- Overall info
- Betfred Sportsbook Review
- Betfred Casino Review
- Betfred Bonuses
- Deposit and withdrawal
- Special betting options
- Bet Fred app
- Our verdict
- Customer Review
Betfred is one of the oldest and largest bookmakers in the global gambling industry, with more than a thousand brick-and-mortar sports betting offices worldwide and two websites: the one for the British, Irish, and Gibraltarian gamblers, and a separate platform for the US bettors. Our Betfred reviews, including this one, consider its pros and cons and describe the essential points: Betting lines, odds, customer support, Casino, and more.
Overall info
Betfred, the gambling platform, focuses on British sports bettors and accepts users from Ireland and Gibraltar, countries covered by their licenses. Besides a bookmaking service, Betfred offers Casino, live dealer casino, Tote, lottery, and bingo games. Being one of the oldest gambling companies, Betfred has gained a high reputation among gamblers and became one of the most popular British bookmakers.
Betfred history
Betfred was founded in Great Britain in 1967 and performed as an offline bookmaker for many years with more than three hundred betting offices throughout the country. In 2004, they launched their digital betting platform and started offering their services to the international audience. In 2011, Betfred became the owner of the Tote, the largest British betting pool. Besides, it had a range of serious endorsement deals with various sports leagues: for instance, they sponsored Rugby Super League, World Snooker Championships, Scottish League Cup, Manchester United, and several famous horse racing events all over Great Britain. In 2019, they started offering their services to American users and created a separate website called Betfred Sports for Colorado, Iowa, Pennsylvania, and Nevada citizens.
Bookmaker license
Betfred is a double-licensed sportsbook, approved and regulated by the top-tier gambling commissions: The United Kingdom Gambling Commission and Gibraltar Betting and Gaming Association. The main advantage of such licenses for online bookmakers and casinos members is that both organizations are responsible for their commissioners’ operations. If you have any complaints about the gambling website and you can not find a solution with their advisors, you can apply to Gibraltar or the UK Gambling Commissions directly.
Betfred Sportsbook Review
The sportsbook offers a pretty standard variety of sports disciplines and entertainment betting offers. There are approximately twenty-five sports you can wager on American Football, Soccer, Horse Racing, Greyhound Racing, Motorsports, MMA, Basketball, Australian Football, Tennis, and more.
As a British bookmaker, Betfred focuses on horse and dog races worldwide and covers almost every racing event in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, and the United States with competitive odds and various betting options.
The overall design of the sportsbook may seem a bit complicated, especially if you are a beginning bettor; however, it is still possible to get used to the layout as it is still user-friendly.
For your convenience, you can choose between three odds formats: American, Decimal, and Fractional. Some users, though, complain about Betfred Decimal odds format: it regularly becomes unavailable. The minimum bet starts from £0.01, and the maximum payout can reach £1,000,000 as some horse and soccer markets have very high betting limits.
Pre Match line
The pre-match line involves various Soccer markets; the best coverage is offered for the English soccer leagues; there are also many markets for the top European leagues, for instance, Spanish La Liga, French Ligue 1, Italian Series A, Champions League. Top soccer events may include up to hundred markets with various props, like Yellow cards, Red cards, and player props, for instance, the first goalscorer.
There is also a rich coverage for the other British sports, which are not so elaborated at the international bookmakers — Snooker, Cricket, Rugby, Tennis, Horse Racing, and Greyhound Racing. Among special offers, you can find such markets as Alternative Handicap Basketball and Alternative Handicap Tennis.
Although Betfred seems to be a very traditional and even old-fashioned bookmaker in some sense, it has a pretty decent offer for eSports betting. Among the eSports disciplines, you can find the following titles at Betfred:
- Counter-Strike: GO;
- Dota 2;
- FIFA;
- League of Legends;
- Call of Duty;
- Starcraft;
- Overwatch
Besides, you can wager on Virtual sports in the dedicated division of Betfred. It involves virtual horses, football, greyhounds, darts, and more.
Being a sizeable independent bookmaker, Betfred mainly offers its own odds and forecasts for various events. They regularly update odds and add new markets daily. However, while Soccer, Horse Racing, Cricket, Basketball, and Tennis lines are very saturated, the other sports and niche leagues do not usually include more than traditional Moneyline, Handicaps, and Totals.
The pre-match section involves daily special offers with the best available odds of the day, and the promotions section has various bonuses for pre-match betting.
