Betstars Review – A First-class Sportsbook

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Betstars is a strange sportsbook in that so many UK punters have never even heard of them but they are a first-class sportsbook with an online gambling pedigree that most sportsbooks could only dream about.

At first sight, the fact they were formed in 2016 would tempt punters to believe that Betstars is a sportsbook which has a lot to learn, but when you take into account that they are part of the Stars Group and listed on the Toronto and Nasdaq stock exchanges, it soon becomes apparent that they are a sportsbook which you should seriously consider opening an account with if you haven’t already.

Betstars

PC SmartPhone Tablet Award

• NBA markets
• Competitive Odds
• Good range of promos
• Betstars Free Bet
• In-play betting
• Minimum deposit: £5

Mastercard Visa Skrill PayPal

Rating

• Payout Speed 1/6
• Mobile Platform 1/6
• Security 1/6
• Bonuses 1/6
• Trustworthiness 1/6
• Markets 1/6
• Overall Score: 1/6

N/A

Horse Racing | Football | Motor Sports | Golf | Tennis

CLOSED

If you are not familiar with PokerStars, they are one of the main players in the highly competitive world of online poker, so there is not much that they don’t know about offering their customers a first-class gambling experience.

License / regulation

Betstars are regulated by the UK Gambling Commision so you can be sure that it is a secure and reliable betting site.

What is especially noticeable about Betstars though is that they take the welfare of their customers very seriously.

They are active members of organisations such as Gamcare and Gamstop and are regarded as a sportsbook which actively gets involved with these organisations as opposed to just being members and using their advertising material in an attempt to look the part!

Welcome Bonus

The Betstars sign up offer is nothing to shout home about when compared to the welcome bonus at bookies like Bet365, but the ongoing promotions more than make up for this and we will talk about those promotions later.

The Betstars sign up offer at the moment consists of two £10 free bets and to qualify for these free bets you have to place a £20 bet on any sports at odds of evens or higher.

Matched bettors will instantly realise that these two free bets can be matched out for a guaranteed profit.

This Betstars promotion code is only open for the first ninety days from when you have opened your account and as is usual with many sportsbooks, deposits made with Skrill and Neteller do not qualify for this offer.

Markets & Bets

When you first log into your Betstars UK account you will probably be struck by the simplicity of the layout.

It is predominantly white and actually looks quite amateurish but don’t let that first impression put you off because the markets and bets which are available are extensive and will suit the requirements of punters regardless of whether they are recreational or professional bettors.

Even though the parent company of Betstars has a US heritage, the most popular sports to bet on and those with the most Betstars bonus code attached to them would have to be football and greyhound racing.

As you would probably expect though, NFL and NBA markets are right up there, so if US themed sports take your preference, you won’t be disappointed.

Betstars also caters for betting on some less popular sports such as table tennis, ski jumping and are regarded as pioneers in betting on esports which is regarded by many as the ‘next big thing’

Placing a bet with Betstars is extremely straightforward and just a matter of clicking on the odds which can be found directly next to your selection.

This selection will be automatically placed in the bet slip which can be found to the right-hand side of the webpage.

You can add as many selections to the bet slip as required and you will be given the option of betting on these selections as single bets or putting them into an accumulator bet.

It is then just a matter of clicking on the blue ‘Place Bet’ button at the bottom of the bet slip and the bet can then be viewed by clicking on the ‘Placed Bets’ tab which can be found at the top of the bet slip.

There is also a ‘Free Bets’ tab at the top of the bet slip where you can view any free bets which have been awarded to you.

When you have added a selection to your betting slip you will see an example of how slick Betstars are when it comes to tempting their customers to place more bets because there will be the opportunity to place another bet which is related to the one you have just selected.

It will be under a heading which says, ‘Customers who placed this bet also backed the following’

Very clever and similar to the marketing expertise of Amazon who always give you examples of other books that customers have purchased when you purchase a book yourself.

Odds

Betstars know only too well that large numbers of their customers will be looking for the best prices so with that in mind, the odds that Betstars UK offer are usually quite competitive.

A feature regarding the odds which are on offer which is unique to Betstars is their spin and bet feature.

