18bet.com
Year established: 2010
Mobile compatible: Yes
Jurisdiction: Curacao
Overall rating: C-
Recommended: For recreational players
18bet Sportsbook Review
18Bet is an online only bookmaker which offers sports betting, casino and games. It operates from a licence in Curacao and it was established in 2010 meaning it has survived in a tough marketplace for some time.
The site is available in both English and German. 18Bet is on social media on both Facebook and Twitter; it doesn’t have a particularly large following on either however..on Facebook it has 363 Likes and on Twitter it has just 256 followers despite hitting over 4,500 tweets since May 2013. This is a clear indication that it needs a new social media strategy and perhaps some investment in this regard.
Its Twitter strategy appears to be focused on retweets rather than anything original which is seemingly detrimental to getting people following, and definitely is not working in getting people engaged with the 18Bet brand.
18Bet has had no brand ambassadors of note thus far in its time on the market.
Betting Markets
18Bet customers are able to bet on a reasonable variety of sports and these are listed here in full for your reading pleasure: Soccer, Basketball, Tennis, American Football, Handball, Futsal, Volleyball, Baseball, Ice Hockey, Cricket, Bandy, Table Tennis, Boxing, Cycling, Snooker, Golf, Badminton, Rugby League and Rugby Union.
It could certainly add more with esports one that is notably missing, and horse racing too. It also doesn’t offer political betting or novelty betting, both markets which are gaining popularity year on year.
Live betting
The 18Bet live betting layout is methodical yet bland, logical yet unexciting. There are no graphics to be seen, and the horizontal layout is uncomfortable to read and assess various events in an overview format.
It doesn’t offer any live streaming too nor live commentary which when coupled with the layout fails to make inplay betting at 18Bet all that appealing.
Usability of the site
The 18Bet site is smart enough in its sleek black and orange, and the site layout makes sense, it’s simple and it’s particularly easy to check promotions. Along the top is five primary categories; Sports, Live Betting, Live Casino, Casino, Games and Mobile.
Via drop down menus below these too you can quickly and easily change odds to decimal, fractional or American, and change the language to German or English too. It’d be nice to have further languages added, and this could add to its audience.
There is a Help drop down menu which gives users all the help they should require. This includes FAQs, payment methods information, terms and conditions, betting information, betting rules and an About Us section.
18Bet allows numerous payment methods including Visa, Mastercard, Skrill, Neteller, entropay, paysafecard and Bank Transfer amongst others. It does not however accept Paypal, though this is very common amongst betting operators.
18bet customer support exists in the form of live chat and email ([email protected]). There is no number to call which might cause some punters a bit of grief and is assumedly a cost cutting method by the bookmaker. Live chat was strong and effective during the test, and 18Bet customer support can be relied upon to be helpful when required. It’s certainly worth checking out the FAQs section first however as it may save you some time.
18Bet Mobile is decent, and there’s an enticing and worthwhile mobile specific free bet for first time users. It’s worth getting involved for this alone!
Conclusion
18Bet is an online only bookie which has been around since 2010 and operates out of a Curacao licence. It’s got quite well priced odds, decent markets on the key sports but could do with adding some depth to other sports, and moreover adding markets such as Politics and Esports.
18Bet mobile is solid, and its promotions are inviting too!
Advantages:
- Good number of markets to choose from;
- Best for soccer/football;
- Strong multi betting functionality;
- Pride themselves on competitive odds;
- Choice of sign up bonuses for new customers;
- Well designed and easy to navigate website;
- Many currencies accepted;
- Reliable and fast Payment.
Disadvantages:
- Not the best offer for minor sports;
- Tough conditions connected to the bonus program;
- Horse racing and greyhound racing not covered;
- Website can be very slow at times;
- Only English-speaking support.
Payments:
Visa/Mastercard, Skrill (Moneybookers), Bank Transfer, EntroPay, Neteller, NetMoney, Paysafecard
*Keep in mind to double check information. Be prepared for changes to restricted countries, bonuses, currencies, deposit and payment options, languages, contact info.
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