Before starting this review, I had a very favourable impression of Betway and this was largely down to word of mouth. I am pleased to report that this popular Irish sportsbook largely lives up to its reputation.
Aesthetically, the Betway sports site is very pleasing on the eye with its striking black and green livery and it is also exceptionally easy to navigate between pages. I have found other sportsbooks to be illogically laid out and have had issues with font size in some cases, however, I didn’t encounter any of these issues when using Betway.
I have barely mentioned the sign-up process due its remarkable simplicity. I managed to submit my details and fund my account in a matter of minutes and although I was left a little disappointed by the lack of deposit methods, the inclusion of PayPal was good enough for me. Although they offer Bank Transfer and Skrill, I would have preferred to see the likes of Apple Pay and Bitcoin listed as options.
Although I have taken advantage of far more generous welcome bonuses, I can’t have too many complaints about the €30 free bet bonus. There were a few restrictions such as limited payment options (only VISA and PayPal) and I had to ensure that my qualifying bet was at least 1.75 (3/4), however, the remainder of the wagering requirement were fairly industry standard and perfectly fair. I was successful with my first bet and as a result, I had completely forgotten about my €30 free bet, so it was a nice surprise when it landed in my account. This was paid out as soon as my qualifying had settled.
Upon searching for my qualifying bet, I was pleased to see that Betway offered a wide variety of betting markets. I was pleased to see plenty of horse racing coverage and the addition of live streaming enabled me to keep across all of my bets throughout the day. Although it isn’t my cup of tea, I was also pleased to see that Betway reputation for being the best eSports bookmaker is thoroughly deserved.
It was perfectly simple to add each of my selections into my betting slip and I was able to create an Accumulator in under five minutes.
After conducting some research I found that Betway regularly offered standout odds on several different markets. This applied to football, rugby and tennis betting markets. The horse racing odds were fairly standard, so I had no complaints about this. Irish punters are always looking for an extra bit of value, so this was pleasing to see. Betway Boosts are also accessible from the home page and although these are largely pre-selected markets, there are plenty to choose from and I was very tempted to have a dabble.
The A-Z of sports, which is located down the left-hand side of the home page, is a terrific way of quickly finding your favourite leagues and competitions and I also found that the inclusion of the word ‘live’ is an extremely helpful and useful addition. This notified me that there is live in-play betting currently available on this sport.
I found the in-play section of the site to be delightfully simple and it has been designed with the user in mind. Irish punters can enjoy the chance to browse a variety of live betting options including table tennis, curling and snooker. A superb variety of sports.
I encounter very few issues whilst betting with Betway, however, I decided to contact customer support to make an enquiry about the Free Bet Club. Although the live chat service took around 90 seconds to connect, I found that the operators were extremely friendly and helpful. I wasn’t pushing them out of their comfort zone with my enquiry, however, they were willing to chat and resisted the chance to simply direct me back to the FAQ page. There is plenty of information available on the site, and I liked that I had a wide variety of options when it came to making contact (email, telephone, live chat etc).
I decided to download the Betway sports iOS app and I was able to install and log into my account easily. Although I enjoyed betting on the app, I found that it crashed on numerous occasions and this seemed to particularly problematic when I was trying to place an in-play bet. Overall, the app was clean, slick and well-designed and featured all of the same great markets and odds. However, technical problems spoiled my overall enjoyment of the Betway app.
Having used Betway for 30 days, I can see why this online sportsbook has many satisfied customers. My friends have spoken about its simplicity and I found it incredibly easy to get started. There were one or two teething problems along the way, however, I found it difficult to find fault and an unreliable app aside, I was left thoroughly satisfied by one of the best betting sites in Ireland.