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Bet365 review
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Located right in the middle of Stakersland you can see the Bet365 flying flag from every corner of the park.
It’s a modern betting fortress securely built on top of Entertainment Hill. Staggeringly, there are roughly 46.3M stakers and counting who are making their way up the hill and through the Bet365 doors. They are traveling in from many different countries including the UK, Brazil, Italy, Spain, and Germany, each and every month of the year. As the name suggests, the betting never stops at Bet365 and you’ll soon realise the sheer scale of their betting rooms when you pass through their welcoming party. It’s a truly international company with huge numbers but the way they set up their betting markets is well worth a closer look. Unique tactics are used to develop betting formats that drill right down into the individual leagues, rather than simply localising the sportsbook for each country on a sport-specific level. This dedication and detail to the betting options brings so much value to their dedicated staker community. The groundwork of this unique style is managed by using external bookmakers and traders who bring their expertise to each market. A progressive working culture allows traders to work remotely and earn commission from anywhere in the world. This further enforces the international and inclusive reach that Bet365 has on Stakersland, not only for stakers but for the many traders and employees working there as well.
You can’t take 10 steps without seeing or hearing the Bet365 name being mentioned. It’s why they are number one and betting variation is a key factor behind this. The introduction of esports has helped them to keep up with the latest betting markets and this also helps to enforcing their all-encompassing betting service. Just like the sports markets, the esports markets at Bet365 get the benefit of expert traders covering the major tournaments from Dota 2 to Counter Strike, Global Offensive, and League of Legends. Bet365 is also likely to serve up odds for recent esports sensations like Overwatch, PUBG and King of Glory, and the Bet365 Fortnite betting service could well be worth a look too. Depending on when you access the markets, you might also find odds for games ranging from StarCraft 2 and Hearthstone, to Rainbow Six and Super Smash Bros.
The winning limits at Bet365 are all dependant on the different sports and events with various caps being set in any 24-hour period. One important note to make is that when a multiple bet has been placed involving events with different maximum winnings limits, the lowest limit will always apply. As a general observation, the upper limits for premier division leagues are highest in the industry. Bet365 caps all men’s full International matches and the following competitions at a maximum of £2,000,000; English Premier League, Championship, League 1, League 2, FA Cup, Spanish La Liga, Italian Serie A, German Bundesliga I, French Ligue 1, UEFA Champions League, and UEFA Europa League. Other limits include a respectable £250,000 for the following competitions: Spanish Segunda, Italian Serie B, German Bundesliga II, French Ligue 2, Danish Superliga, Dutch Eredivisie, Finnish Veikkausliiga, Japanese J-League, Norwegian First Division, Swedish Superettan, and the USA MLS. The lowest limits at Bet365 are set to £25,000 for the following niche markets: Manager Markets, Player to Make Squad, Player to Start Match, Player to be Booked/Sent Off, Player of the Tournament, and Transfer Specials.
Another important note to make when betting with Bet365 is that they reserve the right for error, which coincides with the external traders being used. They use the following statement in the T&Cs to back this up – “6.10 Obvious Error - Maximum Winnings - The maximum amount which can be won for a bet placed where there is an Obvious Error and a revised price is £10,000, unless the expected winning amount of the original bet was greater than £10,000. In such circumstances, the winning amount of the bet placed at the revised price will equal that of the original bet with any excess stake becoming void.”
Access to funds is never an issue with a betting fortress like Bet365 and they have plenty of funds stockpiled away for winning stakers. To payout that top maximum of £2,000,000 it would only take a short afternoon of betting action to cover the costs, just 3-4 hours at the most. The niche markets would only take them a few seconds, perhaps just a flurry of half-time in-play bets during a top sports event would be enough to payout a £25,000 win. With these limits and times in mind, it’s clear that the Bet365 is perfectly capable of paying their stakers instantly with stacks of cash readily available 365 days a year.
