SportingBet Review

When we last reviewed Sportingbet, they were owned by GVC Holdings, but things have changed considerably since then.

Now the company is operated by LC International Limited, who themselves are owned by one of the biggest names in online gambling, Entain.
This means rather than operating in the UK under a remote license from Gibraltar, now Sportingbet operates under the UK Gambling Commission license, viewed by many as one of the most respected, secure and stringent licensing companies in the world today.

ElectraWorks still provides the website and has its own sports and casino betting licenses.

Is Sportingbet Safe or a Scam?

• Since it’s sale, Sportingbet is now operated by LC International Limited, who are licensed in the UK by the Gambling Commission and are owned by betting giants Entain.
• The company is fully committed to responsible and safer gambling.
• The company is fully GDPR compliant.
• Detailed system fairness reports are generated monthly on the site for customers to view.
• Sister site of other Entain companies such as Ladbrokes and Coral.

What Happens if Sportingbet Don’t Comply?

As we mentioned previously, if Sportingbet are found to have acted unlawfully or unfairly towards customers, then they are likely to have broken the terms of their license held with the UK Gambling Commission. In that case, the penalties for Sportingbet could be severe.

For complaints upheld, the company could be forced to give players their winnings or compensated in a similar way. But for large-scale breaches the company could be fined. Those fines can range from small (which are still thousands of pounds) to far more punitive (well over a million pounds).

For severe breaches of the license then Sportingbet could risk losing their license to operate in the lucrative UK betting industry.

Deposits & Withdrawals Review of Sportingbet

A quick look at the table above shows that Sportingbet offers an extensive range of deposit and withdrawal methods that you can use on the site.

It is good to see options such as Google Pay and Apple Pay available for customers to access, as well as a number of different ewallets, including PayPal, Neteller and Skrill.

Many of the deposit methods can also be used to make a withdrawal, which is very pleasing to see, and almost all of them (bar Diners Club cards) are fee free when you make a deposit.

The minimum deposit for most payment methods is £10.

Remember UK customers cannot use credit cards to make deposits, so it is only Visa and MasterCard debit cards that can be used to deposit into your account.

Will I Get Paid?

This is a very pertinent question to me, given that I based my last review on the fact that there were lots of reports of people seemingly not getting paid out, or receiving their funds through the withdrawal process.

Myself, I have never encountered any issues with Sportingbet when making a withdrawal. I followed their procedures and have found no issue and there are a far greater number of reports now from customers saying the same thing.

Additionally, the reports I read from people not getting paid seem to be the type where a customer wants to make a big withdrawal after just signing up. Bonuses usually have some form of wagering requirement attached, or similar, and I feel many of these complaints are from people that don’t understand this.

As such, I am happy to say that I am confident that if you sign up, complete the verification process and use the bonuses and site as intended, then you won’t have any issues getting your money.

How To Deposit Money to Sportingbet

Once you are a customer with Sportingbet you can make a deposit using any of the deposit methods outlined in the table above.

Click on your account button and select the Deposit option and from here you can choose from the available methods in your location to make your deposit. Remember, all options bar Diners Club Card, are free when you make a deposit.

From then on it is simply a case of entering in the details from your chosen deposit method, as well as the amount you want to deposit.
If you intend to claim all four of the Welcome Challenges you will need £80 to complete this, although you do not have to deposit this all at once and you can make additional deposits to cover those bets further down the line.

I would also add here that to speed up withdrawals and avoid any issues when making a withdrawal, it is a good idea to verify your account at the earliest opportunity, rather than waiting to make a withdrawal as this can delay the withdrawal process while the verification process takes place.

How to Withdraw Money from Sportingbet

Assuming you are already verified, to make a withdrawal from Sportingbet, log in and click on your Account button and select the Withdrawal option.

Your withdrawal can only be made to a payment method you have used previously on your account, with the most recent deposit method used selected by default (if withdrawals can be made using this method).

Once you have your withdrawal option selected, simply enter how much of your available balance you wish to withdraw and then click the button to start the process.

My experience with Sportingbet suggests that many of the issues over delayed verification details I mentioned in the last review, have been resolved under the new owners, with most verification processes taking 24-hours.

