Betfred Review

Licenced in the UK and Gibraltar, Betfred are a stalwart when it comes to bookmakers and online bookmakers in the UK, having been around since 1967. This Betfred review shows you the company's good and bad points including their great free bets and promotions, the fact they take customer security seriously and that their banking and customer support levels are both very strong, making them a great option as an online bookmaker.

It's easy to see why plenty of people still join and bet at Betfred, as they currently provide a strong new customer welcome offer, that is generous enough to compete with a lot of it's competitors, whilst also offering not too many restrictions on the free bet you'll receive. 

The Betfred new customer welcome offer is a 'Bet £10, Get £30' promotion for it's sportsbook, meaning that once you've made a deposit after joining up, you'll go on to make your first bet and as long as it is a minimum of £10 then they will then give you a £30 free bet to use within the sportsbook. On top of the £30 in free bets, you will also get 30 spins on selected casino slots.

Betfred Bonus for New Customers T&Cs

• First bet of at least £10 must be placed at a cumulative price of evens (2.0) or greater.
• First bet must be settled within 60 days.
• Free Bet of £30 is credited within 48 hours of qualifying bet being settled.
• Free Bets are valid for 7 days. 
• Customers depositing with Skrill, NETeller or VISA and MasterCard prepaid cards do not qualify.
• Free Spins are available on Age of the Gods games by Playtech.
• Free Spins expire after 7 days.
• Customers have 3 days to accept the Free Spins.
• 18+, New Customers Only.

The Betfred sign-up offer is perfect from any point of view, however, we're not big fans of cross-product offers. Most customers will never play with the Free Spins, yet the operator uses this opportunity to raise the wagering requirements of the sports offer.

It's not just a decent welcome offer that's available, as they tend to look after their existing players too and, in this competitive marketing age, have plenty of other existing customer offers too. 

A lot of their promotions tend to focus on football and horse racing, which is completely normal considering they consider the UK audience their key market, but you will see a few available for other sports such as golf, cricket and rugby too. 

At the time of writing, there are well over 10 more offers on the promotions tab on their website. It's worth noting that these are subject to change over time, so please do check on the Betfred betting site as to what is currently available.

Double Delight, Hat-Trick Heaven and Goals Galore!

Alongside some standard promotions such as Acca Insurance, Best Odds Guaranteed on horse racing and 'Pick Your Punt', one of Betfred's biggest and longer-term promotions has been their 'Double Delight/Hat-trick Heaven' promotion - giving you double or treble the odds on first goalscorer markets, should your chosen player go on to score a brace or hat-trick of goals respectively. That's really great value if you're into first goalscorer betting. 

Whilst it's not a promotion as such, it is worth mentioning that the company still offer their 'Goals Galore' coupons - essentially an easy way to place Both Teams To Score accas - not everyone realises that Betfred were one of the first to really push this market and Goals Galore gives you a really easy way to get your football accumulators on.

They've also launched a bonus version where you get even bigger odds for any selections of 3 games or more, giving you even more betting value. 

Trust has never been more important for UK betting websites. In a world of regulation, compliance and, more recently, GDPR, online bookies are really having to get their houses in order to ensure they're doing everything they can. 

Originally launched in Salford, Manchester in 1967, they were originally a high-street retail bookmaker with a growing number of stores across the country, before entering the online world, where they now consider themselves the world's largest independent bookmaker - a point they still pride themselves on as they believe this matters to the customer. 

Owned by Fred Done, he has done a great job of establishing the company in an ever-changing online betting market. There are competitors out there that have taken more market share in a quicker time, such as bet365, Paddy Power, Betway and SkyBet but they can still consider themselves a decent sized player when it comes to UK customers. Often confused with Totepool, due to the owner acquiring them earlier in the year, they still run independently as it stands.

This betting site has licences in both Great Britain and Gibraltar, so they are held to account by the GB Gambling Commission, meaning they have to comply with it's regulation - including ensuring that they do as much as they can to combat problem gambling and, like all other online bookmakers, making sure their marketing is transparent when it comes to free bets, welcome bonuses and betting promotions. 

In the past, Betfred have fallen foul of the commission - there is a well-documented case of them being fined £800k for not doing their utmost to prevent problem gambling, however, that seems largely to be a one-off - they're currently fulfilling their duties here. 

Betfred's Responsible Gaming Measures

They work with and advertise a number of responsible gaming partners including 'When the Fun Stops, Stop', GamCare and GamStop, whilst they also promote their own responsible gaming pages. 

They do offer the chance to set deposit limits, but somewhat surprisingly it's not that simple to set these up - there's a lot of searching needed in your account section whereas many would do this at account sign-up.

Their reputation within the UK though is really quite strong and this can be put down to the longevity they have within the industry and a familiar face in Fred Done - this has also helped them gain a few sports sponsorships too with the Rugby Super League and the World Snooker Championship being the best examples. 

When it comes to deposit and withdrawal options, they will always look to pay money back to the method it was deposited from - it's worth noting that they may ask for more documentation at the point of withdrawal as part of their KYC (Know Your Customer) process - this is a standard procedure for most bookmakers and just allows them to ensure there's no money laundering or problem gaming occurring. 

There aren't hundreds of deposit and withdrawal options like some UK betting sites, however there are enough decent options for you to choose from so you can make your first deposit. 

