Skybet Sportsbook Review
SkyBet is one of the most popular football betting sites in the UK and offers a very competitive range of sports and markets. The sports available for betting on Sky Bet include football, boxing, tennis, darts, greyhound racing to mention a few. The betting company also offers a few non-mobile betting markets, chief among them are politics and movies. Although the company is predominantly sportsbook oriented, it offers other casino games through its affiliates website. SkyPoker offers online poker games, SkyCasino offers online casino games and SkyBingo avails a variety of Bingo games for players who enjoy the game.
SkyBet was founded in 2000 and is owned by the Sky brand. The company is part of the BSkyB Broadcasting group. Unlike most sports betting companies, they do not have a land-based presence. They are headquartered in Leeds and also has offices in Sheffield, London and Guernsey. The company holds a license from the stringent and much acclaimed UK Gambling Commission, which gives the customer confidence that the company adheres to industry best practices. Let us take you through the working cogs of this online bookie.
Visiting Skybet
The Sky Bet website skybet.com has a simple design and its familiar look instantly makes the new customer feel at home. The site has an uncluttered feel, mainly owing to its laser focus on sports betting. The information is conveniently arranged and presented which facilitates easy navigation. On the top menu is Skybet Football, Racing, In-Play, Virtuals and Roulette. It is under the Roulette option, you’ll find Skybet games. Floating below the top menu of the website are dynamic highlighted bets. Below that is another menu which has the following tabs; Featured, In-Play, Next Races, Accumulators and Popular Bets. If you click on the In-Play feature, you will get another sub-menu which has a list of Skybet sports.
Under those tabs, there are betting odds and markets. For football, odds are displayed for a variety of Leagues, most of them obscure like the Turkish, Indian, Kuwaiti and UAE Leagues. With so many football betting options available, it’s a good idea to check out our football betting tips today before you start making your bets at Skybet. Under the Tennis tab, there are many odds for a variety of matches. You can bet on the match result, current set winner and next set winner as the match progresses for tournaments like Grand Slams and other ATP and WTA tournaments. The bottom menu on the website has Privacy & Cookies, Terms and Conditions, Help, Responsible Gaming. The website gives options to other Sky gambling sites using the same account. You can enjoy the services on SkyPoker, SkyBingo and Skybet casino without having to open new accounts.
While it is not uncommon to find Skybet reviews online the purpose of this Skybet review is to give you another perspective to assist you in making an informed decision. If you feel inclined to experience Skybet online, you can join in through a simple process. The Skybet login is located on the top right-hand corner of the website. On its immediate left is the “Join Now” tab.
Registration is a simple process. All you need to do is access Skybet online betting through the latest version of your web browser. Then you go to the Join now tab on the top right-hand corner of the site, enter your details. You may be required to enter a Skybet promo code or referral code. After that, you are set to enjoy the Skybet betting experience to the fullest.
Skybet Bonuses
Skybet promotions that are geared to both new and existing customers and include one of the free bets offers on the market right now:
Skybet welcome bonus
- £20 in free bets when you spend £5
This Skybet bonus is geared toward new customers who signup and claim the offer using a Skybet promo code. The free bets on this new customer offer will be issued as 2 × 10 tokens. This package also comes with a free weekly £5 bonus on the free bets club. Deposits using Neteller and Skrill are not eligible for this offer.
Weekly Skybet free bets
- £5 free bet
To get it, you have to opt-in and bet £25 or more before 23:59 on Sunday. The odds for this bet must be 1/1(2.0) or higher. You can bet on any sport you fancy. Free bets are also non-withdrawable and stakes are excluded from return. The free bets don’t have an expiry date.
Loyalty club
Members of this loyalty scheme can get up to £260 a year in free bets. By opting in and making a wager of £25 on cash stakes and with even odds or higher on a sport of your choice, you can earn free bets worth £5. If you accumulate it every week, you will have £260 by the end of the year in this loyalty scheme.
In terms of a Skybet no deposit one was not evident on the site. However, the Skybet free spins are offered in the Skybet casino Free spins lounge.
Skybet Mobile
Sky Bet has a highly functional mobile platform which rivals the desktop version in many ways. The Skybet mobile site is well designed and has a recognisable blue and white colour scheme that is synonymous with the Sky Group. You’ll be able to enjoy live betting facilities on the mobile website, which makes it highly attractive. The mobile site also facilitates Live streaming which is, however, limited to horse racing. A staggering 4000 horse races are streamed live on the mobile app. Unfortunately, there is no live streaming for football and other popular sports. The mobile platform can be accessed on most modern devices across different operating systems such as Android, IOS, Windows and Blackberry. You need to do a mobile login before you can access the sports and markets.
The successful sportsbook also offers one of the best sports betting app for Android and IOS users. If you are an Android user, you can download the app directly from the site, login and enjoy your sports betting experience on-the-go. If you have an IOS device, all you need to do is download the app on the Appstore and log in. You will then be able to enjoy placing quicker bets and getting better odds. You can get information on upcoming events and receive updates on a wide variety of sports, just like on the desktop site. The app focuses more on football and horse racing, but it also offers betting markets for other sports like tennis, cricket and Golf. As with the desktop site, the app also allows you to bet on non-sport related activities like politics and movies. The Sky Bet mobile app trumps the mobile website regarding speed, convenience and intuitiveness. It may, therefore, be more desirable to use it instead of the mobile site if your device is compatible.
Skybet Games and Software
SkyBet UK is one of the most prominent bookmakers on the scene with a considerable selection of sports and markets on offer. The betting platform offers more than 40 different sports, which is as good as you can get anywhere. The sports available on the Skybet sportsbook include football, horse racing, cricket, the PGA Tour, cycling, UFC, MMA, snooker, boxing, basketball, wrestling among others. You can place wagers on a variety of sports and tournaments. Football is one of the premium sports offered by the bookmaker alongside Horse racing. Sky Bet also allows you to make wagers on virtual horse racing.
