As of 14th April 2020, players from the UK are no longer allowed to make credit card transactions at online betting sites
Are you a serious punter looking for a classic UK bookmaker with amazing odds?
Our detailed Star Sports review below will show you if this is the right betting site for you. We take an honest look at every aspect of the Star Sports experience.
From our deep-dive into Star Sports betting features, to our honest opinions on welcome offer, we cover everything you need to know about this quintessentially British bookmaker.
Does Star Sports Offer a Welcome Bonus?
Unfortunately, there is no welcome bonus for new customers at Star Sports. You shouldn’t be concerned about this since they provide generous promotions to compensate for the lack of a welcome bonus.
However, if you are looking for betting bonuses for new customers, we make sure our bonuses are updated regularly.
Star Sports Promotions
Star Sports offers both new and existing customers some fantastic promotions. At the time of writing, they had 5 available promotions most of which focused on major events, so we suggest you take a look at their promo section on their site.
One of Star Sports betting promotion was their ‘TWO Good!’ which applied for Premier League, Champions League and Europa League. With this promotion if the team you bet on scores two goals at any point during the match, Star Sports will consider your wager a winner.
We compared Star Sports to Betition, a similar bookie that had just 3 promos active at the time of writing, whereas Star Sports had 5. The welcome bonus that Betition offer has a much lower value than the one offered by Star Sports.
When we compare this welcome offer to the high-value promotions offered by Star Sports, it becomes clear that there is no need for a welcome bonus when there are so many fantastic promotions to choose from.
Is Star Sports Trustworthy and Safe?
When deciding whether to hand over your card details to a bookie, the question of safety always comes up. Punters can rest assured, however, that Star Sports is safe and legit. While they might not have an extensive a network of betting shops as brands like Paddy Power, Star Sports have been a high-end betting solution since 1999, back when they were called Star Racing.
As you’d probably expect, Star Sports is fully licensed by the UK Gambling Commission (licence# 9177). What’s even better news is that, at the time of writing, Star Sports hasn’t received any form of sanctions or fines from the UK Gambling Commission, which is a great sign of a trustworthy bookmaker.
Another clear indicator that Star Sports is trustworthy is that their responsible gambling tools, such as setting your own limits, are all extremely easy to find. And not only are those tools easy to find, but Star Sports has made them extremely easy to use and understand, too.
Banking – The Good and The Bad
To be very honest, this is one area where we’re actually quite disappointed with Star Sports. It’s considered to be the norm for online bookmakers in the UK to offer a range of payment options like PayPal and Skrill. Unfortunately, Star Sports only accept debit card payments at the time of writing.
Their website says that punters should also be able to deposit via bank transfer and cheque. However, our time spent testing the site for this Star Sports review, as well as a conversation with a customer care representative, revealed that only debit cards are currently supported.
Withdrawal Limits, Times & Fees
Min. Deposit | £1 |
Min. Withdrawal | £1 |
Max. Withdrawal | Unlimited |
Withdrawal Time | 2-5 working days (average= 2-3 working days) |
Withdrawal Fees | 🚫 |
While we were left more than a little underwhelmed with the lack of payment method support at Star Sports, it’s not all bad news. In fact, as you can see in the table above, Star Sports are great when it comes to withdrawals.
Not only are there no maximum withdrawal limits, but the minimum for both deposits and withdrawals is just £1. While we’d like to have more options in terms of where our withdrawals get sent to, the fact that there are basically no limitations to withdrawals is great news for both casual punters who only wager small amounts and high rollers alike.
The most impressive thing about Star Sports withdrawals is how quickly they get processed. Generally speaking, when withdrawing to a debit card, this can take up to 8 working days with some other bookies because of internal processing times. Star Sports withdrawals are exceptionally quick.
While they can technically take up to 5 working days, the withdrawals we made as part of our review testing each were processed in just 2 days. When we asked their customer service representative about this, it was confirmed that 2-3 working days is actually their current average.
If you’re a punter who isn’t too bothered about being able to use payment methods like e-wallets, then Star Sports is a great choice for quick and easy transactions.
Deposit Options
Withdrawal Options
Accepted currencies
- Euro
- Great Britain Pound
Star Sports Betting Features
Like we said above, in our section on Star Sports’ safety, this bookie has been around long enough to know how to create a decent betting experience. However, we were expecting more from Star Sports than they have to offer at the moment.
Star Sports features a wide selection of sports and events, which is definitely a good thing. This is especially true for the more quintessentially British sports, like horse racing and greyhounds. However, event coverage can only take a bookie so far.