You have standard methods such as your debit cards, and these are complimented with the likes of Paypal, Skrill, Neteller and UKash; making it really easy overall to make a deposit. 

There are minimum deposit amounts though - although at £5 across each of the deposit methods, it's really not a problem at all. The good news is that there are no fees at all for withdrawals either, unless you plan on making lots of Bank Wire Transfers in which case fees can be applied here. 

Whilst payouts are pretty much instant as soon as bets have settled thanks to them being a large and well established bookmaker, withdrawals to your preferred payment method can take a little bit of time with standard clearance times involved - three days for debit cards and 48 hours for Paypal as an example. 

Does Betfred Have Maximum Withdrawal Limits?

There are some maximum limits on withdrawals depending on your payment option so make sure you are aware of them:

• Debit Cards - £9,999.99

• Neteller - £4,000

• Paypal - £5,000

• Skrill/Moneybookers - £6,500

*NOTE: Credit Card transactions are not available in the UK

The best description of this company would be that they're a solid online bookmaker even if the site is a little dated in places, and whilst other sportsbooks may show a bit more innovation at times, they're still one of the best recognised brands in the UK. 

With sport being the primary focus, it's fair to say that there is a really strong coverage of all sports with 30 different options currently, from football and horse racing, to tennis and golf all the way down to e-sports, volleyball and TV Specials. They have generally quite competitive odds in comparison to other online bookmakers and they do have CashOut functionality across a number of markets too. 

When there are big or special events such as the World Cup on, they'll make life easy for you and put all the markets in an easy-to-find section, however with no obvious search function available, it's not the easiest site to navigate at first. 

When it comes to markets, they do cover everything you're going to want - like most major bookmaking firms they have tons of markets for each sport, with key football matches having hundreds of betting markets available - especially now they incorporate the 'Pick Your Punt' options into the main market page to make it easier to make your selections. 

There's not just a sportsbook offering either, you can also enjoy the online casino, live casino, lotto, bingo, games, Vegas and virtuals products that the company operates too. This isn't for everybody of course but it's good that there are more options to keep all of your gambling and gaming opportunities in one place. 

As the world continues to move towards a mobile first approach, one thing is for sure; they have really invested a lot of effort and money into their betting mobile app - building out propriety systems to ensure their players get the best experience possible. 

There is a very standard mobile website available to all registered customers too and it's more or less a replica of the desktop site with all the same sports and markets available, as they are on the app too. 

Interestingly, they have separated out their product verticals when it comes to apps - so sportsbook, Casino and casino games etc all have their own apps. The sports betting app is thankfully available on both iOS and Android, via the Apple and Google Play stores respectively. 

It's a pretty standard in-play service for all sports - with a solid number of markets available without any major innovation here. The layout of an in-play event on desktop is slightly different to that of a pre-match event which can be a little confusing too;

However, one great feature at Betfred is that they have a live streaming service on the site which is available on mobile and app too so you can bet and watch on a number of sporting events from greyhounds and racing to football and tennis. With coverage throughout the day and night, they really cater here for all types of punter. 

If the streaming isn't available for your event of choice then they generally have standard data options to keep up-to-date with the result, although, like many online bookmakers the data options aren't very comprehensive. 

If you're a betting high-roller then the VIP sports betting program may be the way for you to go as there's loads of extra benefits and rewards available for you. It's not a status that you can just choose yourself - the company would need to get in touch with you based on your playing and betting activity but it's well worth it once you're in the program. 

Race day tickets, exclusive enhanced odds specials, exclusive competitions and hospitality invites are some of the perks that you'll receive as a VIP but some of the more crucial benefits include having a dedicated account manager on hand, 24/7 access to support and faster withdrawal options. 

There is a pretty comprehensive offering at Betfred when it comes to customer support, with around the clock coverage from a number of methods - Live Chat, email and phone lines are all available and the general customer service levels are good and friendly. 

Most importantly the live chat function is easy to find as it's permanently 'stuck' to the site and response times are OK - there may be a small queue of customers but generally they get through to you quickly and they're efficient when they do answer. 

If live chat isn't your preferred method then you can also contact them on the email addresses and phone lines below. 

Email Addresses:

• Support - [email protected]

• Web/Mobile Enquiries - [email protected]

• Account Assistance - [email protected]

• Free Bets - [email protected] 

Phones:

• Phone line for UK - 0800 028 7747

• Phone line for ROW - +44 1925 907500

Betfred now see the UK as their core market and you can rest assured as a punter that the best of Betfred's promotions and marketing campaigns will be coming your way. 

They only have licences in the UK and Gibraltar and are only accepting customers from the UK, Ireland and Gibraltar - this wasn't always the case as the company had a decent global presence, but pulled out of a number of territories in 2014, with an aim to focus more on betting players from the United Kingdom. 

With the ability to deposit in Sterling, Euro or Dollar, there's still plenty of options for you at Betfred. 

This Betfred review has hopefully shown you that there's loads of top product features, great existing customer promotions and a strong new customer welcome bonus available when you sign-up to this long-standing betting site. 

Whether it's online, mobile or app that you like to place your sports bets, with a £30 free bet available to new customers and a wealth of betting markets to choose from across 30 sports, we're confident that Betfred will stack up nicely against other sports betting sites.