Betfair Review

Last Updated: March 4, 2024

Review of Betfair

3.5|5

Editors Note:

Our Betfair review compares Betfair to all the other betting exchanges out there and covers all unique offerings available on their site for punters. Betfair are the world’s biggest and best exchange so if it’s backing or laying you’re after then it’s the place for you.

Given Betfair offer the highest liquidity and most markets on their exchange they’re my go to site for sports trading and I’ve had an account with them for over 10 years.

I’ve also used their bookmaker service during that period and am pleased to report I’ve never had issues getting money on or off the site.

All new punters at Betfair can claim one of the biggest sign up offers available when they join but it’s for bets placed on the sportsbook and not exchange. It’s still a sweet deal though and one of the biggest bonuses around.

Pros & Cons of Betfair

  • Fantastic odds
  • Large welcome bonus
  • Worlds biggest betting exchange
  • Packed with features & promo’s
  • Best bonus for sportsbook not exchange
Betfair Review
The best online betting exchange – hands down.
Recommended:
Yes
New Customer offer. Place a min £10 bet on the Sportsbook on odds of min 1/2 (1.5), get £30 in Free Bets. Rewards valid for 30 days. SMS verification required. Only deposits via cards will qualify. Please Gamble Responsibly. T&Cs apply.

Betfair Licensing & Safety

UKGC licensed & 5 star safety

Is Betfair sage?

10|10
  • Very safe & secure site
  • Gibraltar Commissioner license
  • UKGC license
  • Founded May 1999
Open an account at Betfair!

T&C’s apply, 18+, New customers only.

Betfair is the world’s biggest online betting exchange and are based in Gibraltar, therefore all of the actions of the site are regulated and licensed by the Gibraltar Gambling Commissioner under the Gambling Act 2005.

They’ve also managed to get a UKGC license so they can serve the United Kingdom freely. Basically this means that the site is regulated by two highly respectable organizations and that it can be trusted. The terms of the licenses mean that Betfair must:

  • Ensure that minors are unable to use the site for gambling purposes, until they are old enough to understand the risks that they take.
  • Make sure that all of their actions are completely fair to all, and transparent to everyone.
  • Provide assistance to anyone with a gambling related problem after using their site.

Given that the majoirty of bets placed on Betfair are punter vs punter transactions and not punter vs bookmaker you can live safe in the knowledge that payouts are guaranteed as Betfair hold the funds while the bet takes place.

As a publicly traded company, with profits into the millions, you don’t need to worry about payouts from the bookmaker side of things either.

Deposits & Withdrawals at Betfair

Some of the worst fees

Will I get paid?

6|10
  • Plenty of options
  • Some fees apply
  • Debit & credit cards accepted
  • Major eWallets accepted
Open an account at Betfair!

T&C’s apply, 18+, New customers only.
Method
Fee
Time Scale
Deposit
Withdraw
Limit
Method

Visa

Fee

£0

Time Scale

Instant

Deposit

Withdraw

Limit

£5 – £20,000

Method

Mastercard

Fee

£0

Time Scale

Instant

Deposit

Withdraw

Limit

£5 – £20,000

Method

Maestro

Fee

£0

Time Scale

Instant

Deposit

Withdraw

Limit

£5 – £20,000

Method

PayPal

Fee

&2%

Time Scale

Instant

Deposit

Withdraw

Limit

£5 – £6,000

Method

Neteller

Fee

£0

Time Scale

Instant

Deposit

Withdraw

Limit

£10 – £32,500

Method

Skrill

Fee

£0

Time Scale

Instant

Deposit

Withdraw

Limit

£10 – £32,500

Method

Much Better

Fee

£0

Time Scale

Instant

Deposit

Withdraw

Limit

£10 – £20,000

Method

Paysafecard

Fee

£0

Time Scale

Instant

Deposit

Withdraw

Limit

£5 – £400

Method

Bank Transfer

Fee

£0

Time Scale

Up to 5 days

Deposit

Withdraw

Limit

£10 – £100,000

Method

Cheque

Fee

£0

Time Scale

Up to 10 days

Deposit

Withdraw

Limit

£10 – £50,000

Betfair reviews poorly vs it’s competitors in this category simply because fees are associated with some transactions. We feel these should always be free for players.

How To Deposit To Betfair

Once you are a member of the Betfair site, then depositing is very easy. Simply click on the grey “Deposit” option at the top of the web page or app and this brings up the banking section of your account.

