Overview
Sky Bet was always bound to hold wide appeal among British punters thanks to its association with the nation’s number one sports broadcaster. This is one operator that has the deep pockets necessary to compete with the big high street bookmakers like Ladbrokes Betting and William Hill Betting and Bet365 and push the envelope in terms of tech innovations and enhanced odds.
Not only is the site widely promoted around Sky’s coverage of the Premier League, but public trust of the brand is extremely high. There’s no doubt that Sky Bet is seen as a high-quality and – more importantly – safe betting product. The question is whether the reality matches up to public perception? Read our complete SkyBet review below to find out.
Safety and Trustworthiness
So much for licensing and corporate backing, how does SkyBet fare with player feedback? Taking a look at UK Trustpilot SkyBet’s overall star rating does seem quite poor but taking a deep dive into the comments all is now that it seems.
Sure, there was some reasonable complaints about the waiting time with customer service and with the app or site freezing and not being able to cash out on a bet. A lot of the complaints made though come from punters just not reading the terms and conditions on the site (or on review sites like this one) and realizing that free bets are not completely free.
Deposits & Withdrawals
You can use the most popular payment methods for SSL- encrypted money transactions. There are no limitations unless you set them yourself. Maximum payouts are fine with up to £500,000 on horse racing and football and up to £250k on other sports (tennis, golf, darts, rugby, cricket, etc.).
In 2017 SkyBet implemented a game changing fast withdrawal feature enabling customers with accounts at Barclays to withdraw funds in near-real-time. This feature has since been rolled out to Nationwide bank customers with plans to roll it out to all VISA cards in 2018.
Mobile
Part of what makes betting in the modern age so enjoyable is the ability to bet using a mobile phone app. It’s quickly gone from a limited, rough-around-the-edges feature to a must-have for any leading betting operator.
Sky Bet’s mobile app is exactly what you’d expect, taking the look and feel, not to mention, the key features (including deposits and withdrawals) from the full site and optimizing the experience for the smaller screen size. Horse racing and football are clearly the two main markets, which is immediately apparent when you download the free app for iOS or Android. At the top of the screen you’ll find quick-jump icons to the upcoming fixtures and races.
What also stands the Sky Bet app in good stead is just how nice it looks. Many other online bookmakers try to cram as much as possible into a portable platform, which often results in the betting experience being weighed down. Navigation is handled by an expandable menu of icons at the top of the screen, and in terms of performance and appearance, Sky Bet’s mobile app is up there with the very best from the likes of Betfair and 888Sports.
Sky has made continual improvements to the app, which is always heartening to see. That means there are some nice touches, such as the ability to opt into match update notifications direct from your betting receipt. You can also set up Touch ID for quick logins on iOS – perfect for those “can’t waste a second” live bets. If you don’t want to download the app then SkyBet’s mobile website is responsive to the smaller screen but we don’t see any advantage in doing this when the app is available. Partnering the Sky Bet app are separate apps for Super 6 and Fantasy Football that link back to your main account.
Bet Offers
The Sky Bet new customer offer is a Bet £10 Get £30 in Free Bets promotion. This free bets promotion works as follows. Open an account and make a bet of £10 or more on any sports market at odds of evens or above. Following this Sky Bet will credit your playing account with three £10 tokens.
As always there’s a bunch of Ts and Cs to be aware of with this bet: free bets stakes don’t contribute to the offer, the offer expires after 30 days, the free bets tokens are non-refundable and can’t be cashed out and the offer is not given if you deposit with Skrill or Neteller. Overall this is a solid welcoming offer with odds of evens or better being better than offered elsewhere. To get the Sky Bet promo code simply click on the button below from which the offer will be automatically applied.
Sky Bet also offers a free no-deposit bonus, where you can get your hands on a £10 free bet simply for signing up for your account. The staked amount isn’t included in any winnings or withdrawals, and free bets expire after 30 days.
Sky Bet’s offer doesn’t depend on you depositing any money, something that’s becoming increasingly rare with sportsbooks these days. It’s a great excuse to try out the Sky Bet platform, and you’ll get to keep what you win without any of the usual tight restrictions and conditions attached.
It’s an appealing offer, but you won’t be eligible if you have previously joined one of Sky’s other sites, such as Sky Casino, Sky Vegas or Sky Bingo.
