Introduction
The following is an in-depth review of the betting agency Winner. 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
Winner launched its online casino in 2009, which is run by the popular PlayTech software. They also offer online Poker as part of the iPoker network. The Winner sportsbook was launched in 2013 and is also run by PlayTech software. To the best of our knowledge the Winner odds and markets are identical to Titan Bet, which also uses PlayTech.
Winner is licensed by the Antigua and Barbuda Financial Services Regulatory Commission (the applicable regular for Australian customers) and by the Kahnawake Gaming Commission in Canada. The Winner brand is owned and operated by Redfinger Trading Limited while its gambling licences are registered under Zirconium Gaming Limited.
Winner is an official partner of the English Football club West Ham United.
Services and Features
| Deposit options | Credit card, bank wire, clickandbuy, Skrill/Moneybookers, NETeller, Paypal, Ukash, paysafecard, Abaqoos, EntroPay, POLi.2 When using international bookmakers we recommend you use Skrill/Moneybookers. |
|---|---|
| Withdrawal options | Credit card, bank wire, Skrill/Moneybookers, NETeller, Paypal, clickandbuy, EntroPay. |
| Transaction fees | None |
| Currencies | AUD, CAD, CHF, DKK, EUR, GBP, NOK, SEK, USD, ZAR |
| Languages | Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Swedish |
| Odds formats | Decimal, fractional, American |
| Minimum deposit | $5 for most methods, $30 for POLi |
| Minimum withdrawal | $20 for most methods |
| Minimum bet | $0.10 |
| Maximum bet/payout | The maximum that will be paid out on any one bet daily is €50,000 (excluding the original stake). The maximum amount that a player can cash-out when winning in casino (side) games within a 30 day period is $9,990 per month. |
| Deposit turnover requirements | None that we’re aware of, however they “reserve the right to charge a reasonable commission on any currency exchanges taking place where, in our opinion, an appropriate level of gameplay has not occurred such that the Customer is deemed to be abusing exchange rate fluctuations.” |
| Bonus credit turnover requirements | N/A |
| Bookmaker margin | 5.9% (see below for more details) |
| Credit facilities | None |
| Forbidden Jurisdictions | Afghanistan, Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belgium, Belize, Bulgaria, China, Cuba, Cyprus, Denmark, Dominica, Estonia, France and its territories, Greece, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Hong Kong, Jamaica, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Italy, Libya, Macau, Montserrat, Netherlands Antilles, Republic of Serbia, Daint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Spain, Sudan, Suriname, Syria, the Philippines, Trinidad and Tobago, Turkey, United States and its territories. |
| Mobile betting | Mobile casino betting is available, however no mobile sports products are offered. |
| Identity checks | They reserve the right to request proof that you are over 18. |
| Dormant account fees | €10.00 EUR / month for accounts not used within the last 180 days |
| Support | Email, phone (0800 number) and live chat. We submitted a test query by email and received a courteous response within 15 minutes. |
Betting Interface and Website Layout
Winner uses the ubiquitous three-column layout, with sports listed on the left, markets and odds in the centre and the betting slip on the right.
When a sport is selected the page is reloaded with a list of leagues for that sport displayed in the left column and upcoming fixtures for that sport displayed in the centre.
The centre column displays upcoming fixtures concisely with a list of betting markets (winner, handicap, total score, etc.) at the top. Selecting a betting market reloads the fixtures to show the odds for the chosen market. Icons are displayed to the right of each fixture to provide quick links to statistics and all markets for a particular game.
The betting slip is dynamically updated when selections are made. Selections remain highlighted in the odds display area to make it easy to see what has already been added to your betting slip. Multi betting options (doubles, trebles, 4 folds, etc.) are displayed in the slip if more than one eligible selection is added. One feature the interface boasts that many others do not is a banker option. If you wish to place exotic multiples you can select the ‘bankers’, i.e. the selections you want to include in every multi bet permutation. This can greatly reduce the number of bets required for higher leg exotic multiples.
Overall, the interface is excellent. You can find markets quickly and the betting slip has all the functionality you could ask for.
Bookmaker Margin
In our most recent bookmaker margin survey, Winner had an average bookmaker margin of 5.9%, which is higher than the survey average of 5.1%. From a punter’s perspective, the lower the margin, the better. It appears that Titan Bet and Winner share the same odds.
Sports Markets
From an Australian perspective the betting selection is very good. While the number of markets offered per event for Australian codes doesn’t match the leading Australian bookmakers, the major Australian codes are all covered. At the time of review we observed the following number of markets per event: NRL (15), Super Rugby (16), AFL (11), NBA (15), MLB (5), NHL (12), English Premier League (97). From experience, the number of markets for an event peaks just before the event commences.
Horse Racing
Horse racing is covered for venues across the UK and Ireland. Starting Price odds are offered for upcoming events, with fixed price odds available on ante-post markets.
You can view the full card for a particular venue, which facilitates fast and easy betting across different races.
Racecard (Win, Each-way) and forecast (Exacta, Quinella) markets are available for most events with tricast (aka Trifecta) markets available for selected races.
Live Sports Betting
Unlike Australian bookmakers1, Winner does support online in-play wagering on selected events. During our review we observed live betting markets for basketball, soccer, ice hockey, rugby union (Super Rugby), snooker, tennis, beach volleyball and baseball.
The live betting interface is easy to use and you can combine pre-game wagers (on upcoming events) with in-play selections in the same betting slip. One feature of live betting that stood out to us was how quickly our wagers were accepted. With most bookmakers there is a timed delay before your wager is processed. With Winner our in-play wagers were processed almost immediately, which is a huge convenience for sports like basketball where scores change rapidly.
Upsides
- Online in-play (live) betting with rapid bet processing
- Good betting interface (PlayTech engine)
- Excellent multi betting functionality plus 25% bonuses on winning 7-fold bets
- Good range of deposit options, including POLi and Paypal
- Low $0.10 minimum wager
Downsides
- Not much is known about the owning company
- Less competitive odds on Australian sports
- No mobile sports betting at the time of review
- Inactive account fees
Bottom Line
While Winner is new to sports betting, they have been around since 2009 and are using the well-established PlayTech engine which delivers an excellent betting experience. As with virtually all international bookmakers, Winner doesn’t provide the same breadth of markets on Australian sports as the leading Australian bookmakers, however they do provide online in-play wagering during live events. For this reason Winner would make a good complement to an Australian bookmaker membership.
Notes and Sources
- 1 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interactive_Gambling_Act
- 2 POLi facilitates online bank transfers that are acknowledged by the bookmaker instantly. This enables you to log into your banking provider, transfer money to the bookmaker, and place bets immediately.