Fansbet Review:

Founded in 2016, FansBet has already made an impression on the UK betting market. FansBet claims to be the only bookmaker in the UK that actually shares its profits with supporters – giving customers the chance to choose their preferred local sports team or club to receive support, via their ‘Fan Partner’ programme. It’s certainly an interesting idea, and one that’s already helped sports clubs up and down the country raise some much-needed funds. The social angle is good, but FansBet must still be judged on its sports betting offer. Fortunately, it’s a strong showing, with a great selection of markets, competitive odds and fair bonuses and promotions.

FansBet sets out their stall by pledging to donate 50% of profits through its Fan Partner scheme, a sign of their good intentions. Of course, they’re still a bookmaker, but it’s good to know that even if your bet loses, you’re doing something to help grassroots sports in your local area. Plus, it’s the first sign of many that FansBet is a brand you can confidently trust.

While FansBet is still a relatively recent addition to the betting scene having launched in ’16, they’re already checking a lot of boxes when it comes to safety and trust. Firstly, there’s the fact that FansBet is part of a group of gaming brands, all managed under the Rush Partners Ltd umbrella. These including RedsBet and RedArmyBet, brands aimed at fans of Liverpool and Man Utd respectively, as well as generally betting brands like OneBet. There’s strength in numbers, so controlling multiple brands is often a good sign you’re dealing with a legitimate organisation with the capital to back up its promises.

Then there’s the dual license – they’re covered by both the UK Gambling Commission and the Malta Gaming Authority. That’s two highly respected, independent regulatory bodies to which FansBet are accountable. This is backed up by their membership of IBAS, the Independent Betting Adjudication Service, which provides an independent arbitration service in the event of any betting disputes.

Gambling Commission oversight in the form of a UK license is a legal bare minimum for any sportsbook taking bets in the UK, so it’s always the first thing to look out for. This gives you the assurances FansBet is operating to a high standard of regulation, including ensuring fairness and protecting customer funds. These are exactly the kind of indicators you’re looking for, demonstrating FansBet take their responsibilities towards building trust seriously.

From a safety point of view, it’s reassuring to see FansBet extend their proactive approach. SSL encryption applies as standard, so your personal information is protected from the risk of hacking. All transactions are processed independently in partnership with some of the world’s leading payment processors – which each introduce their own security measures to keep your financials rock-solid secure at all times.

You can’t doubt either the safety of the platform, or the trustworthiness of FansBet. But there are some negative reviews online about the bookmaker, which are worth reviewing before signing up. To be honest, most of the small number of complaints that do exist are fairly typical for any sportsbook, often the result of players feeling hard done-by when they’ve been on a losing streak. This is unpreventable, and certainly there’s nothing in their content that would be cause for concern.

Deposits and withdrawals at FansBet are straightforward, with deposits processed from a range of payment methods like Skrill, Neteller and Visa. One bis omission is thr absence of PayPal – a must for any UK betting site.Withdrawals take a little longer, with processing typically from 24 hours and up to 5 business days for payment to clear across the board. This is a little on the slow side, but no worse than average for independent bookmakers.

The limitations on the deposit and withdrawal sides could prove a challenge for some players – deposits are capped at £5,000 per month, while the most you can withdraw per day is £1,000 (£25,000 per month). Most players can live with that, but that will feel somewhat restrictive for those that bet in larger volumes – something for the future, perhaps.

FansBet does a great job with mobile, delivered via iOS and Android apps. You’ll find dedicated pages with download instructions for both apps on the FansBet website. The Android app isn’t available in the Google Play Store, but you can download this directly from the FansBet site, or download and install the app when prompted on your phone.

The apps offer basic but functional access to your betting account, with a decent range of sports and markets carried through for betting on-the-go. The graphics aren’t as developed and it’s not a perfectly seamless experience visually, but in terms of placing your bets and accessing your account, it’s a more than satisfactory alternative to betting on your laptop.

There’s also the mobile site, which loads automatically in-browser when you head over to the FansBet site. Not as smooth as the apps, but another alternative for those looking to bet on mobile. Overall, while the apps themselves could arguably do with a tweak here or there, the total mobile package from FansBet stands up to more established bookmakers.

To match their innovative business model, FansBet offer up something of an innovative welcome bonus, with their 5% Cashback up to £20 offer. This isn’t your typical free bet-type deal, nor is it a match bonus as commonly defined – it’s all about paying a percentage of your qualifying betting turnover, up to a maximum of £20.

The deal works like this. Sign up for a new account, with a minimum deposit of £20. You can’t deposit through Skrill or Neteller for this bonus, so it’s best to stick to credit and debit card withdrawals, or paysafecard if you prefer. The maximum qualifying single bet is £100, and you’ll need to wager £400 in order to claim the full cashback amount of £20. The offer expires after 30 days, so that’s a decent amount of time to build up and use your bonus amount.

The cashback is awarded as 5% of your stake once your bets have been settled, and applies only to bets with odds of 3/4 or greater – that’s 1.75. Once you’ve earned cashback, it will be credited to a cashback balance in your account – under My Profile you simply click on ‘Bonuses’ then ‘Convert’ to turn your cashback into withdrawable cash.

One of the best elements about this bonus is that there’s no messing about with wagering requirements – a common feature of matched-deposit betting offers, where you have to bet multiples of your bonus before you are eligible to withdraw. There’s none of that – just a straightforward 5% of your stake on qualifying bets. The bonus is automatic too, so your cashback will appear as convertible cash, up to a maximum of £20.

The only real downside is the bonus amount – only because it would be nice if this was a bit higher. But as welcome bonuses go, this is a decent hello from FansBet, and one that reflects their ethos well.

The selection of sports available at FansBet is hard to fault. While there’s an obvious focus on football here, it’s not to the exclusion of other popular sports – tennis betting, golf betting, boxing, horses, greyhounds and even chess complete a line up that’s packed with different sports and markets. Within each sport, both in-play and upcoming menus offer a wide range of markets to choose from, so you’ll never be stuck for options at FansBet.

The odds are decent, and roughly commensurate with other leading sportsbooks, aside from a few occasional differences here or there. Look out for price boosts and other odds-enhancing promos under the ‘Promotions’ tab, or the Fans Boost option in the main sports menu.

FansBet regularly offers the chance to uprate your odds on promotional bets, so there’s even the chance to score a better deal on your betting with FansBet over the competition.

Aside from the main sporting markets, there are also even a few Specials markets, covering things like politics, the Royal family, and Golden Globe Winners, in case you’re fancy a flutter on something a little more off-beat.

FansBet offers in-play betting across a range of sports. Current in-play events are available by clicking the ‘In-Play’ tab in the top navigation, which pulls up a table of all the fixtures currently underway by sport. Choose your sport by the icon above the table to see each of the events markets already underway for those sports.

Clicking on a fixture takes you into the event view, where a graphical display shows you a representation of the action. Not quite as good as live streaming, but in the absence of watching for yourself, this is a decent proxy.

The range of in-play betting fixtures available is decent, and thanks to the well-organised structure of the In-Play page, you’ll have no bother finding your bet. Cash-out is also available, though it’s worth reiterating that cashed out bets don’t count towards your turnover for the welcome offer, or towards most other promos or bonuses.