Sportingbet Review

Sportingbet is one of the oldest online bookies in existence. Having been founded in 1998, this company has more than a decade of experience in betting and also an impeccable track record and reputation. Sportingbet has also gone out of its way to acquire a large variety of smaller gambling companies and applications, effectively becoming a Borg of some sorts (in a good way) in the online gaming industry. For instance, Paradise Poker, a large online gaming room, is now a part of Sportingbet. One could call Paradise Poker the "poker room arm" of Sportingbet. In the same way, they have also acquired Sportsbook.com and SportingOdds.com. Basically, if you want to do anything within gambling, you can do so (and bet on it!) at Sportingbet. Licenced in Australia and the UK, Sportingbet does not cater to the US market because of the UIGEA. Canadians and most other nationalities are fully welcome though. Sportingbet is also traded on the AIM on the London Stock Exchange, further solidifying this company’s image as one you want to do business with.

There is even a mobile version available, for putting down those wagers while on the go.

Sportingbet Website/Software

Sportingbet went absolutely out of their way to make their website cater to as wide of an audience as possible. The site is available in the 21 languages! There is no doubt that Sportingbet has a wide range of customers. Here is just a partial list of the offered languages:

• English
  
• Canadian
  
• Español
  
• Türkçe
  
• Italiano
  
• Deutsch
  
• Français
  
• Dansk
  
• Hrvatski
  
• Magyar
  
• Norsk
  
• Polski
  
• Português (Brasil)
  
• Português (Portugal)
  
• Srpski (Bosanski)
  
• Suomi
  
• Svenska
  
  

But do not let the internationalization stop there! Sportingbet also has the following assortment of currencies available: Pound Sterling (GBP), US Dollar (USD), Euro (EUR), Japanese yen (JPY), Hong Kong Dollar (HKD), Australian Dollar (AUD), Swiss Franc (CHF), Singapore Dollar (SGD), Canadian Dollar (CAD), Danish Krone (DKK), Swedish Krona (SEK), Hungarian Forint (HUF), and Indonesian Rupiah (IDR). This, however, is not changeable after an account is opened, so choose your currency wisely.

With such a vast multitude of options, languages, games, bets, and whatnot available, you would imagine that the Sportingbet website is an absolute nightmare to navigate on. It turns out, though, that the website itself is very user friendly. All you have to do is master a few things from the website's interface. First is the actual navigation to get to whatever picks you desire to bet on. You browse the site, see something you like, and then place a bet. The bet will appear at the upper right hand side of the screen, under the heading Betting Slip.

The Betting Slip is one of the most important things on the site, since all the wagering is done via the Betting Slip. In here you can have a nice overview of all the picks you've previously browsed and chosen. In the Betting Slip you will have a variety of options added to your choices, such as how much to bet, what odds you get, and if you want to put a bet now, save for later, or discard the pick entirely. All of this is done in the right of the site's user interface, and this is truly excellent usability.

Once your bets are in the Betting Slip, you now have to put in a wagering amount on the right hand side box. Each bet has its own section in which, after you input whatever wagering amount you want, the amount you may win appears in the bottom of the section against the odds you have in the drop down box. It’s really simple and intuitive, but you have to look at the bottom of the appropriate section and not the whole box. The drawback is that not all of the Betting Slip's options are quickly intuitive and understandable because of the sheer amount of options. However, the setup is an excellent idea with a great execution.

Once the Betting Slip is loaded with more than two feats, right beneath it a Multiples tab appears. In this section you will be able to mix and match your selections and make a variety of parlays with them. Every parlay type has a different name, but it outlines exactly how many different bets are made with your slip selections, and clearly outlines how much you could win. Again, it’s easy, but might not be instinctive in this case because the parlays can be given unfamiliar names, but the amounts of bets should make it clear.

