Betway Sports Review
Reviewed By James Molloy
The world of eSports has been exploding in popularity in recent years. With millions of people across the world regularly watching the best of the best battle it out across various eSports, the interest has never been higher. This is why betting on eSports has also taken off, as people look to try to leverage their knowledge of players and teams.
Vie.bet is one of the leaders, having one of the most comprehensive coverages of different eSports in the world today. This platform has been around now for a couple of years and is owned by the NASDAQ-licensed ESports Entertainment.
The Malta Gaming Authority-licensed platform also offers betting on traditional sports, as well as having an online casino, live casino, and virtual sports. This particular review will mainly focus on the eSports and traditional sports betting side of things.
| Pros | Cons |
| One of the leading eSports betting sites | No promotions for current account holders |
| Wide-ranging traditional sportsbook | No loyalty program |
| Live streaming for many events |
Betway Sports Welcome Bonus
Welcome Bonus
Betway is offering new customers to the site a free bet worth up to NZ$60. The promotion is based on your first deposit and wager. Anything up to that deposit amount will be credited to your account in the form of a free bet worth up to NZ$60.
To trigger the offer all you need to do is make sure that the odds of your first bet is priced at 1.75 or greater. Once you have placed the bet, your free bet will be in your account to use as you wish. You can place the free bet on any market but be aware that the stake will not be returned with any winnings.
Current Promotions
NBA: You Lead, You Win – Back a team to win and if your team leads by 16 points and goes on to draw or lose and Betway will pay out as a winner, up to a max of NZ$20.
NHL: You Lead, You Win; similar to the NBA deal, back a team to win in an NHL game and should they lead by 2 or more goals at any stage and do on to draw or lose, your bet is paid as a winner, up to a max of NZ$20.
Sports and Markets Available at Betway
Sports and Markets Available at Betway
The bookmaker does the basics brilliantly. They cover a huge range of sports on site, with football being right at the core of what they do best. Saying that we shouldn't take away from other sports such as horse racing, darts (especially tournaments they sponsor), tennis and golf.
However, it was e-sports that caught our eye. The range of tournaments and then the matchups within each tournament was incredible. They sponsor a lot of teams and events each year, so we maybe should have been a little more prepared, but it has to be the best e-sports betting section that we have seen, and by some distance.
Among the massive list of alternative sports, novelties and WWE betting really stood out. This shows that Betway will offer everything you find at other online sportsbooks, plus a lot more.
Betting Features
There are lots of features at Betway, but the first stop for us it the #BetYourWay feature. This is where you can tweet Betway to create a bet for you or you can simply create your own from within the bookmaker.
It's probably most popular with football betting and here you can choose from about 50 markets to build your bet. It's a brilliant layout and with each pick you add, you see the price for your bet adjust accordingly. You can use it with other sports as well, but you're likely going to have to Tweet the Betway team as the on-site builder only works per single match.
Next up we have to talk about the live betting section. It's one of the best that we've seen, and we've seen them all. It works because there's lots going on, but Betway processes it in a manageable way that doesn't get overwhelming.
Once you dive into the game that you want to bet on you are greeted with a boatload of info at the top of the page. This includes the live score, live match centre, stats, line-ups, commentary (where applicable) and territory grid, which highlights the team in the ascendency.
We also really liked that the live betting section clearly highlights which markets will be eligible for cash out as well. Too many bookies don't have this and when you come to cash out, you didn't realise that a certain market is not eligible. Kudos to Betway for this!
Another highlight is the horse racing section and again, it's about as good as you will find. It's linked to Timeform, which means it includes a huge amount of info for each race. On top of this, you get live streaming for races in the UK and Ireland. All you need to do is place a bet on that race of NZ$1 or more and you will get access, although only for that race.
The final thing we wanted to mention for features is that of the Betway blog (Betway Insider). This section of the site is packed with great articles linked to upcoming matches, races and potential betting markets. The writers are all clued up and they make for great reading. If you're new to betting and need some tips, this would be a great place to start!
Registration
It takes just a couple of minutes for the initial part of signing up to Betway. The first phase requires a series of personal details, such as your name and DOB. The second part of this is where you add a username, confirm a password and enter your email address.