Here you can choose which deposit option you wish to use to add funds to your account. Debit Card is selected as default with other methods listed under the Alternative Methods box.

Simply enter the amount you want to deposit in the box, or select the £100, £50 or £25 default options. When you are ready click the yellow Deposit button.

Your cash should be transferred over and be in your Betfair account instantly.

How To Withdraw From Betfair

The first thing to note when you want to withdraw cash from your Betfair account is that you can only do so from your Main Wallet. If you have funds in another wallet, such as Poker or the Exchange Games wallet, you need to transfer these funds to your main wallet to withdraw them.

When you are ready to make a withdrawal, click on the My Account button. In the App, this leads you to an option to Withdraw immediately, but on the website, you need to select the My Betfair Account first before the Withdraw Funds option is visible.

Then it is simply a case of entering how much of the available balance you want to withdraw.

Your withdrawal will be made back to the same payment method you used to deposit to your account. When we joined, we used a debit card, so our withdrawals now go back to our debit card bank account.

How Long Does It Take To Withdraw At Betfair?

Withdrawal times differ depending on the payment method that you have used.

  • eWallet services available on the site such as Skrill, PayPal, NETELLER and Qiwi take up to 24-hours, but it could be as short as four hours.
  • UK Express Bank transfers should be completed by the next working day (but a fee is charged for this service)
  • Standard bank transfers take between 2 and 3 working days.
  • Debit Card withdrawals take from 2-5 working days to clear.
  • ApplePay withdrawals also take between 2 and 5 days to be cleared.

Customer Service at Betfair

Live chat 24/7

What sports are offered?

7|10
  • Lots of FAQs
  • Live chat available 24/7
  • Quick response time
  • Lack phone & email support
Open an account at Betfair!

T&C’s apply, 18+, New customers only.

Betfair’s customer support service is perhaps a little basic compared to some other sites, although it does have an extensive Help section, which does detail the answers to many of the most common queries people may have about any part of the Betfair suite of sites.

However, if you cannot find the answer to your query in Help, or you need to speak to someone, then there is a Live Chat service that is available on the site 24/7. Here you can chat online with a customer services representative to get your issue resolved.

Ideally, we would have liked to have seen perhaps a dedicated phone number and/or email service available for customers, however the Live Chat reps are very good at dealing with any issues from our experience.

For a higher score in this section of our Betfair review they are going to have to add phone support, email support or both.

Review of Betfair Website

Mobile app & desktop review

Is Betvictor easy to use?

8|10
  • Dedicated sports betting app
  • Dedicated exchange app
  • Intuative design
  • Bet & lay on your phone or computer
Open an account at Betfair!

T&C’s apply, 18+, New customers only.

Betfair Mobile Review

Betfair offers different apps for the different parts of its site, which is a tad annoying if you want to use the Exchange service as well as the Sportsbook and quickly flick between the two.

It’s also slightly annoying that there is a quick link to the Sportsbook from within the Exchange app, but not a reciprocal one from the Sportsbook (you have to go to the A-Z menu to find the link).

However, those small gripes aside, you have to say that the Betfair mobile service is excellent. The app is fast, responsive and offers access to all the key features you would need, including promotions.

Our advice to punters using the app would be to download both the Exchange and Sportsbook services at least, to allow for greater access between the two.

Betfair Desktop Review

Unlike the app, the Betfair desktop website allows access to all the different sites under the Betfair banner. We do feel the website is a little more cluttered than the app front page, although this is likely due to the larger screen available on laptops and desktop computers.

On the Exchange, it is easy to see the main sporting markets you can bet and lay on while the In-Play and live streaming options are exceptional. The sheer wealth of betting markets makes it easy to see why Betfair is the best exchange for UK punters available today.

How To Join Betfair

You can join Betfair on the website or app and signing up is quick and easy.

  1. Click here to go to Betfair and click on the Join Now button.
  2. A registration page will load up on which you need to enter personal information, contact details.
  3. You also need to select a username and password for your account, as well as a security question.
  4. You also select which currency you want to use with your account.
  5. Finally, agree to the Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy once you have read them and click the button.

Your account will be active instantly, so you can now log in and start to enjoy what the site has to offer.

Markets & Odds at Betfair

Great depth of markets

What sports can you bet on at Betfair?

10|10
  • 25+ sports
  • Great liquidity
  • Better odds vs bookies
  • Live streaming & In-play
Open an account at Betfair!

