Some brands are well known for their casino, others for a sportsbook, or for bingo, and then there’s Betfair. The brand that started out as a sports betting exchange is now a front runner in pretty much every other department as well.
Their casino and gaming offerings are multi-layered with tons of variety and choice, and although the site itself is one of the bigger and more intimidating websites out there, it’s worth putting the time in.
You can enjoy the very best of everything here, including exclusive titles and even exchange games (exchange betting on the outcome of table games) which is not widely available anywhere else to my knowledge. Their banking options are good, they offer the highest levels of deposit security, their mobile product is superb – Betfair truly are a cut above.
- Fully Rounded – Not only do they offer everything, but they do it all so well.
- Unique Options – You can experience gameplay here that you won’t find anywhere else.
- Excellent on Mobile – As close to perfect as mobile gaming can get.
Software & Games
With more than 1000 games on the site in total, you will never be short of something new to play at Betfair.
It’s a pleasing mix of game types too, containing plenty of slots obviously, but it’s also a great place for jackpots given their links with Playtech, and where some casinos throw in token offerings when it comes to table games Betfair have made sure to include a healthy number with good range including plenty of video poker variations.
As well as having access to a huge range of 250 slots plus other games from Playtech’s network, there are 500+ further games from providers like NetEnt, Blueprint, IGT, Red Tiger, Pragmatic Play, and plenty more.
What’s more, Betfair have access to exclusive games that you can only play with them (and Paddy Power), so you are very likely to find titles you won’t have played before which is always nice.
Online casinos can throw all their eggs into one basket a lot of the time and simply dump slots on their customers. Betfair have taken a more discerning approach. Despite the total number of games, you can be sure they have all been selected for their quality and diversity – the range here really is what it’s all about, so if you like to traverse the full spectrum of online gaming there are few places better.
Live Casino
It can seem like Evolution is the only live casino provider out there sometimes, so if you fancy a change then you will be glad to know that Betfair work with Playtech for their live casino needs. That means different games and different live dealers.
What it doesn’t mean is fewer options or lower quality, because the lobby here is packed. There are game show style games, scores of blackjack and roulette variations, as well as dragon tiger, sic bo, poker, and more.
The streams are strong, the dealers are well trained and professional and know how to keep the energy up, and there are plenty of people playing alongside you too if you like to have a chat around the table.
Exchange Games
This, as far as I’m aware, is not a feature you will see at many other online casinos.
Exchange Games takes the power of a sports betting exchange, for which Betfair are famous, and bring it to the world of online casino.
Now this won’t be for everyone as it is a little more involved than other casino games, but if you have ever taken odds on a bet with a bookmaker in the past it will be easy enough to get to grips with.
Players watch a computerised table game and can back or lay various different ‘markets’ on that game.
For example, you could bet than Hand 1 will lose a game of poker, or you could bet the opposite. You take odds here so it is more like betting than gaming, but the betting is done on the outcome of good old fashioned casino table games like baccarat, blackjack, and poker.
Website
Betfair is a huge company with a lot of different products that customers can choose between, so their website is understandably pretty busy as well. It’s the price you pay for having so much content – a blessing and a curse.
This does make it less user friendly, and anyone who has never visited an online casino before might be completely baffled as to where to start; but having said that, all of the content is essentially managed using two menu bars one under the other, so although there are a lot of options they are at least all in one place.
Knowing where to look is the main point of confusion. It would seem sensible to head to the Casino, but will you miss out on the games in the Slots section? What are Exchange Games, and do the slots in the Premium Casino section still show up elsewhere?
It’s a quick site for its size, which helps if you are going to be jumping between sections, and once you figure out what each area of the site is about navigation becomes breezy:
- Casino – The casino is powered exclusively by Playtech, so you will only find games from this developer here.
- Slots – Titles from all other game providers are housed here.
- Exchange Games – You won’t find this at many other casinos, it’s Betfair’s fusion of exchange betting and online gaming.
- Live Casino – You get full access to Playtech’s lobby of live casino games in here, with live dealers and live streams so you can see what’s going on.
- Premium Casino – This is the place to go if you want a more luxurious feel to your play session.
- Poker – This is a separate downloadable client with its own features and promotions, although you can also play in browser. There are plenty of tournaments to get involved in too.
- Bingo – Run on the Virtue Fusion network, there are loads of bingo rooms in here with games running throughout the day.
Hopefully, this will give you a better idea of where to start when you first log in to Betfair casino.
Mobile
Betfair have a lot of gambling products and they have a separate app for each of them, which could potentially take up a lot of space on your device. They have a great mobile website as well though, so you don’t need to download anything as long as your data allowance is good.
