21Bet is one of the mid-sized online betting companies, and while they may not be seen in the same light as say, Betfair; they have managed to build a steady and ever growing online presence, with a large number of players choosing to join the site thanks to the wide variety of bet markets offered, alongside the promotions and bonuses – which are actually better than a lot of other sites.
Perhaps most notable in recent times is the bookies deal with Gloucester Rugby to become an official sponsor. 21Bet was already performing respectably in terms of punter numbers and revenue and this new partnership will only increase their visibility, so expect to see a lot more of the bookie in the near future.
In this review, we are going to look at what the sports book has available, and all aspects of the 21Bet website; from the betting markets on offer, to the speed, reliability and functions. So let’s begin by looking at the main sports markets offered.
POPULAR OFFERS & FEATURES
A couple of the features we like at 21Bet are:
CASH OUT
As you’d expect to see at a bookmaker of 21Bet’s size, a cash out facility is available on almost all markets, so you can cash-in your bets early.
For example, say you place a bet on a football team to win and at the 80th minute they are 2-1 up. If you had a bad feeling about the remainder of the game, or if you’d already made a nice profit and were happy to forfeit a little extra for a guaranteed return, you could opt to cash out your bet.
This means you’re taking slightly reduced winnings in order to settle your bet there and then. Once you’ve cashed out it doesn’t matter if your team lose or win – you’ve already been paid your winnings and your bet will be settled.
While it’s not always advisable to cash out bets (sometimes you get a far worse price than were you to leave the bet running until the end of the event), it can prove useful when you have a gut feeling that something is going to go wrong, and it’s also very useful on large bets like 8-fold+ accumulators where you’ve already made a killer profit and don’t want to risk it all on the last couple of selections.
Applicable bets will display a ‘Cash Out’ button along with a cash out amount, and once you click the button you’ll be asked to confirm your choice, at which point you’ll see the money added straight to your balance.
IN-PLAY BETTING
Almost all online bookmakers offer some form of in-play betting these days, but 21Bet is perhaps one of the most advanced, and their range of markets is incredibly comprehensive.
From the homepage you can see an overview of around 30 of the main in-play markets currently on offer, but if that’s not enough for you then you can click the ‘In-Play’ tab from the navigation menu, and you’ll be taken directly to the in-play betting area. From here you’ll be able to search through the various markets and events on offer, much like you would from the regular sportsbook, and you can even search directly for an event or player/team, ensuring that it never takes long for you to find the markets you want.
One thing which really impressed us is the speed at which the site operates – you’ll never find yourself waiting more than a second or two for the pages to load. This is extremely beneficial when you’re trying to place those bets where seconds count; and it’s very rare to experience any lag, delay, or freezes whilst using the site.
THE 21BET WEBSITE
One of the things punters enjoy the most about playing at 21Bet, is the fact that the website doesn’t look like all of the other sites around, and you know exactly what we are talking about here – the typical cookie cutter designs that are boring and unoriginal. Thankfully, this is not the case with 21Bet, and the bookmaker offers a large number of unique features and benefits not seen elsewhere, some of which we’ll cover below:
NEXT UP
One of our favourite features is the Next Up section on the homepage, which gives you a quick overview of the next two horse races that are about to run. Within this section, you will see both the time and location, as well as the four main selections (favourites), the horses name and number, the trainer and jockey’s names, the odds, and the jersey and helmet colour the jockey/horse is wearing.
You can even quick-add the selections to your betslip by clicking on the odds next to the horse’s name, and this is ideal for those of you who enjoy an instinctive last-minute bet.
Of course, you can also click the ‘All Runners’ button to view a full breakdown of the race, which also includes a professional write-up that gives you an exclusive insight into who the experts think is going to clinch first place.
QUICK LINKS
On the right-hand side of the homepage you’ll see a small section titled ‘Quick Links’, and here you will be able to view 10 of the most popular markets, coupons, or bets, of the day.
At the time of writing: Current Promotions, Next Horse Races, Greyhounds, Premier League Prices, U.S. Open Tennis Matches, Steve Johnson versus Kyle Edmund, and Gloucestershire Welcome Offer are a few of the links available. Selecting one of these will take you to custom made pages where you can find a breakdown of the odds and markets available.
You will often see notable horse race meetings and football matches available in the quick links area – although surprisingly you won’t see many football coupon events listed here. To be fair though, that’s only because there is a dedicated football coupon section just below the quick links area which showcases eight football coupons currently available. This generally includes things like today’s matches, UK coupons, European coupons, both teams to score coupons, and more.
