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Betfair
Betfair is the world’s biggest sports betting provider offering the choice to back at bigger odds or lay selections to lose.
Our
Betfair
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Betfair developed the first successful betting exchange in 2000 allowing gamblers to bet against each other while the company took a percentage of the winnings for facilitating the bet.
The first betting market was the 2000 Oaks and since then Betfair has grown to become the world’s biggest online sports betting provider.
Founded in 1999 by Andrew Black and Ed Wray, Betfair merged with its main rival Flutter.com soon afterwards. Its in-running horse racing markets proved to be a huge success and in 2001 introduced in-play betting on football matches.
An online Poker site was launched in 2004 and 2 years later Betfair added an online Casino to its gaming products.
In 2009, Betfair acquired American TV games network, TVG for $50 million which enabled its expansion into the US market and in October 2010 Betfair Group PLC was floated on the London Stock Exchange with a valuation of $1.4 billion.
Betfair has a double-introductory offer of a £20 free bet and the chance to earn £10 - £1000 cash back on commission paid in the first 30 days of registration.
After signing up to Betfair, place a £20 bet and if it loses the stake will be refunded into your Betfair account.
Then, earn 10 points for every £1 in commission paid on any sports or multiple bets, there is a 10 tier cash back structure, with players receiving £10 cash back for earning 100 points up to £1000 cash back for 50,000 points.
The biggest selling point promoted by Betfair is the bigger odds that can often be found on the website. With customers able to offer whatever prices they are prepared to lay, Betfair claim that odds are typically 20% better than those available from fixed odds bookmakers.
Betfair’s range of betting markets is un-matched and the exchange has been responsible for introducing many new markets to online gamblers, in particular betting in-running.
In the early years it was only possible to back singles on Betfair but it has since added the facility to bet multiples of singles, doubles, trebles and accumulators on a few selected sports coupons. The options don’t come close to those available with fixed odds bookmakers and the odds can be very similar.
Liquidity is the key to the success of each market and when there are enough people preoared to make money available for a particular market then gamblers can find some excellent value odds and for pretty sizeable sums.
Its important to remember that Betfair will take a typical 5% commission from the winning side of each matched bet, but regular players can receive a discounted commission rate by earning Betfair points on winning bets.
The exchange offers the benefit that if you think a selection won’t win, you can lay bets from other gamblers or in the same way, lock in profit on your bet as the odds move.
Betfair’s website is very different to the typical sportsbook as the processes of backing and laying must be accommodated along with other market details.
The site contains a huge amount of information with transactions from many thousands of users being processed in real-time and it represents a massive financial investment by Betfair in the technology to keep the website fast, safe and secure.
Registration and log in is simple, you are advised to read through the Betfair terms and conditions as exchange betting is quite different to fixed odds betting.
Navigation is straight forward with markets ordered by sports in the left sidebar and you just select your link to continue to drill down to the betting markets which display in detail in the body of the main page.
Betfair provides live video streams for horse racing from At The Races and a very good variety of live football, tennis, basketball and more with a diary of scheduled events.
Betradar powers the football form guide on the Betfair website and horse racing punters have access to a database of form for over 10000 horses in UK, Ireland and US. Betfair aquired Timeform in 2006 and provides race previews via Timeform radio, free Timeform summaries and the option to buy a subscription to full Timeform ratings.
There is a java download provided to run Betfair Mobile from compatible handsets and an app for iPhone users. An Android app is in development but the iPhone version of the website can be viewed from the Android’s Chrome browser.
Betfair hosts an active forum with over 100,000 members discussing all manner of betting and trading related topics.
Betfair provides a lot of customer support options with video demonstrations, FAQs and wherever you are on the website, there is advice to keep you on the right track.
Customer support is available 24/7 with toll free numbers for UK, Ireland and Australia, there is a UK telephone number for members from other countries around the world.
Betfair undertakes to respond to emails in four hours and it is our understanding that they deliver on that promise consistently.
Betfair has world wide interests and holds several gambling licenses, ensuring each product is regulated in the interests of fair and responsible gambling. In the UK, it is regulated by the Gambling Commission and affiliated to IBAS.
Betfair uses a world class Information Security Management System to keep your data protected and £ millions are matched on Betfair every day.
The company is twice winner of the prestigious Queen’s Award for Enterprise among a long list of other business, IT and gaming industry awards.
Betting exchanges have turned gambling on its head, for bookmakers and punters alike.
It is all but essential for any serious minded sports bettor to hold an account with a betting exchange these days and Betfair is the biggest and the best. Not only in the pursuit of the best odds but it is a great way to lock in profit from such as ante-post bets and accumulators with the ability to lay selections.
These aren’t the only ways to play to Betfair, as the strategies are numerous and vary in complexity – check out the forums to get an idea of what is possible and remember to factor in the commission rate.
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best free bets rating
9
out of 10
Introductory Offer
£20 Free Bet PLUS up to £1000 Cash Back
Get a £20 free bet and earn points for every £1 in commission paid to Betfair, receive between £10 and £1000 cash back depending on the number of points earned in the first 30 days after registration.
Quick facts
Betfair is a betting exchange that allows gamblers to bet against each other and takes a 5% commission from winnings, the betting exchange was launched in 2000 and its first market was the Epsom Oaks.
Betfair now operates Poker, Casino, Bingo and Games sites employing over 2000 people and has registered over 3 million customers worldwide. It is the world’s biggest online sports betting provider and was listed on the London Stock Exchange on October 2010 with a valuation of $1.4 billion.
The good
- In-Play betting opportunities
- Better odds for many selections
- The facility to Lay selections
- Great amount of betting markets
- Live sports video streams
The bad
- 5% commission rate
- Some markets lack cash to match bets
Contact information
Name
Betfair
Established
1999
Country
UK
E-mail
info@betfair.com
Telephone
08448710000 (UK)
Customer Service
Support Quality
Very Good
Has 24/7 Support?
Yes
Speed
Very Good
Knowledge
Excellent
Friendliness
Very Good
Betfair
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