Bet365 Casino Review
Bet 365 looks like a site for traditional high street punters – people who know the score. In fact, it’s a bit like entering a bookies, with toned down colours that won’t disturb your hangover, a prize ladder with dream cars up for grabs and plenty of eye candy for the boys.
Eligibility and Jurisdiction
The site’s operator is Hillside Ltd., licenced in Gibraltar. They make no exclusions with regard to any jurisdiction, leaving responsibility with players to ensure they are permitted to use the site.
Software and Graphics
Bet365 uses Playtech software exclusively, so – as is often the case with Playtech licencees – there is an instant play version and a download version with a slightly larger number of games and full customisation facilities. Everything runs smoothly whether you download or not, though we found that the download looked and sounded better and was marginally less jerky. Needless to say mobile gaming is fully enabled, as you’d expect from a major sports betting outfit.
Graphically, everything is small, neat and pastel-coloured. Given that they’re tempting you with cars, holidays, TV sets and beautiful croupiers this seems a little odd, but somehow it works.
Games
This is a no-nonsense site for no-nonsense players, so there’s no demo mode on any of the games, however Bet365 compensate for this approach by offering you Playtech’s finest including newer slot releases like Rocky, Pink Panther and Gladiator as well as the wonderful Marvel multi-line slots. Progressive jackpots are in plentiful supply with a highly-respectable £3.8 million clocked up on the ubiquitous Beach Party at the time of writing, and all the expected videopoker, arcade, Keno and scratchcard games are on tap as expected.
A couple of new additions to the expected full range of table games are mini Roulette and Stravaganza, showing that Bet365 are keeping their catalogue fully up to date. The live dealer games are industry-standard, however not only do you get to choose your game, but you get to select European or Asian dealers. Presumably Bet365’s target audience pay as much attention to the dealers as they do to their games…
Promotions and Bonuses
Bonuses are offered for limited periods, but are generally rolled over in one form or another. Current welcome bonuses vary with deposit size, ranging from 10% for a £25 deposit to 50% for anything in excess of £1000. Wagering requirements increase with deposit size also, from 25 to 40. However, some games contribute towards more towards bonus redemption than others: For example, Roulette wagers contribute 25% towards redemption, so if you make an initial deposit of £100 and claim your £10 bonus you need to play the combined total of £110 through 25 times to claim, making a total of £2750. However, because only 25% of your Roulette wagers count toward the bonus you won’t see any of it until you’ve played £11000.
There’s also a comp points scheme with cash, holidays and cars available, as well as various other one-offs on selected individual dates. It’s alot to take in.
Payment Options
This is where Bet365 excel: Deposit or withdraw with Visa, Mastercard, Neteller, Moneybookers, Paypal, Instadebit, Clickpay, UKash, Paysafe or Entropay. Credit card withdrawals take 1-3 working days, however the remaining methods are processed from 24 hours to a record 1 hour for Neteller users. This just goes to show how quickly it can be done and in itself makes a trip to Bet365 worthwhile
Customer Support
24 hour telephone support is available on freefone 08000 288365 or 0800 7810365. There’s also a 24 hour callback service, email ([email protected]) and live chat.
Bet 365 gives the public what it wants and doesn’t waste time paying up when you win. It may shout about giving away cars and holidays but don’t be fooled: it’s a very lean operation that understands its market and delivers on every front with no fuss. The People’s Casino.