Introduction
The following is an in-depth review of the betting agency 18bet. This review covers the history, features, interface, sports & racing markets, upsides and downsides of the service.
This review is part of our comprehensive Bookmaker Reviews section. The Betting Agencies page provides information and reviews for other sports betting agencies that are suitable for Australians. The following details are updated periodically to keep them up to date.
History, Location and Licence
18bet was launched in 2012. It uses the DelaSport betting platform, which has been around since 2010. 18bet appears to be a white label bookmaker, with deposits made to the platform provider, DelaSport, who are based in Gibraltar. The 18bet service is licensed by the Government of Curaçao.
18bet is marketed towards a broad international audience, with over 20 currency options provided.
Services and Features
| Deposit turnover requirements | 18bet reserves the right to charge withdrawals with fees to cover administrative costs, in case the deposit amount is not rolled over at least 5 times at odds of 1.50 or greater |
|---|---|
| Deposit options | Credit card, Skrill (Moneybookers), international bank transfer, Neteller, PaySafeCard, EntroPay |
| Withdrawal options | Credit card, Skrill (Moneybookers), international bank transfer, Neteller |
| Minimum deposit | Credit card: $35 Skrill (Moneybookers): $15 International bank transfer: $135 Neteller: $10 PaySafeCard: $10 EntroPay: $35 |
| Minimum withdrawal | $500 for bank wire, $400 for Skrill (Moneybookers), $25 for Neteller, $35 for credit card |
| Transaction fees | Multiple withdrawals performed within a 30 day time-frame will be charged with a fee to cover administrative costs. |
| Currencies | AUD, EUR, GBP, USD, DKK, SEK, NOK, RUB, CHF, PLN, CZK, RON, ILS, MXN, SGD, HKD, MYR, IDR, KRW, THB, VND, RMB, JPY, BND |
| Languages | English, German |
| Odds formats | Decimal, American |
| Minimum bet | $1.00 (bets can only be made in $1.00 increments) |
| Bookmaker margin | 4.3%, which is well below the median bookmaker margin of 5.2% in the latest bookmaker margin survey. From a punter’s perspective, the lower the margin, the better. 18bet‘s margins are lower for international sports than they are for Australian sports. |
| Quantity of markets | Averaged 15 markets per fixture in the latest bookmaker markets survey. This is well below the median score of 61. |
| Credit facilities | None |
| Forbidden Jurisdictions | France, Hong Kong, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Israel and the United States |
| Mobile betting | A mobile version of the website is available |
| Identity checks | 18bet reserves the right to request documents in order to verify your identity. In order to process Credit card withdrawal requests, they require the following ID documents: copy of identity card, copy of back and front of your credit card (if applicable), addressed bank account statement or utility bill, “additional identity verification documents” |
| Dormant account fees | If a customer’s account is inactive for over 6 months, 18bet reserves the right to forfeit the outstanding balance! |
| Support | Email and live chat |
Betting Interface and Website Layout
The 18bet website uses an aesthetically pleasing design with an intuitive layout. Sports are listed on the left, markets and odds are displayed in the centre and the betting slip is displayed on the right.
The navigation panel lists sports with numbers in parentheses to denote the number of fixtures available for wagering on. When you click on a sport the page is refreshed and a list of upcoming fixtures is displayed in the centre with date options available at the top of the page. A small button at the top right corner enables you to select a particular league and you can select multiple leagues for a particular sport to be displayed at once on the page.
The odds themselves are concisely displayed, which prevents an unnecessary amount of scrolling. The display is so concise that for football fixtures you are shown head-to-head, Asian Handicap and over/under odds for both the full-time and half-time score for each fixture. A [+] button on the right enables you to view all markets for a particular fixture.
The betting slip is fully functional, with single, multi and system betting available. Potential winnings are automatically displayed when stake amounts are entered. Alternatively you can enter your desired potential win amount and the stake will be automatically calculated.
Sports Markets
A broad range of sports are listed, however the majority of events offered are for soccer, tennis, basketball, baseball, American football and ice hockey. At the time of review a few markets were also available for volleyball and handball. As is typically the case for an international sportsbook, soccer is the most heavily catered for sport, with a massive number of leagues covered.
The coverage is certainly not broad enough to make 18bet your one-stop solution for sports betting, particularly if you wager on Australian sports. Rugby league is covered however Australian rules isn’t.
Horse Racing
Horse racing is not offered.
Live Sports Betting
According to the Interactive Gambling Act, bookmakers aren’t supposed to offer live online betting to Australians. They’re only supposed to only live betting over the phone. International services either ignore or aren’t aware of this law, and continue to offer live betting services to Australians. Note that adherence to the Act is the responsibility of gambling operators and not individual Australians. It is not an offence for Australian residents to bet live “in-play” online.1
18bet offers live betting on selected sports, using basically the same interface as pre-game wagering. The most notable differences are the score and game time are displayed on the page and the odds will light up green and red to denote odds movements. Wagers are accepted with a time delay and you have the option of stating on your betting slip whether you would like to automatically accept better odds if the odds change while the bet submission is being processed. If lower betting limits apply, the maximum accepted stake amount is shown on the betting slip.
Upsides
- Online in-play betting
- Concise odds display
- Strong multi betting functionality
- Can view fixtures for more than league at once
- Competitive 4.3% margin in our latest bookmaker margin survey
Downsides
- Website can be slow at times
- Incredibly harsh bonus turnover requirements
- Can only enter stakes in $1.00 increments
- No phone number, business address or postal address listed on the website
- From their terms and conditions: “If a customer’s account is inactive for over 6 months, 18bet.com reserves the right to forfeit the outstanding balance.”
- From their terms and conditions: “18bet.com reserves the right to charge withdrawals with fees to cover administrative costs, in case the deposit amount is not rolled over at least 5 times at odds of 1.50 or greater”
- 15 markets per fixture on average in our latest bookmaker markets survey, which is well below the median score of 61
- Little coverage of Australian sports
- No horse racing
- Website maintenance scheduled for late afternoon AEST
Bottom Line
With more white label eGaming service providers surfacing, there is now a burgeoning number of small-scale bookmakers emerging that using the underlying platform provider for not just the betting interface, but for the markets, odds, deposits and withdrawals. The downside of this arrangement is you don’t know much about the white label owner, although it does provide the upside of providing you with a stable, high quality betting interface with a broad range of markets. 18bet is one such bookmaker, using a betting platform operated by DelaSport. The overall sports betting experience is good, with the concise display of odds one of our favourite features. Australian users will also appreciate its online sports betting service. One major sour note of 18bet, however, is its harsh bonus credit rules, which require funds be turned over 12 times at odds over 1.8 within 21 days. One other harsh term and condition is “if a customer’s account is inactive for over 6 months, 18bet.com reserves the right to forfeit the outstanding balance.” This is unreasonable given most bookmakers charge inactivity fees instead. It’s a shame that the harsh inactivity rules overshadow what is otherwise a decent service.