T&C’s apply, 18+, New customers only.

Betfair is one of the better known names in the United Kingdom online gambling world, thanks to a number of high profile television adverts. They are the largest most active betting exchange in the world and have good liquidity throughout their different markers. These are:

  • American football
  • Australian rules
  • Bandy
  • Baseball
  • Basketball
  • Bowls
  • Boxing
  • Cricket
  • Cycling
  • Darts
  • Floorball
  • Football
  • Golf
  • Greyhound racing
  • Handball
  • Horse racing
  • Ice hockey
  • MMA
  • Motor sport
  • Olympic sports
  • Pelota
  • Rugby league
  • Rugby union
  • Snooker
  • Tennis
  • Volleyball
  • Winter sports

They also offer markets on more obscure things, such as politics and television series.

As well as offering a huge number of markets, the depth that these markets go to is also impressive. You will be able to find odds for the most popular of matches all the way through to the most obscure, as the coverage that they provide aims to be all encompassing.

Just looking at the football listings shows this – at the time of writing, they have matches between international teams listed next to clashes from the Chilean league! Not only do they have basic odds either – all matches have comprehensive coverage, with a multitude of different bets which of course have both back and lay options.

Naturally the more obscure the event you are placing a bet on the lower the liquidity will be. This is a problem which doesn’t affect many markets at Betfair and when you compare them to their closest rivals Betdaq it’s clear to see that Betfair are by far and away the market leaders.

In-Play Betting Review at Betfair

Great for in-play & streaming

Is live betting offered at Betfair?

9|10
  • Bet & trade in-play
  • Quality live streaming
  • Best live odds
  • Fast on-site updates
Open an account at Betfair!

T&C’s apply, 18+, New customers only.

Betfair In PlayThe bet in-play section of Betfair is one of the most impressive aspects of the site, as it offers everything that you will need to both bet and trade sports live, all presented in a completely intuitive way. You can simply go onto the main page and select the match in question, where you will find all of the odds, which change as the match progresses.

Betfair automatically refreshes odds every few seconds so you can track the market as people back and lay different outcomes. Markets are suspended for only a few moments when game changing incidents occur. Trading in play on Betfair is the bread and butter of many online professional gamblers – it’s just the best money making platform you’ll find in the sports gambling industry and you be pleased to know all features on the desktop site are also available via the Betfair app.

Betfair Live Streaming Review

Betfair Live StreamingBetfair is one of the only bookies to offer a comprehensive live streaming service to all members, and it can be found by selecting the “Live Video” tab on the “Sports” page.

The range of different events that it shows is absolutely stunning, with international cricket, a huge amount of horse races and football matches from around the globe all regularly found here. All of the upcoming events are listed on the right of the window so that you never miss the one that you are waiting for.

To watch live streams at Betfair one of the follow must apply:

  • You have a funded betting account or have bet in the last 24 hours (excluding horse racing).
  • You have at least a 50p bookmaker bet on the horse race.
  • You have a min of £5 on the horse race on the exchange.

Welcome Bonus

Bet £10 get £30

New customer offer

7|10
  • Bet £10 get £30
  • 1x £10 bet releases £30 free bet
  • Easy to claim
  • Min odds 1.50 to release
Bet £10 get £30 at Betfair!

New Customer offer. Place a min £10 bet on the Sportsbook on odds of min 1/2 (1.5), get £30 in Free Bets. Rewards valid for 30 days. SMS verification required. Only deposits via cards will qualify. Please Gamble Responsibly. T&Cs apply.

You’ll find that Betfair are currently offering all their new customers a free bet worth up to £30 when they open a new account (released after initial £10 bet at 1.50 odds is settled). This offer is only valid for bets placed via their sportsbook section and not the betting exchange.

This is where we have to start marking Betfair down. They are trying to push their customers towards the sportsbook when it’s likely they signed up to use the betting exchange. It’s certainly not shady but it’s confusing and obviously they make more money from the sportsbook so it’s a little sneaky.

New Customer Offers at Betfair

To claim the bonus follow these steps:

  1. VISIT Betfair.com by clicking this link (it will open in a new browser tab).
  2. Click either a green ‘Claim Now’ button or one of the ‘Join Now’ links on the homepage.
  3. Fill out all the requested details and make a username and password for your account.
  4. The bonus code field should automatically be filled out, if not use code: ZBGC01
  5. Log into your newly created account and deposit £10 or more using your preferred method.