Sports Betting at 21Bet
21Bet offer a solid selection of markets across some of the UK’s most popular sporting events, like the Premier League and Lords, right the way down to smaller less common events such as WWE, Cage Fighting and even Motorbike Racing.
Perhaps the largest market at 21Bet aside from Football is Horse Racing, and it’s clear that the bookmaker has worked hard to attract UK players to their site, as they offer almost every single UK and Irish horse race with best odds guaranteed and live-streaming.
Greyhound Racing is also an option but it’s not quite as commonplace as you would find at a high street bookie, so greyhound fans 21Bet may not be the best site for you.
Some of the other less common sports include: Snooker, Pool, Aussie Rules, GAA Football and more; all of which can be viewed from the handy A-Z tab on the navigation bar which displays every market that the bookie is offering events in.
Unusual Markets
21Bet seem to fall in line with their competitors in terms of unusual markets (making them hardly unusual at all), and while you won’t find any funny or downright crazy events like you might at Paddy Power for example, you will have access to a number of TV specials and Political bets.
Some of the popular Political markets from the UK and USA scene, include betting on whether or not President Trump will be impeached, and who the next Prime Minister of the United Kingdom will be.
Royalty themed bets also surface from time to time, and while it’s no longer relevant, there was a big deal at 21Bet when the Royal Babies were due. Bet options included predicting the sex, the name, and the baby’s due-date.
TV specials cover most of the world’s more famous shows, such as Britain’s Got Talent, MasterChef, and the Great British Bake Off, but more unique markets will pop up from time to time. It’s just a case of keeping an eye on the page and checking out the new markets when they’re released.
How Good are the Odds?
21Bet don’t usually price their markets until the morning, so it’s often hard to get an idea of how the odds compare.
They do, however, offer a number of Ante Post bets which are priced up months in advance sometimes, allowing you enough time to analyse the prices and choose whether or not they’re right for you.
21Bet also offer some unique betting markets, one of which is called ‘Bet Without’, which is one of the most popular betting options offered by the bookie. Betting Without allows you to place bets on races (mainly horses) without a specific selection. For example, if there is a favourite priced at ⅕, there would be very little point placing a bet on the race. Either you bet on the favourite and get virtually no return, or you take a punt on an outsider with the favourite almost certain to win.
The Betting Without option allows you to essentially remove the favourite from the race, so you can bet without them. Of course, there is a price to pay for this luxury, and you’ll notice the odds decline slightly, but it’s a great way to vary your betting experience, and it just goes to show how creative they can be at 21Bet.
In Play Betting
21Bet offer live betting – a phrase coined by the company themselves – on all major markets, and while you won’t find every market available, the selection of events they do have is typically more than enough to satisfy the gambling needs of most punters.
Easy to access, fast running and reliable, the 21Bet in-play section is intuitive and uses state of the art software to deliver game and bet updates in real time. You will also enjoy some of the most favourable odds around, thanks to 21Bet’s continuing commitment to provide its customers with the best odds across all markets.
Accessing the in-play betting area couldn’t be easier; simply select the ‘in-play’ option from the main navigation menu, and from there you can sort through all of the events and markets available on the new screen.
The Website
The entire 21Bet website has recently had a re-fit, with the bookie sensibly opting to abandon their outdated layout in favour of a more modern and efficient design. But if we’re being brutally honest, this has been a complete flop, it looks rubbish.
This is especially surprising considering the time and money the bookie spent on the site, only for it to look blander than ever. Red and boring greys make up the colour scheme, and although it’s clear they were going for some kind of streamlined look, it ultimately feels a bit empty. Negative marks from us I’m afraid.
If you can get past the depressing aesthetics there is some good news; the site is very fast, which is likely to be a direct effect of the boring design, ironically. New pages load at lightning speed and the bet slip follows from page to page, loading virtually instantaneously. Most bookies bet slip delays by a second or two, as the infrastructure requirements to keep it up to date with prices etc are high. Not so here.
Available to punters on both desktops/laptops and mobile phones, the site itself has a way to go before it gets our complete seal of approval, but if you care more about reliability and ease of use then you should have no issues while betting at the site.
Mobile Betting
21Bet have developed a mobile app for iOS players, and this can be downloaded through the Play Store free of charge.
The app is fast, responsive, and offers access to a tremendous range of betting markets; and although some of the account functions are inaccessible, as a general rule of thumb you will have access to everything you need; like bank/cashier pages, the ability to check your bet slips and cash out, and of course the ability to place bets.
