Betway Review

Founded in 2006, Betway’s integration into the UK betting market was an immediate success. In the years following its launch, Betway has taken millions of online bets across a wide variety of sports – including punts on niche action as well as popular events. 

The driving force behind Betway’s popularity is clear – the site boasts an easily navigable UI, allowing rookie bettors to find their feet. In my visit to the site, I was able to switch from football to tennis, to rugby, to motorsports, and then sift through the day's live sporting action, in seconds. If I wanted to delve deeper into Betway’s promotional content, I could select ‘Promotions’ from the header menu. All very intuitive.

Whether you’re a fan of popular sports leagues, like the Premier League and Rugby Union, or a follower of niche options, such as cycling or snooker, Betway supports odds for virtually every type of player. In this review, I’ll walk you through everything UK punters need to know before joining Betway. If you like what I’ve described so far, chances are you’ll love what’s next. Just click the link on this page to create a Betway account and claim an exclusive welcome offer.

Bonuses and Promotions

Most sports betting sites reward new customers with a single welcome bonus. At Betway, newly registered players can choose between two similar, yet unique, offers – a free insurance bet coupled with the casino, and a standard free bet. I’ll start with the former. 

The first of Betway’s new customer offers is reminiscent of the deals found on the platform’s US site. Across the pond, this type of bonus is called a ‘bonus bet’, but Betway fails to grant the UK version a catchy title. With it, you’ll get a £30 matched free bet if your first accumulator lets you down, plus 50 free spins for use on Betway Casino. 

Next in line for newly registered players is a £10 free bet. This one is open to anyone who deposits and wagers £10 after creating an account – making it significantly more accessible. 

Terms and Conditions

Betway’s terms and conditions for its new customer offers are as straightforward as they come. I’ll begin with the rules associated with the £30 matched free bet bonus.

Available to all players based in the UK, this promotion is activated by spending between £5 to £30 on an accumulator. Your odds must be higher than 2/1 — which is fair — and bet builder selections are excluded. Bets that have been settled early via cash out aren’t eligible for the free bet. Once the accumulator has settled and lost, you’ll receive a free bet of the same value as your losing stake – as well as free spins for Betway’s casino. The free bet expires one week after being credited to your account.

Moving on to the second welcome offer – this one’s much easier to get in on. Just deposit £10 and bet on a single, each way, or system selection to claim your free bet. Like Betway’s other introductory deal, the free bet expires seven days after being awarded. 

Ongoing Promotions

Betway is home to several bonuses for existing bettors. Upon creating an account, my first port of call was to join the ‘Free Bet Club’. It’s exactly what it sounds like – with all players who wager £25+ during a week handed a £10 free bet every seven days. That’s not too shabby. 

And although horse racing isn’t my forte, I appreciate the racing-based free bet bonus. Anyone who bets £20 or more on racing accumulators will get a £5 free bet…every day! This offer is admittedly costly — requiring £20 for every £5 free punt — but it’s certainly worth a go every so often.

4 to Score and 4 to Win serve as two further avenues for rewards. In short – pick four players to score or four horses to win in an attempt to claim rewards. Betway will send you a cash prize if every pick is correct. I tested this promotion with little success, but there’s always next weekend. 

Other racing promotions include enhanced places and best odds guaranteed. The former sees Betway pay out on additional places, while the latter ensures that you’ll always get the best odds on a racing bet. 

The final Betway promotion I’ll shed light on is ‘Betway Boosts’. If you’ve ever taken advantage of boosted odds on Ladbrokes or similar websites, utilising this feature will feel very familiar. It’s available once per day, so choose your boosts wisely. 

Sports and Markets

Betway hit the ground running the moment it launched in the UK. Boasting 30 sports in total along a plethora of genres—including politics—the bookmaker caters to players of various interests. Football, baseball, basketball, MMA, and golf are all here – as well as the likes of cricket, rugby, table tennis, and even eSports. 

But, as always with betting sites, it’s less about the sports and more about the markets. In Betway’s case, I’m content — yet not overly impressed — with the available betting options. 

The nation’s favourites are supported to the high heavens. A perfect example of this comes in the form of Betway’s Premier League offerings, with tens of markets on display per match. The same goes for Rugby Union and Rugby League, but very few other divisions are shown the same love. 

The UK’s top football league is backed by a wide range of markets for every game. The same goes for the Championship, League One, and League Two, with foreign matchups also afforded a plentiful supply of selections. 

Although I mentioned the likes of eSports and table tennis, Betway hasn’t given me much to talk about. ‘To Reach the Final’ and outright markets are listed alongside CS:GO, DOTA 2, and League of Legends, but that’s pretty much it. A letdown from such a widely-known bookie. 

William Hill is one bookmaker who beats Betway when it comes to eSports betting options. Handicaps, over/under, and correct score selections are on the table – an improvement over the Super Group-owned operator. That said, Betway makes up for its lack of eSports markets in a fascinating way – but I’ll discuss that later. 

Design and Usability

As a platform, Betway is undeniably easy to use. What it lacks in niche betting markets it more than makes up for with intuitive UI design – a layout so clever that even the most inexperienced of players could navigate it. 

Laid out on a white background and coloured grey, black, and green, Betway splits its home screen into four parts. The header menus sit above everything else, containing links to live betting, my bets, horse racing, boosts, and promotions. 

On my left-hand side is a list of sports. Starting with a curated range of featured quick links, Betway then presents an A-Z list of what’s available. This section nicely leads into the central area – where basic betting options reside in the middle of the page. Here, I’m shown odds for whatever live action is available, highlighted selections, and links to specialised promotions. Each time I click on a sport, several standard markets for upcoming events and leagues make their way onto my screen. For instance, by selecting ‘Football’, Betway throws at me odds for popular matches, top leagues, immediate fixtures, and more. 

