Betfair Gallery
Betfair Review UK December 2024 – £40 in Free Bets for New Customers
Overview
Betfair is, quite simply, the UK’s leading betting exchange. As you’ll learn in this Betfair review, you do not always have to bet against the bookie here. You can also bet against your fellow Betfair users who are betting opposite to you. We will explain both approaches here and explore everything else that Betfair has to offer.
Bet £10 Get £30 in Free Football Bet Builders
Bet £10 Get £30 in Free Football Bet Builders
- Comprehensive coverage of sports worldwide
- Multiple markets for almost every event
- Betting Exchange lets you bet like a bookie
Betfair: An Overview
Betfair was the brainchild of Andrew Black and Edward Wray. Black, an experienced stock broker, devised the idea of applying trading to sports betting. Instead of being a bookie, the idea was to set up a platform that would allow punters to exchange bets and set their own odds. Black went to William Hill, Ladbrokes and the Racing Post with his idea, but they all sent him packing. Eventually, Wray – the younger brother of one of Black’s friends – heard the exchange idea, and with the backing of investors, Betfair was launched in 2000.Upon launch, Betfair announced it would be the death of the traditional bookmaker, and although that never happened, the company soon went from strength to strength. As not every bettor understood exchange betting, Betfair added fixed odds betting in 2012, having already added a casino and a standalone poker room.
The company merged with gambling giant Paddy Power in 2016 and eventually rebranded as Flutter Entertainment. Flutter are now the owners of both Betfair and Paddy Power as well as the UK versions of FanDuel, PokerStars, Sky Betting, Sky Gaming and Sportsbet.
Date founded: 2000.
Ownership: Flutter Entertainment.
Headquarters: Dublin, Ireland.
Address: Belfield Office Park, Beech Hill Road, Clonskeagh, Dublin 4, Ireland.
Licence No.: 39439.
Betfair were the first betting company to sponsor a UK football team, that being Fulham for the 2002-03 season only. They’ve yet to sponsor another one, although they do sponsor Cruzeiro and Vasco da Gama in Brazil, and are the official betting partner of Barcelona and, oddly, CONMEBOL, the governing body of South American football.
In the past, they’ve sponsored the World Matchplay event in darts and were the sponsors of the World Championship in snooker in 2013. These days, Betfair seem more content to unleash their ‘orange market trader’ ads on media channels than spend money on sponsorship.
Safety and Security at Betfair
Betfair is a very secure site. All internet traffic uploaded to it and downloaded from it is encrypted using the highest-standard software encryption tools – the same kind of tools used by online portals to banks and other financial services. Your personal data, including your sensitive financial data, is safe at Betfair.
The site adheres to GAMSTOP and takes responsible gambling seriously. You can set your own deposit limits and/or the number of deposits you are able to make per day, week or month. Betfair also has an excellent responsible gambling section as well as links and contact details for countless external gambling help services.
Betfair Sign Up Offer
Like all decent sports betting sites in the UK, Betfair is prepared to offer its new customers a tidy bonus as a reward for signing up with them. In this case, you only have to place a £10 bet using your own cash on the Betfair sports book to earn yourself £40 in free bets.
One or two things you will need to be aware of as far as the Betfair welcome offer goes, though. First up, your initial deposit must be made with a debit card or Apple Pay – no other payment services will qualify for this deal. Secondly, you must use the promo code ‘ZSKAQF’ when claiming this bonus. As that is quite the mouthful you will be pleased to hear that the code will be pre-filled in for you when you sign up. The third thing you need to know is that your qualifying bet must be a single with minimum odds of Evens (2.00). All this must be done within 30 days of signing up with the Betfair platform. Oh, and don’t make your qualifying bet at the exchange else you won’t get your freebies!
