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Up to $1,000
1-7 Days
Let me guess – you want to know more about Betway?
I don’t blame you. Betway is one of those sites who have several years under their belt, but not all of those years are good ones.
They started 10+ years ago on shaky ground. They had loads of complaints. They made a few blacklists. You know, things that few gambling sites come from.
Except Betway has.
But have they done enough? Are they a gambling site worthy of your attention, not to mention your hard-earned money? That’s the real question.
We’re going to do our best to help you answer that in our review below. We cover information that’s important to know before you sign up.
For example, we answer questions on the following topics:
You can skip around if you want. But at the very least we recommend you read the background and conclusion sections, as these will give you an idea of what their reputation is like …and if their reputation prevents us from recommending them to our readers.
Let’s get to it.
This section covers who Betway is, who owns and operates them, who can play here, and whether they’ve been involved in any scams.
Betway says (on their corporate site) they launched in early 2006.
They’re managed by Betway Limited. They’re registered in Maltese, and are licensed and regulated in Great Britain by the Gambling Commission.
The parent company is the Betway Group. They own and operate a couple other casino and bingo brands, though Betway appears to be the largest.
I’m not sure I’d say scandal or scam. But they’ve definitely got started on the wrong foot.
In fact, back in 2013 SportsbookReview.com – one of the largest sports review portals online – gave them a D- and blacklisted their site. This was a result of tons of complaints from players unable to clear bonuses, or being denied payouts because of ridiculous bonus terms. Sometimes players were denied for no real rhyme or reason.
But Betway got to work. They improved their management – replacing them twice in 5 years – and their customer service.
They did such a good job that Sportsbook Review bumped their grade up to a B-. And if you look at other review portals, such as AskGamblers.com and CasinoListings.com, you’ll see they have above-average reviews.
They’re not listed on any blacklists, either – including CasinoListings.com, SBR or Casinomeister.com.
The only thing I see that bothers me a tiny bit is all the unresolved complaints on AskGamblers.com. More than 50% of the complaints are ‘unresolved,’ which isn’t ideal. That said, many of these are several years old, and you have no idea if Betway resolved a problem, but the customer failed to come back and update their thread.
Not only that, but I have seen Betway respond to comments and complaints to AskGamblers.com. So, that earns them a few brownie points for effort.
The bottom line – I’m not worried about their past. Most of the negative things I’ve seen are from before 2012. Everything I’ve seen lately has been positive.
Players from the following countries cannot play at Betway:
Customer support is available by phone using the following numbers:
The following section covers how you can fund your account, cash out your winnings, and any details regarding limits, fees and time frames.
Here are their most popular options, along with limits, fees and time frames.
Method | Dep Min | Max | With Min | Max | Time Frame |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Debit Card | £10 | £50,000 | £10 | £100,000 | 1-7 days |
Credit Card | £10 | £50,000 | £10 | £100,000 | 1-7 days |
Neteller | £10 | £50,000 | £10 | £100,000 | 1-7 days |
Skrill | £5 | £5,000 | £250 | £2,500 | 1-7 days |
Click2Pay | £10 | £50,000 | £10 | £100,000 | 1-7 days |
ClickandBuy | £5 | £350 | £5 | £350 | 1-7 days |
EcoCard | £250 | £30,000 | £0 | £30,000 | 1-7 days |
InstaDebit | £10 | £50,000 | £10 | £100,000 | 1-7 days |
Bank Transfer | £10 | £50,000 | £10 | £100,000 | 1-3 days |
Betway may limit how much you can cash out if you haven’t played (lost) much. The limits are $4,000 per week, or 5x the amount of total lifetime deposits made to your account. This doesn’t apply to progressive jackpot wins.
My guess is this rule is to deter players from depositing and quickly cashing out – maybe after a few wins or clearing a bonus.
Let’s talk about Betway’s sportsbook promotions.
Yes. Betway offers a 100% match bonus up to $50.
