Betfair Casino Review

While you may not have heard of Sporting Exchange Limited, you have probably come across their more common trading name of Betfair. Betfair has been one of the top names in virtual betting since their beginning, way back in 1999. For those of you who enjoy taking part in a betting exchange system, one where you set your own odds and bet against other users, then you have Betfair to thank as they were the ones who came up with the idea in the first place. The incredible public appeal of customer focused options like the betting exchange have turned this once no-name site into a customer favorite on all counts. Now Betfair is venturing out of their comfort zone and into their very own online casino. Will this be a sure thing, or will they be sent back to the drawing boards?

When you walk through the doors you immediately notice that Betfair has a high style look and feel very different from most of the competition. Players should have little to no trouble accessing the site as it can be found via its very own tab on the Betfair home page. In a nod to the variety of languages spoken throughout the greater European area, players have the option of selecting their home tongue from a list of supported choices. Navigation as a whole is very straight forward, but we did find one area that made us scratch our heads a bit. What we naturally assumed to be links between the site’s main lounges proved to be nothing more than graphics. But then a separate “graphic” in the same list did actually end up being its own link. We are hoping that this is just a programming error that will be fixed by the time this review makes its way to you.

With all the information we could ever need right at our fingertips, we headed to registration to finish signing up. The process was over before we knew it, and it was finally time to play. We were very happy to note that Betfair is running one of our favorite software packages, the ever wonderful Chartwell system. Chartwell is great because it uses non-downloading technology that is still capable of a very nice overall experience. In fact this is a common choice of many of the top sites in the online casino industry. But as much as we always love to see the Chartwell name, we were even more excited to find the Zero Lounge. You see in Zero Lounge it really is all about the players. Betfair has reworked the games offered in this special lounge to where they run no house edge. What this means to you is that you will have the opportunity to play some of your favorite games using the actual true odds of the game. If you are new to this whole scene and need further information about different types of odd, make sure to stop by our own Overview of Odds page for a more in depth discussion. Back to Zero Lounge, no matter how hard we tried we couldn’t find a downside for players in this situation. Betfair has really given them one fair shake. You do need to note that while this is an awesome option, play in this lounge will not count towards any Betfair promotions. But in the grand scheme of things that one small set back hardly out weighs the overall benefit found here.

Betfair’s biggest current promotion is a point system. The structure is that with each qualifying bet players earn points towards free money in their accounts. This fun system is only in action in the Main Lounge, so Zero Lounge bets do not count. There is no welcome bonus for new players at this time but we are hopeful for the future. In the news and promotions page you will find some tantalizing hints of what may be just over the next hill. We will have to check back in the next few months to see what they come up with.

Customer support is always a big stop on out tour. We want you to have confidence that any problems you run into will be met with fast and accurate answers. At Betfair we liked that all roads in customer support would eventually lead you to a live person. Players can choose their preferred method of contact from fax, e-mail, or phone. It should be noted that while the site may have many language options, customer service runs strictly to English. Also a freephone for UK customers would be a very nice addition as it has become almost standard on other sites.

Betfair is a great example of the fact that you really can teach an old dog new tricks. They have expanded on their core strengths to deliver a strong example of an online casino. In fact, their offering is on par with anything else you can find out there today. The casino is conveniently located right on the grounds of their already boomingly popular betting site. The few faults we did find were admittedly small in the grand scheme of things, and should not effect you overall decision as to whether or not you want to make this your online casino of choice. It would be to your best interest to at least stop by and give the “Free Fun,” a whirl. That way you can test the waters all on your own before you make any big decisions.