Betfair

Betfair is an online betting site that markets itself as being a large betting community that treats it's bettors fairly – claiming to offer better odds, and a greater variety of bets, than most sites.

Betfair is certainly a popular betting site – they claim to have more than 15 million bets placed each day, and they offer a massive range of events to bet on – including soccer, horse racing, rugby, greyhounds, snooker, volleyball, and other sporting events – as well as non-sport related subjects, such as the outcomes of political situations.

Newcomers to the site are invited to take a tour which demonstrates how to place a bet, and the different kind of bets available. The invitation appears if you are not logged in to the site, but can easily be dismissed, and will not pop up again that session. The demo is actually useful – as there are lots of options on the site, and even if you are not new to sports betting in general, an overview of the layout of the site is still useful. The explanation of Backing and Laying bets is also useful, as matched betting is one of the more interesting features of the site, and since you are betting against other players, rather than against the bookmaker, you can get some very good odds on the site, and there are lots of bets for you to choose from.

Betfair allow you to bet in-play on quite a few games – including ones that may have had betting closed in many other casinos.

Betfair also offers a casino with zero house-margin games, including Baccarat, Blackjack, and Roulette. There are more than 40 games on the casino, and you have the option of playing for cash, or just for fun. They also have a poker section which features regular tournaments.

When you join Betfair you get a free £10 bet as a membership gift. There are also refer-a-friend schemes for some parts of the site. 

Overall, Betfair has fewer gimmicks than many other sites – there is no constant promotion of jackpots, bonuses, or comp points. They have taken a value approach, allowing you to choose the odds, and taking minimal juice themselves, and offering zero house-margin games in the casino. If you like to take a mathematical approach to your betting, then the matched betting approach may appeal to you – in which case, Betfair is a great site to use.