Bwin Sports Review:

Bwin is the biggest, glossiest betting site around, setting a glamourous template that online up-and-comers will struggle to replicate.

High-profile sponsorship deals with the biggest teams in the biggest football leagues in Europe, including AC Milan, Juventus, Real Madrid and Manchester United, certainly helped it to establish itself quickly among sports fans around the world. But does it have the product to match its elevated status?

Let’s cut to the chase. Bwin is a FTSE-listed brand with revenues of close to half-a-billion euros per year, and more than 20 million registered customers from all over the world. As such, it operates just as you’d expect any blue-chip multinational to do: scrupulously.

As Europe’s leading sports betting operator, bwin’s parent company, GVC Holdings, has a whole fistful of gambling licenses to cover all of the jurisdictions in which it operates, including ones from Alderney, Gibraltar and Kahnawake. As far as British punters are concerned, the most relevant is the one from the UK Gambling Commission, which means bwin is legally allowed to operate in the UK.

All the usual deposit and withdrawal methods are available to British punters – although watch out for the fee on Neteller and bank wire withdrawals. PayPal users will be pleased to hear that it is available for deposit and withdrawal, with bwin quoting a wait of just 2-6 hours for withdrawn funds to appear in your PayPal account.

Bwin knows that it has to compete on multiple fronts if it really wants to be seen as the be-all-end-all of sports betting. This means giving people access to the hottest markets through a handheld device. First up, we’re glad to see a betting app rather than an optimised version of the desktop site. Both iOS and Android handset users are covered on this front. While it’s easier to get hold of the former than it is the latter, in terms of compatibility there is very little to complain about here.

The actual mobile app is actually surprisingly stripped back, as bwin has forgone all the usual flashy graphics to create something that delivers betting action in a pure form. The black, white, and yellow colour scheme works to remove all common distractions, putting the power of sports betting in the palm of your hands. For some players, the “over the top” theatrics make up part of the sports betting experience, but for us, something that puts the markets front and centre always wins out.

While there are a few features missing, with a handful of smaller markets not making the cut, you can’t argue against the rich statistics, smart shortcuts, and snappy bet selection that Bwin mobile delivers.

Bwin offers £20 as a matched deposit bonus for new players depositing £10 or more. The bonus is offered to new customers as a 100% match on their first deposit, and requires a 5x wagering requirement at odds of 7/10 (1.70) or greater before withdrawal is allowed.

Bwin also offers enhanced odds to its punters from time to time. There’s no predictable pattern to these offers, and they are reserved for loyal customers only, but can be worth as much as a full point on your odds for qualifying events when they’re running.

At the time of writing the range of promotions on offer felt somewhat limited compared to the main competition. There were several Acca-related offers, the most interesting of which was probably Acca Madness, which doles out free bets to 10 punters with successful Accas that have the highest odds. Aside from that, the only other promotion listed was a money-back offer on the Six Nations Rugby.

Not exactly the cornucopia of offers you find elsewhere.

However, the welcome offer from Bwin is still pretty generous. The odds requirements are fair, as is the time limit of 90 days. And while the 5x wager requirement is something to look out for ahead of your withdrawals, it should still be possible to get ahead of the bonus terms and conditions to withdraw the 100% match bonus profitably.

Bwin also offers bwincasino and bwinpoker products, which you can access from the top menu on the homepage. You don’t need to create separate accounts, you can just go ahead and play with whatever balance you have in your betting account. However, the sportsbook bonus can’t be played through on the other products, but they each offer their own welcome bonus packages.

When it comes to the average betting margin, bwin is off the pace. So if you’re a serious punter and your main concern is finding the best odds on a consistent basis, then bwin probably won’t be the most suitable choice. Added to that, bwin does have a reputation for clipping the wings of consistently successful punters by limiting maximum bet sizes.

Of course, if you’re a more of a bet-for-fun type of punter, then these shouldn’t be considered deal-breakers. After all, there are decent promotions that add some extra value.

It may not immediately seem like it, but Bwin throws plenty of weight behind in-play betting (or live betting as it is listed here). In terms of markets there really is a lot to talk about here, as the bookie delivers everything from major international events to strictly niche sports. From Eastern European Volleyball in the CEV Challenge Cup all the way through to European nights under the lights in the Champions League, in our eyes bwin’s coverage is second to none.

Bwin also flexes its muscles when it comes to live streaming, as it boasts seemingly more events than any other bookmaker around, Sky Bet excluded of course. A single glance at the sports betting page tells you that you can stream approximately 1,000 events a month, which includes up to 50 events a day across 20 sports. The full streaming line-up is also available on mobile devices, and it really contributes to sweetening the whole Bwin betting experience.

The only aspect where Bwin could improve is when it comes to specials, as there really isn’t too much to write home about here. On this front, you’ll probably find that 888 Sport and Paddy Power gives you a juicier live betting experience.