To find information on your currently placed bets, and also bets you have placed in the past, you have to go into your "My Account" screen. This is located at the top of the screen, rather hidden in plain sight. My only complaint with the site is that the "Deposit," "Withdrawal," and "My Account" options are all at the top of the screen, very small, and easy to overlook. If you do not know they are there you will surely miss them. These links are very important to any customer and should be more noticeable. Once in your "My Account" tab, just click account history and you will be presented with a pop up that contains all your information plus a filter to neatly view it. You can look at partial history for the last X weeks, months, or between date X and date Y, view open bets, transactions, and money won or lost in the other casino games like blackjack. Your account history is truly ultra detailed and complete.

There is also the "Today's Top Coupons" tab on the left hand side tabs collection. This tab gets constantly refreshed with the most bet upon feats. This process is extremely easy and clear.

There is also an In Play option with advanced flash based animations. Here, the background is animated only if the match is currently undergoing, and dim if it is not. You can then find all sorts of prop bets, such as over 2.5 goals for first half, etc. Again, it is very easy and intuitive, since clicking on the odds of the prop you want instantly makes it appear within the Betting Slip. The moment a goal is scored, all the props are off though for football matches. Other games may be different. To get out of the "In Play" mode, click on the top "Sports" navigation button.

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Sportingbet Sports Offered

There are literally tons of available stuff for you to get your betting fix on Sportingbet. Available sports are: football (soccer), horse racing, tennis, euro basketball, US basketball, US Football (NFL), Baseball, NHL hockey, ice hockey, motor sports, greyhounds, cricket, snooker, darts, rugby union, rugby league, golf, Aussie rules football, boxing, cycling, handball, volleyball, winter sports, politics, specials, and multiples. If you can bet on it, you will find it at Sportingbet.

Sportingbet Variety of Wagers

You can bet on straight up, totals, point spreads, and a multitude of parlays, including types where you pick X amount of different outcomes. The displayed odds can even be changed on the fly between Fractional (5/2), American (+105), and Decimal (3.50) for your convenience. Sportingbet also provides a Mobile edition for betting. Other betting opportunities, such as roulette, blackjack, and poker, can be easily taken advantage of on Sportingbet.

Sportingbet Juice Details

Juice is the same in over under and sides. For instance, you get both the under and the over at say -110. Some sites like Bodog give you the most probable outcome at a slightly higher vig, like say -115, and the least probable outcome at a slightly lower vigorish, like say -105. Keep this in mind, because it’s important.

Before submitting a bet on the Betting Slip, you can manipulate the odds you are getting by buying or selling points using s small drop down box. Depending on which side you chose, your vig will also decrease or increase. Say for instance you want to buy points for a -3, -110 favorite. By making it a -2.5 favorite (buy half a point) your vig will become like -120. This is consistent through all the spread and totals bets.

Sportingbet Bonus and Promotions

Every new player is entitled to a new player bonus which would total the equivalent of £100 in whatever currency the new account is made.

Follow these steps to collect the bonus:

Step 1: Open an account with Sportingbet.
Step 2: Bet up to the equivalent of £25 and receive a Free Bet of the same value.
Step 3: Place a further 10 bets with stake the equivalent of £15 or more to receive the equivalent remaining of £75 of the bonus.

Only the first initial bet will qualify for a cash match. This bet must be between the equivalent of £10 and £25 in the account currency, and you will receive the amount of the bet back in your account. This makes it an essentially a free bet. All qualifying bets and free bets must be wagered at odds of Evens (2.0) and above. This particular offer is not open to residents of Canada.

Be sure to register today and take advantage of this great offer!

Sportingbet Customer Service

You can send Sportingbet an email using the online form, call them, or talk to them via live chat. Their customer service options abound!

By using the email option, I sent two emails and the average response time I got was about 1 hour per email. The answers seemed friendly and knowledgeable.

I have also tried chatting with them, and I was connected to an operator within 15 minutes. Again, the chat operator was able to answer all of my queries and seemed patient while doing it.

I have not contacted them by phone, but they have numerous phone numbers listed. It appears they have a free phone number for every major country. I have had good experience getting in contact and getting appropriate responses using the email (contact form on the site) and the live chat option, so I have absolutely no reason to believe that they would completely drop the ball on their live telephone support.