Open an account at Betfair!

New Customer offer. Place a min £10 bet on the Sportsbook on odds of min 1/2 (1.5), get £30 in Free Bets. Rewards valid for 30 days. SMS verification required. Only deposits via cards will qualify. Please Gamble Responsibly. T&Cs apply.

How To Use The Betfair Bonus

There are a few different parts to the Betfair bonus for new customers, so here’s a guide to how to claim every part of your welcome offer.

  1. Log into your account at Betfair
  2. Head to the Betfair Sportsbook and place a £10 bet on any sportsbook market at a minimum odds of 1/2 (1.5).
  3. When the bet is settled your £30 free bet will be released.
  4. To use a free bet, add your chosen selection to your bet slip in the usual way.
  5. Toggle the ‘Use Available Bonus’ switch to the right to select it.
  6. When you are ready click the Place Bet button.
  7. A confirmation page will show you how much of your bonus has been used on your total stake. Click the Confirm Bets button to place your bet.

Overall Review

Here’s our overall take on things…
Our Verdict of Betfair
Best online betting exchange
OUR RATING FOR:
BETFAIR
3.5 | 5

We rate all the betting sites we review with a grade based on the quality of the site and the way they treat their customers.

Betfair have been given 3.5 stars out of 5 which is the fourth highest possible. There are a couple of issues we’d like to make you aware of which are the reasons why we’ve not graded them any higher.

The first issue we have with Betfair is the fact that they are far to keen to put the cost of processing financial transactions onto their customers. A large percentage of the deposit options available at Betfair will cost punters when they use them and we feel that Betfair should really be paying the 1.5-2% processing fee’s that they charge themselves.

Deposit fee’s aside there’s one another issue with have with Betfair that’s even more concerning. In July 2011 they decided to up the commission for everyone who’s won over £250,000 on Betfair to 40% and higher. Basically this means that if you are a successful high stakes punter (using the exchange) then Betfair don’t want to know you – even though they match bets between people and don’t act as a bookmaker.

They aren’t losing anything when people win, in fact they take commission on winning bets only so this stance seems crazy. We don’t like, it sets a bad precedent and who knows how long before they decide to hike their commissions again.

Not cool… but they’re still the best betting exchange out there (as you’ll already know if you’ve paid attention to our Betfair review) and if you want the option to both back and lay bets then Betfair is the only really legitimate choice.

Bet £10 get £30 at Betfair!

New Customer offer. Place a min £10 bet on the Sportsbook on odds of min 1/2 (1.5), get £30 in Free Bets. Rewards valid for 30 days. SMS verification required. Only deposits via cards will qualify. Please Gamble Responsibly. T&Cs apply.

Betfair FAQ

Answering your questions

Is Betfair reliable?

Betfair are licensed by the UK Gambling Commission and have become a household name in online sports betting. Whilst they can not guarantee 100% uptime we’d class them as one of the most reliable betting sites around who always pay out on winning bets.

Does Betfair offer free bets for new customers?

In our experience Betfair always have a free bet offer running for new customers. The amount of that offer varies depending on the time of year – you can see the latest deal listed on our Betfair free bet page.

How long does it take Betfair to pay out?

Betfair are one of the faster paying online bookmakers but it does depend on what banking method you use as to how quickly you’ll get paid out by them. They quickest options are currently PayPal (within 24 hours) or debit cards (within 48 hours).

Are Betfair’s odds really better?

On their betting exchange the answer is usually yes. This is the case because you’re betting against another person and not Betfair themselves and therefore they don’t build vig or a house edge into the market. On the regular bookmakers side we find Betvictor and Bet365 both have more competitive odds.

How To Contact Betfair

The easiest and quickest way to contact Betfair is using their dedicated Chat service. This is available 24/7 on the site. However, there is also an extensive Help section that offers you the answers to most common queries.

Is Betfair a bookmakers or a betting exchange?

Betfair offer both a regular sports betting site as well as a betting exchange. Originally the site was launch as an exchange only service, but the sportsbook was added in 2012 in order to compete with the bigger online gambling sites.

How To Close Your Betfair Account

Betfair offer a number of temporary self-exclusion options, however if you want to close your account permanently, then you need to contact Betfair Customer services team, via the Live Chat facility, in order to request your account to be closed. If you have closed an account in the past, you can speak to customer services again to ask them to reactivate your account.

See Other Recommended Bookmakers: