Bet365 Review

Unlike some of the other online gambling websites out there, Bet365 initially started out as a sports betting site, and then went on to expand to providing online slots, virtual table games, and even live dealer casino games! While the branching out of online casinos to also include sports betting is generally accepted amongst the online community as something natural and difficult to mess up, the same cannot be said about betting sites trying to include online slots, roulette, poker, or any other kind of casino games you’d expect to find at an online gambling platform.

Much of the bad reputation of betting apps turned online casinos isn’t really deserved, but the stereotype does have its roots in reality. The vast majority of online bookmakers that tried their hand at becoming well-rounded casinos have failed miserably. This is due to the wildly different nature of sports betting and playing table or slot games. In the first one, access to many different betting markets and decent odds on the major events are enough to generate a sizeable following for a site and go on from there. It’s not an easy job, as it requires extensive sporting and online betting knowledge, but it’s a world that’s completely different from Internet casinos that are meant to emulate the brick-and-mortar experience of playing slots or blackjack.

Online gamblers look for plentiful options, mainly hundreds of slots to pick from, attractive bonuses, and a smooth, uninterrupted experience. These requirements do overlap with betting apps, but the implementation and maintenance of these two types of platforms are completely different beasts. This is why sports betting platforms fail at replicating their success in the e-gaming sphere: they underestimate exactly what it takes to make such a site work. Thankfully, Bet365 is not one of these platforms.

While the online bookmaker services remain the primary reason why Bet365 is so popular all over the world, they have recently ramped up their efforts in the casino sphere, attracting more and more slot and table game players to sign in. If you want to know more about Bet365, their mobile betting, slots, and other casino services, you’ve come to the right place. Our comprehensive Bet365 review covers all that, and more.

History of Bet365

Before diving into things like bonuses, what instant games you can play, as well as the sheer scale of their betting markets, it might be worthwhile to go over Bet365’s history, as its rise to the top of the online bookmaking and e-gambling scene has been nothing short of remarkable.

Founded in 2000 as one of the first betting platforms to solely exist online, without any brick-and-mortar shops to speak of, they have quickly established themselves as one of the leading bookmakers in the United Kingdom, and a global expansion soon followed. Nowadays, it is difficult to find anyone who’s even remotely interested in sports that have not heard of Bet365 or seen their ad during half-time breaks or as pitch side banners. Bet365 is everywhere. Gamblers flock to the platform from all over the world. From Brazil to India, fans of sports betting and online slots alike use Bet365 as their go-to platform.

The fact that Bet365 does not have any brick-and-mortar locations remains their biggest strength. Unlike the other leading bookmakers, such as PaddyPower, Ladbrokes, or William Hill, Bet365 doesn’t need to spend the enormous amounts of money required to maintain the physical stores, pay the clerks, and serve walk-in customers. Instead, they could have put that money towards other uses, such as developing their own technology, around which the entire online platform was created.

Contrary to other betting sites, Bet365 does not enlist the services of an external software provider to run their complex sports betting and e-gaming platform, but rather has an in-house team of experienced developers that regularly update and maintain the site. This puts them at a significant advantage, as they don’t have to rely on any middleman to provide their customers with a stable and reliable gambling experience.

As of 2022, Bet365 is probably the best site that offers an experience combining what’s offered by online casinos and bookmakers. With a purpose-built platform, the live sports updates and the live betting option is a great example of how investing in homegrown tech and not relying on outside services can pay off in the long run.

Sports Betting at Bet365

 

Bets were the service that Bet365 initially built their service upon. Aiming to revolutionisethe world of bookmaking, they have set out to become the world’s first online-only, major bookmaker. Over the two decades of its existence, the website has amassed millions of loyal customers, who’ve gained access to countless betting markets across a wide variety of disciplines.

Live Betting

Poorly run live betting systems are the bane of online bookmaking. Sports fans love to have the option to gamble on a whim during a major event — live bets usually offer the best odds, while maintaining high degrees of probability (most of the time). Unfortunately, due to the fast-paced nature of some sports, many bookmaking services fail to keep up with the scores and on-the-field events, resulting in many bets failing to resolve correctly. Of course, 99% of the time, the issues get corrected and the bettors get their money. Nevertheless, it can still be an annoying and stressful aspect of placing live sports bets online.

Bet365 uses its own platform, which was custom-built to cater to the needs of the many users who frequent the site to bet on sports events, including live bets. This makes these issues much rarer than in the case of bookies who enlist external services to handle their platform. If, like many other sports fans, you are a fan of live betting, Bet365 is most likely the best platform you should use to avoid any unexpected glitches or payout delays.

Best Sports to Bet On at Bet365

Although their offer encompasses 42 sports, the best odds at Bet365 can be found for sports that are most popular in the United Kingdom. This slight bias is probably caused by the fact that its creators are all British and their headquarters is located in Stoke-on-Trent, but the good news is that UK sports are also wildly popular in many other parts of the world. Below, you can learn more about the five most popular markets on Bet365, as well as a neat outline of the odds levels for these markets.

Odds Levels for Bet365’s Biggest Markets

This table will help you make sense of the platform’s biggest markets and the quite attractive odds you may get when betting on them. The percentage figures are ranges of RTP (return-to-player) rates for continued betting in the one sport, and they depend on the events you bet on, as well as the likelihood of your bets coming to fruition. Basically, if you continuously place accumulator bets on relegation candidates beating last year’s champions, your odds will be much worse than those presented in our table.

	Low	High
Football	93.5%	98%
Horse Racing	86.5%	92.3%
Cricket	92.1%	97.2%
Tennis	92.7%	94.5%
Boxing	93.8%	95.6%

Football

There is no better sport for betting real money on than good old football. Sure, any match could go both ways, just like in any other sport, but for those following the game for a long time, certain patterns become as clear as day. If you’re a football expert and watch all of the Premier League matches regularly, you can make a killing off of predicting results, goal scorers, and even making some long-term bets, such as next season’s Champions League or World Cup winner. A lot of the time, football matches tend to end up in draws. Even if the outcome ends up favouring one of the sides, the most common scores are 1-0, 2-1, or 3-0.

If you’re knowledgeable about which players are currently in form, and which teams are likely to punch above their weight in a given game, you can expect to make some decent educated guesses and stand to make some serious cash. Keep in mind that this is applicable only if you bet consistently and regularly — football is not really the sport for wild, all-in types of bets.

Horse Racing

While football is the game for bettors who are passionate about it and know the ins and outs of it, betting on horse racing has proven to be more of a wildcard kind of experience. While it does help to know the statistics and abilities of particular horses and riders before a race, there is no guarantee that past performances and predictions are going to matter in the upcoming event. Hyped football players and tennis stars may have their off days, too, but generally speaking, good form is an indicator of a long-lasting trend in these sports, whereas horse racing doesn’t quite work like that. It’s a great discipline for one-off, large bets for players who love to feel the thrill of a big gamble.

Cricket

Cricket is one of the most popular sports on Bet365. In terms of the sheer number of bets placed, only football is the more frequently chosen discipline. The vast majority of cricket bettors are based in two countries: the United Kingdom and India, which can explain the kind of numbers it generates. Due to the popularity of the sport in India, a country with the second-largest population in the world, Bet365 pays particular attention to the quality of its cricket betting experience, which cannot be said about its competitors, who rarely treat cricket as equal to some of the major sports such as football or basketball.

Tennis

Grand Slam tennis tournaments provide great value for bettors. From single match bets, through live bets regarding which player will win a particular set, all the way to tournament-long predictions of each game’s winners and losers, tennis bets combine great odds with players’ consistency. Much like in the case of football, it is relatively safe to expect good returns from in-form individuals. Household names on a poor run of form usually get treated like favourites against other players by bookmakers (including Bet365), giving bettors who are knowledgeable about tennis a chance to make bank on certain matches by backing the underdogs.

Boxing

Although it may look simple at first glance, boxing is actually a sport full of intricacies and detail that may escape the eye of unaware spectators. The odds on the biggest fights are not the best, since the top performers are very unlikely to lose fights, even less so than in sports like tennis. Therefore, it is much more profitable to bet on lower-profile fights, where it isn’t as easy to predict the winners. These live events tend to have great odds on each outcome. In all honesty, it might be worth it to get into lesser-known boxing leagues and events just to be able to place bets on their outcomes!

Bet365 Bonuses and Promotions

Online platforms made specifically for gambling almost always include some sort of deals or promotions in order to lure players away from the competition and convince them to use their services instead. Much like banks or internet service providers, online casinos and betting apps usually give the best bonuses to new customers, but that doesn’t mean that Bet365 veterans are shunned by the platform. In fact, it’s quite the opposite: frequently using the site to place bets is rewarded by various loyalty schemes and seasonal promotions.

Bet365 casino also has two VIP programs that players can join for a small sum and reap increasingly attractive benefits as they spend more and more time with the site: the Casino VIP Club, and the VIP Poker Club.

Other Promotions at Bet365

Sports fans and casino players can count on frequent seasonal promotions when betting with Bet365. They are usually attached to major sports events or seasonal or bank holidays (Christmas, Thanksgiving, etc.). Every now and then, bets with particular conditions are promoted by the site, and players who place them may count on extra rewards regardless of the outcome.

Finally, there are two VIP programs for frequent casino players: the Casino VIP Club and the VIP Poker Club. They are outlined below, to help you decide which program is best suited to your needs.

Casino VIP Club

Every new Bet365 member starts their VIP journey at the Bronze Level and can advance up the ranks the more they play online slots and table games at Bet365’s casino site. As you continue playing your favourite games, you’ll rake in Bet365 competition points, which will propel you towards higher VIP status. Below, you can find the point requirements for advancing up the ranks:

• Bronze: 0 points. Every new Bet365 member starts at this level.
• Silver: 150,000 points
• Gold: 500,000 points

Keep in mind that aside from membership levels, there are also milestone rewards for crossing certain point thresholds. Below are the milestones, in ascending order. We won’t be listing the particular rewards, as they are subject to frequent changes, depending on seasonal promotions and other factors.

• 50,000 points
• 150,000 points (Silver)
• 500,000 points (Gold)
• 1,500,000 points

VIP Poker Club

This is a VIP program restricted to Poker players. It works in a very similar manner to the general Casino VIP Program, except for the fact that it only measures your level of seniority when it comes to playing poker, particularly in tournaments where other players are involved. The amount of points and bonuses you’re eligible for is determined not only by the time and money you’ve spent on poker games, but also your performance at the tournaments mentioned earlier.

Bet365 as an Online Casino

Bet365’s expansion into the online casino sphere has been subject to a lot of doubt and criticism from bettors. They were afraid that once the developers implement slot and table games to the website, the platform would steer further and further away from the betting industry, abandoning the loyal players who have stuck with Bet365 from the start. Luckily, that was not the case. Thanks to the measures that the site’s founders have taken in the initial stages of the enterprise, Bet365 didn’t only manage to maintain the high standards of their betting services, but also managed to create a digital casino service that can compete with the best casino sites that are currently active.

Nowadays, Bet365 has two separate teams of on-site developers running and supporting the casino and betting aspects of the site, to ensure that each and every component of the platform runs as smoothly as possible. Thanks to a custom-built platform and an online-only approach, their casino and betting services are miles ahead of other UK bookies that are trying to break into the e-gambling market.

How Does It Compare to Other Online Casinos?

Understandably, the Bet365 roster of online slots and other casino games is not as impressive as some of the industry’s leaders, but it is still a generous offer from a website that started out as an exclusive sports betting platform. With over 550 slots and table games for gamblers to choose from, they certainly outperform competitors from the bookmaker industry. There are plenty of fan-favourite titles there to sink your teeth in, including:

• Book of Ra

• Gonzo’s Quest

• Football Star

• Avalon II

• Frank Dettori’s Magic Seven

• Jackpot Giant

• Sizzling 7s Fortune

With a roster of well-known, popular slots at your disposal, as well as a healthy line-up of table games to dive into, Bet365 is a true gambler’s paradise. Combine that with all of the different sports and markets you can bet on (including virtual sports), and you’ve got yourself the ultimate online gambling platform!

Bet365: Verified by the UK Gambling Commission

As we mentioned earlier (multiple times), Bet365 has been on the market for over 20 years. If that is not enough to earn your trust, then you should know that the site is also verified by the UK Gambling Commission, the most reputable and stringent organisation that deals with the financial safety and regulation of online casinos and lotteries. They also hold an eCOGRA certificate, further establishing their legitimacy.

Whether you play on your mobile device or personal computer, you’ve got nothing to worry about as far as the security of your funds kept on Bet365 is concerned. Of course, you should still gamble responsibly and pay attention to all of the basic cybersecurity practices, such as two-factor authentication and unique, difficult-to-crack passwords.

Payment Methods at Bet365

Bet365 accepts a wide variety of payment methods. Whether you want to deposit your funds via a fast bank transfer, or would rather use an e-wallet, the accepted forms of handling money should cater to all of your needs. In the table below, you’ll find a detailed outline of each payment method, its minimum deposits, fees, and withdrawal limits.

Bet365 Review Summary and Conclusion

All in all, Bet365 is a secure and reliable provider of betting and gambling services, whatever your needs may be. As a betting site, its live betting technology is truly state-of-the-art, and the sheer amount of betting markets you can put your money on is sometimes overwhelming. Whatever football match, boxing gala, or horse race you’re looking forward to, you can be sure to be able to put down some money on it via Bet365. After all, countless betting options are what made this platform famous in the first place.

Thanks to the multitude of available payment methods, placing bets with Bet365 is smooth and easy, with no hidden fees or murky practices, often associated with other sites. The withdrawal process is also fair and easy to understand.

Contrary to many other sites of similar nature, Bet365 cares for new customers and existing ones equally, with a generous welcome bonus and an attractive loyalty program that makes sticking with the betting site worthwhile.

Finally, Bet365 is also a great casino, with hundreds upon hundreds of online slots at players’ disposal. It doesn’t lean too far behind other online casinos, despite this area of gambling not being the main focus of the site. Games meant to emulate the brick-and-mortar casino experience, such as poker, blackjack, or roulette, are also available.

Our Verdict: 9.5/10

Pros:

• Great welcome bonus
• A loyalty program that keeps players engaged
• Near-infinite betting options
• Well-optimized mobile site
• Simple and fair deposit and withdrawal processes

Cons:

• Slight bias towards sports that are popular in the UK