Review

Odds Brothers / Bookmakers / bet365 Sport

Reviewed site

If there is an example of how to run a successful online betting company, bet365 is it. They boast the most visited gambling website in the UK and are miles ahead of their rivals in terms of their online offering.

Number one online service

If there is an example of how to run a successful online betting company, bet365 is it. They boast the most visited gambling website in the UK and are miles ahead of their rivals in terms of their online offering.

bet365 do not have any retail shops to look after and therefore their focus is completely on their website and mobile app, which has proved very popular since its launch.

The company was one of the first to price up the less traditional betting markets on football such as corners, bookings and both teams to score.

Layout in the site

bet365’s home page is made up of four layers, which all fit neatly onto the page to avoid any confusion for those visiting the site.

On the left hand side of the page, there is an A-Z of the sports bet365 cover. Once you open up one of these tabs, every market which is available to that sport enters the centre part of your screen.

The second layer on the home page is dedicated to live betting. bet365 are renowned for offering a vast array of markets and sports in-play. You should always find a football or tennis match from somewhere around the world to get involved with.
The third segment of the page is labelled top coupon and this is a section that is really useful to punters. You are able to collate all the games in the Football League as a list which makes putting an accumulator together much easier. There is also a horse racing link here which takes you to a page with the next three races on it.
Finally, the right hand side of the page features your betting slip and the next horse race which is set to go off.

Ray Winstone: the face of the advert

If you watch football on the box, the chances are that you will have seen one of bet365’s adverts featuring Ray Winstone, a man who has been the face of bet365 over the past couple of decades.

bet365 often promote one of their in-play markets during half-time of a televised game, which is great coverage for their firm.

Unlike some betting adverts, where the operator is not necessarily clear until near the end of the commercial, viewers recognise the bet365 brand straightaway when Ray Winstone pops up on the screen.

Why bet with bet365?

Choice is really important to a punter with an online betting site. If the options available to bet on are limited, you may end up staking your money on a market or sport you know very little about. With bet365, that is a problem you are not going to be faced with. Their list of sports includes UFC, volleyball and pool, as well as all the major sports that betting is more commonly associated with.

In terms of its horse racing offering, every race in the UK and Ireland is covered. The firm price up most races by 8.30am on the day of the meeting, but some early odds can be found on the evening before.

Greyhound fans also appreciate bet365 as it is the only firm to price up all the races on the cards which feature on RPGTV on Wednesday through to Sunday. There is also a range of other specials available including trap challenges and distance betting.
bet365 allow you to cash out a bet before the game has finished if you are in a winning position. This means you can take an offer rather than sweating it out until the end of the game where the result could end up going against you.

Pro’s

cons

Frequently Asked Questions

  • How do bookmakers work?

    Bookmakers are traditionally known as the ‘accountants of the horse racecourse’ and this is for good reason. They take money as stakes on various outcomes of a race or contest and they pay out money to those who predicted the outcome correctly.

    The aim of this ‘accountant’ is of course so that when the balance sheet is drawn up, a profit has been made by the bookmaker. To achieve this, they try to offer odds that are actually smaller than the probability of the outcome actually turning out that way.

    The odds offered by the Bookmakers when a given event is added up are therefore higher than 100%.

  • How are odds determined by Bookmakers?

    If a bookmaker offered odds of, say, 6/5, it would always be to the bettor’s advantage. You would then bet, say, £50 on ‘heads’ and £50 on tails and you would make a profit regardless of the result. Bookmakers are, of course, far too smart to let this happen. However, it is possible that comparing odds at bookmakers can create such a win/win situation.

  • How are the odds determined for a particular event?

    Below is an example of how prices are set based on the nature of the event. Let’s take two horse races, same venue, same type of race.

    Race 1: Big well-known race, well-known names competing, high stakes spread across the various player. Bookmakers can then compile odds easily and without much adjustment.

    Race2: Small race, with unknown participants. Is unlikely to generate as many stakes, so betting a high amount on 1 horse causes more headaches for the Bookmakers than race 1. To secure the Bookmaker’s margin, the odds per horse will go down, to have a higher ‘over-round’ percentage overall, so this acts as a buffer for the Bookmaker.

  • Why do bookmakers restrict your accounts?

    Bettors like to have multiple accounts because it ensures they get the best price on all their bets. It can be very frustrating to see your accounts very restricted or even closed. The official reason for restricting accounts is almost always a ‘trading decision’; actually, it is the reasons below that make your accounts get tackled.

  • Are there any bets that bookmakers don’t like?

    Bookies love it when you place multiple bets. That’s why they offer so many enhancements (odds that are increased in between) and money-back specials with multiple bets. After all, any kind of bet with more than one outcome reduces your chances of winning.

    Although you get a few wins from these bets; the bookies will generally leave you alone because they assume they are going to make money from you in the long run.

    There are some bets that bookmakers dislike, such as singles, for example. Or bad each way bets (each way bets in races where a short priced favourite is running and bettors are more likely to take advantage of the market) and each way bets on relatively short priced selections (3 on 1 or 4 on 1 shots).

    These are some examples of bets that bookmakers are not happy about and – even if you are losing – can cause restrictions on your account

  • What does it mean when your account has never been restricted?

    Don’t worry if you have never had to deal with bookmaker restrictions. Be happy! Most gamblers bet for fun and usually the amounts involved are so small that bookmakers are not worried at all. Besides, most punters lose regularly or bet on the type of bets bookmakers love (especially multiples).

  • Is it fair for the bookmaker to restrict my account?

    Don’t forget that a bookmaker runs a commercial business. That is why bookmakers make sure their terms and conditions allow them to restrict big winners at any time.

    Naturally, it would be much fairer for bookmakers to treat their big losing customers the same as their big winning bettors. The chances of this happening are slim, especially since the government has no legislation on the matter.

    It is relatively easy for bookmakers to monitor customers so having restrictions imposed on them is unfortunately one of the things to consider when gambling.

  • How do I prevent my account from being restricted?

    Of course, ideally you should not have to deal with restrictions from bookmakers. So the question is, can you do anything about this or are you powerless? There are some things you can do to reduce the chances of restrictions. We have put them here for you, take advantage of them!

    • Set rounded amounts
      The more arbitrary your bets are, the more you will resemble an arber. Arbers bet with exact amounts to guarantee their winnings. Betting with 40 euros instead of 39.99 makes you look more like a real gambler. Whether you are or not…
    • Write off money
      Don’t write off your money from your account too often. Make sure it doesn’t look like you have a regular betting bank, because the more strategy the bookies think they see in you, the more likely they are to restrict your accounts. If you’re winning; let your balance go up.
    • Lose!
      Believe us, this advice is not as weird as it sounds.
      If you have a good run in an account and it’s all running smoothly, back some selections that they lose and then trade them on the exchanges. Of course, make sure your potential debts do not exceed your potential profits.