you should skip this review and create your account …like, yesterday – right?

No, not so fast. And I’ll tell you why…

Because while Betfair does a lot of things right …they’ve also done a few things wrong …like really, REALLY wrong.

So wrong, in fact, that they’re still on a few webmaster’s blacklists today.

But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t sign up here, either – evident by the several legit webmasters who have chosen to overlook Betfair’s shenanigans and continue to recommend them to players today.

So, what do you do?

You’ll have to read our review below to find out. First, to find out what they did. And second, to find out whether it prevents us from recommending Betfair to our readers.

VISIT Betfair
Device Compatibility:
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Key Information
    • Website – www.betfair.com
    • Launched in 2000
    • Licensed by Malta Gaming Authority, UK Gambling Commission
    • Email – info@betfair.com
    • Telephone – 0044 203 059 8888
Hit and Misses
    • Great Offers
    • Plenty of Banking Options
    • Good Promotions
    • US Players Not Accepted
    • Known for Stealing
Payment Method
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Company

Who owns and operates Betfair? How long have they been in business?

Betfair is owned and operated by Paddy Power Betfair. This company consists of two previously British gambling rivals – Paddy Power and Betfair.

The two companies merged on September 2015. The deal was completed the following February.

This merger made Paddy Power Betfair the number one online gambling company in terms of both size and revenue in 2016, with a value of 12 billion dollars.

The company is located in West London, United Kingdom. Betfair operates under a Gibraltar license.

How’s their reputation? What do others think of them?

It depends on who you ask. Everyone has their own opinion or moral compass as it pertains to what’s arguably Betfair’s biggest mistake.

Back in 2010, Betfair had an offer that allowed players to claim an unlimited supply of happy hour bonuses. The kicker? This offer had a small 10x playthrough.

Players took to this offer like a pack of rabid dogs. It was a great offer for them …but a horrible offer for Betfair.

By the time Betfair realized their mistake, they were reportedly out 8+ figures ($10+ million).

Betfair screwed up big time. But instead of admitting they screwed up, and eating the loss, they decided to go the unethical route instead.

They claimed that players didn’t play in the “spirit of the bonus.” As such, Betfair closed players’ accounts, refused to pay them and stopped communicating with them completely.

There were even reports of Betfair confiscating funds directly from players’ accounts. One player even said:

Betfair pulled funds from their bank account without their permission.
This is obviously no bueno.

Now, because Betfair pulled this stunt, they’ve earned a semi-permanent place on several review sites’ blacklists.

For example:

Both ThePogg.com and Casinomeister.com no longer recommend them (despite ThePogg.com giving them an 8.1/10 rating overall).

Casinomeister.com wanted to pull them from their ‘rogue pit,’ but told Betfair they’d only do it if Betfair settled up with players. Betfair refused, so the rogue pit is where they remain.

ThePogg.com is taking a slightly different approach.

ThePogg.com talked with Betfair about another issue, and Betfair apparently took their advice and worked with the customer in question (to ThePogg.com’s satisfaction).

So, ThePogg.com pulled Betfair from their blacklist – however, their trust stat will not be higher than a 3 until Betfair pays players back for the happy hour debacle.

Anyway, that’s the biggest problem revolving around Betfair.

Both Betfair and Paddy Power have had similar issues in the past – voiding bets and not paying players out, despite there being no wrongdoing on the players’ behalf. It’s just when the sportsbook screws up and the players benefit handsomely because of it.

But while sites like ThePogg.com and Casinomeister.com have placed Betfair on their blacklists, other review sites don’t care about this stuff all and have chosen to overlook it.

And – in some ways – it’s hard to blame them because Betfair is solid in nearly all other areas of their business. A few trustworthy portals in this camp include SafestBettingSites.com, AskGamblers and CasinoListings.com.

My Opinion

It’s hard to stomach or accept what’s clearly rogue behavior. What makes it all worse is their lack of interest in making things right.

No matter how legit Betfair is elsewhere in their business, you can’t help but wonder if they’ll stiff you if/when you win a bet that was clearly too much in your favor – regardless if it wasn’t your fault.

The bottom line – they have an above average rating except for the few blacklists they occupy. But I’d scale that back some, and give them an average rating to reflect how poorly they sometimes treat their customers.

Restricted Countries

What countries are prohibited from playing here?

Players from the following countries are prohibited from playing at Betfair:

  • Australia
  • China
  • Congo – Brazzaville
  • Cuba
  • Côte d’Ivoire
  • Eritrea
  • France
  • Greece
  • Greenland
  • Hong Kong
  • Iran
  • Iraq
  • Israel
  • Japan
  • Lebanon
  • Libya
  • North Korea
  • Russia
  • Slovenia
  • Somalia
  • South Africa
  • Sudan
  • Switzerland
  • Turkey
  • United States

Customer Support

How do you contact Betfair? When are they available?

They have a robust FAQ section where you’ll find answers to all the common stuff I’m sure Betfair’s been asked time and time again. So, I recommend you start there.

If after that you still need to contact them, you can do so using:

Envelope
PHONE: 0344 871 0000 (UK)
PHONE: 1800 944 000 (IRE)
PHONE: 0044 203 059 8888 (other)
LIVE CHAT

Other than that, they also encourage you to send them a message via Facebook or tweet them on Twitter (though they haven’t been on Twitter for a couple of years).

Banking

What currencies does Betfair accept?