A total of 46.3M stakers enjoy a huge range of betting markets and even bigger limits worth up to £2 million. Betting up to £20-25 per month these stakers generate an eye-watering £72.51 in annual wagering and £765 million in profits for the #1 bookmaker.
If we turn our eye to overall earnings then the Bet365 staker community is wagering £72.51 on sports over a 12-month period. This contributes to annual revenues across sports betting and gaming that is currently growing up to £3.4B, confirming the very low margins that Bet365 is currently trading on. It works out to around £307 Million per month and a £20-25 average spend per player, and around 79% of this total wagering is made through their popular in-play betting markets. Due to the popularity of Bet365, the overall Bet365 Group also incorporates the Stoke City Soccer Club which is now owned by the Coates family. Reported revenues of £82.0 million for the year was declared although the team was relegated to the second tier of English soccer. When this extra contribution was factored in, the overall group revenue was up 7.2% year-on-year and up to £3.44 billion in total. After all finance related costs had been considered such as fair value gains on investments and interest repayments, the pre-tax profit stood at £890m. The Bet365 Group paid taxes of £120m, and after this figure, as well as currency exchange losses and value changes to property assets were stripped out, the Bet365 net profit for the year was calculated at £765m.
It’s hard to compare against a leader of this size so we’ll instead look at the GVC Holding Group who own several brands at Stakersland including Bwin, Ladbrokes, and Coral. The active staker community for GVC stands at 8.5 million and their gross gaming annual revenue adds up to £3.5 billion. Although the two GGR revenues are similar, Bet365’s numbers clearly outweigh the individual revenues that fall under the GVC name. The fact that Bet365 is a profit-making operation compared to the struggling negative profits of GVC, it again shows the true power of our number-one Stakersland venue. If we take another big-money union then Flutter Holdings who look after Betfair and Paddy Power show large enough revenues to compare against Bet365 as well. The £2.36 billion annual gross gaming revenue and £196 million monthly revenues are impressive figures, but again it doesn’t reach the success of Bet365. Plus, the overall net profit of £315 million across the Flutter union is a long way off reaching the single-entity profits of Bet365. This comparison yet again proves the betting power and size of the Bet365 name at Stakersland.
Bet365 Offers
The innovative and extensive Bet365 group holds the broadest demographic range at Stakersland. Journeying in from all across the world, stakers can be found entering and leaving the premises day and night, seven days a week:
| Brazil | Spain | United Kingdom | Italy | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| monthly | 24.2M | 3.3M | 3.2M | 3.2M |
| License |  |  |  |  |
Social Buzz
Out of 106 reviews and 14 complaints, only four have been marked as resolved. Saying that, almost all reviews are positive and the relatively small number of complaints are based on a lack of bonus offers, payout delays, and verification problems.
A rating of 4.6 and a majority ‘green’ voting gives Bet365 a positive reflection on LCB. The average mark is between four and five with lots of praise for the casino, bonus offers, and game collection. Only one or two issues have been raised about customer service, unapproved withdrawals, and the verification process.
Bonus Clash
The Bet365 bonus river is in constant flow throughout the grounds, and it’s been flowing well for a number of years now albeit without special offers. The welcome bonus is decent with a fair 100% match bonus deal with which you will receive up to £100 for UK stakers and £25 for EU stakers. Many of the other promotions include soccer-specific incentives and accumulator bonuses for Tennis and Basketball, so you’ll almost always find something if you love the major sporting events.
“Their welcome bonus is decent enough to try out. You will receive up to £100 once your bet is settled but the greatest thing here is that you can opt-in anytime. You have about 30 days to claim it if you forget when you sign up.”
“I love their acca promotions as there are no useless free bets rewards to be found. Only real cash and that’s it. Just place bets and increase your winnings - that’s exactly what I want to see.”
“The bonus campaign selection looks pretty strange. All bonuses are for accas and there are no free bets at all, no seasonal bonuses or anything like that. To tell the truth, I didn’t find anything there for myself.”
