Hollywoodbets Review

If you’re a punter in South Africa looking for amazing betting promotions, excellent live betting, and quick withdrawals, then this Hollywoodbets review might just be your answer.

We show you how to claim your no-deposit welcome bonus, compare their odds prices, and more. You’ll find everything you need to know about Hollywoodbets below.

Sign Up Offer

Hollywoodbets certainly knows how to roll out the red carpet for new users. Their sign-up offer is extremely generous, giving punters a R25 no-deposit bonus!

There’s no minimum deposit to make, or minimum bet to place. This one of the best-value welcome bonuses we’ve ever reviewed.

A quick look at their terms and conditions tells us that it’s extremely easy to redeem this bonus. All you do need to do is use your bonus funds on bets with odds of at least 5/10. As long as those bets meet the requirements for odds and aren’t cashed out or voided, then the bonus is redeemed and can be withdrawn from your Hollywoodbets account!

Key Terms and Conditions

• 18+, New Customers Only
• Bonus funds are only credited to the user’s account upon successful account activation after KYC review
• Customers have 24 hours to use their R25 bonus from account activation
• Users will not be able to withdraw the R25 bonus until the funds have been bet and turn over in full
• Minimum odds for bonus funds:50 (5/10)
• Wagering Requirement: 1x bonus amount
• Customers who have not yet submitted their FICA documentation can claim their bonus. However, no withdrawals may occur until FICA documents have been submitted and approved.
• Full T&Cs apply.

Amazing Promotions on the Regular

Hollywedbets are renowned in South Africa for their quirky, attention-grabbing promotions, and punters can have a lot of fun with them. As well as get the chance to win prizes you normally wouldn’t expect from a betting site, like R3,000 in grocery vouchers!

Of course, most of these promotions are limited-time events, but at the time of writing this Hollywoodbets sportsbook review, there were 5 active sports promotions, excluding the welcome bonus and the refer-a-friend program.

These ranged from the typical fare of sports or tournament-specific offers, bet insurance, betting lotteries, grocery vouchers, and even huge cash prizes for their bet lotteries.

Hollywoodbets’ promotions give punters plenty of reasons to keep coming back, which is why some of our reviewers are even starting to adopt is as their new regular betting site!

Safety & Security

Punters need to be weary when handing over their hard-earned cash to online bookmakers. Luckily, you can rest assured that your data and money is safe with Hollywoodbets.

Hollywoodbets are possibly South Africa’s largest bookmaker. They have bet shops all over the country, and have done since back in 2000. They were one of the first bookmkers to hit the web, launching their betting site in just 2006.

This is a brand that’s been around for years, and they’re regulated by six different national boards and agencies:

• Gauteng Gambling Board
• Western Cape Gambling & Racing Board
• Eastern Cape Gambling & Betting Board
• KwaZulu-Natal Gaming and Betting Board
• Limpopo Gambling Board
• Mpumalanga Economic Regulator
• The UK Gambling Commission
• Isle of Man Gambling Supervision Commission

When it comes to their safety and security, Hollywoodbets gets the Sportsbetting24 Seal of Trust. It’s a perfect option for punters who never even want to think about they cybersecurity.

Deposits & Withdrawals at Hollywoodbets

Hollywoodbets is the prime example of why we love homegrown, South African bookmakers. The team at Hollywoodbets know how we’re used to paying for things, and almost every single local payment option is available.

Whether you’re using a credit card, or an Instant EFT, or even a pay-by-phone service, it’s likely that Hollywoodbets supports it. Punters can even make cash deposits and withdrawals!

Hollywoodbets Withdrawal

There are three major ways to request a Hollywoodbets withdrawal, and there are plenty of brands and banks supported for each of them.

• Cash withdrawal from a Hollywoodbets branch
• EFT & Banking:
  • SiD Instant EFT
  • OZOW EFT
  • Bank Transfer
• Cash Send to Cellphones:
  • ABSA Cash Send
  • Standard Bank Instant Money
  • Nedbank Send-iMali
  • FNB eWallet

If you’re a punter living in South Africa, there’s no need to waste time setting up new payment services. It’s almost guaranteed that you already use at least one thing on their list of supported options.

However, as a bookmaker operating in South Africa, Hollywoodbets are required to ensure that they collect your FICA documentation before you can withdraw any of your Hollywoodbets account funds.

Limits & Minimum Amounts

Hollywoodbets withdrawals are relatively quick. Funds can take between 24 and 48 hours to reach you, depending on your withdrawal method, but this is far faster than bookies who process payments outside of South Africa.

There are, however, some rules to keep in mind when requesting a withdrawal from your Hollywoodbets account:

• Cash withdrawals are limited to a R5,000 daily cash withdrawals
• Cash withdrawals require either a green ID book, driver’s license, or passport as valid ID
• All withdrawals over R10,000 must be completed through EFT.
• The minimum value for EFT withdrawal requests is R50.
• Withdrawals via Standard Bank Instant Money, ABSA Cash Send and Nedbank Send-iMali and Mobimoney are subject to a minimum withdrawal request of R100 per withdrawal and a maximum daily pay-out limit of R3 000. In addition, a maximum monthly pay-out limit of R25 000 applies.
• Withdrawals Via FNB eWallet are subject to a minimum withdrawal request of R100 per withdrawal and a maximum daily pay-out limit of R3 000. In addition, a maximum monthly pay-out limit of R10 000 applies.