Betfair accepts several currencies, which includes:

  • Pound Sterling
  • Euro
  • United States Dollar
  • Hong Kong Dollar
  • Australian Dollar
  • Danish Krone
  • Swedish Krona

What payment methods does Betfair accept?

You can fund your account using the following options:

  • Cheque
  • ClickandBuy
  • Delta
  • Maestro
  • MasterCard
  • Neteller
  • PayPal
  • Solo
  • Visa Electron
  • Visa
  • Western Union
  • Bank Transfer Express
  • Skrill

Fees will vary, but it looks like you’ll pay 1.5% to 2% for e-wallets. Many of the larger, more well-known sites cover fees on incoming payments. I’m not sure why Betfair doesn’t.

Their deposit limits will vary between £5 and £32,500. Keep in mind this will depend on the option you use, as well as what currency you’re banking in.

What are your cash out options? Are there any limits or fees?

You can cash out using:

  • Cheque
  • Neteller
  • PayPal
  • Visa Electron
  • Visa
  • Bank Transfer Express
  • Skrill

Payout time frames will be between instant and as much as 5-16 days (for bank wires and paper checks). The daily cash out limit is £500,000.

Promotions

One thing you’ll notice about Betfair is that they don’t have a central promotions page like most gambling sites do. You’ll find all the promos within the individual gambling products instead.

For that reason, we listed all their promotions on a product-by-product basis below. Keep reading to see what offers you can claim.

 

Tip!

What’s neat about how Betfair displays their offers – at least in the casino – is that they have a drop-down menu that shows you the eligible games you can play to clear the bonus. This makes it very clear what you can and cannot play, so not to (accidentally) void your bonus or winnings.

Sports Promotions

Right now, Betfair offers 10 different promotions inside their sportsbook. However, most of them are not really promotions, are limited time deals, or aren’t useable in the sportsbook.

Anyway, here are the details for their few sports promos.

  • Risk Free Bet – Opt-in for this offer and then make a bet. If you bet more than £5 in their exchange – and it loses – Betfair will refund you the £5 in cash.

This offer is only available for your FIRST bet in the exchange.

  • Best Odds – Betfair claims they offer the best odds on men’s tennis, English football, rugby and UK and Irish horse race and greyhound winner markets. It’s not so much a ‘do this, get that’ sort of promotion. But it’s great to see that if you plan to bet on these sports/markets, that you’re getting the best price – with proof to back it up.
  • Bet £10, Get £5 – Betfair has a limited time offer where, if you make a £10 Exchange bet on a specific soccer match, you’ll receive a £5 sportsbook accumulator bet.

While it sucks this is a limited time offer, there’s a good chance they’ll offer it again in the future – just on a different match, or for a different sport.

Casino Promotions

Here are the details behind Betfair’s evergreen casino promotions.

  • Welcome Bonus (Option 1) – This is a 100% match bonus up to £100. You can use this bonus to play on all their games. The minimum deposit for this offer is £10. The playthrough on this offer is 45x the bonus.
  • Welcome Bonus (Option 2) – This is a 200% match bonus up to £400. What makes this bonus different is that it’s to be used only for slot machines.

Once you’ve played your bonus you’ll then receive 100 free spins. The free spins will be given to you at the pace of 10 per day, for 10 days.

You’ll need to make a minimum deposit of £20 to claim this offer. The playthrough on this offer is 35x the bonus.

  • Live Casino Welcome – This is a 50% match bonus up to £200 to use on their live roulette game.

Once you’ve played through your bonus, they’ll also give you 5 Golden Chips, released to over 5 days (1 per day). That’s a straight up bet that can payout £70 per day, for 5 days. The min deposit for this offer is £20 and it has a 40x playthrough.

  • 30 Free Spins – This is for brand new casino customers. However, it’s okay if you have played on/in one of their other products before.

The offer’s pretty simple – you’ll receive 10 free spins over 3 days. You can use your free spins on one, or any combination of the eligible machines listed below:

  • Age of the Gods
  • Batman & Catwoman Cash
  • Batman & The Joker Jewels
  • Batman & The Penguin Prize
  • Batman & The Riddler Riches
  • Fate Sisters
  • Fields Of Fortunes
  • Frankie Dettori’s Magic Seven Jackpot
  • Furious Four
  • Gladiator Jackpot
  • Goddess of Wisdom
  • Halloween Fortune II
  • King of Olympus
  • Kong the Eighth Wonder of the World
  • Magical Stacks
  • Man of Steel
  • Monty Python Spamalot
  • Prince of Olympus
  • Superman II
  • Top Gun

The cool thing about this offer is that there aren’t any wager requirements on any money you may win with your free spins. However, there is a max you can win, unfortunately – £30 total, or £10 per 10 free spins.

Poker Promotions

Here are the details behind their evergreen poker promotions.

  • Welcome Pack – Deposit/transfer £10+ and receive a £20 Welcome Pack.

This pack contains:

  • A £5 Twister entry. This has a £5,000 jackpot.
  • £10 in tournament tokens for Team Betfair live events.
  • A £10 playable casino slots bonus.
  • Betfair Exclusive Welcome Missions

On top of all that, you’ll also receive a 200% match bonus on your first deposit up to £1,000.

(I’m not sure why they call this a £20 Welcome Pack. Maybe someone needs to borrow a calculator?)

You’ll receive your bonus in £10 chunks for every 1,250 Status Points you earn. You’ll have 45 days starting from your first deposit to fully redeem your bonus.

  • The Bank Job – This is a promotion that runs every month. You just need to enter the code to claim the offer. To give you an idea of what they may offer – this month they’re offering players up to £100 in bonus cash.