Unfortunately, there isn’t currently an Android app available, meaning Android players will need to log onto the mobile website in order to play. The same goes for all non-iOS players, but thankfully the mobile website is available to players on all types of device.
In order to use the mobile site, you simply need to head to the 21Bet website from your mobile browser as normal, and you will be redirected to the mobile site automatically.
One of the things we like about the mobile site is the way in which you can open and view your betslip. Many bookies make this far more difficult than it needs to be, and a bunch of navigation menus can often lead to confusion and frustration.
Thankfully, this isn’t the case with 21Bet, and their easy to navigate mobile site makes placing bets and viewing your bet slip a simple affair. Cashing out your existing bets is also hassle free, although you will want to ensure your internet connection is as strong as possible to make sure you get the most up to date prices.
Best Features
Free £10 Bet Each Week
While it’s unclear how long this promotion will be available (it may well continue indefinitely), players who join 21Bet as of right now will enjoy a free £10 bet each week – just for betting as normal.
In order to qualify for the free bet, you need to place at least 5 bets during a 7-day period (minimum stake rules apply). The bets placed must be singles or multiples of at least 1/2, and less than 6/1; then after 2 months in order to keep getting the £10 free bet the required number of bets raises to 10 per week.
Nonetheless, we feel that this is a great feature, and a great way to enjoy a free bet each week just for doing what you would normally do anyway.
Best Odds Guaranteed
Offered by any serious bookie these days, best odds guaranteed gives you the peace of mind that if a selection starts the race/event at a higher price than the one you got when placing the bet, you will be paid out at the higher price if your bet wins.
It’s worth pointing out that there are a few terms and conditions attached; for example, you can’t bet more than £5,000 per race. You can bet more, but you won’t benefit from the best odds guaranteed, and it doesn’t apply to any accumulator bets with already enhanced odds, or special bets. Special Bets are essentially promotions where 21Bet increase the odds on certain events in an attempt to attract more customers to wager money on them.
Premier League and La Liga Score Draw Money Back Offer
This is one of the more unique features at 21Bet. If you make a ‘first player to score’ or ‘correct score’ bet on any of the Premier League or La Liga matches, and the game results in a draw, your bet will be returned in the form of a free bet.
This was first introduced by Coral, but despite its popularity it remains a relatively rare sight at bookies online, so it’s positive to see 21Bet taking up the mantle. Plus, it’s open to all players regardless of how old your account is or your betting history.
Payments & Limits
21Bet feature a bet cap of £10,000 per bet, although this can be lower on certain markets, particularly those outside of the UK (i.e. horse racing events in Australia).
Maximum payouts depend largely on the market, but are generally either £100,000, £250,000, or £500,000; the exact amount for all markets is subject to change at any time, and can be found within the terms and conditions of the site.
Payment methods are varied, and include a number of the most prevalent, including: Bank Wire Transfer, MasterCard, Neteller, Paysafecard, Visa, iDEAL, GiroPay, Skrill, PugglePay, and a number of smaller EWallets and prepaid card schemes.
Withdrawals are also processed in a timely fashion, which is a major benefit to punters who like to have their cash available quickly. Time frames vary, but you can expect your withdrawal request to be processed in around 12 hours, and often much sooner.
History & About
Founded in 2016, 21Bet may not have the reputation that some of the larger and better established bookmakers enjoy, but this relatively new company has made a significant impact in the gambling world online, and welcomes over 500,000 regular punters to the site.
Offering both an online casino and an online sportsbook, 21Bet aim to ensure that no player is left out, and because they are owned and operated by FSB Technology (UK) Ltd, they have a solid backing and management team who have run successful casinos for over a decade.
21Bet use a lucrative welcome bonus to attract new players to their site, which was a crucial marketing tactic during the initial launch phase and the months after, as they made the brave decision to launch before the site was fully finished.
Offering overly generous bonuses and promotions was the bookies way of getting their name out there, and while they don’t have the best record (quite a few players report long delays in withdrawal times), 21Bet continue to attract new players, aided by their recent announcement that they will be offering best odds guaranteed on all UK and Irish horse racing.
Based in London, 21Bet are licensed by the United Kingdom Gambling Commission and that alone should be enough to put most players’ minds at ease as the UKGC are notoriously strict with their licenses, and impose huge fines for any breach of the rules.
It will be particularly interesting to see where the bookie sits in a few years from now, once they have had more time to acclimatise to the market.