Once your qualifying bet has settled, you will receive your Betfair sign up offer of £40 in sports book bonuses, which will be bet builder bets, accas or multiplies (not including system bets). Betfair keeps its cards close to its chest in this regard so you won’t know exactly what you are getting until you get it! Two things left that you need to know – your free bets must be used within 30 days of signing up for your account else you will lose them, and your free bet stakes are never returned, only any winnings.
Betfair Welcome Offer Description Min. Deposit Min. Odds Betfair new customer offer Bet £10, Get £40 in free bets £10 1/1 Significant Terms: Place a min £10 bet on Sportsbook on odds of min 1/1 (2.0) and get £40 in Free Bet Builders, Accumulators or multiples to use on any sport. Rewards valid for 30 days. Only deposits via card or Apple Pay will qualify. T&Cs apply. Please Gamble Responsibly.
Betfair Existing Customer Offers
So, once you have used up your welcome offer at the Betfair bookmaker, what next? Do you get any promotional goodness as a regular Betfairian? Well, there are a few, but very few, and we explore them below.
Free Bet When You Bet on Multiples
You have to opt-in to get this bonus. Place a multiple bet on any Betfair horse racing event Monday to Friday to qualify (includes system bets like a Heinz system bet or a Yankee). The starting price of your multi must be at least Evens. You will receive your free bet within two hours of your qualifying bet settling if it is eligible. Your free bet will be of a maximum value between £5 and £10, depending on the offer and the size of your qualifying bet.
Earn £10 in Cash for Every Friend You Refer
For every friend you recommend to Betfair who then signs up and within 60 days makes a minimum £10 bet on the sports betting site, exchange or casino, you will receive £10 in withdrawable cash. You will be given your own personal referral code once you have completed your Betfair sign up and made at least one deposit using a debit card. You can refer a maximum of five people via your referral code.
Lengthen the Odds
You can get better odds than normal if your horse wins with a decent lead. The amount of your extra winnings depends on the length between your winning selection and the horse that finishes in second place.
Substitution Guarantee
This applies to football matches in the EPL, UCL, Europa League and the 2024 Euros. If you have backed a player and they are subbed off within the first ten minutes of the match, then your bet is returned to you. The bets covered include cards, assists, goal-scorer (first/last/anytime) and others. Check the offer details to find out more.
Betfair Key Features
So far you’ve been educated a little about the history of this sports betting brand (exchange and sports book), its safety record and the bonuses available to new customers and existing ones. Now, let’s take a peek at everything that makes this sports betting site tick.
Betfair Sports Betting Markets
Betfair is one of the few sports betting sites available to punters in the UK that has two sides to it – the sports betting exchange and the fixed odds betting site. The fixed odds side has the most markets, but there are only a few missing. We present to you the full list below.
- American Football
- Athletics*
- Australian Rules
- Baseball
- Basketball
- Boxing
- Cricket
- Current Affairs*
- Cycling
- Darts
- eSports
- Football
- Futsal*
- Gaelic Games
- Golf
- Greyhound Racing
- Handball
- Hockey*
- Horse Racing
- Ice Hockey
- Lacrosse*
- MMA
- Motor Sport
- Olympics*
- Politics
- Rugby League
- Rugby Union
- Snooker
- Special Bets
- Surfing*
- Table Tennis*
- Tennis
- Virtuals*
- Volleyball
- Water Polo*
* fixed odds betting site only
No matter which side of the betting fence you find yourself at Betfair, that’s a nicely extensive list.
Betfair In-Play Betting
In-play betting is available at both the Betfair exchange and the fixed odds sportsbook. Practically every sport that you can bet on at Betfair can be wagered upon live, and you’ll be able to see the betting options and the current state of play for all live games. Importantly, on the exchange side, you can also see the currently offered odds, the liquidity (money available to bet against) and how much cash has been matched so far.
On the fixed odds betting side, you can see all the current live events and the markets available for each. The fixed odds betting side has many more markets than the exchange betting side, as most punters who concentrate on the exchange are only interested in the back (to win) or lay (not to win) bets.
