While 32Red may be best known for their online casino rather than their sports betting facilities, a new marketing drive and an effort to grow numbers of players have seen the company focus heavily on promoting their sportsbook, and it’s managed to become one of the more successful bookies despite it’s relatively short life so far.
While the market selection isn’t anywhere near as big as you’d perhaps find at some other sites, the games 32Red do offer are all hand-picked by the management team, which ensures that you’re not faced with a bunch of low-quality, boring events that are just there to make up numbers. You would never actually bet on them anyway but they still clog up the interface when you’re trying to find the games that you do want to bet on.
[Review Insert]
BEST FEATURES
CASH OUT YOUR BETS
Like almost all online bookmakers 32Red offer the ability to cash out your bets, helping to hedge your risk and take a quick profit when you don’t feel like the event is going to finish in your favour.
In order to determine if one of your bets is eligible for a cash out, you simply need to head to your account area and view your open bets. Once there, any applicable bets will have a cash out button beneath the total returns text, and a cash out button displays the current cash out amount that you may claim if you choose that option.
To cash out your bet, click this button, confirm, and you will see your winnings automatically credited to your balance. There are no restrictions on this, it’s added to your account as cold hard cash, meaning there are no wagering requirements attached; so you can withdraw it straight away if you wish no questions asked. Of course, you can also wager it on other bets or take it to the online casino – the choice is yours.
One thing that is worth noting, is that not every market is eligible for cash out, and you won’t see it offered on some of the site’s smaller events. For full details about the cash out function, including some of the excluded markets, head to the main promotional page where you will see a tab on the left-hand side navigation menu called ‘Cash in Your Bets’.
ONLINE CASINO
Perhaps the reason 32Red is so well-known in the online gambling industry is their online casino. It is slick, versatile, and generous; and boasts a collection of over 500 games so it’s suited for almost all types of gambler.
Powered by Microgaming software among other top providers, you can be certain that the games are fair and are thoroughly tested. Microgaming are one of the biggest names in online gambling, and are responsible for pioneering some features which are now commonplace, such as the 243 ways to win format on video slots, as well as the progressive jackpot pooled games. Online gambling fans have a lot to thank them for.
A number of gaming categories can be found at 32Red, including Video Poker, Video Slots, Casino Table games, and even a Live Dealer Casino which allows you to enjoy certain casino table games in front of a live dealer, fed to you via video link.
You can see all of these options from the ‘Online Casino’ and ‘Live Casino’ links on the top most navigation menu which is found on every page of the site. It’s a great addition for sports bettors who also enjoy casino games.
Customer Service
32Red have one of the most responsive and helpful customer service teams we have ever encountered, and whether you choose to contact them via the live chat option, email or telephone; you can expect a prompt reply from a member of the team who will do all they can to answer any questions you may have.
The Help Centre is especially noteworthy. Where many other sites leave this side of things looking like an empty supermarket shelf with only ‘no frills’ products left in stock, 32Red have prettied it up with pictures and there are lots of helpful answers to frequent questions with guides on how to do things.
It’s as user friendly as can be and shows they put effort into everything they do.
THE 32RED WEBSITE
While the number of markets available at 32Red is significantly smaller than most other online bookmakers, one of the things the site does have going for it is the way it is designed. In fact, it is developed differently to almost every other site out there, with a minimalistic and simple home page giving you easy access to a number of the sites’ betting options and features.
EASY NAVIGATION MENUS
32Red offer a beautifully designed navigation menu, and from the sportsbook homepage you’ll see an event overview which gives you information on upcoming fixtures, as well as showcasing a few of the current favourites. Alongside each of the events, you’ll see a couple of the most popular betting options – which are usually based on what other punters are betting on most frequently – and you’ll also see a selection of what are known as Quick Links, which allow you to view the event in full.
For example, if there was a match between Manchester United and Manchester City, you would see the price for Manchester United winning, the price for a draw, and the price for Manchester City winning; there would also be a link titled ‘View All Bets’ or something similar which allows you to view all bet-options for that specific event.
Another feature we really like is the navigation menu itself, which is coloured black and displayed at the top of almost all of the site’s pages. This menu allows you to access a number of markets directly, including Football, Golf, Tennis, Horse Racing, Cricket, Rugby Union, Rugby League, Darts, and Snooker. There’s also an ‘All’ tab, which as you have probably guessed gives you a complete overview of all the events currently available.
STARTING SOON
Open up the left most navigation menu and you’ll see the ‘Starting Soon’ tab. This is a quick overview of some of the markets and events that are about to begin, but what we really like about 32Red’s version (most sites have a similar function), is that every hour there are four or five highlighted events. This means you can browse through the rest of the day’s events and get a good idea of what the most popular bets/markets are. The bookie has made it incredibly easy to place bets on these events, with odds positioned alongside the events allowing you to quickly add them to your bet slip.