“All the bonuses are binded to specific soccer leagues which are not to my interest and there is nothing available if you prefer to place single bets. The welcome bonus is a sure thing but the others are just useless to me.”
We’ve got seven bonuses from the Bet365 promotions board and as you would expect, these offers show stakers a good mix of bonus credits, cash prizes, and refund rewards. Let’s take you through the top offers and what you can expect to find in the terms and conditions of these deals:
| promo name | promo type | requirements | restrictions |
|---|---|---|---|
Up to £25 or £100 in Bet Credits For New Customers  | Welcome Bonus | Make a deposit of £5 or more and place the qualifying bet with the same amount | Skrill, Neteller, Paysafecard, Qiwi do not qualify |
A generous offer from the Bet365 management as they are obviously expecting new members to come and join the community. A 100% welcome bonus is available with up to £25 for EU and £100 for UK stakers. Qualifying bets must match your deposit amount and must contain at least one selection at odds of 1.20 (1/5) or greater. Stakers can opt-in to this offer within 30 days of registration. A minimum deposit amount of £5 and 1x turnover requirements are attached to the offer as well.
Conclusion
Upon closer inspection, the Bet365 bonus board is quite limited compared with their rivals in the UK. But this slight lack in bonus variation does not stop them from being the largest operator in Stakersland, far from it. All the offers are friendly enough and you stand no risk in participating but just be aware that rewards are very much market standard with little chance of making serious profits. The offers are there to bring more enjoyment to your time at Bet365, not to make you a millionaire overnight. A highlight of many of the above bonuses is that they are sent straight to your withdrawable balance as cash funds, saying that though, many of the leagues required for the qualifying bets are actually in favour of Bet365. The main attraction here though is the 1x wagering requirement on the welcome bonus and although the Bet365 financial team will be taking a hit on this particular offer, it does work as a perfect marketing tool to entice stakers up the walkway and into the sprawling grounds of Bet365.
Sports betting
The number one sportsbook operates exclusive software that provides stakers with in-depth betting markets.
The tech team at Stakersland spend their days examining and picking apart all the bookmakers in the park. It’s their aim to keep a close eye on the betting tools and features being used and then feed that information back to you. Stakersland prides itself on providing the best possible entertainment, so read on to find out what you can discover inside the betting halls of Bet365.
Bet365 is based on a proprietary sportsbook platform that has been exclusively developed in-house. According to the Bet365 CIO, the company has not been committed to adopting the latest ‘hot’ technologies. It’s unusual to hear from a technology expert the example of “Captain Kirk’s Enterprise from Star Trek gets shot by a torpedo and he just runs from one side of the bridge to another, just because he’s following the latest trends”. He goes further with another science fiction example of “If you compare a site like Reddit being hacked by the Syrian Electronic Army to Bet365 being hacked, there is a big difference because we deal with customers’ money on a daily basis, so the damages could be huge, and this is why security has to be at the forefront of everything all of the time.” This train of thought surely creates huge pressure on the innovative brains and tech teams at Bet365, where they are required to continue using outdated technology with no option to master the skills and grow in line with the rest of the industry. For many years, Bet365 was one of the slowest sites in the park with the betting slip loading through an iframe. Things are improving now but not as fast as some of the maintenance men working behind the scenes would like.
According to Glassdoor, the main concerns of employees is how management run company processes above personalities. This proves the fact that certain ideas of not using modern technologies because they remind them of a ‘Syrian Electronic Army’ are cemented within the company structure. Recently it was discovered that the team has been using Microsoft products and a switch to .NET and C# has been noticed, while there are also some parts of code written using Golang in their Sportsbook. It’s a mish mash of technologies but it seems to be working for now.
Sports
Bet365 offers the deepest coverage of events available for pre-match betting. Live in-play trading is without exaggeration the largest in the industry with events available for betting in all possible sports that even includes worldwide amateur leagues. The wide coverage of custom wagering options grouped for every league is in accordance with local standards.