Betfair Live Streaming and Commentary
Live streaming is a key component of what the Betfair bookmaker can offer you, and live streaming is available both at the fixed odds betting side, and the exchange. You’ll probably tell us to ‘bore off’ when we inform you that all UK and Ireland horse races are available to live stream at this site. There are a few others – tennis being the main sport that is covered by Betfair live streaming. Don’t expect anything major though as all the world’s leading events are covered by expensive media deals.
If you can’t stream the match then there is ‘match view’ which uses graphics as best it can to relay what is happening in an event you are viewing. It’s not the best way of keeping in touch with a sporting contest, but it is better than nowt.
Betfair Betting Odds
At the exchange side, it’s the punters that set the odds. You are able to review any event and the odds that have been offered. If you don’t like the odds you can always set your own, but you will need someone to cover your bet at your offered odds for your bet to be valid. There is no guarantee you’ll be able to find someone to take your bet, so it always pays to be sensible.
The odds at the fixed odds betting side are based on the odds offered by the exchange at Betfair. They are not the same though as the exchange odds have no margin (Betfair makes money at the exchange by charging a small commission on all winning bets). The fixed odds are slightly adjusted to compensate Betfair as they don’t make any commission with fixed odds. The exchange though will always have the better odds, even when you take the commission into account.
Betfair Betting Limits
There are no limits at the exchange, but you can only get back the maximum amount of liquidity available. If you are backing a side for £1,000 at 2/1 then the people backing the other side need to have stumped up a minimum of £2,000 in order to pay you out the winnings you will be expected. The amount of liquidity available and the amount of money already matched is always available to see, so you can’t really get lost.
On the fixed odds side the maximum payouts can easily be found in the ‘rules and regulations’ section. These max out at £1,000,000 for top class horse races in the UK and Ireland, and the same for ‘elite’ football. The other top payouts differ by sport, right down to £10,000 for ‘Irish Racing & UK Racing not covered in Full Service’.
Betfair Customer Service
Look at the Betfair logo at the top left-hand corner of any page, and you’ll also notice a ‘Help’ link right next to it. Click that link to load the support pages. Here, you will find answers to lots of common betting site ailments. If you are not helped, click ‘Get in touch’, which will load the Betfair help channel. Sadly, live chat at Betfair is a ‘virtual assistant’ that will ask you for your registered email and how it can help. It’s a persistent bleep, but if you persevere, you will be put through to someone with a pulse. Other Betfair customer service options are as follows:
- Betfair online chat: available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
- Betfair email: [email protected].
- Betfair contact phone number: 0844 871 0000.
Betfair Exchange Betting
As we have mentioned a few times, Betfair is primarily a betting exchange with a fixed odds betting side attached. Some people get confused about the concept of exchange betting but it really is not that complicated. Let’s look at a real-world example.
You and nine mates get together to watch England v Portugal. Five of you think England will win, while five of you think Portugal will win. The England backers are so confident that England will win they offer odds of 2/1 on England not winning, and stump up £100. The Portugal backers (who are going to ‘lay’ England) need to find £50 to match the bet, as £50 x 2/1 = £100. If England win, the England backers get the £50. If Portugal win, the England layers get £100. You – as the organiser of the exchange – take a five percent commission from the winners.
That, in a nutshell, is how Betfair works. When you want to exchange a bet, you can head to Betfair to see what’s available. Pick your outcome and look at the offered prices – the most popular back (to happen) odds are in blue, and the most popular lay (not to happen) bets are in pink. The number under each price is the current amount of liquidity (money) available, which is the maximum size your bet can be to guarantee that much return if won – however, that amount is likely to increase before the market closes.
When you back a bet you set your stake as with fixed odds betting, but when you lay you set the amount of money you are aiming to win. Betfair will calculate your liability (the amount of money you’ll have to pay if you lose) for you. Say you want to lay at odds of 2.50 in order to win £20. If your bet loses, then your liability will be £30. Your liability is calculated as stake x (odds – 1).
