Betfair Sports Review - 9.6/10

Betfair is the world's premier sports betting exchange. A community of sports enthusiasts can trade on whether a possible outcome will happen (back) or not happen (lay). This innovative betting medium allows punters to bet against each other and set their preferred odds, without any limits on how much they can attempt to wager in any given market. The Betfair platform holds the money from both ‘backer’ and ‘layer’ until the outcome is known, retaining a commission (between 2-5%) on all winning bets.

Site Layout & User Experience

Betfair have struggled with site issues over the last 12 months because visitors reached a tipping point. They have in some ways become victims of the uniqueness of their proposition and their mass popularity. Whilst you can easily reach an array of sporting markets from a left hand navigation bar, Betfair is still trying to allow more upcoming events to be available to their customers by a single click from their homepage.  The strength of football betting prompted Betfair to introduce a flash based football section. Since its launch, this section has been consistently slow, which is causing much debate across Betfair’s highly active and engaging forum. Betfair’s mobile application has launched successfully across Android, iPhone, and iPad.

Range of Betting Options

Betfair hosts odds on more than 40 sports, and at any time there can be as many as 11,600 betting markets on the site. The nature of the Betfair exchange is that the punters drive a fairer market price, and winning dividend, than found from a bookmaker. The volumes that Betfair attracts means that they are normally the best place to go for the highest return on your bet. Betfair’s international focus means they cater for markets across 25 national football leagues and even cover special markets, such as Poland’s version of Pop Idol!

In-Running Focus

Betfair offers in-running markets on all of premier events, which attract a high level of volume. These would certainly include Premier League Football, any cricket test match or UK horse race. Over the last 2 years, they have offered live video streams to customers placing a minimum bet of £2 on a related in-running market. Unfortunately for Betfair, integration of live streams has proved erratic. This is a particular concern to their in-running horse racing players who often do not bet if live pictures are unavailable. It is still impossible to use Betfair’s live video section with Google Chrome, which causes a major issue for the retention of their in-running player base.

Promotions

Betfair’s promotions are very limited due to the nature of the exchange against a traditional bookmaking firm. They offer a loyalty points scheme upon signup that is based on turnover, but frankly for the lower to medium staking player, it is unlikely they would see any upside or physical return. In terms of benefits to the high staking player, Premium account holders are often offered free trips to sports and entertainment events. These offers are totally at the discretion of Betfair.

Support

Betfair offers email and telephone support, but not through ‘Live Chat’ facility. Support levels are increased and segregated for Premium Account Holders.

Payment

Betfair offers the fullest possible range of deposit options via all major credit cards. Betfair protects sensitive customer data using SSL encryption during transmission and uses 128-bit SSL Verisign Class 3 Certificate. All e-wallet solutions, like Moneybookers and Paypal are offered within the site. Withdrawals back to your credit card can take as little as two working days with a commitment to returning funds within five working days.

In Summary - Betfair Pro’s & Con’s

Betfair Pros

• Best Prices
• Broad range of internationally focused betting markets
• Fast payment

Betfair Cons

• Site instability
• Poor integration of live video
• Flash elements of the site slow to load