Introduction
The following is an in-depth review of the betting agency TopBetta. 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.
TopBetta History, Location and Licence
Launched in 2013, TopBetta is a Newcastle-based bookmaker and betting tournament operator. The service was originally licensed in Norfolk Island by the Norfolk Island Gaming Authority. TopBetta was granted Sports Bookmaker’s Licence by the Northern Territory Racing Commission in August 2016.
In addition to standard sports and race betting products, TopBetta stands apart from other bookmakers through its provision of betting tournaments, where participants are given fantasy money to wager with the aim of accruing the highest hypothetical profit. TopBetta markets itself as being the world’s first social betting platform because members compete against each other rather than just take on the bookmaker. 3
In April 2017 it was announced that TopBetta had entered into an agreement to acquire the Norfolk Island licensed bookmaker Mad Bookie.4
In April 2018 PlayUp Limited announced it had entered into an agreement to acquire the retail bookmaking subsidiary of Sydney-based TopBetta Holdings Limited (ASX:TBH), which includes the ‘TopBetta’ and ‘Mad Bookie’ brands. 5
Services and Features
| Deposit options | Credit card, bank transfer, BPAY, POLi |
|---|---|
| Withdrawal options | Credit card, bank transfer |
| Transaction fees | None |
| Currencies | AUD |
| Languages | English |
| Odds formats | Decimal |
| Minimum deposit | $10.00 |
| Minimum bet | $0.01 |
| Maximum bet/payout | The following win limits apply per race:
Metropolitan horse racing: Win: $5,000, Place: $2,000, Trifecta & First Four: $10,000, Quinella & Exacta: $2,500 Provincial horse racing and Country horse racing: Win: $2,500, Place: $1,000, Trifecta & First Four: $5,000, Quinella & Exacta: $2,000 International racing, Australian Harness & Australian Greyhounds: Win: $2,000, Place: $1,000, Trifecta & First Four: $2,000, Quinella & Exacta: $1,000 TopBetta has a maximum daily win limit of $20,000. |
| Deposit turnover requirements | None that we’re aware of if you don’t receive a first deposit bonus and 2x at odds of 1.50 or more if you do receive a first deposit bonus |
| Bonus credit turnover requirements | 2x at odds of 1.50 or more |
| Bookmaker margin | 5.2%, which equals the median bookmaker margin in the latest bookmaker margin survey. From a punter’s perspective, the lower the margin, the better. |
| Quantity of markets | Averaged 21 markets per fixture in the latest bookmaker markets survey. This is well below the median score of 61. |
| Credit facilities | None |
| Forbidden Jurisdictions | The United States and other territories where sports and race betting are illegal |
| Mobile betting | The website uses a responsive design that is automatically tailored to the device that you view the website with. An iPhone App is also available. |
| Identity checks | Customers must complete and send in the Customer Identification Form within 90 days of registering. This form must be completed prior to requesting a withdrawal. |
| Dormant account fees | None that we’re aware of |
| Support | Email, phone (1300 number) from 8am-9pm AEST |
Betting Interface and Website Layout
The TopBetta website has been given a number of overhauls since we first reviewed it. The site is split into three sections: Tournaments, Racing and Sports. The sports section uses a horizontal navigation panel with an ‘A-Z’ sports button to view any unlisted sports. When a sport is selected the relevant leagues are displayed in a second horizontal panel with arrows to scroll horizontally through the list.
The approach works well for most sports but it’s a drag when selecting football due to the high number of leagues. Also, the leagues appear to be listed in order of popularity rather than alphabetically makes searching harder. When you click to scroll, only one new league is shown with each click, so it took us 19 clicks of the mouse to browse every available football league.
The odds area is fairly intuitive. The upcoming round of fixtures for a given league is presented as a list with “More Markets +” and “Hide Markets -” links to toggle the display of every market for a given fixture.
TopBetta originally didn’t offer multi betting. Now that this feature has been added the website displays “+ Multi” buttons next to the odds. If you click on the odds the single betting slip is displayed to place a one-selection bet. If you click on the “+ Multi” button next to the odds, the selection is instead added to your multi betting slip. The drawback of this arrangement is you can’t add more than one single selection to your betting slip. You must instead submit and confirm your single bets one at a time.
The betting slip for a single bet is displayed over the top of the betting interface. You can either use the buttons provided to quickly select a stake or you can enter a stake manually. Once a stake is entered the potential win amount is automatically shown. Where applicable, details regarding the bet terms, such as “Draw No Bet Inc. Overtime” for NRL fixtures, are displayed.
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When you add selections to your multi a number in the top right hand corner of the screen indicates how many selections are in your slip. When you click on that number your multi betting slip is displayed on the right hand side of the screen.
The mutli betting slip enables you to create all-in multis as well as doubles, trebles, 4-fold, 5-fold, etc., wagers using the selections in your slip. For example if you have five items in your slip, you can opt to create 5 4-fold bets, 10 trebles and 10 doubles using every combination of your selections. This enables you to create exotic multiples such as the Yankee, the Patent, the Trixie, etc.
Overall the interface is functional and easy to use, however the separate single and multi betting slip functionality may throw some beginners off.
