This section features in-depth reviews of betting agencies that support Australian dollar accounts. The bookmakers covered here are the best of the services previously surveyed.
You can view a comprehensive summary of bookmakers that are suitable for Australians in the Betting Agencies section.
bet365’s expansion into Australia has been good for local punters. bet365 has always been our pick of the international services. It offers an extensive range of features and a top-of-the-line interface. Usage of the service from Australia is more convenient than ever. Australian dollar accounts have been accepted for years, but a wider range of deposit options are offered now that bet365 is licensed in Australia. The betting selections for the NRL and AFL have also improved, as has the selection for Australian racing. The provision of frequent live video feeds and in-depth team statistics is fantastic, and low minimum stake levels, bet365 will appeal to small-time punters. bet365’s live betting service is by far the best we’ve seen. It’s just a shame Australian customers can only bet live over the phone. Overall, bet365 is a fantastic service. If the Australian Government ever lifts the ban on live online betting, bet365 will become the benchmark for in-play wagering in Australia.
Betfair stands out because it’s the only betting exchange with a licence in Australia. A betting exchange has a steeper learning curve than a bookmaker but it’s well worth the effort. The ability to bet both for and against outcomes makes hedging incredibly easy and the most popular markets frequently offer better value than bookmakers. Betfair is brilliant for futures betting because the back/lay feature enables you to easily lock in profits and limit losses as the season or tournament progresses. Betfair also offers consistently better value in numerous selection markets, such as correct scores for football. Due to lower liquidity on less popular leagues and markets, Betfair wouldn’t work well as a standalone membership, but it’s an absolute must have as a pairing with a traditional bookmaker. Novice punters will enjoy the competitive odds on the popular markets, while experienced punters will revel in the ability to play the role of both the punter and bookmaker. We highly recommend Betfair as a complement to your existing bookmaker memberships.
Launched by Anthony Waller, a well established name in the betting industry, Bet Right is a refreshing sight given the ever-increasing number of identically-featured bookmakers that share the same betting platform. Bet Right instead employs its own innovative BetTube platform, which the parent company owns and operates. Both the sports and racing interfaces are feature-packed and we’ve been pleasantly surprised by the strong selection of markets per fixture. Another strength of Bet Right is its excellent customer service. Our email enquiry was responded to quickly and with a surprising level of detail and thoughtfulness. Bet Right offers an abundance of other means of communication. This includes a Discord server, through which members can also view pro trading activity. The odds are competitive and NBA & NFL punters will appreciate the 1.93 main handicaps that are launched one hour prior to kickoff. Racing enthusiasts will enjoy the RPX (best fixed odds matching) and RD+ (Best Tote+SP + 3%) products. The broad range of features and markets, combined with the intuitive interface, make the service suitable as a standalone membership. Bet Right is well worth considering for punters of all experience levels.
betr will only go from strength to strength now that represents the merger of BlueBet and the original betr. The merger has taken the broad customer base of betr and applied it to the in-house betting technology developed by BlueBet. betr now leads the pack amongst the newer Australian brands that are trying to make inroads into an industry that remains dominated by English and Irish-owned companies. A key difference between betr and the other new brands is it is backed by Matt Tripp and Michael Sullivan, two well-known names in the Australian betting industry. The range of markets and features is growing all the time. Same-race multis and in-play phone betting are among a raft of new features since we last reviewed this service.
The BoomBet brand name is new, but this online bookmaker is one of the oldest in Australia, with its Sportsbetting.com.au heritage dating back to 1998. The interface is fast and works well, plus the sports and racing services will suit most punters’ needs. What really sets BoomBet apart, however, is its innovative HOT Bet feature, which enables members to copy the bets of winning punters and professionals. Appended to this feature is the fact that any punter can turn supplier for tips to earn commissions. While they don’t offer industry-leading racing margins, BoomBet performs remarkably well for the frequency at which they offer the best fixed odds on any given runner. Racing enthusiasts should consider BoomBet for this reason alone.
Colossalbet is a well-rounded bookmaker that is good enough to work as a standalone membership for beginners, while seasoned punters will appreciate it for fixed odds racing shopping. The interface works well, a strong range of leagues and markets is offered, same-game multis are available on the popular leagues and in-play betting is available. Added bonuses are the Colossalbet Mastercard and Colossalbet IQ tips. The leagues navigation could be a littler easier but that’s only a minor complaint. Colossalbet is worth checking out for novice and seasoned punters alike.
Dabble is a unique bookmaker due to its strong community focus. The copy bet feature, which enables you to copy the bets of other members, is at the core of the service – so much so that nearly half of all bets taken by Dabble are via copy bet. While other bookmakers are now scrambling to create “copy your mates”-style functionality, Dabble built this feature into their service from day one. Its app-only and social media-style approach highlights Dabble’s focus on the younger market and this shows through in the demographics: eighty per cent of Dabble’s members are aged 18-35. Dabble appears to be going from strength to strength, as evident by Tabcorp’s 20 per cent equity purchase for $33 million and Dabble’s recent acquisition of former competitor Moneyball. Importantly, we didn’t have to look far to find selections where Dabble offered better odds than other leading bookmakers, so the service would work well for odds shoppers. Dabble is seriously worth checking out, so long as you don’t mind downloading an app to place a bet.
Daily fantasy sports provide an interesting alternative to tournament betting websites like SportChamps, in which prize money is awarded based on achieving the highest hypothetical profit. For daily fantasy sports in Australia, Draftstars is the market leader. A good range of contests are available to suit a variety of budgets and there is sufficient member activity for Draftstars to offer regular contests with five-figure prize pools. The website interface is excellent and plenty of form data is available for those who know how to use it, including .csv files. Draftstars is definitely worth a look for those who are seeking an alternative to standard betting and tournament betting.
Picklebet was launched with a focus on esports but their sports betting service is excellent and their racing features are constantly growing. The fixed racing odds are highly competitive and the range of markets per fixture steadily growing. Some of the other highlights are the $0.20 minimum stake, the fast & modern interface and the fact that they verify your identity automatically during the sign up process. Racing enthusiasts will also appreciate the fixed odds top 2, top 3 and top 4 markets for every race.
PlayUp is one of a few Australian-owned bookmakers trying to mix it with the large foreign-owned services that are licensed in Australia. It replaces the merged ClassicBet, Mad Bookie and TopBetta, with the owning company also owning Draftstars. PlayUp’s range of services is improving all the time. During the latest revision of this bookmaker review, we ended up deleting half of the listed downsides from the previous revision. PlayUp’s services are now broad enough for it to work as a sole bookmaker membership. It would also make a good addition to the betting portfolio of anyone who likes to shop around for odds given its independence from other bookmakers.
SportChamps is the latest entrant into the tournament betting scene in Australia. While the service is still young, it is growing fast, with a reported 50% increase in membership each month.2 At the time of writing SportChamps offers over 500 tournaments per week with $300K+ in monthly payouts. We really like the provision of 200 free tournaments weekly, which provide an opportunity for newcomers to learn the ropes without having to commit to making a deposit. The main drawback is SportChamps doesn’t offer sports betting in addition to its competition betting and racebook. SportChamps is definitely worth a look for those who enjoy tournament betting and given the provision of free tournaments, it is also worth a look for those who are simply curious. Fixed odds racing enthusiasts will also appreciate their competitive thoroughbreds margins.
The combination of competitive bookmaker margins for sports and industry-leading quantity of markets per fixture makes Unibet Australia one of the best bookmakers in the industry for sports betting.