Introduction
The following is an in-depth review of the betting agency Unibet Australia. 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
Founded in 1997, Unibet is an online gambling company that is headquartered in Malta, although it’s Australian operations are licensed and regulated by the Northern Territory Government. The owning company is Unibet Group plc, which is listed on the NASDAQ OMX Nordic Exchange in Stockholm, Sweden. Unibet has enjoyed strong success which has led it to make numerous acquisitions of other bookmakers, including the Australian-based Betchoice in 2012. Betchoice was rebranded as Unibet Australia with a .com.au address and is one of a long line of Unibet sites that include unibet.dk (Denmark), unibet.fr (France) and unibet.it (Italy). Unibet also operates the Maria casino brand.1, 2
Unibet is certainly a major player in online gaming. Unibet Group plc claims to be “one of the largest online gambling operators in the European market” with over 6.7 million customers worldwide.3 The service has won the eGaming Review Sports Betting Operator of the Year (2006, 2008, 2009 and 2016) and Live Operator of the Year (2009) awards.1
The original Australian company Betchoice was founded by Sydney bookmakers Colin Tidy and Mark Morrissey in 2001. In 2006 Betchoice acquired a Northern Territory licence and in 2012 all Betchoice member accounts were moved over to Unibet Australia following the takeover.2 Despite the rebranding, all Unibet.com.au deposits are still made to the company name Betchoice and “Betchoice Corporation Pty Ltd.” is listed at the bottom of each page. Betchoice’s administration office is located in Sydney and their call centre is located in Darwin.
Unibet is an approved betting partner of the AFL, NRL, Australian Rugby Union, Cricket Australia, PGA Australia, Tennis Australia, Netball Australia and the UFC.
Note that this review will focus specifically on the Unibet Australia service, rather than Unibet’s international services.
Services and Features
| Deposit options | Debit card, POLi4, Paypal |
|---|---|
| Withdrawal options | Debit card, electronic funds transfer, Paypal |
| Transaction fees | None |
| Currencies | AUD |
| Languages | English |
| Odds formats | Decimal |
| Minimum deposit | $20 |
| Maximum deposit | $10,000 |
| Maximum withdrawal | $100,000 |
| Minimum bet | $0.10 online and $10 over the phone |
| Maximum bet/payout | For sports betting: Unibet reserves the right to limit the net payout on any bet or combination of bets by one customer at $200,000. Specific limits are in place from some sports, which vary from $15,000 to $300,000. For race betting Unibet reserves the right to restrict the maximum net winnings paid out under Tote Win wagers to $100,000 and Tote place wagers to $25,000. Please note that these limits may be lower for individual clients. Clients who have lower limits will have these limits displayed in the betting column headers and on their coupons. Unibet reserves the right to restrict the maximum net winnings on Top Fluc wagers to $20,000 on win bets and $5,000 on the place portion of each-way bets. Unless otherwise agreed with Unibet, the maximum that a Client can win per day at any one racing venue on a PlaceCard is $30,000. In addition, all sports multiple wagers are subject to a maximum win of 1,000 times the Client’s wager and all racing multiple wagers are subject to a maximum win of 10,000 times the Client’s wager. The maximum winnings payable on any bonus bet is $50,000. |
| Deposit turnover requirements | 1x |
| Bonus credit turnover requirements | 1x plus 1x the associated deposit, if applicable |
| Credit facilities | None |
| Forbidden Jurisdictions | Not officially stated, although Hong Kong and the USA are not listed as options on the sign up form. |
| Mobile betting | A mobile version of the website is available |
| Identity checks | Customers must supply Unibet with 100 points of identification before withdrawals are permitted, or within 90 days of opening an account. Australian residents can verify their identity online. |
| Dormant account fees | None |
| Support | Email and phone support (local number) are available seven days a week between 9:00 AM and 2.30 AM AEST |
Betting Interface and Website Layout
The Unibet betting interface has been upgrade since our last review. The layout now displays a sports navigation panel on the left, markets & odds in the centre and league standings (where applicable) on the right. The betting slip appears as a pop-up box that can be minimised.
The sports menu features a handy ‘Popular’ box, which features the most popular leagues and events. Next to each sport/league is a number indicating the number of events that are available to bet on. When you click on a sport the interface is refreshed to show the leagues and sub-markets. A search feature enables you to find markets for a particular team quickly.
When navigating to a sport the odds panel displays Live & Upcoming, Outrights & All links at the top of the main column. The display below defaults to the Live & Upcoming fixtures. This might throw newcomers off when there aren’t many fixtures coming up soon. When betting days in advance you’ll most likely have to use the All link before selecting the league of your choice.
