Anyone betting at Australian bookies?

Sunde91 · 09-15-10, 01:35 AM

Talk to shari, bogbat, Domestic.

Hareeba! · 09-15-10, 02:02 AM

Originally posted by zebras99

Hey guys,

I wanted to know if anyone is betting in AU bookies.

I am using CentreBet and I am very happy with it. Do you know any other reliable Australian bookies?
Do they have any "strange" rules?

Yes I have accounts with most of the Oz corporates and the TABs

They are all 100% safe to deal with and subject to government regulation, guarantees and ongoing supervision.

Centrebet: good odds, I played there for a few years, did very well, too well for their liking so got limited to betting peanuts so had to give up on them. Take them for what you can get but expect to get limited and shut out of some products totally.

Sportingbet: not as good but offer wide range of betting options. Similar story for me though, didn't make anywhere near as much out of them as Centrebet but the end result the same.

IAS: recently taken over by the Paddy Power group and have gone down hill badly. Severe limits imposed on most sports. Racing is their main game and they are probably the best for that. Customer service seems to have a lot of issues and particularly for overseas customers having to comply with the strict ID requirements imposed on Oz books.

Sportsbet: also part of the Paddy Power group now and their influence has wrecked a once good book. Severe limits now in place there too.

Luxbet: Owned by Tabcorp. Started off only a year or so ago and very promisingly but again they are now limiting bets much more. Sometimes I'm surprised when they take my full stake but more often than not it's cut to less than half what I ask for. They are very lazy with soccer odds in particular, leaving up stale prices and then rejecting your bet entirely. Their "best of the best" racing product is the best product in the market but unfortunately they capped it to a $250 stake last week.

Betchoice: Still independent but not often top odds other than for Oz sports on which they will take a decent bet.

Betstar: Indpendent and very useful for Oz sports. Particularly like their Friday even money lines (spreads) even though limited to $500.

Sports Alive: Another independent. Odds sometimes the best about but another who has of more recent times severely limited my stakes though can still get down reasonable bets on Oz sports. Can be a little slower than all the rest to pay - up to a week if you don't give them a prod whereas all the others will pay same day/overnight.

Tabcorp (NSW and Vic TABs). Tote betting on races is their main game. Will take good sized bets on sports and though juice is high they often post top odds for one side/player. Good loyalty program. Don't think they accept overseas customers though?

UNiTAB (Qld TAB). Again tote betting on races their primary object but also can post good odds for sports though won't take anywhere near the stakes that Tabcorp will. And don't think overseas customers accepted.

sportscash · 09-15-10, 02:14 AM

Yes what Hareeba said.I bet at most of those my favourites are centrebet,sportingbet and betchoice.

Border Gadgie · 09-15-10, 02:58 AM

Decent appraisal of Aussie books by Hareeba, ones in the Paddypower group have gone down hill with limits but all are very reliable, especially for payouts. Sportsbet is the one you should do next, they also have good competitions and regular offers.

pauluk · 09-15-10, 03:20 AM

australian books are good, but sometimes mad with id verification..

zebras99 · 09-15-10, 03:47 AM

Hareeba! thanks a lot for such a great and thorough answer it will be very helpful!

I used sporting bet AU for some time. As Pauluk said, the ID verification is mad and it took me almost a month to verify it before I could upload the money. Plus, the only betting currency was AU $

although, they gave me free bets of worth 100 AU$ TWICE so I was very very happy with them

Hareeba! · 09-15-10, 03:48 AM

Originally posted by pauluk

australian books are good, but sometimes mad with id verification..

not the fault of the books, they are simply complying with the law and licensing requirements

having said that I think some of their staff haven't been properly trained in how to implement it all efficiently

Domestic · 09-15-10, 04:00 AM

Can recommend Centrebet highly. Often have 8 cent lines and a lot of props on various sports and I have never had a problem with them in 3 years of playing.
Can also recommend Sportingbet and Sportsbet although their live betting isn't as impressive.
And as Hareeba said, due to government regulation the well known Australian books are safe.