Once you enter the code, your task is to play real money games and earn Status Points. Your bonus cash will be released to you in chunks until you get it all.

Here’s what that looks like:

Status Points Prize Total Prize
250 € 1.00 € 1.00
750 € 2.00 € 3.00
1500 € 3.00 € 6.00
2500 € 4.00 € 10.00
3750 € 5.00 € 15.00
6250 € 10.00 € 25.00
10000 € 15.00 € 40.00
16250 € 25.00 € 65.00
25000 € 35.00 € 100.00
  • Twister Races – Play as many of their Twister Poker games as you can. Earn points for every game you play, with more points awarded for winning and playing higher buy-in games.

Here’s what that looks like:

Twister Buy-In Played Bonus Points for Winning
€ 1 1 1
€ 2 2 2
€ 5 5 5
€ 10 10 10
€ 20 20 20
€ 50 50 50

The number of points you earn will determine your place on their leaderboard. The top 250 players win a prize, with the top 150 winning some cash.

Here’s what that looks like:

Place Prize
1 €1,000 Cash
2 €700 Cash
3 €550 Cash
4 €400 Cash
5 €300 Cash
6 €200 Cash + 3x€10 Twister Token
7-10 €100 Cash + 3x€10 Twister Token
11-50 €50 Cash + 4x€5 Twister Token
51-100 €30 Cash + 4x€5 Twister Token
101-150 €20 Cash + 4x€5 Twister Token
151-250 3x€5 Twister Token

There’s £12,500 up for grabs between the cash prize and Twister Tokens. This is a neat incentive to play these games, which is on top of the progressive jackpot you can potentially win – a great incentive in its own right.

  • Player’s Club – This is Betfair’s poker loyalty club. It’s pretty straightforward – play real money games, earn points, and then your points will be used to determine your loyalty tier and how much you can receive in cash rewards.

There are 3 loyalty tiers:

  • Bronze
  • Silver
  • Gold

You’ll receive a 3-5.25x multiplier depending on your status. This is used against your Status Points to determine how many VIP Poker Points you will receive. Every 375 VPPs equals £1 in cash rewards. The minimum number of points required to exchange for cash is £10.

This program sounds neat, but it sounds like it’s more of a cashback program than a VIP program. Most VIP programs have additional perks, such as a store to spend your bonus, bonuses, trips, and so on.

Arcade Promotions

Here are the promotions you’ll find in Betfair’s arcade.

  • New Customer Offer – Receive £10 as a bonus.

All you need to do is wager a total of £10 on one or any combination of the following games:

  • Starburst
  • Wish Upon a Jackpot
  • Fairy Fortunes
  • Lucky Wizard
  • Rainbow Riches

Once you spend £10 you’ll instantly receive your £10 bonus. You’ll need to wager this once (1x) before you cash out any winnings. You’ll have only 7 days to do it.

  • Free Bet Mondays – This promotion is like a lottery. To qualify, what you need to do is play one or more spins on any Betfair Arcade game.

Betfair will then use a random number generator to select customers to award chunks of the £15,000 prize pool every Monday.

  • Unlimited Free Bets – Wager a minimum of £1,000 on any of the following games:
  • Atlantis Treasure
  • Betfair Super Trails
  • Chests of Plenty
  • Cleopatra
  • Deal or No Deal - Banker’s Riches
  • Happy Fruits
  • Nostradamus
  • Pixies of the Forest
  • Twin Spin
  • VIZ

For every £1,000 you spend, you’ll receive a bonus of somewhere between £2 and £1,000 – and there’s no limit to the number of bonuses you can earn. Bonuses are credited by the 16th of every month.

This is a neat offer. While some people would rather have a fixed amount, I think it’s sort of neat to have a lottery style drawing. Sure, some months you might only win £5. But one day you might log into your account to find a nice £500 or £1,000 waiting for you.

Bingo Promotions

Here are the evergreen offers you’ll find in Betfair’s bingo hall.

  • Welcome Bonus – Stake £10 or more on bingo tickets and get a £10 welcome bonus. This has a 4x rollover before you can cash out.
  • Dynamite Digger – Play at least £10 on Dynamite Digger and Betfair will refund you 15% of your net losses as a bonus. You can only use the bonus money on slot machines, and you’ll have to wager the bonus 10x before you can cash out.
  • 20,000 First Friday – Play in the Helter Skelter Room between 6pm and midnight on Fridays. Spend £10 on tickets and you’ll receive a £5 bonus (which has a 4x rollover). There’s also an additional £20,000 in guaranteed prizes you can play for.
  • 20,000 Power Hour – This takes place in The Big Wheel Room every Saturday between 10 and 11pm. Betfair will run ten £1,000 guaranteed games, plus a £10,000 guaranteed bingo Linx game at 10:30.

You can receive a £5 scratch card bonus when you wager £20 on any bingo scratch cards (which has a 1x rollover).

  • Newbie Room – It’s a free bingo room open every Tuesday from 7-10pm. This room is only available to new players. To qualify, all you need to do is wager at least £5 before 4pm on Tuesday.
  • Hit or Miss – Play in the Chat Game where winners get to choose their position in a grid, and if they hit a ship on the grid, they win a bonus. Sink the ship and the bonus is doubled. To gain entry, all you need to do is wager £5 on bingo or slots. Then join the High Striker room on Sundays starting at 7pm.
  • Private Party – Join their invite-only Private Party VIP Lounge from 7-10pm every Friday. To gain access, all you need to do is wager at least £25 on bingo between Monday-Thursday. Once you qualify you’ll be able to access the room and enjoy 3 hours of free bingo.
  • Loyalty Pays – This is their loyalty program for bingo players. You earn points playing bingo and bingo side games. Once you hit a VIP level it’s yours for life. As you move up you’ll get perks such as faster point accrual and the ability to exchange your points for bonuses.
And... that’s it – that wraps up Betfair’s evergreen promotions.