Live betting
The live betting section of Betfred offers thousands of events for wagering per week, and you can find pretty lucrative odds for Soccer and Horse Racing. Unfortunately, Betfred does not provide live streaming for soccer games, but you can use live statistics with visual graphics. Top soccer games can contain about thirty markets and different props. There is also a pretty in-depth coverage for Tennis and Snooker, with about twenty markets overall, including Handicaps and exotic bets.
Punters who are keen on wagering on horse and dog racing get access to live streaming of all UK and Irish races if they placed at least a £1 bet on a related event. You can also watch live streams of Tennis, Snooker, and Basketball games.
For bettors’ convenience, there is a schedule of the upcoming events available for play-in wagering. The odds are updated in time, and the overall odds quality and an average payout are decent enough, while the margins can significantly vary depending on a game and a league. Live betting is available from the mobile version and works fine, allowing punters to place their bets quickly.
Among the in-play options, Betfred allows Cash-out; however, you can only opt for the full Cash Out, but partial or automatic cashing-out options are not available.
Betfred odds
Betfred varies from sport to sport; although the overall margin is about 7%, which is rather mediocre, it is still possible to find very lucrative markets. The best odds Betfred can offer are for the Soccer and especially British leagues. Besides, you can find some competitive offers for the NHL and indeed horse and greyhound races. Some horse racing events have the best odds among the other bookmakers, so many punters opt for Betfred as their favorite horse book. If we speak about the exact margins for the most popular sports, they are the following:
- Soccer: depends on the league and even the match very much. For instance, the English Premier League margin can be 2,5%, which is one of the most lucrative offers worldwide. However, less popular events can have a margin of approximately 9%-10%;
- American Football: 4%-5%;
- Ice Hockey: 4%-5%;
- Basketball (mostly NBA): approximately 5%;
- Tennis: may vary from 5% to 8%.
Betfred Casino Review
Betfred Online Casino consists of four parts: Games, Casino, Vegas, and Live Casino.
The Games tab is a collection of arcade gambling titles. The casino is a library of table games and slots. The Live Casino involves a selection of live dealer tables, available 24/7. Vegas is a separate library of slots and table games typical for classical Las Vegas casinos.
Although the main focus of Betfred is sports betting, and it bills itself as a great bookmaker, the casino gaming at Betfred is upscale. Betfred cooperates with various top-tier software providers; among them are the following titles:
- 1X2 Gaming;
- Big Time Gaming;
- NextGen;
- Red Tiger;
- Microgaming;
- Pragmatic Play;
- BluePrint, and more.
The overall selection in Betfred Casino is pretty modest compared to the other digital casinos, but you will find all typical activities in different versions.
Slots
You can find slots and other table games under three tabs: Vegas, Games, and Casino.
The first one, Vegas, has a convenient structure so that you could easily choose from the following titles:
- Featured Games: top selection of Betfred;
- New Games, added regularly;
- Volatile Slots: a collection of sixteen titles, including Jackpot Cherries, Burning Desire, Mystery Spin Deluxe;
- Table Games: thirteen games with some high-roller options, for instance, European Roulette High-Stakes. Besides, you can opt for various video poker versions and Blackjack;
- Three-reel slots: forty-two titles of classical fruit machines;
- Jackpots: Nine games with pools reaching more than £3,000,000.
The Casino division is a bit larger, with more than three hundred slots and table games. Here you will find more jackpot slots, including the Age of Gods series.
Among the top picks of the Games division are the following famous gaming titles:
- Starburst, one of the most popular Netent slots;
- Irish Pot Luck slot, another famous Netent’s product;
- Cleopatra Gold by IGT Gaming company.
Betfred publishes the RTP percentage for all games on their website; the average slots RTP is about 95%; Roulette’s RTP varies from 94% to 97% depending on a Roulette type; the Blackjack’s return to player is approximately 99,5%.
Live Casino
The Live Casino library is powered by Playtech. It contains eighty-one live dealer games titles and features five exclusive Betfred-branded games:
- Betfred Roulette;
- Betfred French Roulette;
- Three Exclusive Betfred Blackjacks.
Besides, you can opt for twenty-three Roulettes, twenty-eight Blackjacks, and six Game Shows: Dear or No Deal, Free Live Trivia, Spin-A-Win, Adventures Beyond Wonderland, God of Storms, and Buffalo Blitz Live.
