Bet365

Bet365 are a familiar name, having held a bookmaking licence for over twenty years. They sponsor a number of betting-related events and television programmes and operate 59 traditional betting offices as well as this online sportsbook and associated casino and poker rooms.

The design of the home page isn't spectacular, and if you've seen any average Chinese takeaway menu lately then you'll have a pretty good idea of what to expect. There is one graphic on the page, but the bulk of it is dominated by blocks of green links with a menu of red links on the left hand side. Navigation is easy using the menu links, but it's not much of a pleasure.

Fortunately, sportsbook sites are about much more than pretty pages, and bet365 redeem themselves by offering betting on a wide range of events. These include the usual racing, football, cricket and so on, as well as the less common Gaelic sports, speedway and futsal. Football bettors are especially well catered for, with a whole section of statistics, including league tables, results from previous seasons and top scorers - not only for games held in Britain, but also for those on the European and International stage.

Placing bets is fairly straightforward, and involves adding selections to a virtual betting slip. However, in order to do this you need to make sure that you have logged in first - you can't complete your betting slip and then log in when you click to confirm it, as you can with some other bookies.

For those of you who like to hear what's going on with your bet as the event unfolds, the site offers a range of audio streaming broadcasts covering horse racing (including Irish racing), greyhound racing and soccer. The Saturday soccer show runs from 12pm to 5pm and provides the latest scores across the board as they happen.

If all of that isn't enough and you still want even more opportunities get your risk-fix, bet365 offers betting on no less than seven foreign lotteries: the Irish, Spanish, New York, Canadian, Australian, Hong Kong and German ones. They also offer the usual round of "speciality" bets, including naming reality TV show winners, World Championship Poker winners and foreign election winners.

All in all, this is a very decent sportsbook which is mainly let down by an uninspiring home page. If you can forgive that modest oversight then your proper betting needs will be well taken care of.

Operator

bet365
Hillside
Festival Way
Stoke-on-Trent
STAFFS
ST1 5SH

Customer service is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Customers calling from within the UK should phone: 08000 288 365. Customers in all other countries should phone: +44 1782 684 757.

Support is also available by e-mailing support@customerservices365.com.

Money

Opening an account involves entering the usual personal details and takes just a few minutes. There are a number of different options for depositing money into the account, including credit and debit card, bank transfer, Neteller, Firepay and Moneybookers. The minimum deposit is £5 by UK debit card but more for other options, so check the help section of the site for specific details.