Following the UK Gambling Commission decision to fine Betway £11.6 million in 2020 for failures in appropriately checking the source of customer funds and in protecting vulnerable customers we feel it is inappropriate for us to list them here as a recommended UK betting site. For a list of sites we do recommend see our betting sites page.
It is true that Betway in the past have been a leading site but in light of the investigations carried out into their conduct we suggest that you should avoid them until they can demonstrate they have customer protection as their firm focus. Betway are also known for being aggressive in limiting accounts and again we feel this is not proper behaviour for a brand that should be setting the example.
Need a Hand?
Betway customer services are excellent on paper, and are contactable 24/7 through live chat and e-mail. Telephone numbers are free from landlines but the opening hours are only 8am through to midnight, and a dedicated Twitter service operates from 8am – 11pm. So support availability and variety certainly isn’t an issue – the issue is finding the information in the first place.
Betway make all the right noises when it comes to support but actually, it feels like they are heading you off at every turn. The contact details are buried in the Help section so deeply that you are forced to select an FAQ, scroll through the answer, click a button that says the article did not help, and only then will you be given the link for contact details. Why? Wanting your customers to self help is one thing, but blocking them off until they do is another.
The Help section is brilliant in terms of functionality, although the answers themselves are a bit of a mixed bag. Some are genuinely helpful and thorough, with screenshots to aid understanding, while others amount to little more than a mate suggesting you ‘switch it off and back on again’. The support service is good, but I think Betway could improve it if they wanted to.
At least the agents are friendly, knowledgeable and multi-lingual. Support and site languages include: English, Czech, Danish, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Italian, Latvian, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish and Swedish.
Market Options
As a sportsbook Betway offer a huge range of markets across around 35 different sports, and the number of lines is growing year on year. These are a great mix of match bets, in-play, and outrights that while comprehensive, don’t tend to get too inventive. The international pedigree certainly shines through and when you consider the better than average odds available it culminates into a really attractive online bookmaker.
Specials and non-sport markets are also covered by Betway including politics (UK and world), awards, TV shows, and some novelty bets. A couple that made me laugh were “What will Britain leave next?” (Brexit joke), and “Who Will be Elected to Parliament First?” – Tyson Fury was at 50/1. On the whole Betway are mainly a sportsbook and aren’t known for specials, though you can always request odds on something whacky if you wish using #betyourway.
Depth of market is very strong with Betway. 100’s of lines are common for major sporting events and even smaller events offer a wider range than you will find with most other online bookies. In play betting lines are particularly strong.
It should be noted Betway are the best eSports betting site you will find, and are also one of the strongest bookmakers for covering many so called ‘minor’ sports. If you like searching around for new markets to wager on there is no better bookie for coverage and value.
And The Odds Are…
Regarded as having an excellent book for odds, Betway are always higher than average and usually near the top on odds comparison sites. Combined with the large number of lines offered there is little reason to take your bet elsewhere for odds alone. Even if you take issue with them for some reason, it is worth having Betway as part of your betting portfolio simply due to the number of times they hit the top of the odds sheet.
Betway are popular for enhanced odds promotions or Bet Boosts as they like to call them – there is a tab in the A-Z. Here you will find daily specials, enhanced multiples and money back offers on the usual things like ‘both teams to score’ enhancements etc. The enhanced odds offers are split by sport and couldn’t be easier to find. Back to that user focused experience again.
They are also one of the only operators to provide promotions on non-mainstream sports and events. Promotions tend to come in the form of free bets or money back as a free bet if such and such occurs, but there are one or two other promotional features that will be covered later.
Odds come in decimal, American and fractional formats, easily changed at the top of the screen, and are clear to see although a touch too small for instant recognition.
The Interface: Judgement Time
Betway provide a slick user experience across all of their products that is all at once playful and professional. You can’t help but notice the shiny image Betway want to put across when you first visit their home page.
In shades of black and grey with the odd flash of green jumping out, you get the feeling this site was developed with the modern-day user in mind, although it is far too dark in general for my taste. Menu options are simple compared to some other online bookies, and the colourful sports icons stop things becoming too serious.
