Fitzdares. It sounds like a 1950s bumper comic book or something, doesn’t it?
They’re a bookmaker in actual fact, and one that can trace their history all the way back to 1882, although most people in the UK have never heard of them.
That’s because the company has always maintained an air of exclusivity and luxury, boasting the highest levels of customer service I have ever seen (they even have their own private members club in swanky Mayfair).
So it’s no surprise that to most people, the name Fitzdares doesn’t mean very much at all, because ‘most people’ were never their target market.
Until now that is.
A change in structure in 2016 marked the beginning of a new chapter for this historic bookmaker, as one Balthazar Fabricius – I’m not making his name up I promise – took things in a different direction, and the Fitzdares name began to show up as a sponsor at racing at football events, yet it still retains those exclusive touches that really make the brand stand out.
You get a truly personal service here, from the odds and offers you receive to the customer support, plus potential perks that literally no other bookmaker offers.
If all this is making you feel like Fitzdares probably isn’t for you, I would urge you to think again. It might have been aimed at the elite in the past, but they now offer their services to mere mortals like me and you as well, and why would we not want to be amongst this sort of company?
- Industry leading service – No other bookie offers this personal level of customer service. Not one.
- Club membership – Members get additional benefits and loyalty bonuses, as well as entry to the Fitzdares clubs in Mayfair, the Cotswolds, and any pop ups. There is even an elite membership level that is invite only – a rarity these days.
- High stakes welcome – Fitzdares are available to everyone, but they have a more discreet personalised service for those with deeper pockets, and pride themselves on taking larger bets.
Fitzdares Website and User Interface
There is certainly nothing to complain about while browsing through Fitzdares website.
It runs on the FSB platform which you might already know is one of the most popular in the industry, so it will look after you well and make your life as easy as possible while hopping between sports categories and browsing for markets.
It certainly looks good, with strong branding and a colour scheme that is simple and effective, making it very easy to scan albeit not having much of a wow effect.
That’s not its purpose though really, and many bookies that have attempted this approach end up with a style over substance situation, which is certainly avoided here.
Structurally the site is as you might expect; an A-Z sports list on the left with a few quick links to major markets and a search box above, links to the different verticals above (casino, live casino, etc), the betslip and more quick links on the right, and then the odds for whatever you have chosen to look at taking position slap bang in the middle of the screen.
The site offers useful options such as the ability to favourite a particular sport so it shows up near the top of the screen for easier access, as well as collapsible drop down menus which stop the interface becoming cluttered, and give the punter control over what they look at.
When looking at a particular event or fixture, there are filtering options to narrow down the different betting lines on display, however it still leaves a fair amount of scrolling to be done due to the dimensions of that part of the interface and the markets themselves.
It’s really not a big deal, and if you are sick of squinting at the tiny odds that other bookies insist on displaying then it could even be a selling point, but it’s something to be aware of.
The site works for me though.
It’s doesn’t feel as premium as the brand itself, so there is some misalignment there, but that’s hardly going to be a sticking point for the majority of us who just want to get our bets on without a fuss.
Truly Personal Customer Service
If there is one area where Fitzdares absolutely blow every other bookmaker out of the water, then it’s here.
I can tell you that the team work around the clock, 24 hours a day and 7 days a week, and I can tell you that they are available via live chat, phone, email, or text, but none of that is as impressive of what I really want to tell you.
Fitzdares don’t employ poorly trained call centre types.
No. At Fitzdares, you will be speaking to highly educated brokers and sports betting experts, who understand the industry inside out.
These are the same people who actually set the odds, and not only can you call them for help, but you are invited to attempt to improve the odds they offer you as well if you can explain your position.
If there is another bookmaker that offers this level of personal service or this amount of flexibility then I have never heard of them.
What’s more, the team will also make gentle recommendations if you have perhaps had a poor month or are on a losing streak. Fitzdares are interested in long term relationships with their clients, they are not money grabbers.
They promise to keep things private and discreet if that’s what you need too.
Betting Odds and Markets
This all sounds wonderful so far, doesn’t it? The natural question now is, do we actually end up paying for this great service via inflated margins?
Well no, not really.
As a quick acid test, I worked out the margins of a 1×2 market in a Premier League game and it came out at around 5%; while their average margin on horse racing was settling around 13%, which is well under the industry average of around 15%-16%.
Even if the odds at Fitzdares aren’t always the very best you can find, they are certainly up there, and remember, you can politely negotiate with this bookmaker too.
…every time I write that down, I can’t quite believe it’s true – incredible.
Plus, the offers and promotions at Fitzdares increase the value of those odds further, and there are plenty of them covering a wide range of sports, including but not restricted to racing, football, cricket, golf, American football and tennis.
So what else can you bet on?
Horse racing is where the company started, and in the words of William Woodhams, the CEO, it “runs through our blood”.