The Casino is aimed at various types of gamblers, including high-rollers. For instance, the stakes may vary from £5 to £7,500 for various Blackjack tables and many other options in between, so you can easily find an option comfortable for you.
Betfred Live Casino works stable from desktop and mobile devices, and all games are available for playing without downloading any software. There are regular updates, and you can check out new titles under a dedicated tab.
Customer Service
If you have any issues or require any information, you must opt for one of Betfred’s sections: Help and Contact Us. The first tab will lead you to a large help center where you will find answers to the most frequent questions, from the general sportsbook rules, deposit and withdrawal methods, or account creating procedure, to details about betting on every sport in Betfred line and a general sports betting glossary.
If you have not found an answer in the FAQ section, you can contact the customer support advisors via the Contact Us section, divided into three parts: Sports, Casino, and Games. They offer the following contact methods:
- Online form for reactivation of blocked accounts;
- Live Chat: separate chats in English for Casino and Sports;
- Phone calls: a local UK number and a number for international calls;
- Email: three separate addresses for Casino, games, and sports betting.
The customer service is available 24/7; the live chat advisors reply within five minutes, and it takes up to several hours to receive a reply via email. Overall, Betfred customer support provides the members with high-quality service, and there are no severe complaints about them.
Betfred Bonuses
Betfred sportsbook is pretty generous in terms of bonuses and promotions; however, they apply various restrictions. For instance, a number of promotions are available exclusively for UK citizens. There are two welcome bonuses, both with a country restriction, and different seasonal and regular promotions for sports bettors and casino players. Besides, there is a range of payment method restrictions for some bonuses.
To check all available bonuses, you must first choose the section (Sports or Games) and enter the tab Promotions. The main Betfred’s focus is sports betting, so the number of sports promotions is significantly more considerable; most bonuses are related to Soccer and horse racing.
Bonus type | Bonus conditions |
---|---|
Welcome bonus | Register a Betfred account, make a first deposit, and place the first bet of £10. You will receive £30 in free bet within ten hours after your first wager. The offer is valid within seven days after the registration. |
Temporary EURO 2020 Welcome Bonus | Use a promo code EURO40 when you register, place a £10 on a qualifying EURO 2020 event, and receive £40 in free bets. You can not use the bonus if you make your deposit with an e-wallet or a prepaid card. |
Build Your Own Bet cashback | Create your own bets on any EURO match with England; if your bet loses, you will receive the stake back (up to £10, in the form of the free bet). |
Football – Acca Insurance | If only one bet in your football accumulator loses, you will receive the stake back as a free bet; the maximum refund is £10. Mind the qualifying games, accumulators, and markets. |
Horse Racing: Free bet is second | Place a bet on a winner in the selected race. If a horse you wagered on comes second, you will receive up to £10 as a free bet. |
Casino Welcome Offer: Free Spins | Use a promo code GAMES100 when you register, bet on Slots £10 or more, and receive 100 free spins on Starburst slot |
Casino Welcome Offer: Free Cash | Use a promo code 5FREE when you register, deposit £5 or more, and receive £5. |
Deposit and withdrawal
Betfred is not very generous in terms of deposits and withdrawals; you can not opt for cryptocurrency methods, and UK-issued credit cards are not accepted, too. However, all standard methods, including international e-wallets, are available. An important note: Betfred insists on requesting withdrawals to the same payment system you used for a deposit. If you want to withdraw funds back to the deposit method, Betfred can request you to send them additional documents, making the procedure last longer.
Deposit
You can deposit to Betfred with the following methods:
- Non-UK Visa credit and debit cards;
- UK Visa, Maestro, and Mastercard debit cards;
- PayPal;
- Neteller;
- Skrill;
- Bank Transfer;
- PaySafeCard;
- Betfred Shops.
The minimum deposit is £5 for all methods, but the Bank Transfer, where you must deposit at least £85.
Betfred withdrawal
Withdrawals are available with the same methods used for deposits; the terms and conditions vary for different options; use the list below to check Betfred withdrawal time and fees.
- Non-UK Visa credit and debit cards: withdrawal limits are £5-£9,999; fees depend on the bank;
- UK Visa, Maestro, and Mastercard debit cards: withdrawal limits are £5-£9,999; fees are not charged;
- Paypal: withdrawal limits are £5-£5,000; fees are not charged; withdrawal time is about 48 hours;
- Neteller: withdrawal limits are £5-£4,000; 2% fee is charged;
- Skrill: withdrawal limits are £5-£6,500; fees are not charged;
- Bank Transfer: minimum withdrawal is £25, and there is no limit for a maximum withdrawal; fees are not charged once a month, all other fees are the subject of £12 for a standard transaction, and £25 for an urgent request;
- Betfred Shops: withdrawals up to £250 can be collected at the shop on the day of request; the larger withdrawals are processed within 48 hours. Before visiting a shop, you must call the customer support number and specify the address where you want to pick your winnings.