Everything has plenty of space on this website, and areas such as Quick Links, Highlights and All Sports are very clearly marked in large lettering so that a quick scan is all it takes to find your next destination. As is so often the case, events soon to start take centre stage with sports categories available from the A-Z or the favourites bar. The A-Z also has handy icons indicating which sports currently have live events taking place.
The layout overall is perhaps a little vanilla and doesn’t have any cool or innovative features but it could never be accused of being overcrowded and it certainly works.
Get to Your Bet
One thing that won’t cause you any problems here is speed. Once the punter has loaded the interface using it is lightning fast, jumping from one category to another with ease.
Once looking at a specific sport spacing can be an issue, because even though the options within are expandable, the sheer number of events leaves little option but to scroll scroll scroll. Attempts have been made to minimise this using organisational tab boxes to narrow down your search by league/competition etc, and the same goes for the betting lines on the event screen where it is more effective. It’s certainly a good deal more user friendly than it was a few years ago, though.
It’s good to see that cash out and in-play status are marked so clearly next to events and specific bets that it’s impossible to miss them, meaning that if you are specifically looking for cash out capability on your bets you won’t waste time.
You can tell that a vast amount of effort has gone into creating a good looking but ultimately functional user friendlily site, and aside from the odd niggle here and there they have achieved that. I wish more operators gave as much thought to their interface as Betway has – but I also wish they would sort out that annoying timing out feature that logs me off every time I go to make a brew…
The Backstory
Betway launched in 2006 as an online-only bookmaker based in Malta. They are a truly international company with offices in London, South Africa, Guernsey and Stockholm, and they hold gambling licences in the UK, Malta, Denmark, Germany, Belgium, Spain and Italy.
There isn’t much of a romantic history behind the Betway brand, and no specific poster boy or brand identity to speak of. Instead, Betway focus on user experience with a highly polished product and great odds to match. They claim to offer over 60,000 sports betting markets over a wide range of sports, and 190,000 events in-play across 50 sports This in itself will attract attention.
Betway promote themselves heavily both online, on TV, and on site, so you will no doubt have seen an advert for their sportsbook or casino offerings during major events. You can find them sponsoring snooker, darts, tennis, horse races (including the Grand National Festival), football (including West Ham and Anderlect) and Rugby union, counting many big names as brand ambassadors to appeal to different markets.
This is one reason why their VIP and hospitality are lauded, because of the fantastic events their sponsorship deals give them access to and the legends that might be there – not even the biggest high street bookies can match them in this area.
As a Europe wide bookmaker Betway offer their services in 17 languages, the site is available in 13 languages, you can bank in an inordinate number of ways and you can bet in several currencies. Considering they are an internet only bookie, their staff pool of 500+ is evidence of their power within the industry. From a user experience perspective, Betway are up there with the best.
In The Moment
Betting Live
The most frustrating aspect to live betting is a clunky and slow interface. It doesn’t matter how many markets you offer if it takes an age to find your bet and get it on. This is not the case with Betway, the in-play service is one of their defining features.
Not only is it very easy to use with a simple toggle to switch between live and upcoming fixtures, but the almost futuristic system makes you feel like you are controlling something far more important than your bets during big games – clicking on an event will give you stats, live text commentary, a superb game graphic, and streaming options if available. It looks and handles brilliantly.
Betting lines are collapsed into easily defined groups making finding your betting line a breeze and odds are updated rapidly and appear in red with a down arrow if coming in and green with an up arrow if drifting out.
The availability of fixtures and the range of sports is head and shoulders above the rest too. Mid-morning on a Friday as I write this there are almost 50 football matches from Israel to Vietnam, and they even have live politics markets!
To support the live in-play betting service there is a superb news/blog section with excellent articles and a really glossy finish that is current and keeps you coming back. Leading news websites could take a leaf out of Betway’s book here.
Streaming Live
For an online only offering the Betway streaming service is better than some of the highstreet boys. You can usually find something being streamed at any given time from tennis and football all the way to beach volleyball, and of course Horse Racing. The streams are excellent on both desktop and mobile and Betway have managed to make the service complement the in-play betting rather well.
Steaming is indicated by small TV screen next to the event and streams open in a small window to the right of the market. There is a quick link in the left-hand menu at the top of the home page that will show you all current and upcoming live streaming events, but even if there isn’t a stream for your event the match graphic is so good you probably won’t mind.