When looking at what features are considered to be normal for the UK’s top betting sites, though, Star Sports’ are lacking some more modern features. As we saw in StarSports’ live betting suite, there are features missing that much newer and smaller bookies have that just aren’t here.
Betting Markets
Star Sports could offer more betting market variety. While they offer a decent selection for football, the same can’t be said for some other sports.
For example, a quick comparison revealed that while Star Sports only featured 13 different types of bets on a T20 cricket match between England and Pakistan. Other bookies like Unibet and LeoVegas Sport featured between 40 and 50 bet types for the same match.
We experienced similar results as we continued to make more comparisons. Such as Star Sports offering only a “Fight Winner” bet for a boxing match, while other bookies offered a handful of betting markets to choose from.
That being said, Star Sports excels in horse racing and greyhounds. As we discovered while exploring how well they serve the UK betting market, almost every single race in the UK is offered.
💡 TIP! Learn more about how to optimise your horse racing betting strategy with tips from our resident experts!
Cash Out
To start off with, Star Sports do have a Cash Out feature. Considering how popular this has become in recent years, we’re very happy to see that Cash Out is offered in some way or another. There are two issues with Star Sports’ Cash Out feature, though.
Firstly, only full Cash Out is available. There is no partial Cash Out or auto Cash Out at Star Sports. This is something that some punters won’t care about at all, and other punters will care about very much.
The second issue with Cash Out at Star Sports is that it’s only available on a limited number of events. There simply aren’t enough opportunities to take advantage of the Cash Out feature.
Virtuals
The selection of virtual sports is great at Star Sports. Punters who enjoy virtuals betting are definitely well served. There are 10 different virtual sports to bet on at the time of writing, which is more than both industry-giants Unibet and Betfair, who only offer 7.
What makes virtuals betting at Star Sports even more attractive is that they provide stats for punters to consult to help choose their bets, as well as smooth 3D animations without very much glitching at all.
Punters can bet as little as £0.25 or as much as £375 on virtuals at Star Sports. This is great news for everyone, from the casually curious to the virtual betting high roller. If you’ve never tried virtuals betting before, then Star Sports is an excellent place to get started.
Telephone Betting
Some punters may know Star Sports from their telephone betting service that’s been around since before the millennium. Fans of this particular service will be happy to know that even today Star Sports accepts bets over the phone.
The way this works is that punters call the number listed below in our comprehensive test of Star Sports’ customer service, provide enough information to log in to their account, and state what they want to bet on and how much they’d like to stake.
The staff at Star Sports then choose to either accept or deny the bet. The best thing about this particular feature is that there are no limits on wagers when using this feature. Punters could potentially bet tens of thousands of pounds on single bets if they chose to, as long as Star Sports choose to accept the bet.
This is one of the main reasons we think that Star Sports is an excellent choice for high rollers, in particular. Those who want to bet larger amounts of money than is usually wagered on standard betting sites are likely to enjoy Star Sports’ services.
Odds Comparison
While Star Sports may not be the most thrilling of bookies in terms of features, there are plenty of punters out there who wouldn’t use them anyway. The one thing that every punter cares about, though, is the value of a bookie’s odds. As you can see in the table below, we put Star Sports’ odds to the test. We compared them to a newer betting site, as well as one of the industry’s titans, and you’re likely to be surprised at the results.
Star Sports | Betiton | 888Sport | |
Ordabasy Shymkent | 17/10 (2.70) | 6/4 (2.50) | 8/5 (2.60) |
Draw | 2/1 (3.00) | 9/5 (2.80) | 2/1 (3.00) |
Botosani | 9/5 (2.80) | 33/20 (2.65) | 17/10 (2.70) |
Overround | 106.1 | 113.5 | 108.8 |
Odds retrieved on 27/08/2020. The odds displayed above are intended for display purposes only and we cannot guarantee that the odds will still be available, or be unchanged, at a later date. |
Star Sports were the clear winner here. They provided the best value odds for all three options, though 888Sport did offer the same value on the “draw” outcome. Even when looking at the overround score, Star Sports had the best odds without a doubt.
Whether you’re a high roller or a casual punter, the value of a bookie’s odds is integral to your betting experience. For those who are looking for the best deal possible, Star Sports provides excellent value when held up against their competitors.
Sports Sponsorships
You can tell a lot about a bookie by whether they have any sponsorships, and who or what it is they sponsor. When it comes to Star Sports, it’s extremely clear that they care about British sports and punters.