Overall, Betfair has a lot of deals to claim. What’s more, you can claim offers from each of their different products. That includes welcome bonuses, so long as it’s your first time betting/playing there.

Sportsbook

Okay, it’s time to talk about Betfair’s sportsbook. But there’s one little challenge I want to address before we get started.

Betfair is MASSIVE.
Their sportsbook is MASSIVE.

There’s no way we can cover every little detail or nuance.

Betfair covers more than 20 different sports in their (regular) sportsbook alone. Of which, you’re likely to find HUNDREDS, if not THOUSANDS of different markets.

But that’s only Betfair’s regular sportsbook. They also have a betting exchange, an in-play (live) betting section, football jackpots, and a virtual sports section.

If we covered everything in this review, you’d spend all your time reading – you’d never place a bet.

So, what I’m going to do is cover the most important stuff below, most of which will come from their main sportsbook. The things we’ll cover include the sports and markets you can bet, Betfair’s betting limits, how they approach winners, and so on.

You’ll want to explore Betfair for everything else.

Sound good?
Then let’s get to it.

What sports and markets can you bet on?

Here’s a general list of the sports they cover:

  • American Football
  • Basketball
  • Current Affairs
  • Football
  • Horse Racing
  • Netball
  • Snooker
  • Winter Sports
  • Athletics
  • Boxing
  • Cycling
  • Gaelic Games
  • Ice Hockey
  • Politics
  • Special Bets
  • Australian Rules
  • Chess
  • Darts
  • Golf
  • Mixed Martial Arts
  • Rugby League
  • Tennis
  • Baseball
  • Cricket
  • E-Sports
  • Greyhound Racing
  • Motor Sport
  • Rugby Union
  • Volleyball

They also cover financials, greyhound and horse race betting.

Do they offer live (in-play) betting? Do they stream matches?

They do. Betfair was covering 77 in-play matches when I checked them out.

The majority of matches covered were football (soccer) matches, with the few others being tennis, basketball, golf, cricket and hockey.

They offer live streaming, too. You’ll know when you can watch a match when there’s a little play button symbol next to the odds. There were 20+ live streams running while I was there.

You’ll need to have an account to access the live stream. If you want to watch horse racing you’ll need to place at least £2 worth of bets on the race via the exchange.

What are their betting limits?

For the traditional sportsbook – it depends. Betfair doesn’t list their betting limits in their terms/conditions (that I could find).

SafestBettingSites.com says their max payout on top flight football leagues is £1,000,000 on match results. Other leagues have much lower max wagers – around the £100,000 range.

As for their exchange – since you’re not betting against the house, you’re not going to have to worry about traditional betting limits.

 

Note!

Betfair’s betting exchange runs in real time. You either back (to win) or lay (to lose) a market or wager.

 

This is done against other bettors on the exchange.

For this to work, there must be a simultaneous bet on both sides. One player needs to back a bet, while another lays it.

One thing some people – a limited few – will have to worry about are Betfair’s commission rates on money won in the exchange.

The starting commission is 5% (collected from net wins). But as you earn points (from placing real money bets), you’ll receive a discount. Discounts range from 0-60%.

Here’s an example Betfair gives to show you how the discount works:

Example
  • You have net winnings in a market of £400.
  • The Market Base Rate is 5%.
  • Your current Discount Rate is 40%.
  • Therefore the commission you pay is £12 (£400 x 5% x (1-40%)).
  • You earn 120 Betfair Points.

Most people are going to be okay at these rates.

However, anyone who has £250,000 or more in career winnings will see Betfair raise their commission from 5% to 60%.

Important!

According to BitEdge.com, if you have:

  • Made profit over the life of your account.
  • Bet on more than 250 markets.
  • Paid less than 20% lifetime in total charges.

Then you’re eligible to pay premium charges at the end of any profitable week in which you paid less than 20% in total charges.

He goes into further detail about how this works and what you can and can’t do to circumvent this on their website.

According to SportsBettingSites.org, this move was made to increase player liquidity and to provide more value for the casual and small professional bettor.

They go on to say that Betfair could have simply increased their commission to 10% and called it a day. However, Betfair wanted to make it clear that that serious bettors are not welcomed on the exchange.

Tip!

Sometimes Betfair offers reduced commission. For example, when I reviewed them they were offering 2% commission on Premier League Match odds for the month. So, it pays to check back once in a while to see what deals they may be offering.

I highly recommend you read the SportsBettingSites.org review, as Jim gives an excellent explanation of how Betfair’s exchange and commissions work, as well as an example of how you can use the exchange to save money and/or cut your losses when you know your bet’s going to lose.

How do you access their casino?

You can access their sportsbook through your browser. That goes for both desktop and mobile users.

Betfair also has a native app for both Apple and Android-powered devices. You will be able to cash out, claim promos and bet on live matches. Basically, Betfair’s native app will let you do most of the things you can do from your desktop.

Anything else you should know about their sportsbook?