boeing power · 09-15-10, 04:28 AM

you need to fuk a kangaroo to cash your money out

sandylinch · 09-15-10, 04:31 AM

many years ago I joined Canbet, but Canbet went from Australia to GB and many problems, so I closed my account

Hareeba! · 09-15-10, 05:05 AM

Originally posted by sandylinch

many years ago I joined Canbet, but Canbet went from Australia to GB and many problems, so I closed my account

wise move .... they have fallen from grace very badly ... when owned by IAS they were as good as any of the other Oz books ... we disown them now

lukahh · 09-15-10, 05:19 AM

excellent summary Hareeba!
i think TAB accepts overseas customers? i once browsed and went to open account but then changed my mind as wasn't sure of the value added... probably need to reduce number of my books rather than increase. but if you say no limits apply there, i may reconsider.

Poster X · 09-15-10, 05:23 AM

Aussies remind me a lot of the English bookies. Bet365 still has my head spinning, yeesh.

jjgold · 09-15-10, 05:24 AM

Most Aussie books limit you severely if you win a few thousands
Actually any Euro books cuts limits very fast that is why they make money

shari91 · 09-15-10, 06:03 AM

Originally posted by boeing power

you need to fuk a kangaroo to cash your money out

I've never had a problem withdrawing my money even when I've made really big bets (on behalf of others). Only one time with Centrebet did they request I resend my credit card info in when I requested a five-figure payout and they gave me $200 in free plays after I raised a bit of a stink. As long as I've requested payouts before midday, the money has hit my bank account the next day and on the days that I've put the request in later in the day the money shows up 2 days later.

Originally posted by jjgold

Most Aussie books limit you severely if you win a few thousands
Actually any Euro books cuts limits very fast that is why they make money

Not true. I think if you're an average bettor - win some weeks, lose some weeks and not constantly placing large bets - you'll be fine. At least I, and no one I know of who is a rec bettor has ever had a problem and some of the people in that group of hit the books here for a substantial amount of money, especially on AFL, the horses and tennis.

shari91 · 09-15-10, 06:03 AM

Double post. WTF??!!

Ace_of_Spades · 09-15-10, 06:44 AM

Originally posted by jjgold

Most Aussie books limit you severely if you win a few thousands
Actually any Euro books cuts limits very fast that is why they make money

So wrong!

h3da · 09-15-10, 06:57 AM

Tab does allow oversea customer and we have them from all over the world.. We have approximately 600 platinum customers who turn over at least 500k a year and most of them are happy with our limit.. Our number one club isn't so great but it something I guess...our odds are probably lower than any other Aussie bookie but we are the most reliable and rarely limit customers.. I like centrebet but their limit is shocking at times... Sportingbet is okay because when they limit u u can just resubmit and it should go through fine... Sportbet offer so little options.. Ias closes races too early which is pathetic..

davidchong · 09-15-10, 07:54 AM

the best one is tab.....

moved from iasbet to tab.com.au

Hareeba! · 09-15-10, 04:39 PM

Originally posted by lukahh

excellent summary Hareeba!
i think TAB accepts overseas customers? i once browsed and went to open account but then changed my mind as wasn't sure of the value added... probably need to reduce number of my books rather than increase. but if you say no limits apply there, i may reconsider.

you're right they do accept non-Australians but generally not Americans

Hareeba! · 09-15-10, 04:40 PM

Originally posted by jjgold

Most Aussie books limit you severely if you win a few thousands
Actually any Euro books cuts limits very fast that is why they make money

you're right, the Europeans have started to take over the Oz books and now they are heading the same way ... very very sad

Hareeba! · 09-15-10, 04:46 PM

Originally posted by Ace_of_Spades

So wrong!

what part of that was so wrong?