Other Notable Features at Betfair
Aside from being a combined betting exchange and fixed odds betting site, what else does Betfair has to offer in terms of betting? Well, not a lot in all honesty. However, did find a couple of things, which we explain below.
Betfair Bet Builder
Betfair is another betting site that has gone as far as offering a bet builder. This is where you can build an ‘acca’ using separate events or markets in the same match. For example, for Man City v Man Utd it could be Erling Haaland to score anytime, Bruno Fernandes to have at least one shot on target, Kevin De Bruyne anytime assist and Nathan Ake two or more fouls. The site will offer a number of pre-selected bet builders but you can always come up with your own.
We could only find bet builders available for football and NBA basketball at the site.
Betfair Virtuals
If real sports are not enough for you at Betfair then you can enjoy the site’s virtual sports too. We all should know what virtual sports are by now – computer-generated contests with video graphics. At Betfair, the available sports are horse racing (flat, jumps and sprint), football, greyhounds and motor racing.
How to Complete Your Betfair Sign Up
It is very easy to sign up at Betfair and grab your welcome offer, which currently offers £40 in free bets for a £10 bet of your own. Here is what you need to do.
- First, you will need to head to the Betfair desktop site itself, which you can do using the button below. Note, you only need one account at Betfair, not separate ones for the exchange and fixed odds betting. You may also sign up at the Betfair mobile site.
- Look in the right-hand corner of the page for the ‘Sign Up’ button and click it.
- Fill in all the necessary info on the pop up page that pops up.
- Once you have done all that is necessary, including choosing a password that meets all the security criteria, hit the ‘sign up’ button.
- Choose your contact preferences.
- If all has gone well, you will now have a Betfair login! Use it to log in then transfer £10 to your account using a debit card or Apple Pay, then place your bet at minimum odds of 1/1 (2.00) to qualify for the Betfair welcome bonus.
Betfair App Review
Betfair has always been on the ball when it comes to betting apps, and has always made sure that both its exchange and fixed odds betting side can be enjoyed on mobile devices. Indeed, if you head to the home page of this site, you will see a ‘Mobile’ button with both the Android and Apple logos. Click on this for the latest info about the Betfair app.
Unlike the rest of the Betfair UK site, there are separate apps for the sportsbook and the exchange. If you intend to use them both, then you are going to have to download them both. You cannot download either from the site itself, but if you visit the site using a mobile browser, then you can click on the necessary buttons to be taken through to the App Store or Google Play, where appropriate. You can then install the apps there. Both Betfair mobile site apps are top-class, as you would expect from the Betfair UK online bookie. Note that you still only need a single account to access the sports betting site and the exchange.
You can use the Betfair desktop site on a phone or tablet without downloading or installing a Betfair app. Just visit the site on your usual mobile browser, as you would any site when you want to surf the web.
Betfair review: Deposits & Withdrawals
There is a good array of payment options available at Betfair and you can even deposit in cold hard cash! To do so simply take your money and your account details to any IRL Paddy Power bookie. Online, it’s debit cards (you can assign a maximum of three cards to your account), ApplePay, PayPal, Skrill, Neteller, PaysafeCard, Rapid Transfer, MuchBetter or a bank transfer. The minimum deposit is £5 for most methods but £30 for eWallets or a bank transfer.
There’s no real minimum withdrawal to contend with for Betfair withdrawals, although for a standard bank transfer you will need to withdraw at least £10. The Betfair withdrawal times are dependent upon which withdrawal method you choose. Most Visa card and some MasterCard withdrawals will be processed in as little as four hours. All other methods can take between one day and five days to process, with there being absolutely no fees.
You can find all the information you will need about payment options at Betfair in the table below.