These is not just words either; Fitzdares regularly take up residencies at various racecourses, they offer odds on the most extensive selection of races from around the world that I have ever seen (Bahrain, Chile, Uruguay, etc.), and they sponsor races across the UK.
They are so good in the horse racing market that they even won SBCs award for the Horse Racing Bookmaker of the Year in 2020, which tells you a lot.
Elsewhere there is greyhound racing, boxing and MMA, hurling, esports, and a whole lot more too – I counted more than 30 sports on the A-Z list, and with good depth in the more popular sports too.
Some of the more niche markets seem like token offerings if I’m being brutally honest, with only a smattering of lines to bet on, but Fitzdares know their audience, and they understand where depth is needed and where it is not, heling them keep a balanced book and keep those odds competitive.
Remember too that with Fitzdares, you aren’t restricted to betting via their sportsbook platform, you can call them, text them, email them, or even bet via live chat.
Fitzdares Company History: Who Are They?
Due to a few acquisitions along the way, Fitzdares is actually an amalgamation of three different bookmakers.
Way back in 1882, a farmer named Tom Guntrip (for some reason, everyone involved in Fitzdares’ story have incredible names) set himself up as a bookmaker, pinning odds to the trees in Hyde Park and calling out for business.
He trained pigeons to carry the results of races to him from far and wide, as this was way before technology could do the job for him.
Tom Guntrip unwittingly set the wheels in motion for a betting brand that would last for a century, attracting many clients from high society thanks to the location, until the business was bought out by another premium bookmaker; Sunderlands.
Sunderlands was set up in 1946 by ex RAF rear gunner, Pat Densham, who named his company after the plane he used to fly in.
Pat gained a lot of clients from his membership of private clubs in London, such as the Clermont and Aspinalls amongst others, which is what established Sunderlands as a premium bookmaker, so when the opportunity arose to acquire Guntrips in 1988, it was a very good fit.
Fast forward to 2005/06, and Balthazar Fabricius, son of Rod Fabricius the long-time manager of Goodwood, decided that he wanted to have a crack at bookmaking himself.
He had noticed that the bookmaking industry was becoming increasingly impersonal, caused in no small part by the dawn of the online gambling revolution, and so set up a private telephone betting service, shortly followed by the ability to bet via text – the first bookmaker in the UK to do so.
Interestingly, one of his financial backers in those early days was Zac Goldsmith, who would go on to run for London mayor and then become a member of the House of Lords.
Anyway, Fitzdares remained a low-profile private betting service for a long time, focussing on offering a higher calibre service to a smaller but higher staking client base.
The business continued growing and developing as the years went on though, offering spread betting and some fantasy markets, before eventually acquiring Sunderlands (and therefore Guntrips too in a sense) in 2016.
This is when things began to change.
Fitzdares changed their approach to attract a wider customer base, but still maintain that sense of being a traditional private one-to-one betting office. They did this by maintaining incredibly high standards of customer service, but by offering something more to their more discerning clients.
Fitzdares Membership and Clubs
Anyone who joins Fitzdares becomes a member, but for punters who want the bespoke service of their early days, Fitzdares sell club memberships.
They aren’t exactly cheap, but for anyone who knows they will use them, they aren’t that expensive either:
- Full Member – £600 a year gets you access to all clubs.
- Town Member – £350 a year gets you access to the London club plus any additional temporary residencies in the area.
- Country Member – £350 a year gets you access to the Costwolds club on Ben Pauling’s training yard plus any temporary on course residencies.
Club memberships gives access to the full suite of betting services, as well as access to their very own members only clubs – which are designed for members to use to watch sporting events, enjoy private dining and special events, and perhaps enjoy some time at the gaming table too.
No bets are actually taken in the venues, they are all made via the app or by phone/text, but the people taking the bets on the other end are real brokers who can be negotiated with and offer guidance.
They have clubs in Mayfair and the Cotswolds, as well as pop up locations and takeovers for special events – for example, they took over a castle for Cheltenham Festival one year… as you do.
They also established a permanent residence at Fulham Football Club during their time partnering with the club, which started in 2022.
There is another tier too, known as the ‘Private Office’, but apparently, you will get a tap on the shoulder if they want to invite you to this elite level, so I have no idea what goes on in there.
Banking and Money Management
| Method | Min Deposit | Min Withdrawal | Fees | Withdrawal Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Debit Card | £10 | £10 | 0% | 1-5 Days |
| Apple Pay | £10 | n/a | 0% | n/a |
This isn’t a bookmaker that accepts every new payment method under the sun.
I will reiterate that Fitzdares are not the sort of bookmaker who just want your money however you would most like to give it to them.
They do things properly here, more interested in long term relationships that a quick flurry of deposits via a new popular payment method.
So you are limited to more basic payment methods, but that’s no bad thing – at least you know they are safe.