Yeah, Betfair offers a couple other neat perks or features all customers should know about:

  • Price Rush – Betfair automatically checks their exchange and, as a result, sometimes increase odds on some of your bets (singles only). This means you might receive more money for a winning bet than you originally thought.

What’s more is Betfair will never tweak the odds unless they’re going to be the same or better than the odds you were already getting.

  • Betfair Radio – You can listen to commentary on different matches or races. When I was there they were covering a couple of greyhound and horse races. They also had a couple upcoming broadcasts scheduled.
  • Cash Out – This feature gives you the option to cash out on a bet early. You might want to do this because you’re profiting now, but maybe you feel like something will happen where you’d ultimately lose your bet. Or, maybe you’re losing and you want to cut your losses.

Either way, it’s a neat option to have. It gives you more control over how much you win or lose.

Our Betfair’s sportsbook is their best product. Between their coverage, hundreds, if not thousands of markets, native app and features, all sports bettors should have an account here.

Betfair’s Casino

Betfair’s casino is like their sportsbook – absolutely massive.

They have several sections, which includes:

  • Casino
  • Live Casino
  • Vegas Slots
  • Macau

They also have their exchange games and arcade section, which for the sake of keeping this review from getting any larger, will be lumped into this section of our review.

There’s a lot going on.
Too much to add here.

For that reason, we’re going to focus on the big picture stuff – the software providers, types of games you can play, and what devices you can play them on.

Fortunately, there’s a lot overlap in terms of the games you can play in each section. So, you should still get a good idea of what you can play with the information provided below.

What software providers do they work with? What kinds of games can you play?

Betfair works with a variety of software providers, including many of the best in the i-gaming industry today.

For example:

  • Playtech
  • NetEnt
  • IGT (WagerWorks)
  • WMS (Williams Interactive)
  • Blueprint Gaming
  • The Games Company
  • Odobo
  • Red Tiger Gaming

They cover the full spectrum of games – live dealer games, table games, blackjack, slots, video poker, arcade games, scratch tickets, and more.

We’ll look at a couple examples in just a few minutes.

What devices is their casino compatible with? Are they mobile compatible?

You have 3 choices as to how you play their games – download, instant play (browser) casino or from your mobile device.

From your mobile device, you can either play from your browser – which looks pretty good to me – or download their native apps, which is compatible with iOS and Android powered devices.

What are some examples of games you can play?

Here some examples of games you can play and what section of the casino you can find them in.

Slots (in the Casino)

  • American Dad!
  • Robo Cop
  • Space Invaders
  • Batman & The Riddler Riches
  • Batman & Catwoman Cash
  • Batman & The Batgirl Bonanza
  • Batman & The Penguin Prize
  • Monty Python and the Holy Grail
  • Superman the Movie
  • Superman II
  • Man of Steel
  • Fields of Fortune
  • Roaring Wilds
  • Age of the Gods
  • Life of Brian
  • Chests of Plenty
  • Miss Fortune
  • Jurassic Island
  • Halloween II
  • Jekyll & Hyde
  • Firemen
  • Jungle Trouble
  • Cherry Love
  • Ace Ventura
  • Bounty of the Beanstalk
  • Streak of Luck
  • Sherlock Mystery
  • Full Moon Fortune
  • A Night Out
  • Crazy 7
  • Easter Surprise
  • Football Rules
  • Gladiator
  • Lotto Madness
  • Marilyn Monroe
  • Pink Panther
  • John Wayne
  • Rome & Glory
  • Rocky
  • Reel Classic 3
  • Deal or No Deal
  • Ages of the Gods: God of Storms

They have a smaller selection of slots listed than you’d expect, given how many software providers they work with. But I bet that’s because these are all in their browser casino – there’s probably more in the download.

But even if that was the case, the slot titles above look awesome! Right away I know what would be on my list of slots to play:

  • American Dad!
  • Space Invaders
  • Batman
  • Rocky

All of these are slots based on TV shows, movies, video games and comic books.

But there’s many more themes to choose from. Not only that, but there are many types of slots you can play, too. For example, 5-10-line slots, 25+ line slots, slots with bonus rounds, free spins, progressive jackpots, and more.

Table Games (in the Casino)

  • Roulette Deluxe
  • Diamond Bet Roulette
  • Hi-Lo Premium
  • Premium European Roulette
  • 3D Roulette
  • Newar Roulette
  • Penny Roulette
  • American Roulette
  • Club Roulette
  • 3D Roulette Premium
  • Craps
  • European Roulette
  • French Roulette
  • Mini Roulette
  • Premium Roulette Pro
  • Premium French Roulette
  • Premium American Roulette
  • Pinball Roulette
  • Roulette Pro
  • Sic-Bo

There are more roulette games here than what most people will know what to do with. It’s a great opportunity to try a new variant to see if there are any new games you like.

Live Casino

Roulette

  • Betfair roulette
  • Paradise roulette
  • Grand roulette
  • Prestige roulette
  • Speed roulette
  • Vesta roulette
  • Aphrodite roulette
  • UK Roulette
  • German Roulette
  • Diamond roulette
  • Phoenix roulette

Baccarat

  • Sapphire VIP baccarat
  • Prestige mini baccarat
  • Squeeze baccarat
  • Tiger 7 seats baccarat

Blackjack

  • Betfair blackjack 2
  • Betfair VIP blackjack
  • Royale blackjack 3
  • Hermes blackjack
  • Vulcan blackjack
  • Apollo blackjack
  • Uranus blackjack
  • Hercules blackjack
  • Grand blackjack
  • Mars blackjack
  • 3-Card Brag
  • Sic-Bo
  • Casino Hold’em
  • Hi-Lo
  • French Roulette

This isn’t even all of your options, either. There are several we didn’t list here. But this gives you a good idea as to what you can expect.