Higher volume bettors will also be able to claim a weekly free bet with the Sky Bet Club. You simply need to opt in and place £25 of bets before midnight Sunday to get your hands on a free 5 bet. The restrictions aren’t too onerous, and although you are opted out if you fail to meet the criteria for two consecutive weeks, you can choose to opt back in whenever you feel like it. Overall, it’s a very solid example of an increasingly popular promotion among sportsbooks, but, as always, we’d recommend you read the T&Cs thoroughly to avoid disappointment. To get the Sky Bet promo code clink on the button below where it will be applied automatically.
Aside from that, there’s the now standard Best Odds Guaranteed on UK and Irish horse racing, of course, as well as lots of extra value in the regular price boosts on the biggest events of the day – where there’s some nice synchronicity with Sky Sports live coverage, especially on Super Sunday Premier League fixtures. Sky Bet Super 6 also offer plenty of fun for minimal effort and the chance to win a big jackpot.
New customers only. first single & e/w bet only. odds of 1/1 or greater. 4 x £10 bet tokens. free bet stakes not included in returns. free bets are non withdrawable. free bets expire after 30 days. eligibility restrictions and further T&Cs apply. 18+. gambleaware.org
Betting Markets And Odds Quality
Sky Bet’s website sticks to the same look and feel as all Sky’s other products and services, where all the important things are emphasized and quickly accessible. Registered users will have access to their personalized list of top sports, as well as quick links to the most popular matches in play.
You won’t get a real feel for the site until you’ve used it for a little while, though. It may not wow you with its looks, fine though they are, but its stability and speed will definitely impress. It’s a cut above most other betting sites.
The list of sports on which you can place a bet is good , better than the numbers you’ll find on newly launched betting sites but not as good as the 42 on offer at NetBet Betting. There are nearly 30 different sports in total, among which you’ll find almost every league, tournament and friendly in world football, rugby, formula 1, snooker and cricket,. In addition there’s the latest NBA and European basketball, handball and motor sports. In addition, you can even bet on virtual sports, political elections and TV and film specials. Horse race market coverage is fine, but doesn’t match the breadth of PaddyPower for that matter
The breadth of betting markets for the big games (which is what most of us will be betting on, after all) is easily clear of 100, and it’s well formatted on the site, so it should be pretty easy to find exactly the bet you’re looking for. Although it’s even more likely you’ll discover a market you hadn’t even considered. To help you with your betting decisions, there are also some nice tools available, such as a betting calculator and racing form guide, in association with Sporting Life.
Like other big bookies Sky bet has a request a bet feature you can activate by tweeting and get odds especially for you.
Other than sports bets the Sky Group offers the full range of online gaming products including casino via Sky Casino, Sky Vegas, Sky Poker and Sky Bingo
In-Play Betting
Given its resources, and its dominance of UK sports viewing market, it would be a crime if Sky Bet didn’t offer a comprehensive and well-put-together live betting console. Luckily there’s nothing to worry about on that front. Solid across the board, Sky Bet covers a wealth of in-play markets, and it’s clear that it has put in a lot of effort to bring players as close as possible to the action. Speaking on the markets that really caught our eye, both its live football betting and tennis are really covered extensively, with extremely competitive odds available.
The actual platform for live betting comes loaded with features too. Once you select a live event you’re presented with stats, odds for the various lines offered on that event and a graphic displaying the current state of play. Clicking the stats icon in the top right switches to match stats – all boxes ticked here for live betting. There is one weakness, and it comes in a surprising form, and that’s the lack of live streaming on anything other than horse racing – and even then you have to bet at least £1 on a race to get access.
Cash out is available on a long list of football markets, as well as a more limited range of horse racing, darts and Wimbledon tennis betting markets.
Support
Support is UK-based, aand you can contact them through various channels, like live chat, phone call and email. Phone support is from 8a.m to midnight whereas live chat is 24hrs. As mentioned there’s some negative feedback on waiting times but we credit should be given to SkyBet for offering both live chat and phone support. There is also an extensive section with commonly asked questions, so you can search for an answer to your question before trying to contact the customer support team.
Review Summary
There’s no way around it, when you’re the nation’s number one sports broadcaster and you enter the online betting market there isn’t any room for half measures. Luckily for British punters, over the past 15 years, Sky Bet has grown into a premium online sportsbook that has more than enough about it to stand on its own two feet.
It’s not the best out there in any single field, but it is good across all fields and there are very few weaknesses to speak of, and for this we’re marking it as a 9/10 . When you consider all of this in combination with the trust that the Sky brand commands, it’s a compelling product, indeed.
New customers only. first single & e/w bet only. odds of 1/1 or greater. 4 x £10 bet tokens. free bet stakes not included in returns. free bets are non withdrawable. free bets expire after 30 days. eligibility restrictions and further T&Cs apply. 18+. gambleaware.org