BetVictor review

Over the past 15 years, BetVictor’s bold approaches – including embracing the internet and being the first of the large bookmakers to move its operations off-shore to Gibraltar – have transformed the sports betting industry. However, this hasn’t stopped it from maintaining an “old-school” reputation for honesty and fairness.

BetVictor is one of the top 10 bookmakers in the UK, as well as a global organization with at least half a million customers in 160 countries. It has turnover of more than £1 billion a year and is continuing to grow in popularity, due to its aggressive pricing and reliable brand. Unlike most other major UK bookmakers, BetVictor isn’t a publicly listed company.

BetVictor is regulated by the Gibraltar Gambling Commissioner and, like most of the big bookmakers, is registered with the Independent Betting Adjudication Service (IBAS), which adjudicates in cases of betting disputes.

Although BetVictor is hugely popular, note that if you start winning too much or too frequently, the bookmaker may severely limit or close your account. Although this practice is now common among large bookmakers, complaints about it from punters take some of the shine off BetVictor’s otherwise sterling reputation.

According to oddschecker.com, BetVictor has by far the best football odds, providing about 70% better value than the market average. More often than not, BetVictor even beats prices from Betfair (the world’s biggest betting exchange). Although oddschecker.com is missing some possible contenders for the best football odds, it’s a good idea for anyone wanting to bet on football to open a BetVictor account and compare prices.

BetVictor also provides very competitive odds for horse racing – although here it can’t typically outperform the betting exchanges. Its odds for all sports betting markets are definitely worth checking.

BetVictor is offering new customers a decent welcome bonus. This takes the form of a matched bet – place your first bet and BetVictor will credit your account with a free bet to the same value, up to a maximum of £25.

To qualify, your initial bet must include at least one selection at odds of 2:00 (evens) or greater. There’s also another catch – you have to stake bets to four times the value of your initial bet before you’ll be able to withdraw any winnings from the free bet.

BetVictor has regular, attractive specials on football. These are updated at least weekly and include some excellent money-back specials, enhanced price accumulators and acca insurance.

For horse racing enthusiasts, BetVictor offers best odds guaranteed on UK and Irish racing and early non-runner free bet promotions for big events like the Cheltenham Festival and Grand National.

Although BetVictor offers some attractive specials, it’s not in the same league as the likes of Paddy Power or Betfred, both famous for their promotions or bet365 who offer the best sign-up offer.

BetVictor’s website is clear, well laid-out and relatively free of annoying distractions, provided you’re able to ignore the odd spinning roulette wheel. It uses an attractive colour scheme, the numerous markets are easy to navigate and the bet slip is intuitive and easy to use.

Although BetVictor specialises in UK horse racing and football, it also covers a wide range of international sports, from horses to hurling to hockey. As well as traditional betting markets, it offers a huge number of in-play markets for popular events.

BetVictor’s site provides live commentary and video streaming of UK and Irish horse races (from At The Races and Racing UK) on its site, making it easy to catch the latest racing action and setting it apart from the sites of other leading bookmakers. BetVictor also recently signed up Timeform, the leading provider of form information and ratings, to enhance its racecards.

The account management area of BetVictor’s site is self-explanatory, providing easy access to your account profile, open bets, account history and payment options.

BetVictor has excellent mobile apps. Its iPhone, iPad and Android apps provide all the features of the desktop version of the website, including full live betting, integrated casino facilities and streaming video of UK and Irish horse races.

You can also access the regular website with any mobile browser.

BetVictor’s previous chairman, Victor Chandler, noted that “Our industry pushed the boundaries of the internet in the past 10 years; now it’s going to do the same with mobile devices.”

BetVictor provides good customer service 24 hours a day, every day of the year. We find their agents courteous and helpful. You can reach them using live chat, e-mail, free phone within the UK or normal phone from elsewhere. Support is available in English, German and Hebrew.

Quick pay-outs, easy account verification and all the usual payment and withdrawal options mean that we have no complaints in this department.