The minimum bet for steaming horse racing is steeper than most at £2 or £1 each-way, but other than that you just need to have a funded account and you should be able to stream any event on the list.
What’s App-ening?
The Betway mobile betting app is really really good. It’s fun to use, the slight structural issues with spacing that the desktop site has have been resolved, and there are some great little touches that show the company has been thinking from the bettors point of view. I wouldn’t recommend it on a very small screen, but then again, I wouldn’t recommend anyone buy a phone with a really small screen either so…
Navigation is brilliant here, with most of the sports icons on the horizontal scroll bar so that the A-Z is a less frequent necessity, and this makes finding your market a dream. It would have been a good idea to employ this scrolling menu bar on every page instead of just the homepage, but the app is so quick that getting back there is the work of just a second or two.
There is nothing missing from the desktop site, there are actually a few great additional features such as a search function. This can be found inside the menu tab which, while I’m on the subject, is a perfect example of innovation. It can be toggled to function as a betting menu or an account management menu which is a wonderful idea, and the A-Z only fully expands if you want it to, which means you can access the options below much quicker if that’s what you are there for. It’s these little bits of forward thinking that turn a decent app into an excellent one.
The in-play service doesn’t suffer at all from being scaled down and a similar toggling system lets you switch between in-play and upcoming fixtures; you can even stream on the app. It looks good, performs effortlessly, and the design is almost faultless.
Honestly, this is one of the best examples of a sports betting app currently available.
Cards, Dice & Reels
Powered by Microgaming the Betway Casino and gaming features give a similar glossy user focused experience as that of the sportsbook. Betway have separate sections for casino, Vegas, live casino, poker and bingo. It is nice to see a more simplified gaming service from Betway as many bookmakers have now gone overboard offering too many options to be useful.
There are hundreds and hundreds of games spread across the various categories, from table games both live and A.I, jackpots, video poker and of course a whole load of slots.
There is an in depth review of the Betway casino product here.
Loyalty Above All Else
It is a shame that so many sports betting sites have fantastic introductory promos to get you in the door and then do very little to reward your continued custom. If I bet with a bookie I want to know that I am valued or I will go somewhere else.
The Betway Plus scheme is the antidote to this and a superb way to reward existing customers, and the best thing is the loyalty points are in addition to good regular offers not instead of them. It’s a little convoluted, but here we go:
You will be automatically enrolled in the Plus system when you join, starting at Blue level. All money wagered will earn you Tier points, and these will decide your loyalty level. Each level you reach unlocks greater rewards and benefits, including a higher exchange rate of Plus points.
Plus points are also earned through activity although the rate at which they accumulate increases as you climb the Tiers. Once you’ve earned 5000 or more Plus points you can then start spending them on bonuses, free bets and credits. Points are earned across all products too, including casino and bingo.
Earning points isn’t just about getting free bets either. As you move up through the tier levels you will also get personalised rewards, VIP event and sports hospitality. Consider the amount of sports sponsorship Betway are involved in and this gives you some idea of the quality and range of events you could be invited to at higher Tier levels.
The Ideal Customer
A dynamic, professional and honest online bookie that punches above its weight. Betway offer markets that are hard to find elsewhere (e.g. eSports) with good deals to go with them. With Betway the user always appears to be the focus and you can see the time and effort they have put into all aspects of their site.
This is also a bookie that suits the modern-day bettor, as well as the punter who likes to bet far and wide and on less popular sports. Not that those who focus on popular UK events have anything to worry about, the expansive coverage of obscure sports from far and wide does nothing to reduce the range and depth of markets on home turf.
One of the standout features at Betway has to be the app. If you couldn’t tell earlier, I absolutely love it. If you do most of your betting on your device then this is the place to go, and if you like to bet live and use stats to work out your movements then download it twice. In fact, the in-play and streaming service is another reason to use Betway, there is a lot of detail there and coupled with the news and stats supplied it’s a real winner.
You can’t have it all though, as an online only offering you can never have the flexibility you can get with larger bookies that have a real world presence. A lack of telephone betting is also something of a let-down for those times when you have no internet.
Money Talks
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Betway yet again seem to have users in mind when it comes to payments and options. With their European pedigree Betway offer their services in several currencies and the site can be viewed in no fewer than 13 languages. They also accept a huge number of payment mechanisms too.
