Betdaq Review

• Overall Info
• Betdaq Sportsbook Review
• Betdaq Exchange
• Betdaq Casino review
• Customer Service
• Bonuses
• Betdaq Tips
• Deposit and Withdrawal
• Special Betting Options
• Mobile Apps
• Our verdict
• Customer Review

Betdaq is a well-known betting exchange and a sportsbook with casino activities. Punters mainly opt for Betdaq for its exchange services, but although it has existed for almost thirty years, it still remains the second largest betting exchange after Betfair. In this Betdaq review, we will give you a detailed description of their products, pros, and cons and will try to figure out why it failed to become the top exchange or a leading sportsbook.

Overall Info

Betdaq is a gambling platform with a complete set of activities, including a sportsbook and a casino. It is mainly famous though as the second largest world’s betting exchange for professional and recreational punters and offers a number of helpful software tools for automated trading.

The exchange, a sportsbook, and a casino are available at two websites: Betdaq.com and Betdaq.co.uk. Both sites offer the same services but are not related to each other and require different accounts for each.

The list used to be a bit longer until 2021, when New Zealand, Argentina, and Belarus were excluded. The main betting focus becomes evident: most of the betting offer is focused on meeting the needs of British gamblers, though a Chinese version of the website may imply an attempt to expand the services to the Asian market.

Betdaq History

Betdaq’s founder is Dermot Desmond, famous for being the largest shareholder of Celtic Football Club. He launched Betdaq in 2000, and it started operating as a betting exchange service in 2001. Later the business grew into a fully-equipped gambling platform with a sportsbook, casino, and virtual sports and gained the status of the second largest betting exchange after Betfair. In the mid-2000s, the headquarters of Betdaq was moved to Gibraltar from Dublin, and in 2013 the company was sold to one of the oldest British bookmakers, Ladbrokes but still operates under the Betdaq brand.

Betdaq official website

Bookmaker License

Ladbrokes Coral, or LC International Limited, owning Betdaq, has three gambling licenses, allowing it to operate legally in and outside Great Britain. To provide the services to British punters, LC International holds a permit from the United Kingdom Gambling Commission with license reference number 54743. Operations in Jersey and Gibraltar are supported by the Gibraltar Gambling Commissioner license (reference numbers 010, 012, and 104).

Finally, LC International has legal approval from the Republic of Ireland gambling authorities and holds the licenses from the local commissioners for casino games and sports betting services.

All licenses are issued by the top-tier gambling authorities and guarantee complete customer protection in all cases.

How to create an account?

To start your experience with Betdaq and create your betting exchange account, you must first press the Join Now Button in the upper right corner of the site. You will see a pop-up window with a registration form, and you will have to indicate your name, date of birth, and email address. The next step includes choosing a country and entering the address and a phone number. Finally, fill in the username, choose a password, and a security question. There is no quicker registration method, for instance, via a social network. Your Betdaq login and password will be valid to place bets on the sportsbook and for playing casino games.

The registration form includes 3 steps

Betdaq Sportsbook Review

Mainly famous as a betting exchange, Betdaq has a traditional sportsbook, where you can make bets playing against a bookmaker if you do not feel experienced enough to trade via an exchange. Looking ahead, we must note Betdaq’s sportsbook is pretty mediocre and does not offer anything extraordinary in terms of betting options, number of covered sports, or odds.

Still, you can wager on sports popular in Great Britain and worldwide: the line includes Horse Racing, Tennis, Cricket, Soccer, Greyhounds, Darts, Olympic Games, and more — no more than twenty sports overall. The odds are only available in Decimal format.

Pre Match line

As we have already mentioned, Betdaq does not have many superior offers for fixed-odds betting. Soccer takes the most part of the line so you can find markets for most of the world’s leagues: Betdaq sportsbook covers Olympic Football, English Soccer, American Football, and clubs from Iceland, Peru, Brazilia, Bolivia, Slovenia, Switzerland, China, Belgium, Australia, and more. However, a rare match will have a generous choice of bets with various props: a standard coverage involves only several most typical betting options as follows:

• Match Odds;
• Both Teams to Score;
• Half Time/Full Time;
• Totals.