Special betting options
Betfred has a range of special options for making the betting experience more lucrative and different. Among them are the following offers:
- Pick Your Punt: Betfred’s version of a pretty popular Create Your Bet service. A bettor can pick one of the qualifying events at the PickYourPunt section on the Betfred website and customize your bet. However, if there is nothing suitable for you, you can suggest your option by posting your bet on Twitter with the hashtag #PickYourPunt;
- Early Price for Horse Racing: if you place a bet at early odds and the starting price becomes bigger, you will receive a payout at the higher price. The offer is valid exclusively for certain UK, Irish, or International horse races;
- Best Odds Guaranteed: UK, Irish, and a range of International horse racing bets are qualified for the best odds. This offer is applicable to the bets that you place after 8 a.m. on race day. If the starting price is higher than the price you have managed to catch at the moment of wagering, you will eventually have the best available price;
- Cash Out: if you think that your pick was incorrect and the bet is going to lose, you can cash out the full amount of your stake before the game or the race ends. Betfred does not allow Partial Cash Out.
Bet Fred app
Betfred has a mobile version of their gambling platform, but you can also download a native app, available in iOS and Android stores. The apps do not require much space and have a convenient layout with all markets and betting features of the desktop version. With an app, you can claim the same bonuses, participate in promotions, place pre-match and live bets, and access live streams. However, you can not gamble at Betfred casinos or play other games with an app as it is exclusively available for mobile betting, so if you want to enter a poker room, play slots, or join live dealer casino tables on the go, you must opt for the non-downloadable mobile version.
To download the Betfred app for Apple devices, you can simply search it in the AppStore. To get the Android app, you must first enter the Betfred mobile version, find a tab ‘Betfred Sports app’ and download it at the link; make sure you have enabled ‘Allow downloading from unknown sources’ options in your phone settings.
Mobile app platform | Specifications |
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iOS |
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Android |
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Our verdict
Betfred sportsbook and casino is a very secure closed platform available exclusively for three countries, which allows them to thoroughly develop their services and maintain a focus on their strongest sides, which involves horse and greyhound racing, English Soccer events, and special betting options for a range of British-focused sports disciplines. Overall, the sportsbook has many lucrative betting offers, but it still remains a pretty niche bookmaker and a somewhat mediocre casino.
Betfred is very strict in terms of security and you might have to go through a very long procedure of your identity verification before you can withdraw any winnings; however, they payout and there are no severe complaints about their products, customer service, and overall performance. To sum up, we recommend Betfred to everyone who is eligible to use their services, and regard it as a decent bookmaker for punters with a special interest in particular sports.
Betfred.com, the primary domain, is exclusively available for three countries: Gibraltar, Great Britain, and Ireland. However, they have launched a separate platform for the US gamblers called Betfred Sports. In the USA, you can bet via the Betfred Android and iOS apps, desktop websites, and local betting shops working in a range of states.
Betfred holds two licenses: of the United Kingdom Gambling Commission and Gibraltar Gambling Commission. You can double-check this information at the official websites of each commission. The UKGC license number is 39544 and the Gibraltar license is RGL no. 036 & 038. Both licensing organs are regarded as one of the strictest commissions that regularly monitor and regulate the operations of their approved gambling platforms.
Betfred poker room has the same access restrictions as the other gambling activities. You can gamble in the Betfred poker room if you are a resident of Gibraltar, Great Britain, or Ireland. If you enter the poker room from any restricted location, your account can be zeroed and blocked at any time.
Betfred offers various welcome bonuses for Sports bettors and Casino players. A standard welcome offer for a sportsbook is a £30 free bet given for the first bet of £10. This offer is only available for UK residents. Besides, there is a temporary welcome bonus of £40 in free bets; you can claim it after you make a £10 bet on a qualifying EURO-2020 match.
There are also welcome promotions for casino games. You can use the GAMES100 promo code and bet at least £10 on slots to gain 100 free spins on the Starburst slot. Another option is the 5FREE promo code, giving you £5 of free cash after the first deposit of at least £5.