Betting Tournaments
In addition to its standard bookmaker service, TopBetta offers sports and race betting tournaments where the “TopBetta” is the player who makes the most profit from their bets. Both free and paid tournaments are available.
In each tournament punters are given 1,000 “BettaBucks” – a TopBetta fantasy currency – to bet with on the nominated fixtures or races. Participants are ranked based on the profit they achieve using their fantasy money. The smaller tournaments have a winner takes-all-prize while the bigger competitions award lesser prizes to the runners up. The actual payouts are based on the size of the pot, which is based on how many people enter the competition.
For the paid tournaments the entry fee is taken from your account balance, with tournament winnings paid back to your balance. This same balance is used for standard sports and race wagering. Typically for a tournament with a $10 entry fee, $9 is allocated to the prize pool with $1 kept as a service fee by TopBetta. Entry fees vary between tournaments. The paid tournament fees ranged between $2 and $110 at the time of review, while the prize pools ranged from $30 to $10,000.
Most sports tournaments consist of one round of fixtures for a particular league, e.g. NFL Week 6. You can spend your fantasy money (“BettaBucks”) on any of the markets for any of the fixtures in that round. Season long tournaments are also available. A typical racing tournament consists of all races at one venue on a particular day. The tournament betting interface is similar to that used in the regular sports and race betting service. The primary difference is that the tournaments don’t support multi betting.
Sports Markets
We’ve observed markets for American Football (NFL, NCAAF), Baseball (MLB), Cricket, Football (numerous leagues), Golf, Motor Sport (Formula 1, Moto Grand Prix, NASCAR), Rugby League (NRL), Rugby Union, the AFL and cricket.
The range of markets per fixture isn’t as broad as the leading bookmakers. In our most recent bookmaker markets survey, TopBetta averaged 21 markets per fixture, which was below the median score of 61. For most punters the available markets are more than adequate, however.
Horse Racing
Thoroughbred racing is available for venues in Australia and New Zealand as well as Ascot (UK), while greyhounds and harness racing are offered for Australian and New Zealand venues.
Win/Place, Quinella, Exacta, Trifecta and First Four markets are available. Depending on the horse racing event you will be offered one of the following totes: SUP = SuperTab, TOP = Top tote from NSW/S-TAB/Tatts or BO4 = Best of 3 Totes or SP. For greyhounds and harness racing you are offered one of MID = Middle tote from NSW/S-TAB/Tatts or SUP = SuperTab. Fixed odds markets aren’t offered.
When you click on the name of a runner their form guide is automatically displayed. The odds flash red and green to denote odds changes leading up to the race start.
A neat feature of the interface is when you view the list of today’s races, any races that you have placed bets on are highlighted with a “B” icon.
The GOAT Top Tote
In May 2017 TopBetta launched a GOAT Top Tote product, which provides punters with the best of four Totes.
Tote markets in Australia take out 17%-25% out of the pool before paying out winnings. In contrast, The GOAT Top only takes out a maximum of 12%, leaving a greater portion of the pool to be distributed to the punters who backed the winner.
GOAT Top is offered for thoroughbred racing, which pays out at the highest dividend of the three existing totes (NSW TAB, S-TAB and Tatts) and the GOAT Top.
GOAT Mid is offered for greyhound racing, which pays out at the middle dividend of the three existing totes (NSW TAB, S-TAB and Tatts) if the GOAT Top does not exceed this price.
The GOAT Top Tote has initially been rolled out at the following venues:
- Thursday: Warrnambool thoroughbreds (GOAT Top) and Albion Park greyhounds (GOAT Mid)
- Friday: Wagga thoroughbreds (GOAT Top) and Richmond greyhounds (GOAT Mid)
- Saturday: Flemington thoroughbreds (GOAT Top) and Wentworth Park greyhounds (GOAT Mid)
Live Sports Betting
Due to Australia’s Interactive Gambling Act 1, live online betting is not available for Australians.
Upsides
- Australian owned
- $0.01 minimum online wager
- Good value betting promotions
- Accepts large stakes wagers without delays
- Offers tournament betting (one of the main drawcards of the website)
Downsides
- No online in-play betting (due to Australian law)1 and no in-play phone betting
- Can’t add more than one single selection to your betting slip at once
- No online identity verification
- Smaller range of sports and markets than the leading bookmakers
Bottom Line
TopBetta is a unique offering because it offers both tournament betting and a standard bookmaking service. The sports and racing betting tournaments enable members to compete against each other with fantasy money called “BettaBucks”. Both free and paid tournaments are available with prize pools ranging from $30 to $10,000. Over the past few years the most improved aspect of TopBetta’s offerings has been its bookmaking service. Multi betting is now supported and TopBetta offers good value betting promotions that provide a great draw card to keep coming back. For those who are looking for a different sports betting experience, TopBetta is certainly worth a look.
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.
- 3 http://medianet.com.au/releases/release-details?id=780259
- 4 http://www.abnnewswire.net/press/en/87888/Topbetta-Holdings-Ltd-(ASX-TBH)-Acquires-Assets-of-Online-Bookmaker-Mad-Bookie-87888.html
- 5 http://www.abnnewswire.net/press/en/92871/