The sports that their funding goes to are horse racing, cricket, and greyhounds racing, and all of their funding goes to UK-and-Ireland-based athletes and organisations. Here is their full list of sponsorships, at the time of writing:
Sport | Sponsorship |
🏇 Horse Racing | Davy Russel (Irish National Hunt jockey) |
Silvestre De Sousa (3-time Champion Jockey of Britain) | |
🏏 Cricket | Ryan Sidebottom (5-time County Championships winner) |
🐕 Greyhound Racing | The English Greyhound Derby |
Bet on Sports
- Australian Rules Football
- Baseball
- Basketball
- Boxing
- Cricket
- Cycling
- Darts
- F1
- Field Hockey
- Football
- Futsal
- Golf
- Handball
- Hockey
- Horse Racing
- Kabaddi
- MMA
- Motorcycling
- NASCAR
- Rugby
- Skiing
- Snooker
- Tennis
- Volleyball
Betting tax
- No betting tax
The Mobile Experience
Punters on the go have a lot to be happy about with Star Sports. Their mobile user interface is fantastic and so easy to use. In fact, we prefer the Star Sports mobile experience to the desktop one.
It’s incredibly easy to find everything you’re looking for when using Star Sports on your phone, and the site is extremely fluid. What’s even better is that punters can do everything on mobile that they can on desktop. This is true for both the mobile site and their apps.
Did we forget to mention that?
Yes, Star Sports has apps for Android and iPhone!
How do I Download the Star Sports Betting App?
- Open to the Apple App Store (iPhones) or Google Play Store (Android) on your phone
- Search for “Star Sports” and tap the Star Sports icon
- Tap on “Install” and the app will automatically download and install
- Open the app and log in!
The Star Sports Live Betting Suite
The live betting suite is another area where Star Sports can certainly get better. For starters, our deep dive into the Star Sports betting experience revealed issues with the Cash Out feature.
In-play betting enthusiasts know the value of a good Cash Out feature when trying to react to how a match or a race unfolds. Like we said above, though, it’s only full Cash Out that’s available, and it isn’t available all that many events.
Another issue we have with Star Sports’ live betting suite is the information displayed on match pages. There aren’t any stats available, which is considered to be a standard feature today. Also, their match tracker is incredibly basic and doesn’t actually give punters enough information to get ahead.
Does Star Sports Have Live Streaming?
Unfortunately, no. Star Sports does not feature live streams in their live betting suite. Even though this is becoming more and more common in recent years, this usually isn’t an issue for many punters.
However, when combined with their insufficient match tracker, this means that live betting punters have no way of keeping up with a match or race from within Star Sports at all. This is disappointing, considering their phenomenal odds, and we hope to see this improve in time.
Does Star Sports Have a VIP Club?
There is no Star Sports VIP programme at the time of writing. When we asked their customer service representatives about this, we were told that every Star Sports customer is a VIP.
What that means in practice, unfortunately, is that high rollers and loyal punters aren’t incentivised to stay on. This won’t be an issue for average punters, as many don’t qualify for most VIP programmes anyway.
Considering how they cater to high rollers with their other features, such as their telephone betting feature mentioned above, it would be nice to see those punters receive the same types of rewards that have become industry standards.
Phenomenal Customer Service
Considering Star Sports have coined themselves the “gentlemen’s bookmaker” and a “luxury” sportsbook, we had very high hopes for their customer service experience. As it turns out, Star Sports’ customer service is excellent.
You won’t be able to see this until you’ve registered and are logged in, but there are actually a number of ways you can get in touch with a customer care representative at Star Sports. Not only do they have a public Twitter account and email support, but they also have both 24/7 live chat and a telephone helpline.
As you’ll see below, we had an excellent experience communicating with Star Sports customer service. The agents they have manning the telephone helpline are also the same people who decide whether or not to accept punters’ telephone bets, meaning that they’re highly trained and experienced. This means that they’re almost guaranteed to be able to help you with any betting related issues you may be experiencing.
The only thing we didn’t like about their customer service was their FAQ section. At the time of writing, their FAQ section is practically bare. If you’re experiencing any sort of issue or need information, it’s highly unlikely that you’ll find an answer in Star Sports’ collection of a handful of questions and answers. Luckily, though, the rest of the customer service experience is fantastic.
Our Star Sports Live Chat Experience
We review a lot of betting sites here at Sportsbetting24, which is why we have a pretty good idea of what’s considered to be “average” in this industry. When it comes to live chat, waiting anywhere between 1 to 2 minutes is considered normal. At Star Sports we never waited more than 20 seconds for a response.