The Hollywoodbets Experience

This is the part of the Hollywoodsbet review where we look at one of the most important criteria: how good their betting product is!

We’re going to walk you through their most interesting betting features, as well as look at how well they do when it comes to event coverage, betting markets, and an odds comparison. If you only read one section of this review, it should be this one!

Sports & Event Coverage

When looking through all the options available at Hollywoodbets, it might first look like there isn’t very much being covered. Luckily, that all changes when you go to their updated site and get a taste of their new, modern UI.

Almost every sport we can think of is supported, and as far as events go, we weren’t able to find any events Hollywoodbets’ competitors that weren’t being run on Hollywoodbets itself.

No matter how varied your betting tastes are, it’s likely that Hollywoodbets has exactly what you’re looking for, as well a few gems to discover in international leagues and tournaments. Massive leagues and tournaments like Indian Premier League, the UEFA Champions League, or the Cheltenham festival are all available, as well as smaller, more obscure events.

Betting Markets

As is normal with most bookmakers, you’ll find the best selection of betting market variety when looking at soccer matches. It’s normal to see over 300 markets available on huge soccer matches like those in the English Premier League or UEFA Champions’ League.

When it comes to other sports, Hollywoodbets manages to keep up with the competition. When looking at Tennis matches, for example, Hollywoodbets offered between 15 and 20 markets on most matches, which is almost identical to other bookmakers we’ve reviewed.

We can’t imagine many punters taking issue with the selection of markets that Hollywoodbets features, as it’s completely in line with what you’d expect from an average betting site nowadays.

Cash Out

The cash-out feature at Hollywoodbets is a bit of an odd one. In some ways, it’s exceptionally convenient, and in other ways, it’s wildly inconvenient. But let’s start at the basics: Hollywoodbets offers full and partial cash out.

There are two snags, though. First, cash out is only available on mobile. This isn’t a huge problem, as most online betting happens on mobiles anyway, but this is important to remember if you ever plan to use cash out with a laptop or desktop computer, as you won’t be able to.

Secondly, cash out is only available on soccer bets. Unfortunately, this feature hasn’t been rolled out to the rest of the sports covered by Hollywoodbets just yet. If you plan on employing a betting strategy that hinges on the cash out feature, then make sure you’re betting on soccer and doing it from your mobile.

Luckily, though, at Hollywoodbets cashing out is immediate. While other betting sites will have you waiting for your cash out request to be approved, it’s all fully automated at Hollywoodbets.

Also, punters can see which bets can be cashed out beforehand. When looking at the Hollywoodbets mobile site, you’ll notice a green “$” symbol on every bet where cash out is potentially available. This makes it much easier to integrate cash out as part of your betting strategy, as you know whether or not you’ll be able to back out before the bet settles.

Here’s a full list of the specific rules surrounding Hollywoodbet’s cash out feature, including some that weren’t mentioned above:

• Cash out is only available on mobile
• Cash out is only available on Soccer bets
• Multiple bets only
• Available only after the first leg of your multiple has resulted in a win
• Indicates which bets can be cashed out BEFORE betting with a $ symbol on markets
• If the ‘Cash Out” settlement value changes during a settlement transaction, the transaction will not complete and a revised value will be offered, which will have to be accepted before proceeding.
• NOT available on single match bets
• NOT available during a match that is already included in a multiple

Overall, we’re glad to see that Hollywoodbets is heading in the right direction, but their cash out feature isn’t fully baked just yet.

Odds Comparison

As part of our Hollywoodbets review testing, we put this bookmaker up against one of their toughest competitors in SA: 1xBet. We took the pre-match odds for the same English Premier League match and this is what we found:

Unfortunately, the difference between Hollywoodbets and 1xBet was stark. As you can see in the table above, Hollywodbets’ overround score was at 104.62%, while 1xBet’s was at just 101.64%. What this means is that Hollywoodbets’ profit margin is almost 4x higher than 1xBet’s.

To break this down into numbers, let’s imagine placing a R10 stake on Everton to win this match. If your bet wins, your returns with each bookie will be pretty different:

As we said above, a casual bettor might not feel a R2.50 difference, but a punter placing 5 or 6 bets a day definitely will. Unfortunately, while Hollywoodbets has plenty of great features and characteristics, their odds aren’t competitively priced.

HollywoodBets App

While Hollywoodbets might look like a bit of a relic of a website, their mobile site is leaps and bounds ahead. It’s extremely easy to find and select your bets, as well as process Hollywoodbets withdrawals and deposits from your phone.

Do I Need an Expensive Phone for the Hollywoodbets App?

No! The Hollywoodbets app works on even the most budget-friendly devices. If you have a screen, a web browser, and an internet connection, then you can place your bets on the go. Whether you have an Android phone, an iPhone, or even an older feature phone, Hollywoodbets should work just fine.