Payment Method Min. Deposit Fees Min. Withdrawal Betfair withdrawal times Visa debit £5 Free £0.01 1 hour – 1 day MasterCard debit £5 Free £0.01 1 hour – 1 day ApplePay £5 Free £0.01 2 – 3 days Instant bank transfer £5 Free £0.01 Immediate PayPal £30 Free £1 1 – 4 hours Skrill £30 Free £1 1 – 4 hours Neteller £30 Free £1 1 – 4 hours PaysafeCard £30 Free Not available Not available Bank transfer £30 Free £10 1 – 5 days Rapid transfer £30 Free £0.01 2 – 3 days MuchBetter £30 Free £0.01 Up to 24 hours Betfair Casino Review
Betfair was one of the first betting brands to add a casino to its betting exchange, and if you sign up to the casino using the Betfair promo code ‘CASAFS’ you can grab yourself 50 free spins valued at 10p each. On top of that, if you deposit and then spend £10 on eligible games at the Betfair casino, you will get an additional 100 free spins. The site mentions no wagering, so we have to assume that once you have your free spins winnings, you can spend them at the site or withdraw them as you see fit.
The Betfair casino features slots and games from a whole host of top-class providers, including what should be familiar names such as Big Time Gaming and Playtech. The RNG casino has numerous examples of casino games such as roulette and blackjack, with the live casino (provided by Playtech and Evolution) having a few Betfair casino exclusives, for that roulette and blackjack pairing again. Other popular casino games are available.
Look out for prize pinball too! This is a daily ‘luck only’ game that you can play once per day for free, and you could win up to £3,000!
Betfair Pros & Cons
We’re coming to the close of our Betfair review, so now it’s time to take a look back and reflect on all we have learned about this exchange and fixed odds betting site. What’s gold, and what’s grimy? You might like to check out other Betfair reviews so you can see if they agree with our findings!
What We Like:
- Exchange = Better Odds – Even if you find the exchange concept confusing, you can still use it – just concentrate on back (to win) bets and you’ll get the best odds.
- Responsible Gambling – Betfair UK takes its responsible gambling elements very seriously, with a large help section and contacts for external helpful organisations.
- Been Around the Block – This betting site is almost a quarter of a century old, so they must be doing something right to remain in the business for so long.
- Low Withdrawal Limits – Spend a penny, save a penny and withdraw a penny. No withdrawal limits at Betfair, which is great.
- Instant Betfair Withdrawals – Get your money instantly with Instant Bank Transfers.
Room for Improvement:
- Tango Delboy – We just don’t like him.
- High Deposit Limits – No reason for the deposit limits for eWallets to be so high.
- Not Enough Bonuses – You’d think a site of such a size would have more bonuses than it does for ongoing customers.
- Betfair Bot –The fact that you have to get past a Betfair online chat bot to talk to Betfair customer service is annoying.
Betfair Review – Final Thoughts
We’re going to have to say it again – Betfair is primarily a betting exchange with a fixed odds betting site attached. We implore you to give the exchange betting side of Betfair a go, even if it takes you a while to get used to it. You will simply get better odds, and if you don’t like the odds you are getting, you can offer odds of your own!
If you’re only going to use the fixed odds side of Betfair, then that, of course, is fine, too. Or even the casino (oh, and there is poker and bingo too). Betfair is a great and trusted UK betting brand that’s a top draw for all your sports betting expectations.
FAQs
What is Betfair?
Is Betfair a legit site?
How safe is Betfair?
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What is Betfair commission?
Charge Min. Deposit 
None £5 
None £5 Instant Banking None £5 
None £30 
None £30 
None £30 
None £30 
None £30 
None £30 
None £30 Min. Withdrawal Time £0.01 1 hour - 1 day £0.01 2 - 3 days Instant Banking £0.01 Immediate £1 1 - 4 hours £1 1 - 4 hours £1 1 - 4 hours £10 1 - 5 days £0.01 2 - 3 days £0.01 Up to 24 hours
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