How Long Does it Take to Withdraw From Sportingbet?

How long your withdrawal takes you reach your account depends on the method used with Sportingbet to facilitate the withdrawal, and whether you are verified or not.

If you are not yet verified, then you will have to complete this process before your withdrawal will be actioned, which can slow things down, usually adding 24-48 hours onto the withdrawal process.

But if you are verified, then it is simply a case of waiting for the funds to hit your account. These can be transferred over either instantly in some payment cases, within a few hours, within 24 hours or withing 5 working days in some cases.

If you require some help at Sportingbet then the good news is that there are a number of different options open to you which our SportingBet review will not list.

A good place to start for common queries is the Sportingbet Help section, which has details about most of the common issues people face on the site.

However, if you need further support then there are four ways you can contact the site for help:

• Sportingbet Facebook Page (24/7)
• Sportingbet Twitter Account (24/7)
• Email form on website (24/7)
• Live Chat on website (9am to 9pm)

The site recommends either of its social media channels as being the best port-of-call for enquiries.

What’s Customer Support Like?

There have been reports of some pretty poor customer service interactions with Sportingbet, but that is not the experience I have had with the company.

When I’ve used the service, I have found them attentive and they have resolved my issues quickly and courteously.

The social media accounts are the best way to get a more rapid response to your query, though live chat can also be useful.

Ideally, it would be nice to have a phone number to call to contact someone and speak with them directly, but Sportingbet are not the only site to forego a phone option for Live Chat or similar.

Using the Sportingbet website is very simple. The site has an easy to follow design, which uses tabs at the top of the screen to link to the main parts of the site: Live, Sports Betting, Casino, Live Casino, Promotions and Safe Gambling.

Once you select the part of the site you are interested in, the home page loads up and you are presented with a whole host of options. The Sports betting part of the site focuses on the matches taking place now, as well as some of the big fixtures coming up over the next few days.

You can easily see where promotions, such as the Build A Bet option are available and its simple blue and white livery is easy on the eye. So no more of those bright-colour induced headaches that you can get from cluttered and overly bright sites!

I like the fact the site uses videos to explain its offers to customers as these can be easier to follow than written instructions and navigating around the site is a doddle.

I used to think that Sportingbet’s app was far superior to its website, but now I think the site is just as good as the app, if not better. It is certainly one of the better sites you will find online.

Review of the Sportingbet VIP Scheme

There is no VIP scheme available for the Sportingbet Sports service, or their casino site.

How To Join SportingBet

1. Click here to open a SportingBet account now.
2. Click on the Register button.
3. The Registration page will load up. Enter your email address and create a secure password for your account. You should find your local currency and location is auto-detected, but if they are incorrect, you can alter the settings if required.
4. The next Registration page will load up on which you enter your name and date of birth. These must be the same as on an official document in your name that is used for registration (either a passport or drivers’ license are the easiest options to use).
5. Click the Register button to confirm your account.
6. If you wish to, set a deposit limit for your account and click the Submit button.
7. Accept the Fund Protection Policy and then your new Sportingbet account will be created.
8. Now select a payment method with which you can make your first deposit on the site. This will also then grant you access to the Welcome Challenge bonus for new customers.

You are now ready to make your first deposit at Sportingbet, remembering to play through the four different Welcome Challenges when you do to claim all your rewards and other benefits!

Even though I couldn’t recommend Sportingbet last time I reviewed the site, I did say that in terms of the markets and odds on offer, I was impressed with what the website offered its customers.

The good news is Sportingbet still offers an extensive range of markets across a wide range of sports as I will show in a little more detail below.

And furthermore, the odds offered from Sportingbet often are some of the longer odds options available too.

What Sports can you bet on with Sportingbet?

Given the improvements made to the service since my initial Sportingbet review, it is pleasing to report that the company does a good job when it comes to the number of different sporting markets available on the site.

While live streaming is still a little limited compared to some other sites, Sporting Bet does offer a great range of sports to bet on, and on many of the popular sports there are a wide range of odds to choose from.