Betting slip
Until recently, stakers were using an i-frame betting slip which must have dated back at least 10 years and actually disconnected you from the site. The present floating version is technically sufficient featuring integrated cashout and custom systems such as Trixie, Yankee, Super Yankee, Heinz, Super Heinz, Goliath. Banker options are available for stakers too.
In-play stats
Bet365 is one of a very few who feature proprietary statistics for its stakers. It’s a feature which is convenient enough to base detailed informative decisions on. Of course, these could have been XML feeds from Sportradar, but they did their bit by having their own data seamlessly integrated. Live in-play events are backed with video streaming, visualization from the field, and a detailed summary of all the statistics from the field.
Betting markets
Bet365 features live in-play soccer events with around 114 live markets and roughly 92 markets before the kickoff. In tennis, you get up to 48 live markets and around 62 pre-live markets. Something like basketball will give you 114 live and 235 pre-match markets in total.
Margins
The Bet365 sports betting margins sit around the market average level overall. Soccer pre-live margins reach 5.3% and live margins are 7.19% , tennis comes in between 7.79% for pre-live and 7.79% for live, while basketball sits around a 3.4% pre-live and a 4.7% live mark.
Event results
Event results are available though it requires further development and probably some better UI design to get a complete thumbs up. Information is not always easy to follow and it does not always align, though it is deep and sufficient. Stakers are offered statistics for multiple events as well as learning how markets are calculated.
| Sports | margins | live margins | markets | live markets |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| tennis | 7.79% | 7.79% | 62 | 48 |
| football | 5.3% | 7.19% | 92 | 114 |
| basketball | 3.4% | 4.7% | 235 | 114 |
| ice hockey | 11.99% | 7.14% | 120 | 54 |
The margins at Bet365 have been judged to be just above the average market level and this is more so for popular events like the Champions League. Take the live markets during a Champions League fixture, for example. Bet365’s 6.35% is not completely lacking value when you consider UK rival Betfair’s 7.51% margin, but there are still bigger profits to be found elsewhere in the park. Take Betfred with its 5.88% margin on the very same market, it’s not a huge difference but it would be noticeable on your bottom line over the course of a season.
Financial Limits
Stakersland is truly dedicated in making sure that you are given 100% factual information, and that goes for all bookmaker details and not just the following financial facts. Our mission here is to collect up all the relevant data about each bookmaker in the park and then show them to you in a manner that is easily digestible. We recommend that you read the following table and familiarise yourself with how Bet365 deal with their financial processes and procedures.
Payment Method Restrictions
Which payment methods are valid when claiming my bonuses?
The welcome offer terms and conditions informs stakers that deposits made via AstroPay Card, Neteller, PaySafeCard, Qiwi, Skrill, Skrill 1-Tap or ‘by Skrill’ payment methods are not eligible for receiving the bonus.
The Influence of Third Party Agencies
What checks are being made and do they use any third party agencies?
As a part of the standard KYC procedure Bet365 may request address verification via regular mail by sending a letter to the indicated staker address. This letter would not have any reference to Bet365 for privacy reasons. The terms and conditions also say that the provided staker information might be sent for authorization at credit reference agencies, and these checks would leave a soft footprint on your credit history, so take note.
Personal Data Transparency
Will they inform me about the automated checks being performed?
Automated checks are run upon registration but this information was provided only after our direct request. The privacy policy clearly states that Bet365 reserve the right to share your information with a never-ending list of contractors, bodies, and companies outside of the European Economic Area (“EEA”).
Social Media Communication
Will my financial disputes and complaints be answered on the social media profiles?
The Bet365 team replies to finance-related complaints at Askgamblers with most of them resolved in the favour of stakers. They do not respond to complaints when withdrawals have been blocked due to verification procedures. Bet365 leaves all Trustpilot reviews including the ones connected to financial affairs unanswered and unresolved.