Variants include different dealers (men and women), from both Europe and Asia.

While limits vary greatly, you can expect limits to be between .10 and £10,000, depending on the game you play.

There’s no free play available.

Card Games (in the Casino)

  • Cashback Blackjack
  • Premium Blackjack
  • Caribbean Poker
  • Blackjack
  • Blackjack Pro
  • Baccarat
  • 3-Card Brag
  • Blackjack Surrender
  • Blackjack Switch
  • Casino Hold’em
  • Pontoon
  • Blackjack UK
  • Blackjack Single Hand
  • Perfect Blackjack

Most of the blackjack games listed are blackjack variants. This is okay – great, if you like playing blackjack. But not so much if you like playing other non-blackjack games – you’ll only have 4 options.

There are many more Betfair can include. I hope they already have them, and it’s simply a matter of creating an account and downloading their software to get access to them all.

Video Poker

  • Jacks or Better – 10 Line With Progressive
  • Jacks or Better
  • Jacks or Better Multi Hand
  • Jacks or Better 50-Line
  • Joker Poker
  • Aces and Faces
  • 50-Line Jacks or Better
  • 4-Line Aces and Faces

Similar to the card games, I would assume they offer far more variants once you create an account or download their software. Because this is a small list of video poker variants considering all the software companies they work with.

Vegas Slots

In this section, you’ll find an interesting mix of slots that – from the sounds of it – are like those you’ll find in Las Vegas.

I can’t speak for all of them, but I see several that I have played in Las Vegas – such as the Wizard of Oz and Monopoly. And if I haven’t played those, I’ve played variants of those titles.

Here are some of the slots you can expect to find here.

  • Deal or No Deal – What’s In Your Box
  • Jewel Twist
  • Fruit Stack
  • Fruit Stack Deluxe
  • Top Cat
  • Ra’s Legend
  • Totem Lightening
  • Dragon’s Inferno
  • Bier Haus
  • Mega Fruits
  • Glitz
  • Sea of Tranquility
  • Fire Queen
  • Wicked Riches
  • Crystal Forest
  • Zeus
  • Kiss
  • Amazon Queen
  • Lunaris
  • Boulder Bucks
  • The Wizard of Oz
  • Wizard of Oz Ruby Slippers
  • Super Monopoly Money
  • Toy Factory
  • Spartacus
  • Elvis – The King Lives
  • Alice and the Mad Tea Party
  • Big Bad Wolf
  • Kronos
  • Zeus II
  • Da Vinci Diamonds
  • Buffalo Spirit
  • Jungle Wild
  • Michael Jackson King of Pop
  • Wild Jewels
  • Cats
  • Kitty Glitter
  • Wheel of Fortune Hollywood
  • Family Guy
  • Sherlock Holmes: The Hunt for Blackwood

Again, lots of fun titles here. I’d play Monopoly, Wizard of Oz, Family Guy and Sherlock Holmes. But there’s a little bit of everything for everyone.

Macau

Much, if not all of what you’ll find here are Asian-themed games, which isn’t at all a surprise.

Some of the games you can expect to find include:

  • Epic Journey
  • Dragons Luck
  • Divine Ways
  • Dragon’s Jackpot
  • Lion Dance
  • Fortune House
  • Wild Fight
  • Lucky Fortune Cat
  • Ten Elements
  • Stage 888
  • Three Kingdoms
  • Red Phoenix Rising
  • Fortune Fest
  • Magic Gate
  • Golden Offer
  • Mega Jade
  • Chinese Treasure
  • Jade Charms
  • Gold of Wealth

Betfair also lists their Asian live dealer games, which includes blackjack, baccarat, roulette and sic bo.

What’s noteworthy about this section is that most of the games listed have progressive jackpots. They’re all the same size, though – more than 750,000 when I checked them out.

Our Opinion of Betfair’s Casino

That’s their casino in a nutshell.

There are lots of games to choose from here. Betfair covers all the different types of games you’d find in a brick and mortar casino, from slots to live dealer games. Though, it’d be nice to know for sure if they offered some card games other than blackjack.

Overall, I think most people will be happy playing in Betfair’s casino.

I know I’d be.

Betfair Poker

Let’s talk about Betfair’s poker room.

Betfair is on the iPoker Network. There are a few benefits to this – one being their unique Jackpot SNGs.

But there are a few frustrating things about Betfair, too – and, honestly, most online poker rooms not named PokerStars – they don’t have tons of traffic.

According to PokerScout.com, Betfair’s currently 9th in overall (worldwide) traffic. The iPoker Network had 1,282 players online, at 8pm London/UK time on a Saturday.

This is peak hours, but they had a fraction of the traffic available at the top 5 poker sites.

I think this is going to turn off a lot of pros. That said, Betfair is pro friendly in terms of 3rd party software. Not to mention you’ll find softer games because of the crossover traffic from the sportsbook and casino.

The bottom line – there are both pros and cons to playing poker at Betfair. You’ll have to decide what’s more important to you.

Before you do that, though, let’s go over the games, stakes and tournaments Betfair offers.

What poker games and stakes do they offer?

Betfair offers holdem and omaha. Limits for both range from €.01/€.02 through €5/€10. Most of the action revolves around 6-max holdem.