Some of the sports you can bet on at Sportingbet include:

• Alpine Skiing
• American Football
• Athletics
• Aussie Rules
• Badminton
• Bandy
• Baseball
• Basketball
• Biathlon
• Boxing
• Chess
• Combat Sports
• Cricket
• Cross Country Skiing
• Curling
• Cycling
• Darts
• Floorball
• Football
• Formula One
• Golf
• Handball
• Horse Racing
• Ice Hockey
• Motorbikes
• Pool
• Rally
• Rugby League
• Rugby Union
• Ski Jumping
• Snooker
• Tennis
• Trotting
• Volleyball
• Water Polo

That’s a pretty extensive list, and you can also find other options available at different times throughout the year when a major sporting event in that sport is taking place too.

Virtual Sports fans are also well catered for on the site with a wide selection of Virtuals on offer including Speedway, Cycling, Trotting, Horse Racing, Greyhounds, Soccer, Tennis, American Football and Basketball.

One notable omission on the site though is a lack of esports betting.

In my last review, I did state that Sportingbet markets for individual fixtures was a little uneven, with some major fixtures boasting 50 different bet types, while others only had three or four.

Well, that has changed significantly not just in terms of a more even spread of betting markets for each fixture, but also an huge increase in the number of markets per fixture too, giving punters even more choice when it comes to making their bet. That’s another big tick in the box for Sportingbet.

Sportingbet offers its own extensive Live Betting service under the “Live” tab on the home page of the site. Here you will find all the currently available Live Betting markets and streams on the site.

Let’s take a look at it in a little more detail.

Is Live Betting Offered at Sportingbet?

Yes, SportingBet has an comprehensive Live Betting service which is located under the Live tab on the home page of the site.

Clicking on that tab will bring up a menu-driven system which shows all the different live sporting events available to bet on at that present moment. There are many different sports included in the live betting section of the site.

Simply click on any of the fixtures to reveal the depth of In Play betting markets available for that fixture. The number of markets differs from sport to sport and from fixture to fixture within each sport, but there are usually plenty of options for punters to pick from.

Click on a fixture and you’ll also see a recap of the score of the game, but you can also select a Stats option which gives you the current stats for that fixture.

The different types of Live Bets available on a fixture are shown clearly across the top of the navigation bar, which makes it easy to find the particular Live Bet you want to make.

It’s clear Sportingbet have put a lot of work into this aspect of the site and I’m delighted to say that it has paid off and is now a real feature of what the site has to offer to customers.

Sportingbet Live Streaming Review

One of the big issues I had with Sportingbet when I reviewed it initially was its low level of streamed sporting events on the Live part of the site.

I’m pleased to say that this aspect of the site is another to have been improved with a marked increase in the number of streams per sport and also sports streamed on the site.

These live streams sit nicely in amongst its Live Betting service offering customers the chance to watch the action and bet over an increased number of fixtures.

What Sports are Streamed on Sportingbet?

Sportingbet has certainly expanded on the number of sports that are streamed on the service and some of the most regularly streamed sporting events are from:

• Baseball
• Basketball
• Football
• Handball
• Snooker
• Table Tennis
• Tennis
• Volleyball

That said, this is still not quite as extensive a list of live streams as you can find with other sportsbooks, which is why the In Play rating is a little lower.

That’s almost it for our Sporting Bet review, but before we wrap it up let’s take a second to look at the company’s welcome promotion.

The Sportingbet Welcome Challenge differs from many other welcome offers in that you can complete any of the four challenges, in any order, but only once you sign up and deposit into your account on the site.

Once you have done that, then the challenges become available to you and there are four that you can choose from, each offering a different bonus item for the new customer. They can be completed in any order you like and are as follows:

• Casino Challenge – Wager £50 or more on any casino game and receive a £10 Casino Bonus.
• Football Challenge – Get 20 Free Spins on the Starburst slot and an Odds boost token when you bet £10 or more on any football market with minimum odds of 1.50 (1/2).
• Acca Challenge – Make an accumulator bet on 3 or more selections with minimum odds of 1.5 (1/2) per selection and get up to a £10 Free Bet.
• In-Play Challenge – Bet £10 or more on any In Play single betting market of odds of 1.50 (1/2) and receive a BackUpBet.
• Then once you have completed all four of the Welcome Challenges at Sportingbet, you will receive a final bonus of a £20 Free Bet as the final part of your new player promotion.