The final part includes your address, mobile numbers and then any betting limits you want to apply to your account. You can adjust these later if you prefer. Please make sure that your address and email address are active as you need these for verification later down the line.
Betway will now run your details on the GamStop website to see if you registered with them. If you are then you will be able to deposit and start straight away. If you are not, then you will need to verify your identity and your address.
You can do this by uploading a series of documents, such as passport, driver's license, utility bills and things like that. It's worth noting that you can just take a picture of these with your smartphone and as long as they are clear enough (most new phone models should be fine) then this will suffice.
Payments and Banking Methods
Given the size of the bookmaker, it should come as little surprise to hear that there are a lot of ways in which you can bank at Betway. Of course, Visa and Mastercard credit / debit cards will be the most popular method among users, but there are plenty of alternatives. Skrill, Neteller, PayPal, Astro Pay and Paysafecard are just some of the deposit and withdrawal methods available.
There are no fees involved with any of the banking methods on-site and this includes withdrawals. Deposits start at NZ$10 for each method apart from Eco, which is a minimum of NZ$250.
Withdrawals also start from just NZ$10, although not all methods can be used to withdraw back to. If you find that this is the case with your deposit method, you will need to upload a banking method that is acceptable to get your money.
Withdrawal times range from 1 to 7 days, although we noticed that Visa and the e-wallets are usually completed within just a few hours.
Desktop/Mobile Experience
Betway has always had a good-looking sportsbook, even since the early days. It's a really clean design and takes advantage of the black and white corporate colours, with some green thrown in to keep it looking fresh.
The menu bar at the top of the page is fixed regardless of what page you land on, as is the menu down the left. The only thing that changes is the middle section and with this, you get breadcrumbs at the top meaning that it's easy to jump back a single level rather than navigate back to the start.
Mobile users can enjoy the bookmaker on both iOS via the App Store and Android via the Google Play Store. Betway is one of few bookmakers to be in the Google Play Store, so Android users won't have to go through the weird download and “allow” process that most betting apps have.
The app is brilliant! It looks awesome and it's really easy to navigate, which is imperative for mobile betting sites. The thing that impressed us though is how responsive it is. It didn't seem to matter what sort of connection we had, it was a simple “tap and go” to get to where you needed to be.
It's a credit to the technology on offer as much as it is to Betway, but this is another bookmaker where we'd rather use the app over the desktop site.
Betting Odds with Betway
From the markets that we tested, we found that Betway were incredibly consistent in terms of the odds that they had on offer. Rarely were they poor and more often than not they were well above the industry average.
The site also comes with a wide range of “Betway Boosts”. These are price boosts that change each day to match the games that are taking place. The best thing about it though is that it's not just centred around football, but also includes rugby, cricket, darts, tennis, American football, ice hockey, baseball and plenty more.
Customer Support
The support system at Betway is first class. You can often get to talk to someone within a matter of minutes and as they all work for Betway, they know what they are talking about. There are several ways you can get in touch, including Live Chat, email, phone and post.
| Social: |
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| Available Hours: | 24/7 |
| Phone: | +44 080 823 8984 |
Responsible Gambling Features
It's clear from the off that Betway takes their responsible gambling role very seriously. They have a section on the site that explains everything they do and how they can help people who need it.
In terms of features, they have included deposits limits, session reminders, take a break limits, self-exclusion and account closures. They've also a list of sites and resources that people can access to not only get help but also how to help those close to them (loved ones, friends etc.) get the support they need.
Our Verdict
It's easy to see why Betway has become one of the best in the business. The site is packed full of features, has a brilliant mobile betting app and comes with a plethora of sports and markets to bet on. The range of promotions, including the welcome offer is top notch too.
Their coverage of e-sports is exemplary and to be honest, there is not a lot that we can criticise them for. They are a brand that is moving in the right direction and time will tell if they can go to challenge the biggest bookmakers in the world.
Contributors
Hi, I'm James Molloy
"I've worked in the betting industry on product, operations and customer service for several years. A class operator will deliver on many aspects and we cover them all."
- Sports Betting
- Football
- Online UX
Reviewer since October 2015
