Karamba Sportsbook might not be the one making all the headlines, but it’s definitely earned a good reputation among sportsbooks in Canada. The range of sports is solid, and the odds are usually competitive, so it’s a pretty reliable place to bet.
That said, it’s not perfect. There are a few things some players might miss. In this review, I’m diving into what works, what doesn’t, and whether Karamba is worth checking out.
Karamba has been around since 2005. The company initially started within the gambling industry with their online casino, but on the back of the success as a top online casino operator, they decided to expand into sports betting as well.
To power the betting side of things, they have enlisted the help of Aspire Global International. The firm is also linked with other betting platforms such as BetRegal and comes with a wealth of expertise and features, allowing the Karamba brand to go head-to-head with some of the biggest bookmakers online.
They’ve been able to make great strides over the last few years, as outlined by scooping their first industry-voted award, which came in the form of Best Customer Relationship Management Campaign at the 2019 EGR Awards. If you consider the brand to be small compared to most, this is a massive achievement for them and underscores the site's core values.
While offers constantly change, there may be a welcome bonus at Karamba that can come in the form of Canada free bets. You will need to sign up for a new account and opt in to reveal any potentially available bonuses. Free bets usually come with their own requirements; for example, you may need to deposit a certain amount to qualify, and/or place a bet at a certain minimum odds.
Then, there is usually a timeframe where you can claim and use your free bet/s as well before they expire. They will generally need to be placed on bets priced at a certain amount or higher, and any winnings will not include the value of the free bet. Sometimes, deposits made with e-wallets such as Skrill, Neteller, or Paysafecard make players ineligible for bonuses.
We've seen KaramBoost before, where you can get a boost on any accumulator bet you place on the site. The boost tends to be an increase in profit and can be triggered by placing an acca of four or more picks. You may even start earning VIP reward points by placing bets. Usually, the way it works is that the more bets you place, the more points you get. These help you climb the ranks, each rank offering potential rewards - more rewards or better ones.
You’re getting a really solid range of both sports and markets at Karamba. We never know what to expect with some of the smaller brands, but we were genuinely impressed with what we saw at Karamba and reckon they could go head-to-head with many of the bigger brands in the industry.
Like most, football and horse racing play centre stage in terms of depth; however, that being said, they also offer a great range of other sports, including tennis, greyhound racing, boxing (and UFC), darts, and even esports. With over 25 different sports available, the sportsbook here should have something for everyone.
Betting odds at Karamba are highly competitive. They ranked well in nearly all of our tests, but standout sports were golf and darts, interestingly enough, with high percentage payouts in relation to the industry standard.
Considering Karamba isn’t what you would call a mainstream brand in the industry, the number of features it offers is quite astonishing, to be honest. You usually find that these sorts of sites are pretty limited, but that is definitely not the case.
This tool crawls the site for bets that might give a little more value to the punter than they’re possibly used to. It takes into account thousands of variables for each game, with a stats-based platform powering it and then highlighting football matches with standout bets. You’re also going to be able to see the rating for the bet, which essentially states how much it likes it and how often they think it comes in.
One of the best things about it is that you can edit it till your heart is content. You can decide which states it takes into account and also the stats that the tips are based on. You can even have it make a sound for when a new bet comes in. It’s not gospel, however, so bear that in mind, but it’s a great tool if you’re new to online betting to see where you can find some value.
The sportsbook has teamed up with Betradar to power its betting statistics section. This feature can be accessed for almost all sports and is conveniently located next to the betting market. It’s not unique to Karamba by any means, but it’s another valuable tool to increase your chances of success online.
We touched on the in-play section in the mobile section above, but we need to revisit it here, as it’s one of the best tools on the site. It has a huge range of markets for most sports, and the sportsbook's match centre is something to behold.
On the right-hand side of the screen, you can view the ball's position on the pitch for football (soccer) betting and see what direction it's heading in. A momentum graph highlights how much of the play each team has had of late and allows you to see how it has shifted throughout the game.
On top of all this, they include a decent cash-out betting feature that is integrated into your bet slip, and they have stated that they are looking to implement live streaming at some point, although there is no sign of this yet.
Signing up for your Karamba account will take just a couple of minutes. It’s one of the fastest registration processes that you will find. You will need to include things like name, address, DOB, telephone, and then create a username and password to match as well.
One thing we want to note is that when you make your deposit, you'll be greeted with a message about the safety of your funds. Karamba offers medium protection, which means that your money is kept in a separate account from company funds. So, if anything went wrong and the company folded, your money would not be part of any insolvency, and you would receive your money back. This is a big tick of the box for us!
To make a deposit, you will need to provide some identification. This will require a passport/driving license, plus a utility bill/bank statement for most applicants. It is now very much industry standard for companies to ensure that they protect problem gamblers who have been flagged by the GamStop system.
All in all, there’s a good range of banking options on site. They include Visa and MasterCard as your primary options, and then PayPal, Neteller, Skrill, and Paysafecard as additional options. The majority of your deposits will be processed instantly, except for e-transfers, which take up to 24 hours, and bank wires, which can take up to 6 business days.
Withdrawals are processed instantly but may take up to 48 hours to be reflected in your account. You can cancel a withdrawal within the first 48 hours. Then, it will depend on the withdrawal method you use as to how long it will take to be delivered. It’s worth noting at this point that not all deposit options can be used to withdraw.
When you land on the sportsbook for the first time, if you’ve used several bookmakers in the industry before Karamba, then you will likely feel quite familiar with this layout. They employ a tried-and-tested three-pronged approach, with sports listed down the left, a series of betting markets from numerous upcoming events in the middle, and your betting slip positioned to the right.
The recently installed search function is a triumph, making it easy to jump from one sport or market to another. We love to use it when placing accumulator bets that we form with the sportsbook.
While there’s no dedicated mobile app, it’s not a huge issue since the site is perfectly optimized for mobile browsers. The layout feels just like an app, offering a seamless experience that actually looks better on mobile than on desktop. For anyone searching for top sports betting apps in Canada, this mobile version stands out as a solid alternative.
If there were one negative here, we would say that it was a bit clumsy at times. Sometimes, it lags slightly, so you'll need to be patient. Once you get used to it, it’s fine, though.
The sportsbook is a member of C.A.R.E. (Customers Are Really Everything), so you can be assured that customer support will be one of its strong suits. There’s a range of contact methods available on site, almost around the clock, 7 days a week. Live chat lines are open 6 am to 11 pm GMT every day. The phone number is listed on the site, and there's also an on-site email form.
karamba.co.uk
We’ve already touched on several ways that Karambet promotes responsible gambling on-site. They have to be one of the more forward-thinking bookmakers and are to be congratulated for that. There are lots of features for players to make use of, including betting limits, time-outs, self-exclusion, session time limits, and autoplay limits on the casino. For more information about their policies, a dedicated page is available on responsible gambling.
Karamba has been an impressive site to test. We were pleasantly surprised by what they have accomplished so far. The inclusion of numerous features, such as live betting sections, KaramBot, and KaramBoost, was brilliant, adding significant depth to the bookmaker as a result.
We encountered a few issues, mainly with the mobile site's functionality, but nothing that can’t be fixed with relatively easy software updates, which will undoubtedly come. Overall, this is a sportsbook well worth checking out.