Gambling Anonymously
Are my banking transactions with the bookmaker private?
You will find that several names may appear in your bank statements depending on the withdrawal method that you use: B365, Bet365, EarthportPLC, Envoy Services, Hillside (Sports) GP Limited, Hillside (International sports) LP, Worldpay AP.
There is no option available to change these names to a generic code at the current time.
Withdrawal Timeframe & Common Complaints
How fast are the withdrawals and what do stakers complain about the most?
The Bet365 terms and conditions do not provide any details on withdrawal times, however, the withdrawal page gives the following details:
- 1-5 banking days for Cards
- 1-10 banking days for Bank Wire
- 24 hours for PayPal and Skrill
- 12 hours for Neteller
- 24 hours for PaysafeCard
- 5-28 banking days for Cheques
According to further tests, Bet365 processes withdrawals the same day it was requested. Following our communication with customer service, it takes up to 24 hours to approve a withdrawal on their end, the rest is down to the processing time carried out by the payment provider. Overall, we could not find any complaints regarding financials being delayed or unpaid being registered within the last two months.
Player-Friendly Withdrawal Limits
What are the minimum and maximum withdrawal limits available?
The following withdrawal limits are shown in the Bet365 withdrawal section and these were also confirmed by the support team:
- Debit/Credit card – min £5 / max £20,000
- Bank Wire - min £100 / max £100,000
- PayPal - min £10 / max £5,500
- Skrill - min £5 / max £25,000
- Neteller - min £10 / max £37,500
- PaysafeCard – min £5 / max £2,000
- Cheque - min £100 / max £50,000
Withdrawal Options & Additional Costs
What are my banking options when withdrawing my funds and do they add fees?
The following options are given on the withdrawal page and these were also confirmed by their representatives: Debit/Credit card, Bank Wire, PayPal, Skrill, Neteller, PaysafeCard, and Cheque. Additionally, there are no service fees applied to any withdrawal transactions. Stakers who deposited via PaysafeCard can select it as a withdrawal method, however, the funds will be sent via bank transfer.
Regulatory Check Transparency
Are they clear about the Source of Funds and Source of Wealth procedures?
Bet365 representatives did not give any details on the Source of Funds or Source of Wealth procedures, only saying that the relevant information will be provided when either of the checks are performed. Terms and Conditions state that Bet365 may perform “credit and other verification checks from time to time”. Their FAQ section, on the contrary, provides the following info: “in order to verify the source of the funds, we may ask you to provide additional information and documentation <...> such as your occupation and salary, supported by documentation such as a copy of your bank statement or pay slip”.
Conclusion
Our investigations show that Bet365 provides all stakers with an industry-standard list of withdrawal options. From experience, there are no significant payout delays or any additional fees being charged which is exactly what we would expect from a Stakersland powerhouse like Bet365. On the other hand, a complex verification procedure that might require the use of snail mail is a strange approach. Also, the unclear rules of the ‘source of funds/wealth’ checks do lead to funds being frozen on accounts which has left a few stakers confused on more than a few occasions.
Customer Support
The Bet365 support team have a mammoth task on their hands when you consider their huge 13 million staker community. It doesn’t leave us too surprised then when we hear about impersonal email and live chat messages, but it’s still not something that we like to see at Stakersland. Saying that, our team did experience varying levels of customer service and the amount of information given to us did depend on the agent we were talking to. We imagine that the team is given a set number of requests to get through each day and so those quick and impersonal replies are needed to reach targets. The outlook is positive though as the information they do provide, although short and undetailed, is actually correct and gets the questions and queries answered. Unfortunately, there is no definitive SLA in place and so there is no level of service outlined that stakers can expect from the Bet365 support team.
Support Speed & Resolution
How fast do they reply to my general queries?
It takes the Bet365 team 2-3 minutes to reply to a live chat message. The answers were neutral though some of their replies didn’t fully match the questions, making us ask the same thing twice.