The fourth section of note is the betslip. Located on the right-hand side of my header menu, this is where all of my upcoming bets are sent after I click on the odds associated with that pick. My betslip lets me edit bets, change stakes and add or remove free bets. 

The app experience is much the same, just on a smaller scale. Links to various sections — like my betting area, promotions, and the free bet club  — fill out the footer menu, while the home screen displays hot ongoing and upcoming action.

If I were to change anything, I’d switch up the live sports shown to new customers. Right now, bettors are met by whatever live action is currently unfolding across the globe – be it basketball in Europe or tennis in Australia. Instead, I’d cater to my biggest market: UK players. By taking a leaf out of SkyBet’s book, Betway should show prices and markets related to UK-based sports.

Payment Methods and Withdrawal Times

The site supports the usual suspects; credit and debit cards, PayPal, and bank transfer – but other options can also be used. 

I was pleased to see Neteller included in the platform’s list of e-wallet banking methods. Although not on the same level as PayPal when it comes to users, variety is always good.

On top of that, Betway accepts Trustly and Rapid Transfer – the latter of which boasts 110 million global customers. Minimum deposits start at £5 for all supported methods.

Debit cards, PayPal, Swift Transfers, Trustly and Neteller are the five accepted methods for withdrawals. Expect transactions to process within 24 hours if using an e-wallet, while card payments may take up to two business days to go through. It should also be noted that a £1 fee applies to any withdrawals under £5. Compared to industry rivals, Betway’s deposit and withdrawal options are decidedly average. 

In-Play Betting Options

In-play betting — also known as live betting — is the heart and soul of Betway. So much so, that the site threw live odds at me the moment I entered the website. 

Click on the ‘In-Play’ icon in the top left-hand side of the home screen for a full overview of the site’s in-play service. When I had a look, eSports, basketball, baseball, tennis, golf, and cricket were the only five sports to choose from. Both domestic and international events are available, but your options are entirely dependent on the time of day.

By clicking on the small TV icon next to each event, I could tune in to any and all live events. Only eSoccer matches were available for streaming during my time on the site, but other sports are also supported by this feature. Even better than that, though, was the virtual statistics feature. When live streaming is unavailable, Betway replaces it with an almost-video-game-like re-enactment of current affairs. It’s one of the most innovative features I’ve seen. Updated stats related to corners, goals, bookings, sets, head-to-heads, points, break points, fouls, and more were all listed in the info box – making it easy to stay informed with the latest goings-on. Keep in mind that stats may not be available for all events.

Importantly, bets on live betting markets can be cashed out. Just head to the ‘My Bets’ area to settle wagers early and protect against further losses or grab an early profit. 

Bet Builder

Few things are more rewarding in betting than winning a self-made wager. You make all the picks and pile them into one, unique selection – with the winnings specific to you. 

For a long time, Betway only accepted bet builder requests via social media. Using the hashtag #BetYourWay, punters sent messages to the site’s online team explaining which selections they wanted odds for. 

Recently, Betway launched a brand new bet builder system. It’s now a modernised feature, backed by a plethora of popular and niche markets – such as total goals, over/under markets, goalscorers, and double chance, among other options. I found editing customised selections simple by clicking on the odds to either add or remove picks. Once my selection was ready, I confirmed the bet in the same way as a standard wager. 

Betway Betting App

A downloadable Betway app is available for installation via the Google Play Store and Apple App Store. Supporting both Android and iOS smartphones, this app is designed to let players wager while on the move. 

With a clean UI, the same intuitive features as the desktop version of the platform, and a range of exciting sports markets – I’d argue that the app is a more user-friendly and convenient way to bet. 

I made my way around the app’s sports and markets far quicker than I did on my desktop. Going back to a previous page to find a new sport no longer requires a return to the home screen. While the footer menu provides easy access to vital areas of the bookmaker’s platform.

Customer Support

The bookmaker’s most noticeable area in need of improvement stands in the form of its customer support service. Live chat is the sole contact method for regular players — available from 9am to 11pm each day — but all is not as it seems.

To speak to an agent, you’ll first need to plough through a bot. I say “plough” because that’s an accurate description of the effort and resilience required to converse with a human. After minutes of going through various topics, being recommended FAQ articles, and typing the word ‘Agent’ into the chat box – I was eventually greeted by a friendly member of Betway’s support staff. 

While functional, Betway absolutely needs to up its game in this regard.

Responsible Gambling Features

The team at Betway are big proponents of safer gambling practices. An indication of this is the site’s link to a ‘safer gambling’ pop-up within the header menu – a clear show of support for those seeking help quickly. Within this pop-up are avenues to create deposit limits, session reminders, initiate self-exclusions, and process account closures. A quick quiz to better understand your gambling habits is also available here. 

I came across an area dedicated to helpful tips and advice from experts. More importantly, Betway publishes links to support organisations, gambling block websites, and even help for parents. The requirements set out by the UKGC have been well met and are easily visible on the site.

Summary

All things considered, Betway is a solid option for UK bettors. I’ll admit that the lack of markets for niche sports is a disappointment, and the live chat service lets the site down…but it’s not all doom and gloom. 

Betway is packed with competitive odds across nearly every sport on show. Even where the markets are unquestionably limited, Super Group’s pride and joy dishes out some tremendous prices. The welcome offers provide impetus for interested punters to create accounts while existing customer deals serve as reasons to remain invested in the site. 

Competing with bet365, SkyBet, William Hill, and Unibet was never going to be easy. Yet, Betway is on the cusp of outdoing those highly-rated competitors. 

By creating an account today you can take advantage of either welcome bonus, so why not set up your profile and claim a free bet against your first wager?

Frequently Asked Questions