New Customer Offer
How to claim a free £25 bet- Open and fund your Betfair Account
- Bet at least on the sportsbook
- Win or lose, betfair will match your first bet up to £25
Wagering Requirement
You will need to place a Sportsbook (Fixed Odds) bet (minimum stake £/€5) at odds of at least 1/5 (1.2) within 30 days of opening your account. Only your first bet to be accepted will count for the purposes of this promotion.
Background
Betfair is the trading name of Betfair Limited, which was founded in August 1999. Unlike fixed odds bookmakers such as William Hill, Ladbrokes and bet365, betfair is a betting exchange, allowing customers to choose whether to back a selection or instead effectively act as the bookmaker themself and lay a selection instead. The first ever sporting market traded on betfair was the 2000 Oaks and, in the space of ten years, betfair has become the world's biggest betting exchange and effectively revolutionised the betting industry in the process.
Betfair have their headquarters in London and appear to be on the verge of floating on the stock market, something that’s been in the offing for some time. They have won numerous awards and, although their arrival hasn’t signalled the demise of fixed-odds bookmakers (quite the opposite), they have ensured that other firms are competitive with their prices to make sure that betfair don’t increase their market share too much.
Odds and Markets
Although betfair claim that their odds are, on average, 20% better than fixed-odds bookmakers, this largely depends on the liquidity available on a certain market. While you can regularly get bigger prices on horse racing and televised football matches, you'll often struggle to find your bet matched at reasonable odds when it comes to the more obscure markets.
Similarly, while they should be applauded for the sheer volume of markets they set up and settle, it always comes down to how many customers decide to bet on that particular market. However, it should be noted that you can always request the odds you want on a certain selection although there's no guarantee that your bet will be matched.
Website
As you would expect, the betfair website is an entirely different beast compared to the fixed-odds bookmakers. Betfair are essentially hosting a marketplace where thousands of users meet online to match bets with each other, much in the same way that ebay does with your unwanted playstation. It's an incredibly slick, quick and user-friendly interface which allows customers to access their markets quickly, with each sporting market refreshing in real-time according to the liquidity available.
In-Play betting at betfair is an unrivalled experience, with no bookmaker able to offer customers the chance to close out for a profit during a football match, horse race or other sporting event. However, betfair's unique back and lay system allows punters to cash out winnings during an event without having to wait for the final outcome.
Customer Service
The Betfair customer service is excellent. Naturally, betfair have to deal with a far wider range of queries than you'd get with a normal bookie and the operators are polite and knowledgeable. Their Helpdesk is manned 24/7 by English speaking brokers and you can contact them by email and telephone. They aim to respond to all email queries within four hours and are generally true to their word.
Customer Service Email
support@ betfair.com
Customer Service Telephone Number
0844 871 0000
Sign Up Offer
- How to claim a free £25 bet
- Open and fund your Betfair Account
- Bet at least on the sportsbook
- Win or lose, betfair will match your first bet up to £25
Promotions
£25 cashback at Betfair Arcade
New to Betfair Arcade? Start playing now and betfair will give you back your losses, if any, on your first day!
All you need to do is wager £25 or more any game or series of games on Betfair Arcade. We hope you win but, if you don't, you get your money back, up to £25!
Choose your own bonus when you sign up with betfair poker
New betfair poker customers can choose whether to receive a $50, $250, $500, $1000 or $2500 sign-up bonus when they first start playing. There’s a release rate for each bonus.
Live Streaming Details
Betfair streams live UK & Irish horse racing and offers users access to live streaming football. Leagues covered include Serie A and La Liga games.
