Betfred Review
Betfred is one of the largest independent bookmakers in the world and is based in the UK where it operates over 1350 high street betting shops. They started out in Salford in 1967 and they are currently based in Birchwood, Warrington, near Manchester. Though they have offices in Gibraltar, they are licensed and regulated by the UK Gambling Commission. The company is probably better known for its foray in the online sports betting sector, but their online casino is of the calibre that you would expect from such a massive corporation. What you get from Betfred is the complete package; sports, casino, poker and bingo - something that very few companies can properly boast about.
Head honcho, Fred Done, is renowned as the “Bonus King” for the quality and regularity of the promotions his company dish up, and Betfred lives up to this moniker in many fields and has a good range of markets and competitive prices for most sports. In this review, we’ll take a look at the company, their range and quality of odds and markets, casino games, features of their website, as well as taking a closer look at the all-important welcome bonuses and other promotions within their sports and casino sections.
Odds & Markets
Betfred has some of the best odds around, due partly to their low profit margins on most sports, an average of around 5%. Their coverage of UK leagues and competitions is very thorough in all sports, particularly football, and they cover a good range (but not all) international and European football fixtures.
They are also one of the best bookies around when it comes to horse racing, and as well as offering very good odds on a vast range of racing action, they also help fund the industry but through race sponsorship and charity contributions.
While their coverage of American Sports isn’t very extensive, they do offer some of the best odds on the NHL and NFL available in Europe. In short, Betfred cover all of the most important sporting events and some less known ones and have consistently solid odds on everything, barring their promotions where they really push the boat out, often producing some outstanding offers.
Features
In-Play Betting & Live Streaming
A recent update to the Betfred website included the addition of a new in-play betting console. The addition of a favourites tab has proved very popular as it allows you to select your preferred markets and choose how they display so you can quickly see which of your chosen preferred markets are currently running in which events.
Betfred offer live streaming on all UK and Irish horse racing, and have live audio commentary for football, greyhound racing and occasionally other sports as well.
Mobile Betting
The bookie has rolled out a mobile and tablet-friendly site and app with Betfred sports and casino betting app for general use that has all the functionality of the website. Betfred Goals Galore football coupons, bet builders and live streaming are all incorportade into their app. Visiting the site in your mobile browser is generally the quickest and best way to access the betting site via mobile, however.
Totepool (2011 to 2019)
Betfred acquired the Tote in 2011 in a deal worth £265 million, which included 500+ Totesport high-street shops and exlusive rights to control on-course Tote betting for a period of 7 years. The company were keen to incorporate the famous brand into their own betting set up, offering the full range of Tote products through their channels, although the shops were all converted into Betfred premises. The on-course exclusivity period expired in 2018 and in 2019 it was sold to the UK Tote Group for £115 million.
Despite the sale, you can get access to a most tote bets direct from the Betfred, making it one of best places to choose these bet types. The Totepool section allows you to bet a on a range of bet types, such as the Jackpot, Scoop6, Placepot, Exacta, Trifecta, Win and Place, to name just a few.
#Pickyourpunt Bet Requests
With the world of Social Media starting to dominate in the betting industry, Betfred have come up with #PickYourPunt. This feature allows you to essentially Tweet a bet to Betfred and they will come up with the odds for that bet. It can be as obscure as you like, in fact, the more obscure the better! As long as it can be utilised with betting markets within the Betfred sportsbook, the sky is your limit.
Whilst football is the main sport for this bet, it can be used on a variety of other sports as well, such as golf, tennis, cricket, boxing and plenty others. They take request up to 30 minutes before the start of the first bet and you need to do is tweet to @Betfred using the hashtag #PickYourPunt
Casino Games
Betfred use a number of software providers that will allow users to access a unique range of games. The providers include PlayTech, Boss Media, Ash Gaming, IGT, Realistic Games and Blueprint Gaming. This allows the casino to offer up one of the most diverse ranges of games in the industry.
The slots section is where you are going to find the best range of games in our opinion and with it you get some great titles. What was impressive is that the range of games aren’t what you would expect from the majority of online casinos, instead you get a really fresh feel with the games, which is something that is very difficult to do in such a saturated marketplace.
Outside of slots, table games such as Roulette, Blackjack, Craps, Video Poker, Baccarat are all well represented. You are going to be able to access a number of variations of each game, which is great if you like to have a bit of variety.
The mobile version of the casino is fully functional, but we have to admit it does feel a little dated. In fact, the casino isn’t the best designed as a whole, so it’s definitely an area in which we think Betfred could improve.
On the High Street
Betfred have been on the high street since 1967. It was brother Fred and Peter Done who set up the company and took advantage of the recently lifted law that allowed bookmakers to operate high street shops after being banned before 1961.
They started life in Salford, Manchester, but soon grew to a nationwide brand. These days they are able to boast over 1,350 betting shops under the Betfred brand. They are also inside a large number of both dog and horse racing tracks throughout the UK and it was reported that Fred Done even linked to go and run these stalls himself!
Who are Betfred?
The company was started by Fred and Peter Done in 1967 when the first shop opened in Salford. Fred Done has made a name for himself in the bookmaking industry as a bit of a maverick who’s not afraid to take big chances. He famously paid out early on Manchester United to win the league, not once but twice in both 1998 and 2012 and both times they ended up losing out, first to Arsenal and then to “noisy neighbours” Manchester City. He also lost a bet of £1 million to fellow proprietor Victor Chandler of BetVictor that his beloved United would finish above Chandler’s favoured Chelsea in 2005.
The casino sector came some years later on the back of their online success. It was an obvious integration, such was the success of the industry, but it’s probably fair to say that Betfred are always going to be best known for their work within the sports betting sector.
Although many of the company’s 5,000 employees and a vast majority of their betting shops are UK based, the company is now registered in Gibraltar for tax reasons. The company sold the Tote in 2019 for £115 million, having purchased the group from the UK government in 2011 in a deal worth £265 million.
Contact & License Info
- Live Chat: Via website (24/7)
- Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
- Telephone: 0800 028 7747
- Address: Petfre (Gibraltar) Limited, 5/2 Waterport Place, Gibraltar
- Company Number: 99314
- License: UK Gambling Commission 39544