If you make money from sports betting. Then it’s likely you are not very fond of bookmakers.
Limitations, bans, being asked to supply the last 5 years of your bank statements. Along with a selfie ID in front of today’s newspaper.
In order to withdraw money that they let you deposit with no questions asked.
There are many shady and unethical practices that bookmakers employ to make life difficult for the regular sports bettor.
Which bookmaker stands out as the worst in the UK?
Who are the bookmakers that you want to avoid in 2022?
In today’s article we are going to take a look at the worst bookmaker currently on offer in the UK.
Highlighting the warning signs you should look out for when trusting your money with a bookmaker!
Worst Bookmaker In The UK
High up on the worst bookmakers in the UK list is Betway.
As Caan Berry highlights in the video above. Betway have drawn a lot of negative attention for their unethical practices over the last few years.
My experience with Betway was opening an account. Placing one initial bet and then finding my account restricted from promotions, along with stake limitations the next day.
Recent Trustpilot reviews suggest that Betway haven’t improved as a bookmaker, since I last used them.
With several reports of Betway doing all they can to stop punters withdrawing their winnings. Blocking accounts, delaying withdrawals, settling winning bets as lost etc.
Their average review on Trust Pilot is 2 out of 5.
This is despite them running a free bet promotion, where Betway gave members who wrote a positive review free bets.
As the Times report, despite adding over 6000 positive reviews on Trustpilot through unethical measures. The average rating for Betway is still very low. Remove those 6000 five star reviews and its pretty obvious what a fair rating would be.
Unable To Withdraw Winnings
One of the most frustrating things a bookmaker can do is withhold your money!
A common theme among many shady bookmakers is they will let you deposit large amounts into an account with zero checks. However when it comes to withdrawal time woah woah woah!!!
Sir/madam can you explain where this money came from? Provide source of funds, multiple forms of ID, go through a phone interview etc
It’s a terrible practice that is unfortunately all too common with the worst bookmakers in the UK.
This Guardian article highlights Betways abuse of these verification measures.
Betway are notorious for doing this. I know multiple people that have had no problem depositing with Betway but once it came to withdrawing that money. Were met with all the resistance that Betway legally can get away with.
There are also numerous reports on Reddit of them doing this.
Grooming Losing Bettors And Accepting Stolen Money
We have gone over how Betway treat winning bettors and those that dare to withdraw a profit from their betting accounts.
Let’s take a look at how they treat losing bettors.
The Daily Mail reports in this article
That even after a high spending losing bettor had “self excluded” himself via gamstop. Betway offered him a £300 bonus bet to reel him back in.
The article really highlights the predatory nature of Betway.
There are multiple reports showing how they abuse verification and source of funds measures put in place to identify problem gamblers. Which were all used as a way to deter winning players and delay withdrawls.
However in this story we see a problem gambler of the highest order. Someone that ends up stealing to fund their betting addiction.
Being plowed with free bets and incentives. Having “VIP Managers” chatting to him regularly under the guise of being a friend. All done with the intention squeezing a father with a gambling addiction for all of the money they could get.
Where were these source of funds and affordability checks in this case?
Unfair Bonus Terms
The term bonus is usually defined in a positive way. It is something that is given as reward for good work or an additional incentive.
However something that has become more and more common practice with the worst bookmakers around is the worthless or -EV bonus.
This is something that appears at first to be appealing perhaps a £20 bonus for signing up. But when looking at the terms of conditions is actually worthless or of much smaller value.
It probably comes as no surprise that Betway use this tactic for their casino sign up.
On the face of it a £50 bonus sounds great.
You deposit £50 and then you get an additional £50.
The issue comes with the terms and conditions.
There is a 50x wagering on the deposit (£2500 wagering on £50.) With weighting requirements, which means some games won’t contribute fully to the wagering. There is also a term that states irregular game play may invalidate your bonus (Pretty much a get of jail card if they don’t want to pay out.)
If we dig into the maths of this offer. A regular bettor is probably going to try and wager through this offer on a slot.
A good slot would have a 97% return to player, meaning that for every £100 wagered on average £3 would be lost. Given that you have to wager £2500 to withdraw the bonus.
We can do the sum as -£3 (average lost wagering £100) x 25 (complete £2500 wagering) = -£75.
Showing that this £50 “bonus” offers no value at all.
Other Bookmakers To Avoid In The UK
High up on my personal list is Fansbet.
When I tried to withdraw £20 from the company. Suddenly a flurry of requests were made for ID, source of wealth etc. They would not accept my bank statements as I had blurred out personal transactions and demanded to see a full month’s worth of unedited statements.
Overall just a huge pain to deal with and a shoddy bookmaker with generally very poor odds.
Tonybet are another bookmaker with a pretty poor reputation.
Personally I have had very little to do with them. However they are are multiple reports of them using similar tactics to Betway in order to keep hold of money.
Is Betway The Worst Bookmaker In The UK?
Betway is in my opinion the worst bookmaker in the UK. Especially given its advertising presence online and the fact that its sponsors popular football teams such as West Ham.
Of the most well known bookmakers it is definitely the one to avoid.
From my experience with online betting for last ten years and running my betting as a business. I would advise caution when dealing with Betway. It is not a bookmaker I would want much money in my account with.
Given its history of holding on to withdrawals for as long as possible and making life hard for anyone that isn’t handing them over their wage slips every month.
Do you agree, who is your worst bookmaker in the UK?
Any bookmakers we missed that should be avoided?
Let me know in the comments!