888sport

Company Background

Founded in 1997, Richard Kilsby and Brian Mattingley's 888holdings operates a number of online gambling enterprises. As well as the flagship names 888Sport, 888Poker and 888Bingo, the company are also responsible for various other bingo websites including Wink Bingo, Posh Bingo and Bingo Street. The company has an operating subsidiary operating out of the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar.

A global and expansive brand, 888holdings are the current sponsors of multiple pool tournaments and have been the official sponsor of 16-time World Darts Champion Phil 'The Power' Taylor since 2003. They also appeared on the strips of Sevilla FC from 2006-2009.

Whilst sister site 888Casino has been the recipient of a number of industry awards, 888Sport, launched in 2008, is a much newer project and is looking to scale the dizzying heights of their well-established counterparts.

Betting Markets

The 888Sport sportsbook homepage is concerned with live in-play action and popular bets as well as devoting much of its space to future football fixtures. Occupying the left hand side of the sportsbook are quick links to popular markets as well as links to every sport available to bet on and a tool to change the formatting of the displayed odds from fractions to decimals. The column down the right hand side focuses on promotions.

The alphabeticised list of sports links down the left hand side contains around 33 sports and although this isn't a very comprehensive choice, the less mainstream sports such as chess, floorball and pesapallo are regularly updated with active markets. Other niche markets covered include bandy, surfing and winter sports.

Of the more popular sports, selecting football from this list will take the user to the dedicated football webpage. The punter then has the choice to use the quick links up the left hand side to take them to the tournament of their choice or use the links at the top of the page to take them to their preferred market. Betting on a Conference or a far-off foreign second division side, however, will mean scrolling through to the extreme bottom of this page.

Finding and clicking on a football tie will send the punter to the dedicated tie webpage, where the markets are divided into such categories as 'Full Time', 'Goal Scorer', 'Corners' and 'Disciplinary'. These individual pages are much better organised than the football homepage with the markets being accessible by drop-down menus, as not to over-face the inexperienced purveyor of odds. A typical Premier League clash would have around 150 playable markets, which is a exhaustive selection.

Horse racing aficionados looking for modern simplicity will be delighted with the 888Sport's offering. The racing homepage contains the standard table of the day's meetings with the full list of runners for the next race shown beneath. Rather than sending users to a dedicated race page when a time is selected in the table of meetings, users simply change this list of runners.

There are no bells and whistles on 888Sport's nag coverage and, whilst this may be an advantage to beginners, it may leave the more experienced punter feeling a little empty. In this list, 888Sport displays the horse name and number and silk colours; the stall number it will appear from, the jockey riding and the form of the horse. Punters are then given the choice of whether they would prefer to take the early price or the starting price. There are no extra features or functions.

Customer Service

Whilst 888Sport's promotions mainly concern football betting, there are also a number of other deals and features involving other popular sports including NFL and horse racing. The big advantage of being a user with 888Sport is that it is possible to have sporting events streamed to a computer, tablet or mobile without having to bet on the action first. Registered users with money in their account are treated to such sports as European football, ice hockey and basketball with a schedule available to allow punters to plan their day around the upcoming fixtures.

The 'Goals Mean More' football promotion sees customers receive a £5 bet every time a player they have 'nominated' through the offer scores. Users are asked to nominate the player they think is the most likely to score in the match they have placed a bet of £10 or greater on. Should their man grab a hat-trick, the punter will receive £15's worth of free bets. Customers are permitted to nominate three different players in three different matches. Qualifying bets can concern any market available though the outcome must have odds of 1/2 or greater.

All losing single bets placed on a 'to win in 90 minutes' market will be reimbursed should the goal that sinks the punter's bet be scored in the 88th minute or later. This promotion concerns Premier League, La Liga and Champions League ties with all qualifying stakes having to be less than £25 in value.

Customers can also receive a refund on all losing first/ last/ anytime goalscorer bets should there be a hat-trick grabbed in the match. Again, the promotion applies only to Premier League, La Liga and Champions League fixtures. Only stakes less than £25 in value will be reimbursed. Similarly, punters with losing bets in the same markets will also be reunited with their wagers should a number eight hit the back of the net at any time.

There is a similar promotion for lovers of the gee-gees who will get a free bet to the value of their original stake if their horse loses by a neck or less, whilst NFL fans will be refunded up to £25 should their team lose in overtime.

Frequent accumulator punters can do worse than to join up to the 'Acca Club' that dispenses more valuable free bets the more accumulators the user places. A £5 free bet will be presented to users who place at least £5 on between three and five accumulators a week, whilst those who bet the same amount on more than 16 a week will receive a £25 free bet. Each valid acca must contain at least three legs. Terms and conditions of all the above promotions and products can be found beneath the offer description on the relevant promotion page. By selecting the terms and conditions the user will be greeted with a drop down menu containing the small print.

Bonus Offers

All new customers are entitled to free bets up to the value of £88 upon signing up to 888Sport with their 'Welcome Package' scheme. To qualify, the new user must place a minimum first bet of £10 thereby receiving their first £10 free bet coupon. Sustained betting with the bookmakers will see the customer eventually earn another £78 worth of free bets, £10 being awarded for every third bet placed. On the 22nd transaction, a free bet of £18 will be presented to the, now experienced, user.

This offer is only valid for 90 days and all bets must be placed within this time for the punter to be able to take advantage of all available free bets. All qualifying bets must be placed on events with odds of evens or greater.

Customers new to 888Sport betting on their mobile can also get a £5 free bet after placing a losing first wager of £1 or more on their mobile device.

Further terms and conditions apply to both deals and can be found at the bottom of the promotion's page.

In Summary

Many potential users will be attracted to the sleek design of 888's sportsbook and if they are football supporters they won't go too far wrong. There is though, very little to say for the bookmaker's coverage of other sports with their being very few promotions on anything other than football and too few markets on niche offerings. These markets are, however, regularly updated.

Horse racing punters will also be encourage to look elsewhere, with few features to tickle the fancy of those intent on getting the best value from their nag.