Stanjames.com
Year established: 1973
Mobile compatible: Yes
Jurisdiction: Gibraltar & UK
Overall rating: C-
Recommended: For recreational players
Stan James Sportsbook Review
Stan James is a very well known and well respected name on the UK betting circuit.
Having been around since 1973 where the Stan James brand started life in the form of a single betting shop in Oxfordshire, it’s grown to become one of the most recognisable names in UK betting. Alongside 90 betting stores throughout the UK it also has a web presence. It has 150 employees based in Gibraltar.
Steve Fisher and James Holder were the company’s founding fathers. The name was formed from merging the names of Steve and his wife Anna plus Holder’s first name. Stan James has changed hands a few times since then and is now part of the Unibet group.
In 2007 the firm bought Betdirect from 32Red for a fee in the region of £5.7m, and a year later Stan James acquired betterbet.com. In 2009 the brand SJBET and SJBET24 was co-founded with Austrian firm BETKICK Sportwettenservice GmbH, and in 2010 Stan James bought up the retail outlets of the defunct Pagebet.
It was a few years later, in 2015, that the Unibet Group plc bought Stan James online for £19m in what was the beginning of a year of major mergers for the betting industry.
Stan James has been a big support of British horseracing and sponsored numerous races. This has included the King George Chase at Kemptown and the Stan James Champion Hurdle at Cheltenham.
Denis Kelly, CEO of Stan James Online, said at the time: “Through the combination of Unibet’s expertise in marketing and financial strength, together with Stan James’ high quality sports and racing betting offering aimed at the UK market, I am confident that we can increase substantially the combined Group’s market share in the UK. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank the shareholders of Stan James for their strong support of the business.”
Stan James has amassed in excess of 43,000 Twitter followers and has a strong presence across social media and on television.
Betting Markets
Stan James excels when it comes to sports betting.
The following markets are the ones it offers odds in at the time of writing: American Football, Athletics, Aussie Rules, Baseball, Basketball, Beach Soccer, Bowls, Boxing, Cricket, Cycling, Darts, Field Hockey, Football, GAA Football, Golf, Handball, Horse Racing, Hurling, Ice Hockey, Motor Sports, Netball, Olympics, Pool, Rugby League, Rugby Union, Snooker, Tennis and Volleyball.
Live Betting
Betting in-play is great on Stan James, which is no surprise as it is part of the forward thinking Unibet group. Stan James offers a fast and responsive service on web and app, and it offers customers live streaming on all British and Irish racing via both website and app.
It’s a good product too, and betting in-play with Stan James is entertaining!
Usability of the site
The Stan James website is modern, intuitive and navigable. The Stan James app is excellent; it’s responsive, simple, fast and the live streaming is a superb add on.
Customer support at Stan James is available in the form of live chat (with an icon at the top for immediate access), email ([email protected]) and over the phone too. You should contact 08000 35 11 36 if in the UK, and +350 200 44 002 for those outside the UK.
You can also reach them by post should you so choose, the address is as follows: Stan James, The Square, Marina Bay, Gibraltar. Customer service is high quality as you’d expect from such a big name bookmaker. Notably Stan James accepts Paypal, in addition to the usual Visa, Mastercard, Skrill and Neteller payment processing options.
Payments are fast and this is another solid sign of the trustworthiness of Stan James. It delivers on all accounts.
Conclusion
If you’re a fan of a flutter on the horses then bookmark Stan James as this is a site for you. It supports the industry, boasts live streams and has good odds too.
Stan James also has great innovative features, a good selection of markets and great customer service. It’s not by sheer luck that they’ve survived and grown since they first started out in 1973.
Advantages:
- Traditional UK feel to the sportsbook;
- An online bookmaker with more than 40 years of tradition in retail sports betting;
- Very wide list of sporting events with good choice of side markets;
- Especially strong service when it comes to football and racing betting;
- Excellent list of regular promotions which are spread across several sports;
- Introduced Live Streaming to their website;
- The website promotions are available on mobile;
- Easy to use software, nice interface.
Disadvantages:
- Weak welcome bonus;
- Aimed heavily at football & horse racing punters;
- Their focus is very much on UK-based sports – expect less markets and worse odds for European events;
- Stan James have fallen behind when it comes to In-Play betting;
- Tends to limit high winning players;
- Several restricted nations, including the U.S.
Payments:
Visa/Mastercard, Skrill (Moneybookers), Bank Transfer, Cheque, Money Transfer, Neteller, 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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