If you are a football fan, then you have a plethora of betting options. You can bet on the big Leagues like the English Premier League, Serie A, La Liga or the obscure leagues like Indian Super League, Qatari Stars League and the Kuwait Premier League. The In-Play or live betting facility is also available. This functionality will enable you to make educated wagers based on reviewed odds while the match is ongoing. In regards to football, you can place bets on corner kicks, penalties, goalscorers, first-half scores, match results etc. If you are a cricket fan, you’ll be able to bet on ongoing tournaments and Test and one-day international matches. Tournaments such as the ICC World Twenty20, ICC World Cup and T20 Big Bash League are available. Just make sure you read through our cricket betting tips and predictions before you start playing!
Tennis lovers can place wagers on Grand Slams and a variety of ATP and WTA tournaments. Sky Bet has also managed to expand out of sports betting, and they currently offer casino, bingo and poker games. It is here players can find Skybet slots and the Skybet live casino for alternative entertainment while awaiting betting results. The popular sports has a partnership with a lot of highly reputable software providers such as the multi-award-winning NetEnt, Playtech, IGT(Wagerworks) and Blueprint gaming. This elite caste of software providers is a testament to the company’s dedication to providing products of the highest quality to its customers.
Deposits and Withdrawals
An efficient and convenient deposit and withdrawal system is every betting enthusiast’s dream. Betting companies will go a long way in attracting and retaining customers. Skybet offers quite a couple of trusted and efficient payment options including:
- MasterCard
- Apple Pay
- PayPal
- Visa Electron
- Visa Debit
- Visa Credit
- Maestro
While these payment methods might not be as extensive as regular players might be used to, they are the ones predominantly used by UK and international customers, so are fit for purpose.
The presence of PayPal is positive for the sports betting company since the e-wallet is one of the most highly recognised and secure payment methods available. Skrill and Neteller are not allowed as payment methods. The minimum deposit is £5 Apple Pay and Visa and £10 for Paypal. Deposits are instantaneous. No charge is levied on the payment methods.
They also offer a good number of withdrawal methods. The minimum withdrawal amount is £10, and there are no charges levied on any of the withdrawal methods. The withdrawal periods are pretty decent. Credit Cards take between 2-5 working days to be processed. This is due to the legally binding requirement of verification processes associated with Credit and Debit Cards. E-wallets are processed instantly, which is in keeping with the industry standards. Customer service is always on hand to provide help, in case you face difficulty with your account or any funds related issues. You can contact them via live chat, email, or telephone. Otherwise, you can also just send them a tweet.
Responsible Gaming
Online sports betting is highly entertaining, but it has some serious risks associated with it. Sky Bet has introduced self-help tools and avails information and tips, all aimed at keeping the gambling environment fun and entertaining. They also have a stringent policy regarding underage gambling and only people over the age of 18 are allowed to bet. The self-help tools are as follows:
- Deposit Limits – The deposit limit functionality allows you to set a limit of your choice for periods ranging from 24 hours to 30 days. This functionality is geared at reining in your spending habits.
- Cool Off periods – The Cool Off period functionality allows you to take a break from the company’s offerings for periods ranging from one day to 30 days. Once your cool-off period is over, you will automatically be able to reopen your account and re-access the site and apps. There is no need to contact customer support to have your account reopened.
- Self-exclusion – Self -exclusion is another functionality offered on the website. This facility involves completely excluding yourself from anything to do with the company for periods ranging from 6 months to 5 years. You are not allowed to re-access your account in any way until the period lapses. After the period lapses, you still have to contact customers support before you are allowed to re-access your account. You can also contact customer care via telephone or live chat to get advice.
Sky Bet also has links for organisations that offer responsible gaming advice and support from a community of fellow punters. The reputable organisations are BeGambleAware, GamCare and GamStop. The company also encourages the use of Gamban to customers who are battling gaming addictions. Besides being a mandatory part of any responsible sportsbook, this assures you the customer that they have your best interests, besides only attending to the business requirements of profitability.
Conclusion
Skybet is a notable sports betting company in the industry. They offer a competitive array of sports betting markets that rivals some of the best on the sports betting scene. The company has a good number of things going their way. One of the foremost advantages of the company is that it offers a vast array of sports betting markets along with virtual horse racing. The number of markets available matches that of some of the industry’s best. With the selection of markets being as big as it is, you can always have a read through our best betting tips, to make it easier to choose which bets to make. The online sports betting company also offers pretty decent bonus packages. There is, however, significant room for improvement in several areas. The online betting company falls far short of the competition in regards to streaming options.
Streaming is only available for British and Irish Horse racing which is pretty disappointing for a company of their calibre. That being said, it is not all bad as most Sky cable customers can enjoy the games via TV, in conjunction with being able to make a bet on the Sky Bet sportsbook. This way, you can still stream the games while on the go. Overall, Skybet is doing well and look to be in for the long haul, especially bearing in mind their affiliation with Sky Sports. There is room for improvement, but at the end of the day, the positives outweigh any perceived negatives.
Pros and Cons
After reading our comprehensive review, you might be feeling informed about the options that using Skybet as your online bookie. We wanted to remove the guesswork. To help you put things into perspective, here is a concise list of what we feel are the advantages and disadvantages of Sky Bet.
Pros
- Instant deposits
- No charges levied on payment methods
- A vast array of sports betting markets
- Robust mobile platform
Cons
- Limited live streaming platform