Admittedly, you do have to spend £80 to claim all of the bonuses, and you also have to complete the Casino Challenge, which may put off smaller stakes players.

However, I felt I was a little harsh about this welcome offer in my last review as players can complete it at their leisure, and in any order. Which does make a big difference.

How to claim the Sportingbet Welcome Challenge Bonus?

1. Join Sportingbet as a new customer.
2. Once your account is opened, deposit funds into your account.
3. Select one of the four Welcome Challenges to participate in – Football Challenge, Acca Challenge, In-Play Challenge and Casino Challenge. These challenges can be completed in any order.
4. Complete the requirements for whichever of the four Challenges you are accessing.
5. Once you have completed the requirement for that challenge, you will activate the bonus.
6. Repeat the above for all of the four Welcome Challenges and you will receive additional bonuses.
7. Once you have completed all four of the Welcome Challenges you will then receive an additional £20 Free Bet.
8. Use your £20 Free Bet within 3 days of it being issued or it will expire.

How To Use The SportingBet Bonus

If you manage to work your way through all the sporting bet bonuses then congratulations as it’s a bit of a long slog! You’ll now want to use the bonuses you’ve earned. Here’s how to use the SportingBet bonus:

Odds boost token – select a bet by adding it to your betslip, enter your stake and click the ‘Apply Odds Boost to boost the odds of the bet you’re planning to make.

Free bet token – much like the odds boost simply add a bet to your slip, enter your stake amount and click the ‘Apply Free Bet’ button (it’s blue you can’t miss it). The place bet button will change on your slip to ‘Place Free Bet’, just give it a click when ready.

To check the status of your bonuses at any point just tap the ‘Menu’ button when logged into your account and select the ‘My Bonuses’ link.

Our Review of Sportingbet

Solid Online Bookmaker

OUR RATING FOR:

SPORTINGBET

4 | 5

Looking back at the original Sportingbet review, I commented that the number of people complaining that they had issues with withdrawing their funds was a massive issue for the company and as such, I couldn’t recommend them.

However, since being taken over by Entain, who also own Ladbrokes and Coral, it is clear that Sportingbet has had a huge makeover, and I am delighted to say that it is now one of the more reliable and better value betting sites online today.

Of course, there are still negative reviews – every site gets them – but they mostly seem to be from people who want to try and make a quick buck from the Welcome Offer and who do not understand the terms and conditions of the offer fully.

The app is one of the best on the market, the site is much better designed nowadays and there are plenty of good features such as the Best Odds Guarantee and the BackUpBet offers which offer long term value for customers.

I’d like to see esports added to its Sports, Virtuals and Casino offering, plus I feel the live streaming service could be improved, but overall, Sportingbet is now a site that I can wholly recommend to customers.

Sportingbet Customer Reviews

Are you wondering what other customers are saying about Sportingbet? Here’s what we have found looking through reviews of the site.

What Actual Sportingbet Customers are Saying…

“Sportingbet is a slick online sports betting and casino site that is clearly in love with sports with tonnes of markets and offers available.”

“The odds, prices are super fair, buying points if you’re a serious player, Sportingbet has to be one of your outs. It seems all these bashers are the bonus whores, people that don’t fulfil their rollovers.”

“Best betting company I’ve dealt with. I wasn’t paid in any way to write this review, I’m just happy I found a betting company that make life simpler!”

“Deposited on Saturday placed football Acca which won late Sat evening. Made withdrawal, money in my account today (Tuesday). Can’t get any better than that. If you have a complaint with the site you should ask yourself if you have done anything wrong first.”

“Re-visited Sportingbet recently and surprised by the number of changes on the site. Everything looks much cleaner and less cluttered now, with access to the links I need more sensibly laid out. Bets are easy to find and place and happy enough with the process of withdrawing winnings. Especially great odds for horseracing!”

“Had big wins early on, fast fast withdrawal. I have experience with other sites – this is one of the good ones.”