Surprisingly, Tennis lines can be more saturated than the soccer ones; however, it relates to a range of selected events, while most matches do not involve more than Set Results and Match Betting.

Bet line

For your convenience, you can use Football Statistics showing you the current shape of teams, match results, or monitor how they perform within the season.

Live betting

The In-Play line of Betdaq can involve more markets than the pre-match one; it also has the biggest selection of betting options on Soccer and may involve up to fifty markets on a single event.

Things get a bit better if you want to opt for Horse Racing: at least you can enjoy the events via live streaming service and use the Best Odds Guaranteed offer for all UK and Irish races. You can cash out your bets and wager at the current odds, but generally, there is nothing in Betdaq’s fixed-odds sportsbook that you can not find at any industry’s standard bookmaker.

Betdaq Odds

Being primarily an exchange, Betdaq is not much interested in attracting customers by providing them with industry-high odds or lucrative margins. The average margin is approximately 7% for pre-match bets and can reach 10% for live markets, so it is not a platform where you can find valuable prices or at least some unusual rare betting options.

As a betting exchange, Betdaq provides a much more profitable offer, with the lowest commission and better choice of markets; we will review Betdaq trading in the next part of the article.

Betdaq Exchange

As the second biggest betting exchange in the industry, Betdaq Exchange inspires confidence and hope to a wide variety of liquid markets. They do have valuable offers but compared to Betfair, the world’s largest exchange and Betdaq’s direct opponent, the latter one is significantly more limited in terms of odds and available events. The number of sports is bigger than you can find in their sportsbook division, and the major focus is still maintained on Soccer.

Betdaq Commission

One of Betdaq’s features is their commission: it only charges you 2% no matter what the amount of your winnings is and 3% for accumulator bets. This is the most generous offer in the industry, which can be even lower during particular promotion periods. A number of selected markets go commission-free (for instance, Betdaq offered zero commission for EURO 2020 events), and overall, there are no extra fees like the other exchanges have.

However, many punters point out that the low commission can not compensate for the overall low liquidity of markets. For instance, if a significant event has a total amount of betting offers equal to about $1,000,000, the same market can not exceed $100,000 at Betdaq, so the industry-low commission here does not always mean a more profitable trade.

Betting Exchange Line

The main feature of the exchange line is Soccer, represented by a large number of leagues and events, including the top famous tournaments and niche games in minor leagues. Overall, there are about twenty disciplines, including the most popular British sports: Greyhound Racing, Horse Racing, Golf, Cricket, and Tennis. The offer also involves Olympics, American Football, Rugby, Australian Rules, Formula One, and Politics.

The number of available markets for matching varies depending on an event. One of Betdaq’s features is their Asian Handicaps, which are not very typical for British and European bookies and exchanges. Still, this option is not included for every match, so the line can be pretty limited.

Betdaq Exchange line

For instance, a regular game within the Europa Conference League-Qualification can have the following line:

• Match Odds: Team 1/Draw/Team 2;
• Draw No Bet;
• Both Teams to Score;
• Double Chance;
• Half-Time;
• Full-Time;
• Over/Under;
• Correct Score;
• Both Teams to Score.

Horse Racing includes all UK, Irish, and Australian Racing and daily Virtual Horse Racing events and are streamed via a broadcasting service right on the website.

The In-Play section of the Betdaq betting exchange involves at least ten games to trade daily, but the number of available markets is not the biggest one. For example, a tennis match may involve only Match Betting, Set Betting, and Set Winner options, while American football and Soccer games can have Asian Handicaps and a range of Team or Player specials. The Asian Handicap markets have the highest liquidity compared to the other Betdaq’s offers and usually gain most of the money pool. However, if a top popular soccer tournament may involve about £50,000 matched, a regular game or an event within other sports may not exceed £5,000.

Betdaq Casino review

The first thing that strikes the eye when you visit the Betdaq casino section is a very retro design; it looks like it has never changed since it was added to the website in the last decade. The library contains only 199 titles, including slots and a small choice of table games, so a casino is obviously not one of Betdaq’s features. The games are powered by multiple providers, including Play’N Go, VGC, Eyecon, RNG, Gaminator.

Getting back to the casino’s section layout, there are no search options. You can not sort the games by a provider or in alphabetical order and will have to make shifts with the selections of categories offered by Betdaq.

Another disappointing thing is the absence of any live dealer games: you can only play slots and virtual card games, and roulette. You can opt for two Virtual sports instead: Virtual Horses and Virtual Dogs.

Casino games

Slots

As we have already mentioned, slots are a major part of the overall casino activities. The library consists of the following categories:

• Jackpots: sixty-three titles, divided into 250k, 150k, and 100k jackpots. Besides, there is an Exclusive Jackpots tab with the games from the Book Series, Megaways Slots, and popular titles like Super Fortune Wheel or Spin A Win;
• Arcade Games: fifty-seven titles, including Clover Rollover, Kiss Me Clover Jackpot, Da Vinci Diamonds, Cleopatra Plus, and more;
• Virtual Sports: Horse and Dog Racing;
• Exclusive Slots: the selection of the top popular titles like Aztec Gold, Dazzling Sun, Jail Break, Book of Horus;
• Table Games: ten games as follows: five Roulette games (25p, French, UK, American, and European Roulette Pro), Lucky Star, and four Blackjack variants.

Although a casino section looks incomplete and an uncared-for part of Betdaq, you can see new games appearing in the library from time to time. Still, this Betdaq section is not much worth a long review and can be considered as nothing more than a small bonus for exchange customers.

Customer Service

To contact Betdaq support, you must press the ‘Help’ button. You will be transferred to the Zendesk page dedicated to the Help Center with a comprehensive FAQ section containing more than a hundred articles on accounts, payments, betting services, and the most common issues. You can use a search bar and find the articles by keywords. If you do not see the information you require, you can opt for the following contact methods:

• Live Chat: available from Monday to Saturday from 9 a.m. until 8 p.m. and on Sundays from 9:30 a.m. to 8 p.m.;
• Email: [email protected];
• Phone: UK, Ireland, and Row; Monday to Saturday from 8 a.m. until 10 p.m, Sunday 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. During working hours, you can receive limited support for urgent cases.

The customer support agents perform professionally and monitor reviews on the independent sources to solve the issues and provide all customers with feedback.

Bonuses

Although betting with Betdaq is more suitable for high-rollers and professional punters, who primarily hunt for profits rather than bonuses and promotions, this sportsbook has a range of offers for new and existing customers. All bonuses are exclusively related to the sports betting activities; some of them can be applied for both exchange and a sportsbook, while the others are available for only one of the sections.

Betdaq casino gaming enthusiasts will not find a single promotion at Betdaq, which was pretty predictable, though, after a single look at the modest casino games library. To check the complete list of available bonuses and get acquainted with the terms and conditions of each, visit the Betdaq Promotions tab at the Betdaq page. Many of them require a special Betdaq promo code.

Betdaq Tips

Betdaq Tips a section located on a separate webpage; the link to this page is available at the main menu of the Betdaq site. This page is dedicated to insights for Racing, Tennis, Soccer, and Golf. You can find relevant articles using a search bar or read the latest updates.

For instance, if you want to place exchanges on Wimbledon, you can read a review of the current season and get recommendations on the most lucrative betting markets and Lay or Back tips for a particular event. A large part of the blog consists of general trading tips and reviews of the more exquisite betting and exchange strategies from experts.

A special section is dedicated to the Insider column, where Betdaq publishes information about upcoming horse racing events and valuable tips for exchange and sportsbook betting. The blog is not updated regularly: about three articles are added in two or three months, so if you want to receive every major event highlighted by the experts, you’d better search for more sources.

Betdaq tips section

Deposit and Withdrawal

Betdaq has a limited number of banking options, but it is probably enough for a gambling platform with a betting pool from only four countries. The number of currencies is also limited to two options: EUR and GBP.