Despite Fitzdares being a higher class of bookmaker, deposit and withdrawal minimums are industry standard, so those with more limited budgets have no need to worry as they can get the same great service at low stakes as those with more to spend.
You may be surprised to see the maximum win limits so low, but this isn’t as cut and dry as it appears. These are the limits per bet, per sport, when placed online.
It should be pointed out that the stated maximums increase for Club Members and those that are part of the Private Office.
Roughly translated, that means that high staking punters can expect more favourable limits that better reflect their spending power. As well as other improved terms no doubt.
Fitzdares know how to take care of their clients to create long term relationships, so if anyone reading this happens to be a high stakes bettor, do reach out to the team at Fitzdares and explain your situation.
Is Fitzdares Recommended for Everyone?
There is an awful lot to recommend about Fitzdares; whether you are a low staking recreational bettor or a gambling loving business magnate wanting a private service, you could happily use Fitzdares as your bookie.
Of course, with all of the additional perks that come with paying for club membership, it’s high stakes punters who will get the very best out of Fitzdares – that’s who the brand is really aimed at.
There is still plenty to attract regular punters though; if customer service is important to you that is Fitzdares’ speciality. Where else can you haggle for better prices, or speak directly to the people coming up with the odds rather than some half trained twenty something in a call centre somewhere?
In terms of markets, horse racing bettors will seriously struggle to find greater depth of market or significantly better prices, and with the promotions and stellar customer service thrown in on top, I honestly think Fitzdares is impossible to beat.
Fitzdares is a bookmaker for serious adults, people who know how to navigate the world of sports betting and understand the way things work. It’s also a place where the customer feels valued, and that is a rare thing indeed in the world of sports betting.
Using the Fitzdares App and Mobile Site
I happen to think that the style Fitzdares have gone for suits the smaller screen better than that of a laptop or computer.
This is only an aesthetic thing, but the site retains that spacious feeling while also retaining a little more of the upmarket vibe.
It’s very responsive to the touch which makes it incredibly satisfying to use, although I did end up trying to horizontally scroll a quick links menu that wasn’t scrollable, so perhaps things like that could be made a little clearer.
It’s a minor point though, in general you will have no problems at all navigating the app or mobile site, whichever suits you best.
Their bet builder works especially well on mobile (they call it Create a Bet) as it helps you progress step by step through the available markets, adding them and removing them from the bet to get the cumulative odds. I use this feature a lot and find it very natural.
One thing I especially like is that the little chat icon giving you access to the support team follows you around from page to page, so you can quickly ping them a message then minimize the chat until they reply, without navigating away from what you are looking at. It’s a similar story with depositing and withdrawing – a temporary box appears to allow you to manage your account, then it’s straight back to browsing or betting.
It all seems so incredibly convenient – again, the brilliant customer service shining through here.
It could perhaps be quicker in terms of load times, when changing the sport you are looking at for example, just a pinch, but in general it’s a great mobile betting experience.
Live Betting and Streaming
You get a lot more in-play features at Fitzdares then I am used to.
For example, looking at a football match you can get the usual visualisation graphic showing second by second movements, you can see some match stats etc., but you also get things like a heat map showing where the action has been taking place, key incidents, detailed lineups with changes, and that sort of thing.
This makes up for the lack of live streaming for most sports, and makes the in-play product incredibly useful and perfect for those with an eye for detail.
Structurally, I’m not so keen on it.
The interface is fine, but you need to scroll a long way from the features I just mentioned to make your bets, because it takes up so much of the screen. I think if they played with the proportions a bit, perhaps made the visualizer and those features ‘sticky’ it would improve things no end.
This is no reason not to use their live betting product though, not by any means, and the whole thing can be minimised if it is getting in the way, it just means you are in an either/or situation and personally, I would prefer not to have t make that choice.
I said there was no streaming on most sports, but you can stream global horse racing at Fitzdares where many other brands only have streaming for races closer to home, as well as UK and Irish greyhound racing from 30 different tracks.
Zooming out and looking at the live betting overview rather than looking at one specific event, and something I really do like is the ability to show events that are in play now, in 3 hours, 12 hours, or 24 hours.
This makes the interface flexible enough to serve the purposes of those who want to zero in on imminent games, and those who want to look ahead and plan. It helps keep things streamlined.
You can make a good selection of bets from the overview screen too, so there is no need to open event view at all if you don’t want or need to. It won’t always make things simpler, but in many cases it could.
Contact and License
- Name: Fitzdares
- URL: fitzdares.com/sportsbook/
- UK Licence ref/No: 400
- Registered Company Name: Fitzdares Limited
- Phone: 020 7851 5407 (support and betting)
- Text Betting: 07492 882213
- E-Mail: Contact form onsite [email protected]
- Live Chat: Available onsite (betting and support)
- Twitter: @Fitzdares
- Registered Company address: Fitzdares Ltd, 182-184 Campden Hill Road, LONDON, W8 7AS, United Kingdom