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EuroBet is a competent and reliable provider of online sports betting, although with so many other services available, its ease of use and value for money don’t really stand up to the competition.
Joining EuroBet is a more complicated process that it should be. There are various title screens before you can actually sign up, and once I got past these screens some form of technical problem resulted in me being given a different username to the one I entered. Furthermore, a minimum initial deposit of £15, and an unusual demand of faxed photo ID for credit card deposits, got EuroBet off to an unconvincing start.
EuroBet is clearly aimed at a European audience, a fact illustrated by the presence of sports like handball. There is a wide variety of languages, although the degree of implementation is somewhat mixed. There is a particular focus on Scandinavian events, which for some users may make up for the rarity of coverage of events like rugby and American Football.
The user interface of EuroBet is a mixed bag. Account details are always readily available from a convenient drop down menu, but actually placing a bet seems quite an involved process. The site itself is stylishly designed and is easy on the eye.
But with no menu bar down the side, the user generally has to find what he is looking for from the long-winded ‘all sports’ page. Once you find the event you are betting on, the slip is complicated enough that many first time users will feel confused, and there is no help available on that page to clarify matters.
Experienced bettors, however, will be impressed with EuroBet's large range of bets available on any particular event. Triples, combination bets, half-time predictions and handicap bets are easy to place. Filling in the slip is a simple two-step process once you understand what is going on.
For those in need of further explanation, a EuroBet helpline and email service is available from 9am to 6.30pm UK time. The service is prompt, although the representatives had to go away to find help on simple questions like ‘when was the site founded?’ and ‘what is the maximum bet on football?’
The latter question resulted in the correct, but still rather bizarre, response that overnight there are tight betting limits of, for example, £50 on horses and £99 on football. During the day, all large bets are confirmed individually. This gives the impression of EuroBet of an organisation which is either running on low margins, or which isn’t as large as it is made out to be. Considering that the odds are no better than, and sometimes are worse than, its major rivals, you begin to wonder what is going on.
In fact EuroBet was the first company to accept online bets, in 1996, and it joined with British bookmaking giant Corals in 1999, so its pedigree is very secure. This is demonstrated by the fact that, if you do manage to win, the withdrawal process is simple and prompt, although the £3 charge if you want a cheque seems rather cheeky.
EuroBet's service generally seems to be reliable, and the variety of types of bets available (albeit on a limited amount of sports) combined with a few obscure sports, and a wide choice of languages, will secure it a minority audience. However, issues with ease of use and value for money prevent it from currently mounting a serious challenge to the big boys.
Upshot: Above Average
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