Betfair.com.au
Year established: 2005
Mobile compatible: Yes
Jurisdiction: Australia
Overall rating: A
Recommended: For professional players (Betting Exchange)
Betfair Australia Review
The global bookmaking corporation Betfair also offers an Australian focused platform for this large customer base to explore and enjoy. Betfair is an exchange, which is where bets are placed to buy and sell by other users around the world, with much closer and competitive odds relative to the number of people betting on a particular event. You can either back an event to happen like Manchester United to win, or interestingly, lay an event to not happen, such as Man United to not win. This creates a different dynamic and betting experience to your run of the mill bookmaker. Betfair also offers this, such is the size of the platform, with the Betfair Sportsbook being the place to explore if this is what you’re expecting.
Betting Markets
So where to start – Betfair offers the biggest selection of Sports, Leagues, Events and Betting markets on the web today. Besides the usual big sports of Football, Horse Racing and American Sports, you can bet on more obscure things like Gaelic Games, Netball and Winter Sports. There’s even Financial Bets, E Sports and Politics to explore, you’re really spoilt for choice here. Each sport has every league imaginable, with the most obscure leagues such as the Algerian League 1 Football on the site if this really takes your fancy. A mass of betting markets are also on here for each event, we aren’t joking when we say you literally can’t have any more choice here. As mentioned previously the best thing about Betfair Exchange is the highlight competitive odds you can get, better than any bookmaker, who requires an ‘edge’ to make a profit, can offer in the current market. The platform can do this by taking a commission of 5% on all winning bets, so bear this in mind if you go to check your winnings and realise you’ve been paid slightly less than expected. The odds of a given event are based on what price customers want to bet at, so you can see that odds change in line with updates on team news, injuries and similar to give you the most up to date odds. The downside of this exchange based philosophy is that the site offers limited to no promotions on its sports to entice gamblers to use its services – it doesn’t have to due to having generally higher odds. You can place all the bet types imaginable from singles, Accumulators to System bets, so this adds to the level of entertainment you can tap into during your betting experience.
Live Betting
Betfair allows you to bet pre match, and also in play on all the same events. The odds will update every few seconds on the platform, reflecting the changing fortunes of the team as a game progresses in real time. You can also choose to CashOut or part CashOut your bets at any time, which is great if you’re in a position to win and decide to play smart and head to the bank early. This needs to be placed through the phone as standard in Australia, but you can view the continuously updating odds online which is a great starting point.
Casino
Betfair Australia doesn’t offer an online casino platform for its customers, and this is as a result of the Aussie online gambling laws that all bookmakers have to abide by.
Usability of the Site
Betfair Exchange is a very compact and clear bookmaker, with a lot of information shown on all pages. Evidently this is a reflection of the huge range of betting markets on offer, but its good to see the site has everything well organised and clutter free. The branding is distinctive and memorable, and navigation is easy and pain-free for both beginner and veteran sports bettors. The site offers all customers their own dedicated account area, which is useful for checking how much commission you have paid on on winning bets and keeping track of everything you’ve placed through the site. If you have any issues, its easy to get in touch with customer service through email, live chat or phone, and get any problems resolved in double fast time. Customers can deposit and withdraw via PayPal, Visa and MasterCard, which is instant and fully secure.
Conclusion
In conclusion, whilst working within Australian legislation, Betfair Exchange offers the best you can get in terms of competitive real time odds across a massive range of sports, leagues and events. As expected, the huge corporation offers seamless navigation, and really the only downside is that as a result of getting the best odds around, you have to pay the small commission on any winnings you take. Some other exchanges offer a lower commission rate of 2%, so in the future it would be great to see this implemented by Betfair.
Advantages:
- Has the reputation of the best betting exchange available;
- Licensed in eight countries including Australia;
- Great for advanced punters;
- Can bet both for and against outcomes, which is excellent for hedging;
- Excellent tournament (futures) betting and correct score odds;
- A broad range of sports are covered;
- The best liquidity of any betting exchange;
- Odds are usually a lot more generous than you will find with most Sportsbooks;
- Low minimum deposit for popular deposit methods;
- Great customer service.
Disadvantages:
- Not as beginner friendly as a standard bookmaker;
- Not a lot of promotions for existing customers;
- Smaller range of markets per fixture compared to leading bookmakers;
- Not as many many Futures racing markets as other bookies;
- Live betting is not available online due to government regulation;
- Not all markets have enough liquidity on exchange;
- Sometimes have to wait until closer to event for exchange to have liquidity;
- Complicated commission structure;
- 6%-8% market base rate commission for Australian racing;
- Premium Charges for most successful customers.
Payments:
Visa/Mastercard, Skrill (Moneybookers), Neteller, POLi, BPay, Bank Transfer
*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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