What’s even better is that their mobile site doesn’t use lots of data. Even with our expensive mobile data costs, Hollywoodbets manages to serve up a great betting experience without it costing you much in data charges.

Is there a Hollywoodsbet App?

If you’re using an iPhone or a phone running Android, then no, there are no official Hollywoodbets app. However, their mobile site works like a dream, so as long as you have a browser and an internet connection through WiFi or mobile data.

If you happen to be using a feature phone, then you can use the Hollywoodbets app in .jad format that should be easier to navigate than a web browser on that kind of device.

All you need to do is head to the Hollywoodbets site on your phone, and scroll down to “App for basic feature phones”. You’ll be taken to a page where you can download the .jad installation file.

How to Install Hollywoodbets App

1. Head to the Hollywoodbets site on your mobile device
2. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click on “App for basic feature phones“
3. Download the file and open it
4. Click on “Install“
5. Use your Hollywoodbets log in details to sign in
6. Start betting!

Live Betting

Hollywoodbets’ live betting suite is part of their newer website. This means that it benefits from the sleek, modern design, but this also means that punters with lower-end devices may struggle with it.

If your device can handle the site, though, you’re in for a treat. Hollywoodbets’ live betting suite has some fantastic features for punters.

For starters, as long as you’re logged in to your account, you can save upcoming matches to your “Favourites” to be able to access them quickly when the match or race goes live and the in-play betting starts.

More serious punters are also well served, as with Hollywoodbets you can track multiple live events at once with their “multi-view” option by simply dragging them onto your screen. This means you won’t need to flip back and forth between multiple tabs or windows.

Hollywoodbets even publish the week’s live betting schedule every Monday, so you can plan accordingly and make sure you’re available to get stuck in to a good in-play betting session. However, Monday matches can be tricky, as the schedule doesn’t always get uploaded very early on in the day.

Does Hollywoodbets have Live Streaming?

No, Hollywoodbets doesn’t currently have live streams as part of their live betting suite. Punters will need to find another way to watch matches or listen to live commentary.

Punters do have access to a match tracker provided by StatScore on some in-play matches to give them an idea of what’s going. However, this isn’t always available, and doesn’t provide very much information, so we don’t recommend relying on it.

If live streaming is an integral part of your live betting experience, then we recommend looking at other bookmakers who have live broadcasts. For now, though, Hollywoodbets doesn’t offer live broadcasts.

Loyalty Rewards & VIP

Unlike many of the more international online bookmakers, Hollywoodbets don’t have a VIP club, or at least, not one that isn’t extremely exclusive and secret.

Loyalty is still rewarded, though. Long-time punters get to enjoy the parade of worthwhile and quicky promotions, as well as well their lucrative refer-a-friend program.

Hollywoodbets Refer-A-Friend Program

If someone joins Hollywoodbets based on your recommendation, then Hollywoodbets will pay you R50 for bringing your friends with you, as long as some basic conditions are met.

As long as your friend has never had a Hollywoodsbet account before, and they spend at least R75, then Hollywoodbets pays you R50 for the referral! What’s even better is that the R50 bonus can be withdrawn immediately, and doesn’t have any wagering requirements attached!

As soon as your friend meets the refer-a-friend program conditions, they’ll have access to Hollywoodbets’ R25 no deposit welcome bonus!

Customer Service – No Live Chat!

In some ways, Hollywoodbets makes it extremely easy to get in touch with them. There are several email addresses, a telephone helpline, a WhatsApp helpline, and even support on social media.

However, the one thing that’s missing happens to be a big one. Hollywoodbets don’t have a live chat feature! This means that the only way to reliably get immediate support is to use their telephone helpline.

To go back to all the other ways to get in touch with Hollywoodbets, bettors have almost 10 different communication channels to choose from. They even have separate email addresses for deposit-related issues and withdrawal-related issues.

Response times during our review testing were somewhat reasonable. We waited around 2 days for responses to the first two emails, and the third email was answered after 3 days. While we’ve definitely seen betting sites with faster response rates, this is close enough to average that we don’t feel it’s worth complaining about.

Hollywoodbets Contact Details

A Homegrown South African Bookie

Hollywoodbets does one thing better than almost any other bookmaker out there. They understand South African bettors. And that’s because they’re a South African company, meaning they ARE South African bettors!

South African punters have access to some of the quirkiest betting promotions out there with Hollywoodbets, like vouchers for local supermarket chains. Hollywoodbets find ways to add real value to the South African betting experience.

Hollywoodbets Review: Final Thoughts

Now we’re at the end of our Hollywoodbets sportsbook review, there’s only one question left to ask:

Who do we recommend Hollywoodbets for?

If you’re a punter in South Africa who just likes betting as a hobby, then Hollywoodbets likely has most of the things you’re looking for. They might not be the best option for the most hardcore bettors out there, but everyone else is likely to have a great time with them.

Pros

• Excellent mobile site
• Great live betting features
• Excellent selection of South African payment methods
• Quick withdrawals
• Excellent promotions and bonuses

Cons

• Cash-out is extremely restricted
• High-priced odds
• No live streaming