To clear this offer, you’ll need to wager it 5x the deposit and bonus at odds of 1.75+. The bonus expires 60 days after it’s credited to your account. But time shouldn’t be an issue with a bonus this small.
This offer is for new customers from the UK, Ireland and Canada only. You’ll need to opt-in to participate.
You can also use this bonus in their casino or Vegas section. The rollover is 24x the deposit plus bonus, which is half the rollover requirement for the actual casino welcome bonus. So, if you’d rather have a $50 bonus than a $1,000 bonus, this would be the offer to claim.
Also keep in mind that if you do use this bonus in the casino, not all games will contribute equally to the playthrough requirements. Each game is worth a different amount, as you can see in the following chart:
They do offer a few other promos. Here are the details for the offers they have running now.
Make $25 worth of football multiple bets at odds of 2/1+ and you’ll receive $10 free each week – a $5 free bet on Saturday, and another one on Monday.
Make a match winner bet on any men or women’s singles matches during the Indian Wells Masters. If the player you bet on loses the first set, but wins the match, Betway will double your winnings up to $25.
Play a live bet on any NBA game. If your bet loses, and the last score was a 3-pointer, Betway will refund you with a free bet match on your stake up to $25.
Make a win/draw/win bet on any NHL match, and if your team doesn’t score a goal, Betway will refund your losing bet in the form of a free bet up to $50.
Betway also has a loyalty program that applies to all of their gambling products, not just sports. This is a multi-tier program where you move up based on the number of points you accumulate. Perks include 1-on-1 service, exclusive gifts, trips, custom offers, and more.
You can see the program and how it works here:
Now we’ll take a look at their sportsbook.
Betways claims to have as many as 12,000 markets for you to bet on at any given time. Here’s a list of the major markets they take action on:
Their focus is primarily European sports, though there’s plenty of US action between football, soccer, basketball, baseball, UFC and golf.
It looks like Betway is trying to capitalize on the rising popularity of esports and esports betting. In their navigation, they have links to their casino, sports, live casino …and then esports. So, they clearly want their esports section easy to find.
Anyway, you can see the games they cover under the ‘Quick Links’ heading in their sidebar.
Here are the games they were covering when I reviewed them:
They also cover other games, such as Starcraft 2, World of Tanks, Heroes of the Storm and Hearthstone.
There are plenty of betting options, too. When I checked out the League of Legends – EU LCS Summer Split, they had odds for the following markets:
They offer live betting, too. Though, when I checked them out there weren’t any matches running (or being covered).
Something else I saw and really liked is that Betway had a couple of esports-specific promotions. When I checked them out they offered 2 free bets, one $5 and one $10. This is pretty cool to see, and something their competition ISN’T doing (but should).
And yet another thing I was impressed by, is how Betway has a couple of dedicated esports social media accounts. On their , you’ll find interviews and tours with gaming teams, Q&A, and loads of other stuff, as well as their .
On their esports blog, they cover all sorts of topics, ranging from Q&A to the best and worst players to tips on how to play certain games better.
Overall, they have one of the most impressive esports betting products I’ve seen. When you factor in their esports promotions, videos and social media accounts – one of the only sportsbooks to offer any of this stuff – it’s easy to conclude that Betway should be the first bookmaker you check out for betting esports online.
Yes, you can.
Other reviews have said their in-play section is limited – that there’s not much you can bet on. However, when I last checked them out they had TONS of options ranging from tennis to basketball to football (soccer).
I also thought their live section was organized real well – especially relative to their site as a whole.
For example, in the football section they were covering several football leagues. You can sort through the leagues you want to bet on by pressing a tab. This is far better than having to sort through all of them on one page. The way Betway has done it, you only see the leagues and matches you want to see.
They do. It’s not obvious, nor do they mention they do anywhere on their site (that I could find). But other reviewers say you can access the live stream once you log into your Betway account.
That just might be reason enough for you to create a free account.
The minimum bet is $.10. The max – which can range from $250-$500,000 – depends on the market and type of bet you’re making.