Live Chat Access
Is the online live chat tool available on the site?
Conveniently for all stakers, both registered and unregistered stakers can use the live chat box. They don’t give bonuses via live chat though and their answers were formal and lacked that personal touch. It takes them about 1.5 hours to get back to you via the email option.
Support Team Competency
How quickly will the support team reply to complex queries?
Their replies are based around the market standard time. Agents take about three minutes to answer complex queries regarding ‘Source of Funds’ procedures and any technical questions regarding withdrawals.
Conclusion
Upon contacting Bet365, the level of detailed information you receive all depends on which agent is assigned to your chat. Communication with both registered and new stakers is a highlight though and they talk to you in a formal and neutral tone regardless of your current Bet365 status. There is apparently a lack of corporate spirit amongst the team and this is in line with the complaints left by the ex-employees of Bet365 at Glassdoor. While the call center team take all the heat, they are also required to find the answers themselves and this is not always easy considering the number of requests they receive in a day.
Level of Technical Expertise
Are the support agents sufficiently trained to answer technical queries based on odds, margins, and markets?
In relation to technical sports betting questions like odds, margins, and markets, several agents provided us with simple generic templates. This did not provide us with the requested information, however, other agents sent us detailed replies about statistics, results, and bets settlement.
Unregistered Staker Support
Will the customer service team interact with unregistered stakers and will I get a free bet?
The live chat is available for unregistered stakers but we didn’t find their replies detailed enough and it took agents about three minutes to reply to our simple generic queries. The overall replies to bonus bagging were formal and restrained which did show a professional level of tolerance.
Professional & Friendly Service
What type of response will I get when requesting a bonus from the service team?
Our conversation on the whole bonus bagging topic was robotic with the agent giving us generic replies. In other words, they were telling us the same reason over and over again but using different wording each time. It was all performed in a kind approach though so again their tolerance levels are good.
Customer Service Knowledge
Will the agents provide the correct information about payment limits when compared to the terms and conditions on the website?
When asked about the withdrawal and deposit limits, no information was provided over live chat. We were advised to find out about all the possible deposit and withdrawal methods by reading their Help section.
Willingness to Help Out
Will the support representatives help me navigate around their website?
Asking for assistance when navigating the site involved mainly short directions on how and where to find the requested information. However, agents would often provide a direct link upon request which helped to speed things along.
Tolerance Levels
Does the support team have a high tolerance level for repeated bonus requests?
Our conversation about no deposit bonuses was held in a matter-of-fact tone. Again, tolerance levels were respectable with the agent refusing repeatedly to provide us with a free bet each time we requested one.
Onsite Support Efficiency
How efficient is their onsite Helpdesk compared to the competition?
Bet365’s Help Desk section is divided into a grid with the most popular questions readily available. Each section of the site is represented with a clickable icon with a useful search function to get to your solution as quick as possible.
Conclusion
Upon contacting Bet365, the level of detailed information you receive all depends on which agent is assigned to your chat. Communication with both registered and new stakers is a highlight though and they talk to you in a formal and neutral tone regardless of your current Bet365 status. There is apparently a lack of corporate spirit amongst the team and this is in line with the complaints left by the ex-employees of Bet365 at Glassdoor. While the call center team take all the heat, they are also required to find the answers themselves and this is not always easy considering the number of requests they receive in a day.
If you run into any major problems during your contact with the Bet365 support team then this short but useful FAQ should help you to find some sort of resolution:
Are you able to complain with Bet365?
A complaint can be lodged with Bet365 by contacting their customer support. However, neither the terms and conditions nor the support itself can provide details on how long it will take their managerial staff to resolve your issues.
Where to complain if they refuse the withdrawal?
All unresolved disputes at Bet365 can be referred to their official ADR which is IBAS (UK residents), or the more general Online Dispute Resolution platform.
How do stakers rate the Bet365 customer service?