Betfair offers fast fold poker games, too, which they call Speed Poker. When you buy into one of these games, you’re mixed in with a pool of players and seated at a random table.

Once everyone is dealt a hand, you’ll immediately have the option to fold your hand before the action ever gets to you. When you do that, you’ll be placed at a new table with a new batch of players from the pool.

This form of poker allows you to fold and fold until you get hands you want to play. It also allows you to get in hundreds of hands per hour – multiples of hands compared to a standard cash game.

Do they offer MTTs? What kinds of tourneys can you play?

They have lots of tournaments. When I reviewed Betfair, there were more than 290 active tournaments.

And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

Betfair says they guarantee more than £3 million every month.

In fact, they guarantee more than £125,000 every Sunday.

Here’s their Sunday lineup to give you an idea of what you can play:

Time (GMT) Name Guarantee Buy-in
12:00 €5000 Deep Run € 5,000 € 50
15:00 €10000 Warm-Up € 10,000 € 50
16:00 €5000 Tea Time € 5,000 € 20
16:30 €5000 Sniper € 5,000 € 10
17:00 €5000 Deep Run € 5,000 € 30
17:30 €3000 Starter € 3,000 € 10
18:00 €10000 Phoenix € 10,000 € 20
18:30 €10000 Special One € 10,000 € 10
19:00 €30000 Sunday Premium € 30,000 € 50
19:15 €2000 Pinball € 2,000 € 3
19:30 €10000 Predator € 10,000 € 20
20:00 €15000 Master € 15,000 € 100
20:30 €5000 Madness € 5,000 € 20
21:00 €5000 Money Time € 5,000 € 50
23:00 €5000 Night Club € 5,000 € 50

This isn’t as much money or as high of stakes as you’ll find at sites like PokerStars. But you won’t find that at any poker site BUT PokerStars, so there’s no point in holding Betfair to those standards. It’s not fair, either.

What Betfair does have is pretty impressive, though. And remember, that’s only their Sunday lineup. They still run tournaments throughout the week.

Here’s an example of what they were running (or had scheduled to run) the day I checked them out:

Name Start (GMT) Buy-in Fee Game Rebuy
€2000 Bounty Hunter 2017-08-12 10:00 PM €9.0 €2.0 Holdem No
Sat €5 Ticket - 3 tickets gtd 2017-08-12 10:10 PM €0.45 €0.05 Holdem Yes
€250 Guaranteed 2017-08-12 10:15 PM €2.73 €0.27 Holdem No
€1500 Frenzy 2017-08-12 10:30 PM €9.1 €0.9 Holdem Yes
Sat €20 Ticket - 2 tickets gtd 2017-08-12 10:40 PM €0.91 €0.09 Holdem No
€100 Guaranteed 2017-08-12 10:45 PM €0.91 €0.09 Holdem No
Sat €10 Ticket - 3 tickets gtd 2017-08-12 11:10 PM €1.82 €0.18 Holdem No
€1000 Pinball 2017-08-12 11:15 PM €4.55 €0.45 Holdem Yes
€500 - Knock-Out 2017-08-12 11:30 PM €4.5 €1.0 Holdem No
Sat €5 Ticket - 3 tickets gtd 2017-08-12 11:40 PM €0.45 €0.05 Holdem Yes
€50 Gtd - Rebuy 2017-08-12 11:45 PM €0.45 €0.05 Holdem Yes
€1000 Extra Time 2017-08-13 12:00 AM €18.2 €1.8 Holdem No
Sat €10 Ticket - 3 tickets gtd 2017-08-13 12:10 AM €1.82 €0.18 Holdem No
€300 Gtd - Rebuy 2017-08-13 12:15 AM €2.73 €0.27 Holdem Yes
€500 Deepstack Turbo 2017-08-13 12:30 AM €4.55 €0.45 Holdem No
Sat €5 Ticket - 3 tickets gtd 2017-08-13 12:40 AM €0.45 €0.05 Holdem Yes
€50 Guaranteed 2017-08-13 12:45 AM €0.91 €0.09 Holdem No
€500 Gtd - Rebuy 2017-08-13 1:00 AM €4.55 €0.45 Holdem Yes
Sat €10 Ticket - 3 tickets gtd 2017-08-13 1:10 AM €1.82 €0.18 Holdem No
€50 Guaranteed 2017-08-13 1:15 AM €0.91 €0.09 Holdem No
€500 - Knock-Out 2017-08-13 1:30 AM €9.0 €2.0 Holdem No
€1 Turbo Freezout 2017-08-13 1:45 AM €0.91 €0.09 Holdem No
€500 Gtd - Rebuy 2017-08-13 2:00 AM €9.1 €0.9 Holdem Yes
Freeroll - €25 Gtd 2017-08-13 2:00 AM €0.0 €0.0 Holdem No
€100 Guaranteed 2017-08-13 2:15 AM €4.55 €0.45 Holdem No

These are smaller events, but I like that because they’re bankroll friendly. You can buy in for a few bucks – maybe get in for free – and you’ll get a few hours entertainment, maybe a nice boost to your bankroll.

And all the tournaments I checked out were limited to 3,000 or 5,000 players. I think this was a smart move from Betfair, so that each tournament doesn’t become a lottery. There’s still an element of skill.

Betfair’s SNGs

Betfair offers SNGs, too. The most noteworthy ones – and one of the things that makes the iPoker Network unique – are their Jackpot SNGs.

The idea behind these is simple – win so many tournaments in a row and you’ll collect the progressive jackpot.

