RaceBets is one of the most specific betting websites around, because as the name suggests, they focus almost entirely on horse racing markets and don’t cover anything else. Greyhound racing is one rare exception, although it still fits with the theme, and you’ll find a few tracks offered on the site each day.
While RaceBets definitely isn’t for everyone, it’s one of the most comprehensive horse racing sites offering the best range of bet-types for horse racing markets. It’s no surprise then that it’s become one of the most trusted and reputable names in its field.
In this post, we’re going to take a look at the company, and study some of the contributing factors as to why so many players have chosen to join.
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THE RACEBETS WEBSITE
While some would dismiss RaceBets simply because they don’t offer any non-racing markets, those who do bet with them are using one of the better designed sites for this purpose. A clear, simplistic, and easy to use interface ensures that it doesn’t take long to find the horse meeting you’re looking for.
In fact, being dedicated to horse racing allows RaceBets to tailor the site specifically to best serve horse racing bettors, so it is absolutely perfect for anyone who bets on the nags a lot.
One of the features we particularly like is the country selector on the left-hand side of the page; this is essentially a navigation menu for meetings from different countries. You can click the country you’re interest in and a drop-down menu will appear featuring all of the races about to take place in that country. This is the main navigation tool.
Another notable feature is the ‘Today’s Highlights’ section, which showcases five of the day’s top races from all over the world. Alongside each race you’ll see the three starting favourites with the odds displayed alongside, so it’s easy to add these bets to your betslip and get in on the action in seconds.
The final thing we want to point out is the ‘Editorial’ tab at the top of the page. Click this and you’ll have access to expert picks and race predictions, and in the site’s own words:
“Our experts continuously analyse interesting races from abroad so that you are always a step ahead when you are betting – whether it be in France, South Africa, USA or Hong Kong. The RaceBets.com experts help you with your bets every day by giving you our three favourites for every important race. We wish you a lot of fun and good luck with your bets!”
There is also a stats/data section, where you can view everything from the form of the horses to the ground conditions; a pretty unique feature that most bookies haven’t yet incorporated.
While you would be right to point out that many bookies offer statistical data, most choose only to include small sections in the race card, as opposed to dedicating an entire section of the site to it. Props to RaceBets for doing a thorough job!
How Good are the Odds?
While RaceBets offer a fantastic range of betting markets, with notably high prices on German races, it wasn’t until recently that they managed to up their game in terms of UK betting. Thankfully, the absence of British betting markets is now a distant memory, and RaceBets offer a great UK range, with some of their prices being far more generous than bookies twice their size.
In fact, their tenacity and determination to break into the sports betting industry in this part of the world has lead the bookie to offer very generous prices on most of their events.
They also offer best odds guaranteed on way more races than normal, so as well as all UK and Ireland races you can get BOG on UAE and South African races too.
One thing worth noting, however, is that Race Bets can’t be found on any comparison sites; so if you were planning on using these comparison sites to compare the odds, don’t forget to check out the RaceBets site as well – we wouldn’t want you to miss out.
Best Features
Data Centre
We love that RaceBets provide such a huge collection of information for its players. It’s almost like a race prediction commentary, but the information is far more in-depth than that, revealing all manner of stats: the form of the horse and the jockey, the track conditions, the handicap information, and a lot more.
It’s a bit like an integrated Racing Post – and while you could also find the same information on Google, having it all in one place is hugely beneficial, enabling you to research, monitor prices, and view the betting options available all in one place; which means no faffing about going between sites.
Fast and Reliable Mobile Betting
One of the biggest issues at racetracks countrywide is long queues, or what could sometimes be more accurately described as mosh pits. This has resulted in many spectators entering the mobile betting world.
Many betting sites, however, offer relatively poor and unreliable mobile services; often lagging out, and using a lot of mobile data just to run the App or mobile site. Not RaceBets – their mobile betting is fast, reliable, and secure. So next time you are at the track and want to avoid the queues, you will struggle to find a better alternative to RaceBets.
There is no app unfortunately but the mobile site serves its purpose perfectly, retaining all of the functions and features of the desktop site. It is basically the race searching tool that greets you as the homepage, but everything else is still there too, tucked away neatly behind a menu button.
It’s the perfect option for mobile horse racing bettors, with live streams, better access to more races worldwide than anywhere else, and all of the research material on each horse, jockey and trainer you could ever need.
BANKING
Despite their relatively small size, RaceBets offer a surprisingly large number of deposit and withdrawal options.
You’ll find over 20 deposit and withdrawal methods although a lot of them are only available to European customers. Those UK punters can use include: MasterCard, Visa, Paysafecard, PayPal, Online bank transfer, Neteller, Skrill and Maestro.
There are no fees to use any of the above, although it should be pointed out that if you’re using an EWallet such as Skrill, Neteller, or PayPal, you may incur fees their side.
Withdrawals at RaceBets are processed in around 24 hours, although they do state it can take up to 72 hours in busy times. This does appear to be an absolute maximum though, so you can realistically expect your withdrawals processed in around a day.
History & About
RaceBets is an online bookmaker created specifically to fit the need of horse racing fanatics. First opening its virtual doors in 2005, RaceBets has been a prominent name in online horse race betting pretty much since internet gambling began. The bookie quickly became a leader in the industry thanks to their high levels of professionalism, the generous odds they offered, and a state-of-the-art website.
While they started out as a German company focusing on German racing, an agreement with German Racing officials saw RaceBets hand over a significant amount of control of the company, and in 2010, the headquarters moved from Germany to Malta.
This allowed RaceBets to begin the application process for other gambling licenses, and from 2012 the bookie began to accept UK and Irish punters to the site.
Today, RaceBets is still standing strong, and offers horse race betting from an impressive 40 countries. Last year alone, a jaw-dropping quarter-of-a-million horse races were offered on their website, and the summer of 2016 saw them start to offer limited greyhound racing bet facilities to punters as well; although horse racing still accounts for over 95% of the bets they take.
While some players are thoroughly turned off by this specialisation, it’s a brilliant site for those who are passionate about the industry, and not just for the obvious reasons; the company recently agreed to invest some of its profits back into the sport to ensure that it doesn’t die out; something that brought about widespread praise from the gambling industry as a whole.