If you're here for the 2025 Betfair review, then you’re in the right place. Here we'll be reviewing the welcome bonuses, app usability, odds competitiveness, and you’ll also be learning how the exchange works, how the sportsbook differs, among many others. Let’s get started.
There’s so much to share about Betfair, but to start with what is Betfair, it is a betting site that was founded in 2000 by Andrew Black and Edward Wray in London, England. Their reason for starting Betfair was to revolutionize how people bet. They wanted to give players more control, better odds, and transparency than what was already available.
Betfair first started as a betting exchange but later added the sportsbook feature in 2012 to cater to bettors who preferred a bookmaker-style experience. Betfair has had many notable milestones, among which is going public on the London Stock Exchange in 2010 under the ticker ‘BET. Betfair is one of the most trusted names in the UK betting industry. Its mix of a betting exchange and sportsbook makes it stand out from other sites.
To answer the question, what is Betfair exchange, it is a betting system set to let players bet against each other instead of betting against a bookmaker. The usual betting style many are used to is where the bookmaker sets odds and bettors place stakes on the odds set by the bookmaker, but in this case, you can choose to back a result (bet it will happen) or lay it (bet it won’t happen). So what the bookmaker does is simply to connect both sides and take a small fee from the winner’s profit.
Because in a betting exchange, the bettors get to set the odds themselves, the prices are often better than those offered by bookmakers. For players who prefer betting on live matches, there’s a similar provision where you can trade your bets during a game. You can cash out early or change your position as the odds move. In short, if you understand how a betting exchange works, Betfair can give you better value and more control than a regular sportsbook.
To complete the Betfair sign-up, it’ll only take you about 2 minutes. Here’s what you need to know about the registration.
You should note that the Betfair bonus does not work on the Betfair Exchange. It’ll only work in the sportsbook section.
In addition to the welcome bonus, you’ll find bonuses for existing players. The bonus spread across the sportsbook and exchange section. Other Betfair offer include:
At the time of this review, these are the only available bonuses for existing players. The 90-minute guarantee bonus is not clearly stated on the promotion page, but can be found in the football sports section.
Betfair has over 25 sports with hundreds of competitions and thousands of markets you can bet on. Here are a few of the most popular sports you’ll find on Betfair:
Popular bet types & market depth
During our test, these are the features we found on Betfair.
The exchange of live betting is a bit advanced and not recommended for new players who are not familiar with how it works. Meanwhile, there’s live streaming that’s exclusively for the horse racing section, and it’s accessible for both the exchange and the sportsbook.
Overall, the in-play betting section is robust, it loads fast, and there are lots of events you can bet on. We recommend it for more advanced players. New players may stick with the pre-match market and move into the in-play section as they progress and learn better.
To give you a more balanced Betfair review, we’ve taken a few sports and tested them for odds competitiveness. Here are the sports we’ve tested and their average margin:
The conclusion is that Betfair odds on football matches are not very competitive. But tennis and horse racing odds are quite competitive. For UK/Irish horse racing, anything from 18%-35% is common, so the 29% is within the range you’ll find on most bookmakers. We recommend Betfair for Tennis and Horse Racing because of its competitive odds.
Betfair apps are available on App Store and Google Play Store, and they’re both rated over 4.0 stars out of 5 stars. We downloaded the apps and found it to be easy to navigate, just like the website. The design is really nice. The website and app are dominated by a yellow and white interface that gives it a bright look. The load time is quick, and we didn’t have any issues with the app. We spent time reading through reviews from other users, and here’s what one user has to say about Betfair.
In summary, we recommend any of the two as they fulfil the same purpose. If you prefer using apps like many players, you can just go for the Betfair Mobile app.
Here we’ve checked all of the Betfair payment methods and their specific limits and processing times. Here’s all you need to know about the Betfair deposit and Betfair withdrawal methods:
There are no processing fees for all of the transactions.
We’ve tested Betfair customer support, and at the time of this review, Betfair only attended to customers via live chat. Connecting to an agent usually takes about 5 minutes, but they’re professional and will provide support where needed. We checked other players' reviews, and here’s what one player has to say.
While the live chat support is helpful, the fact that it’s the only available Betfair customer service makes it very limited.
It uses advanced SSL encryption to ensure that your data and financial transactions are safe. In addition to security, Betfair is a strong advocate of responsible gambling. The responsible gambling section is filled with tools like deposit limits, loss limits, time-outs, gaming time checks, self-exclusion, and, of course, organization support links.
Betfair indeed takes responsible gambling seriously, as they have stated, “We’re committed to ensuring gambling remains fun, safe, and under your control.” Take advantage of the tools and stay safe while you gamble.
After a thorough Betfair review, it’s safe to conclude that Betfair UK is for advanced and beginner players. If you’re new to betting and just want to explore the betting exchange, we’d advise you first to do some research and get familiar with how betting exchanges work; otherwise, you should just stick to the usual sportsbook betting.
More advanced bettors know that the real value is in a bet exchange. As you bet on the sportsbook, take out time to learn how the betting exchange works. It can provide you with enormous betting opportunities and help you maximize winnings. On a scale of 1 to 10, we’ll give Betfair an 8/10. Its combination of exchange, sportsbook, and competitive odds is a plus, but customer support and limited livestream are its downsides. We recommend this bookmaker worth betting this year.