You can use the following methods:

• Visa/Mastercard/Revolut debit cards;
• Visa/Mastercard credit cards: the option is not available for the UK customers;
• Skrill;
• Neteller;
• Moneybookers;
• PayPal;
• Bank Transfer.

All withdrawal methods are free of charge and do not take more than five days. The processing time varies depending on the option:

• Credit and Debit cards: two-five days;
• Neteller/Skrill: up to 24 hours;
• Bank Transfer: from one to five days.

Before you make a withdrawal, you must go through the identity verification procedure and send your passport, driving license, or a personal ID, and verify your address.

An important note about Betdaq deposits is their net loss limits. Betdaq reserves the right to restrict certain users from making deposits or request withdrawals if they exceed a particular net loss limit; however, the actual limit amount is not specified.

Special Betting Options

Among Betdaq’s features that set it apart from the other large exchanges is its betting tools. Experienced punters usually opt for special software for process automation and have to invest in betting tools. Betdaq offers their own legal software free of charge; the tools are available on a dedicated part of the website and involve the following options:

• Betdaq API: a set of files allowing you to use markets and Betdaq odds information for your own website or an app. In other words, you can exploit Betdaq’s data for any betting needs;
• Bet Angel: a tool allowing you to place orders on the exchange automatically; it has a simplified interface and helps punters to find the most liquid markets, automatically cash out bets, and trade without any efforts;
• Geeks Toy-Free: a tool similar to Bet Angel more suitable for beginning bettors due to a more convenient interface;
• Gruss Software: a downloadable assistant program used as an alternative to Betdaq’s standard interface for more convenient trading;
• Bet Bot Pro: the bot is downloaded on your PC and connects to Betdaq; you must select the preferred events and set the bot according to your trading strategy, and it will monitor the markets independently;
• BQ Bot Manager: a paid program with a monthly fee providing you with fully managed automatic betting. It is capable of applying various strategies and can serve as an information tool with the latest updates of the statistics and scores. You can try the Bot Manager in the free mode as a trading simulator to practice or test various strategies.

Besides, Betdaq has a range of more specific betting services, but we still regard them as extra features. For instance, you can request a full or partial Cash Out (it is a standard betting option for a betting exchange which became almost an intrinsic part of any sportsbook). The exchange accumulator bets are called multiples; Betdaq allows you to place Trixie and Yankee bets. Punters can use the SP function, called XSP at Betdaq: when you choose this option, your unmatched bets remain in the market till the first minutes of the event.

However, Betdaq lacks a range of important services for traders: they do not offer live statistics and the odds fluctuation charts. Instead, they provide you with a visual comparison of Betdaq’s and the other bookmakers’ odds, horse racing results, and the Tips section, which we have discussed earlier in the review.

Mobile Apps

BetDaq features two mobile apps for each of its main products. The first app is entirely focused on the betting exchange service, and another app is for a sportsbook. Both Betdaq mobile apps are available for Apple and Android devices, but you must use a direct link from the Betdaq.com or Betdaq.co.uk mobile website to download the Android version. The app for Apple phones and tablets is available in the App Store.

The apps’ layout looks better than the desktop website and may seem more convenient for many punters. All betting services are the same as on the website, and as the apps are not overwhelmed by various activities, they work smoothly without any lags.

Betting Exchange app specifications:

Sports Betting app specifications:

Our verdict

The first thing that we appreciate in Betdaq is its reputation and security; it meets all modern standards of customer protection and safety and does not experience any issues with quick withdrawals and overall treatment towards the customers. However, we have found a range of complaints related to your Betdaq account blockage: they were related to the allowed countries’ rules violation or with regular big winnings. Information about various cases with restricting the winners from the sportsbook and exchange is a bit disturbing, but the winning limits are still high enough for high rollers, and many professional punters keep using Betfair. Another feature is their free trading tools.

If you want to trade on a respectable British-facing exchange with the lowest commission, you will like Betdaq. However, it has a range of cons that include the market’s liquidity, a small range of sports in the line, and a very small number of accepted countries. The sportsbook and casino do not stand out from the other small-revenue projects and can be used just for fun to distract from trading.

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