Sportingbet

Information About SportingBet

Sportingbet plc. was formed in 1997 by online gambling tycoon Mark Blandford. Now under the stewardship of chairman Peter Dicks and CEO Andrew McIver, the company is responsible for the Sportingbet sportsbook, Paradise Poker and Paradise Casino.

A globally recognised franchise, Sportingbet are perhaps best known for being the main sponsors of Wolverhampton Wanderers during their turbulent years in the Barclays Premier League. A similar deal was also reached with top-tier Bulgarian side Slavia Sofia and Steaua Bucuresti of Romania.

As a result of their worldwide presence, the three brands can boast having over 2.5 million registered users in 200 countries. These customers, allegedly, place over one million bets per day.

Betting Markets

The main body of the Sportingbet homepage is dedicated to the day's forth-coming fixtures and live odds for in-play ties. By using the tabs with the corresponding ball icon, users can move from football to tennis to cricket (etc.) depending on the sport they would like to bet on. The right hand column of the webpage is reserved for the customer's bet slip as well as the most popular wagers whilst in the left the user can see a number of quick links to popular sections of the website, be it 'Next 5 Races (UK)' or 'All Today's Football'. As the site avoids having a disproportionate emphasis on one sport, it feels inclusive and relevant to all regardless of the punter's betting preference.

The actual selection of sports on which a customer can place money is actually pretty small. There are 27 categories in total with the more niche markets being offerings like handball, pool and volleyball though the number of open books within these areas is also very small indeed. At the time of writing, pool has one available market for example. Nonetheless, all these sports can be found at the top of each page, the less mainstream of the markets being accessible by hovering above 'More Sport'.

The football betting homepage shows a table of odds for the up-coming fixtures of the day before those that are already in play. The page is then divided into countries with tournament links beneath each nation sending the user to the page specific to their preferred competition. Whilst the clarity of the presented information is admirable thanks to this organisation, it does involve a lot of scrolling should the customer be interested in having a flutter on a game in a less prominently publicised country.

Clicking on a tie on the relevant competition's homepage will send the punter to a space dedicated to the fixture of their choice. Sportingbet cover the basics in terms of the match markets a customer might want, be it 'Total Goals' or 'Scores' though those looking for more obscure bets may want to venture elsewhere. There's around 100 available Premier League match markets on Sportingbet as opposed around 170 at some of their leading competitors. There's an even smaller selection should the user be a supporter of a Conference team, with each tie having on average 50 playable markets.

This lack of choice is made up for in terms of presentation with icons and drop-down menus filtering out undesirable markets to save the busy punter time. Allowing 'All Markets' to be shown, however, gives causal surfers the freedom to browse at leisure.

Those preferring to place a wager on the gee-gees will be faced with a series of racecards when selecting the horse racing tab at the top of the sportsbook homepage. Choosing a race from one of these racecards will transfer the customer to the relevant page for that race. All information is clearly displayed though there isn't much of it. Each runner is named with their silks and number shown alongside the names of both the trainer and jockey and the weight to be carried. There's no form, age, or extra features that might interest the most experienced of gamblers. Customers can, though, choose to take the SP or early price should they prefer. The forecast and tri-cast functions are visible upon scrolling down.

Customer Service

Sportingbet's products and promotions can be found by selecting the 'Offers' tab atop the homepage. Unfortunately, there is a curious lack of long-standing offers and deals with only five available at the time of writing. Three of these concern football whilst the others will be enjoyed by fans of the NFL. There is also a chance for users to redeem a number of weekly treats by joining up to the 'Rewards Club'.

The 'Who Are Ya?!' promotion, available for selection in the list of links up the left hand side of the homepage, gives customers the chance to win free bets depending on the success of their favourite football team this season.

Registering their preferred Premier League, Football League or Scottish Premier League team will see users claim free bets should their side score in the first minute of any match or be knocked out of a cup competition on penalties. Only active customers who have staked at least £10 on an event with odds of 1/2 or greater in the preceding week are eligible to win in this deal, with the free coupon being equal to the average stake of that game-week.

Further to this promotion, customers who wager £20 in a single stake will be put into a prize draw to win four VIP tickets to a match involving their team of choice in the 2015/16 season.

The second football-related offer comes in the shape of Sportingbet's 'Top Price on EVERY Team' promise. In short, customers will receive the top price offered by any fixed odds bookmaker regardless of the price they initially took. This promotion only concerns Premier League fixtures and is run in conjunction with Oddschecker.

Finally, football supporters can also get 25 per cent on their returns each time they wager money on a five-fold accumulator pertaining to top tier UK matches.

Users backing NFL matches will receive their money back on all Money Line, Point Spread and Total Points bets should two matches go to overtime.

These promotions' terms and conditions are available to account holders and are present to read beneath the description of the relevant offer on the 'Offers' webpage.

Signing up to the 'Rewards Club' can also see users collect reward points with each wager placed in that week, these points then being exchanged for cash. At least one per cent of this bonus money must be staked before it can be withdrawn. The total number of points earned with each wager is calculated by multiplying the stake by the number of selections in the bet. So whilst a £10 single bet will earn the customer 10 points, a £10 treble will see the punter pick up 30. One thousand points are needed to scoop a £5 token; 5,000 are required to redeem £50.

Terms and conditions regarding the 'Rewards Club' can be found on the relevant webpage accessible by selecting the 'Offers' tab atop the homepage.

In Summary

Whilst the Sportingbet sportsbook is well presented with an emphasis on clarity and transparency, it is short on markets and special offers. For this reason it can be recommended for those who want their betting experience with a dash of simplicity, those new to placing wagers for example.

The best available offer is the 'Who Are Ya?!' Promotion though I wouldn't advocate signing up just on the strength of that.