At first sight this may look a little ‘gimmicky’ but on closer inspection you will see that there is a lot more to it than meets the eye.

A spin and bet logo can be found directly next to the left of the bet slip on the home page, and if you click on this you will see a drop-down menu with a list of football matches which can be used to take advantage of the spin and bet feature.

Select the match you would like to bet on and then choose either a home win, away win or draw and then enter your stake which can be up to £100.

10% of your stake will be put into what is called the jackpot fund (this fund contributes towards the enhanced odds) so if you place a £10 bet, £9 of this stake will be placed on the multiplier which is revealed when you click on the ‘Spin and place bet’ button.

You will be awarded anything from the original price which has been offered up to 10x those odds so even though you are taking a very small risk, it can pay off if you are awarded a price higher than the original odds so many punters are prepared to take that risk.

Don’t get this spin and bet feature mixed up with the Betstars jackpots advertisements because they are completely different.

You don’t understand how betting odds work? No worries, take a look at our guide: Betting Odds Explained

Live betting

As you would expect from a bookie with such a fine pedigree, the live betting options are excellent and you also have the added reassurance that the in-play betting platform that Betstars have in place is extremely robust and reliable.

Live betting at Betstars can be accessed by clicking on the ‘In-Play’ button towards the top of the home page.

There is a wide range of in-play markets available but when you first arrive at the ‘in-play’ page you will just see the in-play markets which are being played at that particular time.

If you click on the ‘calendar’ tab though you will see which sports and their associated markets which will be available for live betting and the times at which they are due to start.

At the top of the calendar page you will also see the promotional offers which are available and which can be used on the live betting markets.

Live streaming

Live streaming is available at Betstars but focuses on the horse racing markets and is only available to customers who like in the UK and Ireland.

The quality of the live stream is very good but as with all of the online betting sites, don’t base any in-play betting decisions on the live stream because there is a delay of up to twenty seconds.

If you have already placed a bet on the race you want to watch though, it all adds to the entertainment and the only requirement to watch a live stream race is that you have an account with Betstars and that you have placed a minimum bet of £1 on the race.

It is worth bearing in mind that you can still watch the races on which you have placed in an accumulator bet, but the minimum unit stake is £1 which to be perfectly honest with you is pretty high.

If watching the streamed races in an accumulator bet is something which is of particular importance to you, you should consider placing the bet with William Hill where such harsh restrictions don’t apply.

Cash out

The cash-out option is available on any sport where the cash-out option is provided and this can be accessed from the ‘placed bets’ section of your bet slip.

When you click on the ‘placed bets’ tab you will be given an option to click on a ‘cash-out’ tab and from there you will see all of the bets which you have already placed which have the cash out option available.

The Betstars cash out facility can also be used on the Betstars app in exactly the same way that it is used on the desktop version of the website.

Mobile

The Betstars app is available on both Android and IOS and is basically everything that you want an app to be.

No bells and whistles, just an easy to navigate platform which will allow you to quickly and easily find the selection you are looking for and then place the bet.

The Betstars app operates off the same single wallet platform as the main sportsbook website so you don’t have to mess around with different wallets or anything like that.

Deposits and withdrawals

The deposit methods for Betstars consists of the usual Visa, Mastercard, bank transfers and web wallets such a Skrill, Neteller and PayPal.

Cryptocurrency deposits are not permitted at the time of writing but keep an eye on the situation if this is something which interests you because more and sportsbooks are starting to accept Bitcoin and Ethereum for instance as these cryptocurrencies become more mainstream.

As already mentioned, it is important to remember that if you are making a deposit in order to claim the Betstars promotion code (sign up bonus), deposits by Skrill or Neteller are not permitted.

The deposit limits can be set by the customer when they open an account and you can also view the deposit and withdrawal limits from within the cashier section when logged into the account.

As far as withdrawals go, web wallets are usually credited within a few hours whilst Visa and bank withdrawals can take up to five working days.

Remember that withdrawals from a sportsbook cannot be made directly back to Mastercard, even if the initial deposit was made by Mastercard.