Experts also say Betway is more or less not pro-friendly. In other words, if they feel like you’re taking advantage of them, they’re quick to limit your action.
If that’s going to be a problem, you can always make your way to Pinnacle or Bookmaker instead.
Experts say their odds could be better.
For example, English Premier League odds are around 107-107.5% at Betway, whereas they’re closer to 103% at Bet365 or BetVictor. NHL matches are around 107.5-108%. But some odds – such as NBA moneylines – are a bit more competitive at 104-105%.
They do. The strange thing, though, is that unlike the majority of sportsbooks on the web, their sportsbook isn’t mobile responsive. They have a mobile website instead. They also have an app you can download for free, though I never bothered with it since their mobile website worked just fine.
They have a solid sportsbook. There’s plenty to bet on, between the volume of markets (12,000+ !!!) and the types of bets you can make. They also have relatively high betting limits, in-play betting and live streaming.
It seems to me like their sportsbook is better suited for recreational players. Not only will they limit winners, but the pricing isn’t competitive – something I think pros will be more concerned about than people betting for fun.
Now let’s talk about their casino.
Betway has three casino sections – their main casino, live dealer casino and Vegas casino. To make things simple, we’ve included them all in this section. We’ll start with their casino promotions, then follow that up with what games you can expect to play.
They offer a new player match bonus. It’s spread out over your first 3 deposits, like this:
The total you can receive from this offer is $1,000.
The playthrough on this offer is 50x the deposit and bonus. This is pretty high as is, but it’ll be even higher if you choose to play games that won’t contribute 100% to your bonus. Because, like all online casinos, Betway assigns a different ‘contributing percentage’ to each game.
Here’s a chart that shows you the games you can play and how much of your bonus it clears:
8% is pretty weak. Between that and the 50x rollover, which is already too high, and it’ll probably make sense for most non-slots players to skip this offer – or claim the sportsbook bonus instead.
No, I didn’t find any additional (evergreen) casino offers. They do have the VIP program (mentioned earlier in the sportsbook section). And they have a points multiplier promotion running, but it’s a limited time offer.
This section will cover Betway’s casino software and games.
Betway works with only Microgaming. I think 99.99% of people will be happy with this. You’ll have a HUGE selection of slots (including licensed slot titles and HUGE progressive jackpots), video poker machines, card games and blackjack variants to choose from.
There are more than 500 games. This is how their game selection breaks down:
It’s absolutely mind blowing that they have nearly 45 different blackjack games, and nearly 60 video poker machines. Few, if any casinos are capable of saying the same thing.
Since Betway has 500+ games, it doesn’t make sense for us to include every single one here. What we’ll do instead is list the titles that stuck out to us in each section, and include any thoughts we may have about them.
The licensed slots stick out the most to me because these are the types of machines I play when I’m in Las Vegas. I’ve actually played Lord of the Rings, The Dark Knight and Jurassic Park. All 3 of them had fun bonus rounds.
But licensed slot machines isn’t all Betway offers. They have a slot machine for every kind of player. For example, you can play:
Chances are, if you want something specific – other than maybe a specific title – you can find it here.
There are lots of progressive slots. The most popular, by far, is the Mega Moolah machine.
Mega Moolah has paid out tens of millions over the last decade. The most recent payout was on November 5th, 2016. . Another happened to win $21 million in his first 7 minutes.
Maybe you’ll be next?
This is a good selection, both in terms of quantity and variety.
And though I’m excited about all the blackjack variants you can play, something I don’t care for are all the variants where the only difference is that you can play for higher stakes. I don’t think that really counts as a “variant.”
That said, even if you remove all of those “variants,” you still have an impressive list of games to choose from.
They have one of the largest live dealer game selections I’ve seen. And don’t forget, this is ON TOP of the dozens of blackjack and table games listed above.
Like the blackjack and table games, there are some duplicates here. But even with those removed this is a far better selection of video poker games than you’ll find at most online casinos.
