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Betway UK – Overview & Rating
Betway operates in 11 languages including English, French, Spanish, German, Russian and Indian.
Betway holds a world record for the biggest ever payout on an online slot machine. Back in Oct. 2015, Jon Heywood landed a cool £13,209,000 on the Mega Moolah slot, subsequently verified by Guinness World Record as the largest pay-out of its type.
Not everyone can get that lucky, of course, but Betway continues to offer punters a chance to win – and not just on the slots. Betway operates around the world, holding licenses in about a dozen different territories, and its sportsbook operations are well-known thanks to its sponsorship of top-flight football teams in England, Germany and Spain, the Grand National Festival at Aintree, several other major horse races and various tennis, cricket and snooker events. Betway was also one of the first bookmakers to get involved with Esports. As well as being quick to offer markets on this fast-growing sector, its 2016 sponsorship of ‘Ninjas in Pyjamas’ is believed to be the first tie-up of its type. Today Betway also partners several other Esports teams and competitions, while offering a fully-fledged Esports betting section at www.betway.com.
Since it was founded in 2006, Betway has grown into a big player on the European scene. The Betway site operates in 10 different languages. Its flagship brand at www.betway.com claims to operate in more than 100 countries worldwide. The site incorporates a traditional sportsbook, casino (live and simulated), slots, poker and that groundbreaking Esports offer.
Betway is currently based and regulated in Malta. The company owns Gambling Commission license for the UK punters and holds local licenses in several more European territories, plus South Africa and Mexico.
Layout
The Betway homepage is intuitive. It’s easy to navigate between sportsbook and casino services, key site settings (language, odds format, access to customer support, plus login and registration prompts) are easy to find and the major markets are just below in the next menu bar.
The left sidebar of the site, somewhat needlessly, reproduces much of that information before scrolling into a list of 30+ available sports. It might be neater to cut the first block and go straight to an A-Z list of what we can back.
The centre of the Betway page begins with a panel promoting the current offers – registration bonuses, free bet clubs and the like. Below, we see the day’s boosted odds and the current live markets, filtered by sport.
On the right, there are more details about offers and promotions, as well as space for the bet slip to appear when you’re ready to have a flutter.
Betway offers 4 apps: Betway Sports, Betway Casino, Betway Live Casino, Betway Vegas apps. The apps are available for both Android and iOS devices, except Betway Vegas (only for iOS).
Services
For the most part, there is not any surprise here. Betway does the bulk of its business from its sportsbook and with its roots in Britain and South Africa, there’s a strong emphasis on horse racing, football and cricket also featuring. The Esports offering is something of a stand-out; a superficial look suggests that Betway offers a wider range of Esports markets than most and the firm’s long history in this expanding area makes it a name to trust when looking for fair prices here.
Prices tend to be mid-range: racing from Huntingdon on Nov. 1, 2020, saw few best prices (Betway was well-priced for the 3rd and 4th favourites in the 12:48 and followed the market leaders for the favourite and second favourite in the 13:49, but also had some decidedly skinny offerings in the first race of the day). In the day’s Premier League action, the 3.5 about Arsenal winning at Old Trafford was noticeably ungenerous, as was a 3.4 about the draw in the Everton vs Newcastle fixture. On goals over/under markets, prices were generally ordinary, although a top-price 1.44 for under 3.5 goals at Manchester United might be of some interest.
Live
Betway in-play offering is extensive – and promises plenty of live streams for signed-up members. At present, live streaming in Betway is only possible for users in Britain, Ireland and Sweden. Even without a stream, though, the in-game stats are extensive and there’s a handy little graphic showing how the balance of play has fluctuated between the teams – in this example, the evidence suggests that Leverkusen is coming into the game well after a poor start. Ultimately, Leverkusen won 4-2.
In-play odds on football and tennis, though, are not always among the most generous: it may pay to shop around for your live bets.
If punters are looking for some inspiration, Betway also offers a blog full of predictions and suggestions about upcoming games. There are also some colour features, with Betway ambassador Kevin Pietersen giving an inside view of the IPL cricket championship and horse racing contributions from trainers and jockeys.
Bonuses
Betway welcome bonus is straightforward. Betway offers you to bet £10 (odds of 1.75 or better) and get a free £10 bet to play with. Simple, no fuss, just how we like it. It almost feels wrong to quibble that other sites offer better minimum odds than that. The Betway offer is only available if you use a debit card or Paypal to credit your account, and you must place that first bet within seven days of registering.