It feels like they are holding back information in this area though, as their payment terms are not as clearly laid out as I like, and some information is nigh on impossible to find. It feels like Betway wouldn’t look you in the eye if they were speaking to you directly. They are fully regulated and licensed, don’t get me wrong, but things could be clearer.
Anyway…
Deposit
With Betway you can bet in any of the following currencies: British pounds (GBP), Euros (EUR), Australian Dollars (AUS), Canadian Dollars (CAD) and United States Dollars (USD).
The wide range of payment options is a welcome sight; however, you must use the same method to both deposit and withdraw which is so often the case. Minimum and maximum deposits vary by method and currency but the minimum is cited as £10 across the board with no stated maximum.
However, when trying to deposit with Neteller recently there was a £50 minimum deposit limit in effect, so it seems as though these limits could be different from one punter to the next. This is a good example of the lack of clarity mentioned earlier.
Withdrawals
With Betway you can withdraw in the same ways you can deposit with the exception of Maestro and Paysafecard in the UK.
All withdrawals are free of charge and start at £10+, but some banks may charge their own fees particularly for wire transfers, and these can be costly if you are withdrawing small amounts. Charges will be clearly displayed in the withdrawal section.
A lack of options for cash withdrawal may be a problem for some and if you like betting with cash you will be better off with a bookmaker that has a strong real world presence. Time frames are favourable though and the longest you should have to wait using any method is 2 days according to Betway.
Payout & Wagering Caps
Please don’t get caught out with maximum payout limits. Most people think they don’t wager enough to come close to the limits but every year someone is caught out when they have wagered a small amount on a single line or multiple selections with high odds.
Saying that, maximum payout levels at Betway are not too bad for an online only bookmaker and you can find them in the Betting Rules section at the very bottom of the page (not in the Help centre). The maximum payout stands at £500k-£250k for major European and international football, £250k for UK racing, £100k for Irish racing and £50k for other horse racing. Tennis offers up to £250k and other sports generally £100-250k with non-sport and novelty bets capped at £25k. Cheltenham Festival is the only market to hit the £1 million mark.
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Always be cautious when placing multiple bets, particularly those at high odds combining multiple markets. Your bet is capped by the selection with the lowest maximum payout. For example, with Betway if you place a multiple bet on football, golf, rugby and tennis, the bet will be capped at £100k because of the Rugby selection.
Maximum and minimum bets are defined by the odds of the selection(s) and the payment cap of the market you are betting on. In general Betway offer minimum bets as low as £0.05 but this won’t always be the case, especially where live streaming is concerned.
Betway do not offer telephone betting.
Cash Out
Betway offer a nice cash out and partial cash out service, not quite as integrated and functional as it could be but a usable feature and great in combination with in play and streaming. Cash Out is available through Betway on singles, multiples and system bets and on most in play markets. Cash Out availability is indicated by a green box or icon above the event or betting line you want to bet on.
The concept of Cash Out is simple, you can settle your bet prior to the completion of an event for a fixed sum, for example:
You have a £10 bet on Argentina to win the world cup at 10/1 before the competition starts. At the semi-final stage Argentina are still in the competition but are up against Germany and you don’t fancy them to win anymore. At this point you could cash out your bet.
Now let’s say they are offering you £40 Cash Out at this point. This is a lower amount than you could win if you allowed the bet to run (£100) but it mitigates the risk of losing and so adds a great tactical dimension to betting because you can guarantee a profit before the bet officially ends. You could even decide to cash out your bet in-play during the match to make it more exciting.
Cash Out is a great deal of fun especially when integrated with live betting and streaming, and with Betway’s overall sleek package it is a real hit.
Contact Details
- Name: Betway Limited
- URL: www.betway.com
- UK Gambling ref/No: 39372
- Customer Services: 0808 238 9841 (UK), 1800 932 847 (Ireland)
- E-Mail: [email protected]
- Customer services address: Betway Limited, PO BOX 70417, London NW1W 7LN
- Phone betting: Not offered
- Text betting: Not offered
- Twitter: @Betway, @BetwaySupport and more
- Registered Company address: Betway Limited, 9 Empire Stadium Street, Gzira, GZR 1300, Malta.