The customer service agents we chatted with during our Star Sports review testing were exceptionally polite, quick, and extremely knowledgeable. It’s not uncommon for us to encounter customer service agents who need to spend time checking with other departments or their superiors when trying to answer our questions, but the Star Sports representatives were consummate professionals.
This ended up being extremely useful, as it can actually be exceptionally difficult to find information on the Star Sports website. In fact, we initially thought that our review testing would take a lot longer because of this.
However, thanks to the highly trained customer service representatives, we were able to get all the information we needed extremely quickly. In fact, this was one of the best live chat tests we’ve run in a while.
Star Sports TV & Betting People
What impressed us the most, though, was actually their secondary website. Star Sports create a lot of high-quality betting content for punters. They have webshows for discussing upcoming races and matches, podcasts with betting predictions, and even interviews with bookmakers, athletes, team managers, and more.
Their two biggest series are “Star Sports TV” and “Betting People”. Star Sports TV is a webshow and podcast that is released every week where people discuss the week’s races and matches, as well as providing free betting tips from expert analysts.
Betting People is a Star Sports webshow and podcast where punters can listen in on interviews with important people in sports and betting. They’ve interviewed top bookmakers, jockeys, sports journalists, coaches, and much more. This is a great place for punters to not only get some quality entertainment, but also pick up tips for improving their betting strategies!
This is all in addition to their betting tips blog, their “Betting Oddities” blog, and much more. While Star Sports may need to work on modernising some of their sports betting features, the value they add with their additional content is phenomenal.
Star Sports may not be the first bookie to offer content in addition to their betting product, but this is the best sports betting content out there from a bookie of this size. We’re genuinely excited to see this continue to grow and flourish.
Star Sports Contact Details
- Live Chat: Available 24/7
- Helpline: 08000-521-321
- Email Address: cs@Star Sportsbet.co.uk
- FAQ: Yes, but extremely limited
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/Star Sports_Bet
Truly British Betting
Star Sports is a uniquely British bookmaker. Not only do they have over two decades’ experience serving punters in the UK, but they focus on the most quintessentially British sports.
This is an excellent betting site for UK horse racing and greyhound racing, in particular. Not only do Star Sports invest heavily in sports sponsorships, but they provide punters with tons of betting tips and resources to get ahead.
A Classic Bookie for Serious Punters & High Rollers
Star Sports are a great choice for serious bettors. They might not have all the bells and whistles that some of the flashier bookies do, but they’re excellent in all the right places.
Their phenomenal odds, fantastic betting tips, and excellent customer service are exactly what most serious punters are looking for. The fact that they have a top-notch mobile experience certainly doesn’t hurt either.
The high rollers out there should definitely consider giving Star Sports a chance too. Their telephone betting service combined with the features we just mentioned in our Star Sports review above, as well as details like no withdrawal limits, make Star Sports an obvious choice for high rollers.
- Amazing value odds
- Great betting tips
- Excellent Customer Service
- No withdrawal limits
- Telephone betting with no maximum wager
- Regular promotions for existing customers
- Poor payment method support
- More Cash Out options & opportunities needed
- Underdeveloped live betting suite
- No VIP programme
FAQs
Do Star Sports have a mobile app?
Yes, Star Sports have apps for iPhone and Android. Punters on mobiles and tablets can choose between using the apps, or using the mobile version of their website through their device’s browser. As we mentioned in our section on the Star Sports mobile experience, the user interface is excellent and punters can use all the same features that are available on the desktop site.
Is Star Sports safe?
Yes, Star Sports is a trustworthy betting site. As we mentioned above in our section on Star Sports’ safety and security, Star Sports is fully licensed and regulated by the UK Gambling Commission and have a spotless record with them at the time of writing. Star Sports have also been in business since 1999, making them one of the more experienced online bookmakers out there.
Is Star Sports live streaming available?
Unfortunately, no, Star Sports does not feature live streaming in their live betting suite. In general, their live betting offering isn’t exactly up to par when compared to the top bookies out there. To find out more about why we don’t recommend Star Sports for in-play betting aficionados, head to our section on the Star Sports live betting suite.
Can I get any Star Sports free bets?
Yes, Star Sports feature regular free bets promotions. These offers are generally tied to large events, so there isn’t necessarily always an active offer. However, as we mentioned in our section on promotions for existing users, considering the wide range of sports they cover, punters are likely to be able to benefit from free bets quite often.
Is there a Star Sports live chat feature?
Yes, Star Sports live chat is available for all registered users. The customer service experience at Star Sports is amazing. As we mentioned in our section on Star Sports customer service above, we experienced some of the best customer care that we’ve seen in a long time. This is definitely one of Star Sports’ biggest strengths as a betting site.