Sports Betting at 32Red
32Red don’t offer the largest selection of sports markets, so if you’re looking for a wealth of event selections then 32Red may be a little underwhelming at first. It’s still well worth checking out though, as what it does offer it offers in style.
Largely focussing on more classic bets, the sports book hosts a decent range of events offering a generous number of UK fixtures along with some internationals, although these are often limited.
Traditional British sports like Rugby Union and Tennis are the most popular on the site, and while you will find other markets on offer – such as Football, Horse Racing, Greyhound Racing, and Cricket – the race/game selection is nowhere near as vast as some of their competitors, although the odds they offer gain them back a little ground – but more on that in just a moment.
Unfortunately, while the selection of betting options at 32Red has improved no end in recent times (to include Gaelic Football, Trotting, Squash, things like that) the market depth in those areas hasn’t quite caught up to the improvements in market variety. They have a good politics betting section though with a lot of interesting markets available.
They also sometimes offer one off novelty events – an example being ‘Guess the gender of the next Royal baby.’
How Good are the Odds?
Thankfully, 32Red have redeemed themselves slightly when it comes to the odds they offer, and a number of odds tracking websites show they are actually in the top 20% of all bookmakers in the UK when it comes to the odds offered and the prices they pay.
While the odds are subject to change at any time and are ultimately based on complex mathematical trading decisions, generally the bookie do seem to offer pretty generous prices, many of which seem long when compared with other bookmakers.
In Play Betting
32Red offer a surprisingly versatile and reliable In-Play betting option as well, and many of the events found running at the sports book can be viewed in real time thanks to the virtual event display screen that shows current highlights of the match or game, allowing you to make educated decisions on which bets to place, and which bets to avoid.
Players are also able to make use of the cash out function which allows you to cash out your bet early if all, or some of your selections are winning.
Of course, by doing so your winnings will be less than if you were you to wait it out, but it’s a great option for those nail biting moments that you simply can’t cope with any more. It also presents an opportunity for players to recoup money on bets that would otherwise take weeks, or even months to settle due to rearranged games, or simply putting silly bets on in the first place.
BANKING
32Red offer a small yet well considered range of deposit methods, and you’ll be able to use Visa and Mastercard Debit cards, along with PayPal, Skrill, Neteller, Entropay; and if you’re in the United Kingdom, bank transfers are an option too, and the deposit/withdrawal minimums are no higher for this option.
All methods offer a set £10 minimum deposit and a £10 minimum withdrawal, ensuring you’re not too limited in how much you can add/withdraw to/from your account, so pretty much anyone can get involved. Plus, all deposits are processed instantly with the funds visible in your account almost right away.
Withdrawals can take up to 48 hours to process, but this is usually a lot quicker, and so long as your account is fully verified (which means you’ve uploaded your proof of identity and proof of address) you can expect the majority of your withdrawal requests to be processed in around 8-12 hours.
The limit on withdrawals isn’t obvious, although it looks as though they operate the industry standard withdrawal cap of £50,000 a day.
History & About
32Red is a British casino company that is licensed in Gibraltar.
Founded in 2002, the company now employs over 100 staff and offers a wide range of betting services on their website, most notably their casino games and video slots.
While the site initially struggled to gain any real traction in the industry, their 2006 and 2008 sponsorship deals with Aston Villa football club catapulted the brand into the spotlight, and since then they’ve grown exponentially, expanding their site to offer Bingo, Sports, and Poker. They even teamed up with Villa again in 2018, as well as Preston North End.
Players can choose to play in a number of currencies, including: Sterling, U.S. Dollars, Canadian Dollars, Australian Dollars, and Japanese Yen; and they are frequently cited for having one of the most helpful and forthcoming customer support teams of any online gambling establishment. It’s not hard to understand why the bookie has managed to hold such a strong reputation for so long.
While 32Red was initially only available in the form of a download casino, modifications to the website allowed players to enjoy the action instantly from within their internet browser. Yes, this is most relevant to casino games, but it also marked the beginning of the sportsbook, which under the downloadable client wasn’t an option.
The company continue to grow, driving their marketing efforts in a number of directions, focusing heavily on their casino and sports betting arms of the business. The 2015 purchase of Roxy Palace saw the company hand over £8.4 Million, no small change, and while this was thought to be a risky move by many, it turned out to be an extremely lucrative one. In March 2016 32Red announced a net gaming revenue of £48.7 Million, which was up a staggering 52% from the previous year.
This caught the attention of The Kindred Group, who made a successful offer of £175.6 million for 32Red and completed a takeover in 2017. The brand have been happily operating under this umbrella ever since, and show no signs of slowing down.