I can absolutely assure you that I've been limited severely at Centrebet and Sportingbet to the extent that it is not worth continuing to hold an account with them. They also denied me access to some of their racing products.

Also at Sportsbet, IAS, Luxbet and SportsAlive where I do still play because they don't limit as severely on Oz sports or racing as they do with say tennis, golf, F1 etc.

King_Suckerman · 09-15-10, 04:52 PM

I've had generally good experiences with Oz books. May even try some more that are mentioned above.

Hareeba! · 09-15-10, 04:53 PM

Originally posted by davidchong

the best one is tab.....

moved from iasbet to tab.com.au

TAB's best features are the amount they allow you to bet without account limiting and their exotic racing pools.

However their fixed odds juice is relatively high but that doesn't mean that you can't find good odds for one side/player quite frequently.

Their weekend specials are sometimes good but unfortunately limited to $50.
The #1 club loyalty program is an appreciated bonus.

Gee · 09-15-10, 05:05 PM

I've never had an issue with centrebet, sportsbet, sportingbet or betfair paying out. its always instant deposit to my account and takes 1-3 days max for the funds to clear. no fees as well, which is a huge bonus. downside - no live betting online with aussie books. huge

for me.

the lines vary, but are reasonably competitive.

IMO aussie books are all solid and reliable, because of how heavily regulated our industry is over here.

The lines don't compare to some of the international books, but you expect that...

lacoste · 09-15-10, 05:12 PM

The Tab is not so good for non-Australian customers.
For example : you can have an account in €,$ or pound but in reality your account will still be in australian dollars and your balance will fluctuate with the exchange rate. You will also be charged by your bank fees for curency conversion every time you deposit.And you can't use moneybookers neither.

h3da · 09-15-10, 05:17 PM

Countries we do not accept:

United States of America
U.S. Virgin Islands
Netherlands
Dutch Antilles
Hong Kong
Germany
Turkey
Denmark
Hungary

The reason that we don't limit with exotic racing is because its paramutuel and we just take a portion of the profit from each pool so the more the money there is, the better it is for the tab whereas other bookies have the risk on themselves since they follow tab odds.. Our weekend special can be bypassed if I'm not wrong.. You are able to open multiple accounts with the tab.. just give customer service a call on 131 802 and request for a new account and do that.. No fees apply of course..

zebras99 · 09-16-10, 02:06 AM

Thanks a lot for so many answers and great insights. I will definitely try out more Australian bookies and hope to have good experience.

Santo · 09-16-10, 03:48 AM

I had quite a bit of trouble convincing them to convert my old GBP accounts to AUD ones when I moved out here, in virtually every case they wanted more than usual paperwork then just set up a new account, but otherwise pretty smooth sailing.

jjgold · 09-16-10, 05:00 AM

Good info unfortunately most of us cannot play at these books

sportsbetwin · 09-16-10, 05:52 AM

Excellent summary by hareeba.
Collectively the safest sportsbook country in the worls.

lukahh · 09-17-10, 06:27 AM

Originally posted by h3da

Countries we do not accept:

United States of America
U.S. Virgin Islands
Netherlands
Dutch Antilles
Hong Kong
Germany
Turkey
Denmark
Hungary

The reason that we don't limit with exotic racing is because its paramutuel and we just take a portion of the profit from each pool so the more the money there is, the better it is for the tab whereas other bookies have the risk on themselves since they follow tab odds.. Our weekend special can be bypassed if I'm not wrong.. You are able to open multiple accounts with the tab.. just give customer service a call on 131 802 and request for a new account and do that.. No fees apply of course..

seems like very random list of countries. i can understand usa and hk due to laws... others, intriguing

you do accept only betting in AUD, right?

bullock · 09-17-10, 07:06 AM

I have never had any trouble with AU bookies. I have accounts at Centrebet, Sportsalive and Sportsbet.

jjgold · 09-17-10, 09:40 AM

Security so tight with these places, they want a lot of documents too which I guess is good.