Here are the different Jackpot SNGs you can play:

  • Dirty Dozen Sit n Go’s - Score a €2000 Jackpot by winning four Dirty Dozen SNGs in a row.
  • Rio – Jackpot Sit ‘N Go - Win at least €20,000 when you win six SNGs in a row.
  • Maui – Jackpot Sit ‘N Go - Get a minimum €10,000 bankroll boost when you take down five consecutive 10-handed SNGs.
  • The Fort Knox - Win at least €35,000 when you win six SNGs in a row. The buy-in is €40, and the Jackpot increases by an extra €7,000 if it doesn’t go in the first week.

I bet these become addicting, because you don’t have to win that many in a row. It seems easy, but I can guarantee you it’s anything but.

All the fun is in the chase, though.

Software

What about their software? How do you access it? What features or options are there?

Betfair has a download for both Windows and Mac. They have a native mobile app, too, as well as what appears to be a mobile compatible browser option.

Some of the features or perks you’ll have include:

  • Auto top-up during cash games
  • Auto rebuy and auto add-on for tournament play
  • Preferred seating
  • Multi-tabling
  • Anonymous tables
  • HUDs are allowed

From what I read it’s not possible to resize the tables, though you can choose the mini-mode option to shrink each table down.

Recreational players will appreciate the anonymous tables, as it’ll allow them to play poker without being head-hunted by better players. It evens out the playing field a little.

Our Opinion of Betfair’s Poker Room

This is Betfair’s 3rd strongest product, behind their sportsbook and casino.

That’s largely out of their hands, though. They have solid software, games and tournaments – all of which they control – but they’re severely lacking in traffic – which isn’t easy to control.

For that reason, I’d recommend you only play poker here to fill in your schedule, or if you don’t need to play dozens (or hundreds) of games/hands per day.

Betfair Bingo

Last up is their bingo hall.

From what I’ve read from other Betfair reviews, it sounds like they neglected their bingo hall until 2016, when they decided it was time to upgrade their software.

Has it made a difference?

I’m not totally sure, as I wasn’t familiar with their bingo offering pre-upgrade.

But you’ll find everything Betfair offers now below. And we’ll tell you what we think of it at the end of the section.

What bingo games can you play?

Betfair offers:

  • 90 Ball Bingo
  • 75 Ball Bingo
  • Deal or No Deal Bingo
  • Cash Cubes
  • Bouncy Balls Bingo
  • House of Cards
  • Roller Coaster
  • Rainbow Riches Bingo
  • Dodgems
  • Helter Skelter
  • The Big Dipper
  • The Big Wheel
  • House of Mirrors

Ticket prices range from 1p to 50p. Many of their games had hundreds of players, which I find crazy since it looks like there are games starting every 20-30 seconds.

Many of their bingo games have jackpots, too. They have a Millionaire bingo game with a £1,000,000 jackpot. I also saw one with a £37,000+ jackpot, a £10,000+ jackpot and a jackpot with almost £7,000.

There’s a lot of money to be won here.
It’s exciting to see!

Are there other games to play?

They have 81 different games you can play. It’s a mix of slots, jackpot slots and scratch cards. You can see the entire list on their website, or scroll to the top and read our casino section, as there’s likely to be some overlap.

How do you access their bingo hall? Anything you can tell me about their software?

You can play from your browser (desk/laptop), or browser or native app if you’re playing from your tablet or smartphone.

Their software was upgraded in April 2016. It sounds like they did a good job making it easier to use. They also added a few features, such as the ability to play more than one bingo game at a time.

Overall Opinion

I don’t have a ton of experience with online bingo halls. But it looks like Betfair has a solid selection of bingo games, bingo rooms and side games.

They also have several progressive jackpots, which I think ups the incentive to play here. It would for me.

The bottom line – for what it’s worth – I think bingo players will enjoy playing here.

Conclusion

What do we think of Betfair? Do we recommend them to our readers?

I have two thoughts –

I like what Betfair offers overall. Each product has its flaws, but I think people will enjoy Betfair as is – with or without improvements. The improvements would just make them that much better.

(There are a few exceptions, of course. The poker room, for example, as they need to improve their traffic levels in order for their poker room to become better.)

Betfair has several promotions and banking options, too.

Overall, Betfair is a solid all-in-one gambling site.

However –

It’s hard to ignore their past. For example, stealing funds and blaming customers for bonus abuse, when in fact it was Betfair who made a mistake.

And the biggest issue here isn’t that they made a mistake, but that Betfair didn’t admit fault and make things right – even when it was clear that EVERYONE thought they handled things wrong.

For that reason, I would sign up with 888 or Bet365 before I created an account at Betfair. I can’t help but think that, if you sign up here, you’re saying you’re okay if Betfair refuses to pay you for a legitimate winning bet if it hurts their wallet or ego too much.

That’s not something I can get behind.

If you can, then feel free to join Betfair. They seem to have a solid reputation otherwise.

Just remember that Betfair has, and will continue to operate with their best interest in mind, not yours.

Kevin Roberts
Kevin Roberts Administrator

Kevin Roberts, previously published under the pseudonym Noah Davis, is one of the more diverse writers at GamblingSites.com. Like many of his colleagues, he's a huge fan of both football and basketball. But he also writes about box office records, TV show prop bets, DFS, and all kinds of other subjects.

When it comes to the NFL, Kevin's favorite team is the Green Bay Packers. He enjoys cheering them on with his wife and daughter.

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