Other than what I’ve listed above, you’ll find 20+ scratch card, keno and bingo games. It’s an impressive list of games, and something you might have to see to fully appreciate.
They do. Betway has a native app for both iOS and Android. You can also play from your browser since their no download casino is mobile responsive.
I like it. You can’t go wrong with 500+ games, even if quite a few of their blackjack and table games are duplicates.
My favorite thing are the slots, even though I’m not a huge slots player. I really enjoy playing the movie, TV show and comic book-themed slots. They’re video games, nostalgia and gambling all rolled into one.
This section will look at the promotions and games you can expect to find in their online poker room.
Yes. All new players are eligible for a 200% match bonus up to $750. Take advantage of the whole thing and you’ll have a $2,250 bankroll.
On top of that, you’ll be able to pad your bankroll further over your first 6 weeks between Betway’s $1,000 and $500 freerolls. You can play in 6 of each, totaling $9,000 in prize money that’s up for grabs.
Betway pays out your bonus money as you earn it, instead of upfront like the sports and casino bonuses. You’ll receive it in 1% increments.
You’ll do this until you clear the offer, or until 60 days is up – starting from your first deposit – and it expires.
Yes. Here are their ongoing offers outside the welcome bonus.
Lose with quad 2s or better and you’ll win the bad beat jackpot. 40% of the jackpot goes to the ‘loser,’ while 20% goes to the winner of the hand. The rest is divvied up amongst the players at the table and (to reseed) the next jackpot.
This is the total amount of prize money up for grabs across all the following freerolls:
Every real money hand or tournament you play earns you points. You will receive 10 points for every $1 you pay in rake. Sometimes you can earn more (per $1 in rake) if Betway runs a points promo.
Like all VIP programs, your points will determine your VIP status, as well as maintain your status each month. It also determines how much cash back you’re eligible for.
Here’s a chart that shows how this all works:
Blue | Bronze | Silver | Gold | Black | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Entry Points | 0 | 250-749 | 750-1499 | 1500-1999 | 2000+ |
Maintenance Points | NA | 150 | 500 | 1250 | 1500 |
Cash Loyalty Bonus | NA | 10% | 15% | 22% | 30% |
Points Per $10 Redemption | NA | 1000 | 667 | 455 | 333 |
Points Debited Per $10 | NA | 300 | 300 | 300 | 300 |
One of the things I like about this program is how you need fewer points to maintain your current VIP status than it took to get it in the first place. This is unlike many programs that make you earn the same number of points each month, which may not always be doable. But it looks like you only need to earn 50-80% of what it took to reach a new tier, to keep it.
Other than that, the VIP program is pretty standard – the higher up you go, the more bonus money you get, and the easier it is to earn cash back.
The following section covers their software and poker games.
Betway uses Microgaming software for their poker room. This is both a good and bad thing.
The good thing is the software itself. You’ll have all the standard options, such as 4-color decks, cascading tables, notetaking and so on.
They also have anonymous tables. But unlike other poker rooms that offer anonymous tables, such as Ignition Poker, only select Betway tables offer anonymity. This provides more balance between pros and rec players than you’ll find at other poker rooms.
Anonymous tables appeal to some players because it hides who you are. Good players can’t target you, take notes on you or tag you for later. It creates a more even playing field. At least until you play with someone long enough to figure them out.
They also have a 10-table limit. This might stop some professionals from playing here, which may make the games a bit more recreational or loose.
It might also explain the lack of traffic the site’s seeing.
The last couple of times I checked, they were sitting either 10th or 11th overall traffic-wise on Poker Scout. They have an average of 800-900 players at any given time.
So, they have traffic – enough to have consistent games running. But who knows how many games will be running, or whether you’ll be able to find the exact games/stakes you want to play.
This is the bad thing about using Microgaming software.
The games you can play include:
The majority of games running are at the holdem tables.
The stakes you can play range from .01/.02 to 50/100, though experts say most of the games run at .50/1 and lower.