This is not a decision which has been made by Betstars but which has been put in place by Mastercard and applies to all online sportsbooks and casinos.

Maximum bet limits and withdrawals

The maximum bet limits will depend on the market in which the bet is being placed along with the betting history of the customer.

A bettor with a history of placing large winning bets may find that their bets are restricted across some or all of the markets whilst other punters may find that within reason, they can place large bets without any problems at all.

All sportsbooks have safe guarding measures in place to protect their business and these measures are not usually revealed to third parties.

The advice would be to spread your bets between a number of different sportsbooks and don’t use any sportsbook solely to take advantage of the bonuses and promotions which they offer.

Registration

If you have read this Betstars review and would like to open an account with them, registration is extremely straightforward.

One word of warning though and that is if someone from the same address as you already has a Betstars account, you will receive a message from Betstars asking you for more details.

There is probably no other sportsbook which has the same level of systems in place to check for multiple accounts and this can be attributed directly to the experience of Betstars sister site, PokerStars, who are considered to be one of the best poker playing sites in the business.

Don’t worry though, as long as you are not trying any funny business, a simple reply clarifying who you are should quickly sort out any confusion.

The registration process for Betstars simply requires you to click on the green ‘Join’ button at the top right-hand corner of the webpage and then follow the instructions from there.

Make sure you are using a correct email address as you will be required to click on the link which Betstars will send you in order to complete the registration process.

You will be requested to send identification documents in the form of photocopies or scans of your id but this is perfectly safe and something which Betstars have to do to comply with their UK licensing agreement.

Placing a bet

Now that you have opened an account you will probably want to take advantage of the Betstars sign up offer.

If so, don’t use Skrill or Neteller to make a deposit, use another method such as a Visa debit card and deposit £20 into your account.

Select a bet with odds of evens (2.0) or over, click on the odds and you will see the selection appear on the bet slip.

Place the bet and when it has been settled, got back to the bet slip and click on the ‘free bets’ tab where you will see the two £10 free bets waiting for you.

After registration, how to place a bet, where to find the bet slip, how to add selections, navigating the platform – placing pre-match and live bets.

More promotions

When you have opened your Betstars account you will notice that a Betstars bonus code and a Betstars free bet will often be available for you to take advantage of.

We have already mentioned the spin and bet feature but there are also various Acca offers as well as an 80 + minute goals insurance which means that if you have placed a bet on a match in the Premier League, Champions League or Europa League and a goal is scored after 80 minutes which turns your bet from a winning one to a losing bet, you will receive a free bet up to £20, depending on the size of your stake.

They also offer what is known as the Betstars jackpots from time to time so this is something which is definitely worth keeping an eye on.

Customer care

It is obvious that Betstars are a first-class sportsbook but if there was one complaint it would be that even though they have a Betstars live chat facility, is not available to all of their customers.

They haven’t made the requirements to qualify for live chat public knowledge but it would seem that it is only available to those punters who have a history of placing larger bets.

The absence of the Betstars live chat for many punters is extremely frustrating and it is hoped that they will soon make it available to everyone.

Betstars can be contacted through a contact form and they are quick to respond but if you are looking for a quick reply it would be worth looking for the Betstars customer service number which is displayed in the ‘contact’ section of the Betstars website.

Safety & Security

Betstars definitely ticks all of the boxes with safety and security and even though this is something which they have to comply with as members of the UK Gambling Commision(№39108), they have their own security systems in place which go above and beyond the standard requirements.

Conclusion

Few sportsbooks are considered as being a ‘must have sportsbook’ but Betstars is definitely one of them.

Putting the live chat issue to one side for a minute, they really are first class and everything from the ongoing promotions which they offer to the attractive odds across a wide range of sports means that every online punter should seriously consider opening an account with Betstars.

When you first click on the Betstars login button it will become apparent that few sportsbooks can match the levels which Betstars have attained.

If you need to contact them quickly, phoning Betstars customer service number will mean that you get a quick and helpful reply but it should definitely be mentioned again, as soon as you click on that Betstars login UK button, you will be able to experience what it is like to bet with one of the best sportsbooks in the business.