Betfair is one of the top bookmakers in the world of sport today mainly due to the reputation it has gained through technological and techical innovation in their industry. The proud recipient of two “Queen’s Awards”, in 2003 and 2008, for enterprise in the innovation category, Betfair have come up a long way despite being a young company.
With a host of options including the giving the ability to customers to go as far as to choose their own odds, is something that has kept Betfair well above the competition. There is finer attention to detail at Betfair and it shows.
Basic Overview
Betfair is one of the leading bookmakers in the industry mainly due to their technical experience and expertise in the industry. The company was founded in 1999 by Andrew Black and Edward Wray and was based more on the concept of a betting exchange rather than a fixed boookmaker.
Within a short time of its establishment, Betfair has become one of the largest betting exchanges in the world and is vastly different from even the most established sportsbooks around the world. The Betfair website is all about simplicity. With the intelligent use of digital mascots and icons on their website, Betfair has created a smart website that is all about ease of use. All the major sports such as football and horse racing are placed as separate links right at the top while there are links to other sports that include Volleyball, Ice Hockey and much more.
| Website | www.betfair.com |
| Established | 2000 |
| Licensed in |
England
|
Registration
To open an account at Betfair, all you need is 2 minutes to fill in your personal details and some preferences, and you are on your way. A simple confirmation email is sent to your email ID to confirm the registration process.
Betfair does not have any maximum or minimum limits on the bets that can be placed on any event. The maximum limits are usually decided by the number of people a user is betting against as well as the amount of money that s/he has in her/his account on the website.
image_tag
Bonuses
While there are very few offers that run through the year, the one offer that is quite persistent is the matched GBP 10 free bet that every new joinee to the website gets. In exchange for signing up with the company, the user gets a refund of up to GBP 10 on the first bet that they make as a customer of Betfair.
Betting
The betting process, on Betfair, is quite similar to the regular betting process on other bookmaker websites although there are some significant differences mainly due to Betfair being a betting exchange rather than a bookmaker. The primary difference is the number of options that the user gets when looking to place a bet.
While a customer can place a bet like s/he would normally do on any other website, i.e. by clicking on the odds (which opens a betting slip), typing in the bet amount and then simply placing the bet; there is also the option of setting one’s own odds as well as placing multiple bets at one time.Betfair also allows customers to choose whether an event will positively occur or not through their “back” and “lay” options. Customers can either choose to back their choice to state that the event will definitely happen, or will definitely not happen. The website shows you the depth of the market at that particular point of time and allows you to make a better decision, one that is more customisable than others.
Market
The market, for Betfair, is huge considering that it solely depends on the customers and the odds that they setup and settle within the 72 hour deadline that they act upon. Covering all major sports, some television shows and even major awards and political events means that they have a wide umbrella of betting options that are available for their customers.
Odds
This is probably the most different and interesting aspect of Betfair as compared to bookmakers. Being a betting exchange, the odds are created by the people who wager on these websites and that means that more often than not, their odds would be those that are most popular rather than what a bookmaker thinks it best to be.
However, the quality of the odds is, at times, hampered by the amount of money in that particular market, which inadvertantly means that there would be a good chance to get some incredible odds on horseracing and televised football matches but when it comes to obscure matches and events, you might find Betfair lacking quite a bit.
Customer Attention
Polite, learned and excellent are three adjectives that can be used to define the quality of customer service tha Betfair offers. Naturally, due to the diverse and open nature of a betting exchange, there are bound to be more questions than those that are normally faced by bookmakers. However, the understanding of the system, amongst the customer service employees, is absolutely perfect and nothing goes beyond them.
The service is fast, reliable and extremely courteous. Although the service is only in English, it is available 24 hours a day over both phone and mail. The mails are usually replied within 4 hours, a feature that the company proudly boasts of.
Conclusion
To be fair, Betfair is one of the most popular concepts that have taken the world of betting by storm. Truly based on a model of innovation, their customisable betting odds are probably the most telling detail that has set them apart from the rest.
An incredible website, that has to be technically more advanced than the bookmakers of today, ensures that there is absolute ease of use as well as hgh comfort levels for all users. Whether you are a first timer or a veteran to the industry, you will find Betfair exactly what it’s name suggests, a fair bet.
User Comments
Log in or sign up to post a comment