Stakers rate their customer service negatively in most cases. The reasons behind the low rating are based on uninformative automatic responses and the agents not being helpful enough.
Up or down
The Bet365 fortress is built on solid foundations and is technically advanced with a large electronic army and sufficient finance power to solve any computer science challenges that come their way. However, surprisingly, it comes across as quite unstable with a lower than expected 98.42% uptime rate. With our analysis tools we can measure the overall round-the-clock accessibility and we instantly noticed a constant flow of errors and stumbling blocks. Even so, this does not affect their stakers on such a level that they are ready to up sticks and move on to BetVictor or another big-name rival. Somehow, and what comes as even more of a shock, is that these are problems that could have been sorted out almost two decades ago. Despite all this though, the site is well optimised as evidenced by the Google page speed reading report. It comes in at 68/100 which is well above the industry average. An additional study of the public website monitoring services did show us that the site is periodically closed for technical work, so keep in mind that your visit may be disrupted at times.
TECHNOLOGY
The Bet365 front-end is based on proprietary technology which serves as a framework for the overall development of the site. For content delivery they are using a mixture of websockets for live in-play odds and http requests to the main content. The back-end is based on .NET for C# and Golang in other parts. The database is based on MSSQL Server 2003 with some NoSQL for the odds updates. All in all, Bet365 is a mixture of different tech and tools developed by separate teams often lagging behind the webdev clock, but this is a corporate policy and not something that will likely change soon.
DATA CENTER
The servers of Bet365 are hosted in their ISO certified data center with the Autonomous System Number AS34587. On their servers we had noticed around 5,000 domains parked as used by their affiliates from all sorts of niches with certain domain names a surprise to see. Bet365 is not protected by Cloudflare and so could be a subject to DDOS attacks, though at their scale they should be able to handle those on the level of their upstream providers.
SSL CERTIFICATE
Bet365 is using a DigiCert certificate that has been issued for three years with the annual cost of $650. This certificate supports 256-bit encryption with a 2048-bit key. The certificate is also a wildcard type and so this applies to all domains and subdomains of the site bet365.com
The technical inspection team at Stakersland concluded that Bet365 has managed to solve most of the challenges associated with the development of a proprietary sportsbook. They have found the right approach using native technologies for most of the bottlenecks with only one major exception. All of the data is coming from their servers in a raw format and then being rendered on the client side in their browser. This means that the overhead is entirely focused on the connected client side. To achieve excellence and to find the right balance, the guru’s at Stakers suggest that one last step is required. This would be to implement isomorphic rendering through node.js or a similar approach. However, it would probably take a few years until those technologies expire and stop becoming 'fancy' to be approved by the uncompromising CIO of Bet365.
countries where Bet365 is licensed
The true home and foundation of the Bet365 legend started back in Stoke-on-Trent, UK. The headquarters can be found there with an additional office recently being launched in Manchester. Other offices include Sofia, Bulgaria; Sliema, Malta; and one in Gibraltar. The Bet365 story has helped transform the city of Stoke and contributed to the local economy like no other company has before, with over 4,000 employees in total. Selling a collection of betting shops and jumping into the online world of Stakersland was a risk but it has certainly paid off in the long run. Bet365 is the most popular name at Stakersland but with that popularity comes a constant barrage of issues concerning the growing issues in the wider scopes of society. The company continue to dominate though and while they don’t have all the answers to life, the universe and everything else that is thrown at them, they do run an extremely effective betting establishment.
The UKGC, MGA, and GGC betting licenses are in place to hold the core of the Bet365 staker crowds. Other licenses across various countries also help to pull together the wider global community for the number one bookmaker.