Looking at the casino app specifically, there is a lot to love about its design and build. To be perfectly honest it gets everything right. It’s extraordinarily responsive to the touch and you can whiz up and down a page with a single flick of your finger, not to mention the speed with which it carries out commands like loading games or navigating to a new page.
The menus work in the same way as the desktop site but using scrolling bars which actually makes things feel less intimidating, and the handy quick links in the footer allow for speedy access to specific games, the live casino, or any promotions you might currently be eligible for. This is perfect for when you first log in.
The little information button on each game tile is really useful when browsing because you can get some insight into a new title without wasting time loading it up, and the game tiles themselves are nice and big so anyone with sausage fingers like me won’t accidentally load the wrong game.
Of course you do need to jump across to the Slots section to play non Playtech titles, but this can be done surprisingly quickly from the Menu button. It’s perhaps a bit of a faff, but not so much as to cause annoyance, and at least it keeps the huge game list more manageable.
In short, Betfair’s range of mobile products are fantastic.
Rewards
There might not always be the biggest range of offers and promotions at Betfair, but they come and go regularly so there will often be something new to catch your interest.
You should be aware that they are sometimes spread across their range of products too, so it might seem as though there are barely any promotions if you are in the Casino for instance, but when you go to the Slots section and look again there might be different offers available specific to that section.
It’s the usual stuff, x amount of free spins or freespins for x amount of time, but they sometimes come with no wagering requirements which is absolutely brilliant and not matched by many other online casinos.
There is also a loyalty point scheme that is worth exploring, with points earned for money wagered and those points convertible into cash.
Money
| Method | Min Deposit | Min Withdrawal | Fees | Withdrawal Time |
|---|
Being an international company with 20 years experience, Betfair have their banking and payments department well established and with plenty of flexibility. They are usually pretty quick to process withdrawals too.
Another little known benefit of using Betfair is that you can use Paddy Power shops to deposit and withdraw from your account, and this means you can withdraw online winnings in cash.
It’s also worth knowing that their customer deposit protection level is high, which means your money is protected in the event of the company going under.
Not that this is likely with Betfair.
Support
It’s easy enough to get to the help page from Betfair’s website, the option is right there at the top of the screen, but it’s clear they would rather you helped yourself using their, admittedly very good, self support FAQ.
This always grates with me slightly as a huge company shouldn’t dictate to its customers how to behave, but there is no denying the FAQ is well designed and genuinely useful which is more than can be said for some online casinos,
If you do want to communicate with someone you will have to do so via a live chat/messaging service or via social media, as Betfair are not keen to give out their phone or email details willy nilly. Although if you want them, they are at the bottom of this page.
It’s great to see the company reaching out via social media, but it shouldn’t be at the expense of more traditional contact methods. It’s also annoying to have to go through an automated ‘agent’ before getting to a real person in live chat.
All in all though it is a dependable and thorough service, if a little frustrating, and it is available 24/7 so they are putting the hours in.
About
Betfair was launched way back in the early days of the internet, and it was initially a sports betting exchange with no casino products at all. It wasn’t until the mid-2000s that the casino was added to the site.
However, as time went on and the business grew in stature, they began adding more products to their site in order to attract online gambling enthusiasts of all tastes, and they now provide as full a package as it is possible to find.
Although they are a hugely successful business – with a turnover of £50 million a week and around 2,000 staff – they do have a few blips on their record.
In 2011 the company admitted covering up the theft of confidential customer data including bank details, security questions, and addresses. They have also refused to pay out on a number of occasions, citing technical issues, although this was all concerning sportsbook customers as opposed to casino players.
Betfair Casino are fully licensed and regulated by the UKGC and have headquarters in London, although the casino is officially run by a different company (Betfair Casino Ltd) which is based in Malta.
Their company structure is confusing to say the least, with a good number of other operating names handling slightly different areas of the business, and when they joined with Paddy Power to become Paddy Power Betfair in 2016 this only got more complicated. The merger was structured as an acquisition of Betfair by Paddy Power, although both companies still operate independently.
Both companies now operate under the umbrella organisation, Flutter Entertainment, a global titan of the gambling industry which also handles their overseas interests.
Contact
UK Gambling License: 39435
- Name: Betfair Casino
- Licensed Name: Betfair Casino Ltd
- URL: https://casino.betfair.com/
- Email: [email protected]
- Phone: 0344 871 0000
- Address: Betfair, Triq il Kappillan, Santa Venera, SVR 1851
- Twitter: @BetfairCS