The list of fixtures features the head-to-head odds and where applicable the line and over/under odds. Green TV icons are shown next to events for which live streaming is available. For some leagues when you move your cursor over a game you’ll get a stats icon for that game. Clicking on it yields a stats page in a new browser window. The stats page often contain ‘Genius Facts’, like recent trends and statistics of interest. A number with a + icon appears for events where additional markets are available. Clicking on this takes you to a page dedicated to that fixture. The resulting page features three columns in the odds area. The left lists other fixtures, the centre lists all markets for the selected fixture and the third column shows statistics.
The betting slip appears as a pop-up box once a selection has been added. It features all of the functionality you would expect in a modern bookmaker. If multiple selections are added the slip displays three tabs at the top: Singles, Combination (multi bets) and System. The Combination tab is displayed by default which will suit some punters but not others. The System tab provides every option imaginable. You can enter stakes for Singles, Doubles, Trebles, etc., or simply enter a stake for one of the system multis like Trixie, Patent, Yankee, etc. The betting slip will show how many bets are made as part of each system. A Yankee bets involves 11 separate bets, so if you enter $10 into the corresponding box the total stake will be $110.
Overall the betting interface is a vast improvement on the previous version. It contains all of the functionality you could ask for but it isn’t the most beginner friendly one going round.
Bookmaker Margin
The bookmaker margin (overround) is a measure of the bookmaker’s profit margin for an event and is a hidden transaction cost for punters. This profit is how bookmakers finance their services but bookmakers vary in the margins they apply. From a punter’s perspective, the lower the margin, the better.
Unibet Australia recorded the second lowest sports margins in our latest bookmaker margin survey. For selected sports like the English Premier League, Unibet offered by far the best margins of any of the surveyed bookmakers. Unibet recorded the (joint) best available odds for 35% of the surveyed selections, which was the second best result out of the eight bookmakers.
The results highlight the fact that a Unibet membership is a must for those who like to shop around for the best sports odds.
Unibet was less competitive for racing in our latest survey, however. They recorded only the 8th best thoroughbreds margins and the 7th best harness and greyhounds margins out of the nine surveyed bookmakers.
View the full survey results
Learn more about bookmaker margins
Sports Markets
In our latest margins and markets survey, Unibet Australia finished a close second for the number of markets per fixture. They recorded the maximum count of 50+ markets for nine of the eleven leagues included in the survey, and the lowest number we encountered was 36.
Overall, the breadth of markets per fixture is easily more than enough for 99.9% of punters.
One shortfall of Unibet’s offerings in the latest survey was the fact that they only offered same-game multis for five of the eleven surveyed leagues. European and American leagues were well catered for, but Australian leagues were not. Some of the leagues for which same-game multis weren’t offered were the AFL, NRL, State of Origin and Super Rugby.
Horse Racing
The racing interface is simple, but effective. The main screen displays a table of upcoming horse, greyhound and harness races across Australia, New Zealand and Singapore. The table is colour coded to highlight events that are shortly due to start. Fixed, Best Tote+SP, Tote+5/10% and Top Fluc odds are available for win betting while fixed, Best Tote and Tote+5%/10% odds are available for place betting. On top of win and place markets, Quinella, Exacta, Trifecta and Quadrella options are available. Odds fluctuations are displayed next to each runner. Form guides along with barrier, weight, jockey and trainer details are provided for most horse racing events.
Live Sports Betting
Because Unibet Australia is licensed in Australia, it can only offer live betting over the phone. 5.
The live betting interface is neatly laid out, with a large score panel at the top with live odds display below. The odds are colour-coded with up and down arrows to indicate the direction of recent shifts.
Upsides
- Low $0.10 minimum online wager amount
- Can deposit and withdraw by Paypal
- Competitive sports odds, particularly for the EPL
- Excellent betting selection & strong range of markets per fixture
- Highly functional user interface
- In-play phone betting
- Unibet TV streams selected sporting events live online
- Access to sports statistics
Downsides
- Less competitive racing odds
- Same-game multis not supported for the AFL & NRL
- Navigation around the sports leagues is slightly more complicated than other bookmakers
Bottom Line
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.
Notes and Sources
- 1 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unibet
- 2 https://www.unibet.com.au/default.asp?loadpage=about
- 3 http://www.unibetgroupplc.com/corporate/templates/InformationPage.aspx?id=148
- 4 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.
- 5 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interactive_Gambling_Act