You can choose from heads-up, 5/6-max, 8 and 9-handed games. Variants include turbo, anonymous and their fast-fold poker variant, Blaze Poker. Blaze Poker is worth checking out if want to play 100-300 hands per hour.
They offer plenty of SNG and MTT tourneys.
SNG stakes range from .01 to 215, and up to $1,000 for heads-up games. Variants include regular, turbo and double ups.
Lots of regular tournaments run, too. They guarantee more than $4 million in guaranteed prize money every month. Their flagship tournament – the $100,000 guarantees – runs every Sunday.
But that hardly comes close to $4 million, which means they must run lots of guaranteed tournaments during the week. And, in fact, they do – every single day you’ll find tourneys with guarantees ranging from $25 to $20,0000 daily.
They have a few options.
You can download their software. But you can also play in their browser ‘no download’ poker room. All you’ll need is Flash installed onto your computer.
You’ll want to keep in mind that their no download poker room is a ‘lite’ version of their software. When I last checked it out the only options they had were holdem and omaha. So, if you want to play other games you’ll want to get the download. I think the download makes more sense for poker players anyway, so you don’t have to worry about your browser crashing or finding a game to play.
You can also play via any major mobile phone or tablet.
Last, we’ll look at their bingo room. This is by far the smallest section on their website. It’s so small it feels like an afterthought.
The have their welcome bonus. It’s real simple – a 300% match offer up to $10. Deposit the $10 and you’ll have $40 to play with. It has a 3x playthrough before you can cash out.
They operate on Microgaming software – just like everything else on Betway.
You’ll get to choose from 90 and 75-ball bingo games. There are 7 different rooms, with games starting every few minutes for as little as .01/ticket.
One thing I liked seeing are their guaranteed bingo games. These will have guaranteed prize pools ranging from $50 to $1,000.
On top of their bingo games, you’ll also have easy access to their instant play casino where you’ll find TONS of casino games – all a click or two away.
You can play bingo from the browser on your computer, mobile phone or tablet.
There you have it. That’s Betway in a nutshell.
And, without really meaning to, we’ve laid everything out about Betway from best to worst. In other words, their sportsbook and casino are the strongest elements, while their poker and bingo room are the weakest.
I think they can do a better job organizing their site. For example, I’d consolidate their separate casino sections into one giant casino section. I’d do the same thing for their offers – put all their offers on one page, or at the very least put all their product-specific offers on one page (sports, casino, poker, etc.).
That’s my biggest complaint.
Outside of that, their casino rollover is far too high – 50x on both the deposit and bonus is ridiculous.
The majority of online reviews and customer ratings are average. I could only find a site or two that doesn’t recommend them. But much of their reasoning was based on Betway 5+ years ago, instead of Betway today. And for that reason, I don’t agree with them.
Yes. But only for their sportsbook or casino. Sign up for those, and enjoy the poker and bingo room while you’re there. Otherwise, find somewhere else to play poker and/or bingo. 888 and Bet365 are probably my top choices as far as all-in-one gambling sites are concerned. Or PokerStars, if online poker is the only thing you want to play.
But for most people – those who want to bet sports and play casino games – Betway will work. Check them out now.
didnt give me a bonus I been waiting a month for a 2500 payout Horrible experience
Thank you for your in-depth inquiery and usefull info about Betway. As I live in Brussels Betway only offres me a one time new customer 100% matched bonus of max 100 euro submited to strict deposit and bonus validation criterias. moreover I am not sur if they offer BOG odds for UK and Irish horse races...But I suppose I can't open a betway account in the UK as UK based bookies don't accept Belgian customers any longer right ? If ever you know about a reputable UK bookie or exchange service still accepting new Belgian customers please let me know ASAP... I am missing my Betfair account and my bot Faibot so much...all my betting activities beeing on football or Horse Racing has become much more complicated and less profitable and Pre Kick-off trading, which was my main betting activity, has become simply impossible to do...Maybe one day, i will definitely cross the channel to get rid once and for all of all those stupid so called legal restrictions... A former deeply frustrated Betfair user
- JP