Looking into their business acumen then the Bet365 group is licensed under the names Hillside LP in the UK, Hillside ENC in Malta, and Hillside Ltd in Gibraltar. The licenses acquired by the various registered companies include the following nations: Australia, Austria, Argentina, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Croatia, Denmark, Germany, Great Britain, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Norway, Russia, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland. Therefore, the Bet365 sign-up form is widely available to stakers in various countries that are regulated and also through the appropriate international licenses, including the UK license from the UKGA, the Malta license from the MGA, and the Gibraltar license from the GGC. The betting access of Bet365 is truly on a global scale but the behind-the-scenes running is mainly kept inside the UK. Social media reports show that they are actively hiring for multiple technical specialist positions for their new Manchester office.
We found no outstanding sanctions or other actions recorded under the UKGC license. In July 2019, however, the Swedish Gambling Authority (SGA) charged Bet365 with penalty fees totalling €3.9 million for offering betting on sporting events that involved stakers under the age of 18. We found multiple other cases where Bet365 delayed or outright denied payments to winning stakers. The £1,000,000 Northern Ireland betting saga mentioned earlier in the review, a refusal of a £45,000 payout to an English staker back in 2016, and the frozen account issue after an Australian had won $200,000 are just a handful of the most famous cases against the company, while there are a few more to be found amongst the popular online sports betting forums as well.
Questions
What documents do Bet365 require for account verification?
The full list of documents required for the KYC procedure depends on the country the staker is from and these should be made available upon request from the support team, here is what Bet365 currently accepts from the UK players:
- Age verification - passport, national ID card, driving licence, birth certificate, residency permit or visa.
- Address verification - utility bill, bank statement, credit/debit card statement, council tax bill, mobile/landline phone bill, mortgage statement.
Credit and other related verification checks might be undertaken from time to time as is stated in the terms and conditions. The FAQ also goes on to say that in order to verify the source of funds then additional documents might be requested in relation to your salary, occupation, and payslip or bank statement. It’s clear that you’ll be given the full list of details as and when the check will be carried out but the exact details are unavailable up until that time.
How long does it take them to settle the bets and payout?
Bet365 has set a time-frame of one hour for settling bets. In most cases, however, the bets are settled within a few minutes after the official results are received. They use Opta Stats, Press Association, and various social media pages to confirm the results. Live in-play bets are paid during the event where the result is available. In some instances, there may be a small delay at times whilst the settlement team wait for confirmation of the results.
How to request a withdrawal and how long may it take?
Where possible Bet365 will send funds back via the same payment method that was used to deposit the original funds, which is in accordance to their official regulations. Once the request is submitted, it can take up to 24 hours in total for their financial team to approve the transaction. Bet365 do not charge extra fees for withdrawals either and there is no set maximum withdrawal amount per day, however, withdrawal requests for amounts greater than £20,000 (or currency equivalent) may require additional arrangements.
Are multiple accounts allowed?
Bet365 customers are only allowed to open one account in accordance with the terms and conditions. In the case that they find any stakers who do create more than one account then all such accounts will be treated as one joint account.
Is it safe to open an account with Bet365?
Bet365 has low ratings across various forums as well as the popular Trustpilot. A lot of complaints are related to technical problems with the site and its interface, customer service, or low winning chances. Although some players complain about Bet365 suspending their accounts without clear reason and setting limits on maximum bets, there were no official sanctions registered by the gambling authorities of the countries Bet365 is licenced in. However, compared with the volume of their communities the negative feedback is disproportionate and therefore it is safe to open an account and gamble with Bet365.
VPN Usage - legal or not?
While Bet365 terms and conditions do not specify if using VPN complies or not, support representatives only warned us that using VPN or anonymizers to avoid registration restrictions for certain countries is not allowed. When trying to access Bet365 website with VPN turned on, it will simply not load so access will be unavailable anyway.
gross gaming revenue
customer base
time to make €2M
Social Buzz
Up or down
The profile has been claimed but there is no direct feedback given on the Trustpilot site with 74% of the comments marked as ‘bad’ and 4% ‘poor’. Most stakers complain of account closures, rigged games, and unfair betting limits. The reactions have always been negative on the profile with only one or two rare positive comments ever made.