There’s more, though. Betway weekly free bet club promises a £10 return if you stake at least £25 on a sports treble or acca. The qualifying bet must be priced at 3.0 or more to secure the freebie.
Other sporting offers of Betway include an automatic payout in the NFL if the team you’re backing opens a 14-point lead and a similar offer about the winner of the first map in selected Esports match-ups. There are also two free-to-enter prediction games with a jackpot on offer if you can pick the winner of four selected races or the first goalscorer in four selected football matches. Even if you’re clueless about racing or football, there’s a random selection that can do the work for you (and no obligation to buy the computer a pint out of your winnings!)
In the Betway casinos, you can get a matching deposit of up to £50 on signing up and there are loyalty and free bet programmes in place if you put sufficient funds through the slots.
Customer support
It’s easy to get access to the Betway help desk – just click on the ‘Support’ tab at the top of the page – and this brings up a searchable FAQ. If you’re still struggling to get the info you need, members can access a live chat and post specific queries. However, there is no evidence of email or phone support.
Registration
Betway’s registration procedure is quick and straightforward. New Betway users fill in a few questions about their personal details – language and currency are auto-filled based on your location – and are invited to set deposit limits on the account to help combat problem gambling.
This information may be checked electronically to verify that prospective users are old enough to place a bet and to protect against money laundering and similar fraudulent activity.
In some cases, new Betway users might be asked to upload scans of addition ID to verify their accounts.
Financial info
UK-based punters can make deposits at Betway using debit cards (Visa or Mastercard), PayPal, Neteller and Rapid Transfer. There is a minimum £5 deposit when using debit cards and the funds can be transferred instantly.
Minimum stakes in Betway are 20p – relatively high – and maximum payouts are capped at £500,000. That’s some way below the market leader, William Hill, but is likely to be more than enough for the casual punter.
Reliability and security
The website of Betway Group, the company behind the betting site, talks at some length about its commitment to safe and honest gambling. Betway boasts that it is one of ‘only a handful of gambling operators’ to achieve the ISO 27001 standard from international testing agency eCOGRA. Betway is a member of three other industry bodies.
However, things don’t always go to plan. A BBC documentary found evidence that Betway had deliberately encouraged a problem gambler to continue betting and, in March 2020, the company received a record-breaking £11.6 million fine for failure to comply with customer protection and money laundering checks. While this is unlikely to impact upon a casual punter,
it’s a salutary reminder that gambling should never be taken to extremes.
What’s missing?
Betway is a good contender in a crowded marketplace but would be hard to single out as the best in the business. Maybe the Betway welcome bonus could offer to match bets of slightly more than £10, maybe some of its odds could be a touch more generous. Overall, though, there’s enough to recommend this one – not least the prospect of a weekly free bet to keep your pot ticking over. And, if you’re interested in betting on Esports, Betway really is the place to be at the moment.
Betway offers 4 apps: Betway Sports, Betway Casino, Betway Live Casino, Betway Vegas apps. All of the apps are available for iOS platforms and can be found on the App Store. As for Android platforms, only Betway Vegas is not available. The Android apps are available on the Play Store.
Deposit
You can fund deposits in Betway through VISA and Mastercard cards, Neteller, PayPal, MuchBetter and Rapid Transfer. The minimum deposit is £10 for cards and Neteller and unlimited for PayPal and MuchBetter. The maximum sum is unlimited for cards and MuchBetter, £35,000 for Neteller and 5,5000 for PayPal. The processing time is instant. No commission held by the bookmaker for deposits.
Withdrawal
The withdrawal can be made via VISA and Mastercard cards, Neteller and PayPal. The minimum withdrawal sum is £10 for all methods except for PayPal (unlimited). The maximum is £30,000 for VISA, £35,000 for Neteller, £5,500 for PayPal and unlimited for Mastercard. The processing time is 3-5 business days for cards and 24-48 hours for Neteller and PayPal. No commission charged by the bookmaker for withdrawals.
Deposit | Withdrawal | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Sum | Time | Commission | Sum | Time | Commission | |
from £10 to unlimited | instant | 0% | from £10 to £30,000 | 2-3 business days | 0% | |
from £10 to unlimited | instant | 0% | from £10 to unlimited | 2-3 business days | 0% | |
from £10 to £35,000 | instant | 0% | from £10 to £35,000 | 24-48 h. | 0% |
Betway accepts 10 currencies including British pounds, Euro and US dollars.
as an arbitrator
Confiscate winnings
Betway offers a standard package of support service options: phone call, email and live chat. You can avail of the live chat only if you are a registered user.
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