Due to problems with the SportsBet app, we no recommend William Hill Australia.
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SPORTSBET MOBILE RACING BETS
Overview Sportsbet are one of the oldest Australian based bookmakers and have been in operation since 1993. The company has seen many changes since then though, none bigger than global betting giants Paddy Power acquiring a 51% stake in the company in 2005. This has definitely been a positive move for the company who have since then gone on to create one of the most comprehensive betting sites for its Australian punters. |
The changes have run throughout the company and one thing that has been overhauled is the look and feel of the site. A brand new image was adopted in 2011 and along with this gave the company its first introduction into the world of mobile betting. Their app now boasts a condensed version of their already extensive online bookmaker propelling them into the 21st century.
It’s the app that we will be concentrating throughout this review and more importantly, there attention to detail when it comes to horse racing. As will all Australian bookmakers, horse racing provides a massive share of their overall turnover so seeing how it performs on the app will be interesting.
Features
The first thing that really draws your attention on the app is just how good it looks. For those of you who are used to the new design of the online bookmaker then the app will feel very familiar. The continuation of the blue’s and whites are used throughout and make it look fresh and modern. We love the use of the quick links at the top of the page allowing you to jump between sports but also the fixed header that includes your betting slip makes it easy to keep track of selected bets.
You can dive straight into the horse racing action directly from the home page. The top area of the page includes information on the next 6 upcoming races and also informs you of how long it is until the start of that race and where that meeting is taking place. After selecting your race you can jump into the race card, of which will be discussed in depth later in the review.
Once into the horse racing section you can choose from a number of different selections including todays races, tomorrows races, early markets, horse racing specials, horse racing futures and multiples. There is also a chance to flick between both harness racing and greyhound racing from this screen which again provides a similar list of options. It’s worth pointing out that both of these sports aren’t covered as comprehensively as horse racing however.
The options mentioned above are all pretty self-explanatory. Each will provide a list of the meetings for that selection before then being able to go on and choose your race. A really nice addition to this section is the ability to flick between both Australian/ New Zealand based meetings and that from those based around the world. This is actually a theme that runs throughout the app and the ability to choose from a global range of races really does add to the depth of the app. We will even go as far as saying in that the majority of races on offer are from that of places outside Australia. This isn’t because there are limited in markets in Australia, far from it, but the cumulative amount of meetings outside the country is obviously going to be higher. It’s also great that for each meeting they clearly signify which country that meeting is based in, compared to other apps which merely list the name and it’s often not apparent as to where it’s actually based. Another positive to this is that you will be able to access some form of racing almost around the clock making it much more accessible to people outside of Australia.
It’s the app that we will be concentrating throughout this review and more importantly, there attention to detail when it comes to horse racing. As will all Australian bookmakers, horse racing provides a massive share of their overall turnover so seeing how it performs on the app will be interesting.
Features
The first thing that really draws your attention on the app is just how good it looks. For those of you who are used to the new design of the online bookmaker then the app will feel very familiar. The continuation of the blue’s and whites are used throughout and make it look fresh and modern. We love the use of the quick links at the top of the page allowing you to jump between sports but also the fixed header that includes your betting slip makes it easy to keep track of selected bets.
You can dive straight into the horse racing action directly from the home page. The top area of the page includes information on the next 6 upcoming races and also informs you of how long it is until the start of that race and where that meeting is taking place. After selecting your race you can jump into the race card, of which will be discussed in depth later in the review.
Once into the horse racing section you can choose from a number of different selections including todays races, tomorrows races, early markets, horse racing specials, horse racing futures and multiples. There is also a chance to flick between both harness racing and greyhound racing from this screen which again provides a similar list of options. It’s worth pointing out that both of these sports aren’t covered as comprehensively as horse racing however.
The options mentioned above are all pretty self-explanatory. Each will provide a list of the meetings for that selection before then being able to go on and choose your race. A really nice addition to this section is the ability to flick between both Australian/ New Zealand based meetings and that from those based around the world. This is actually a theme that runs throughout the app and the ability to choose from a global range of races really does add to the depth of the app. We will even go as far as saying in that the majority of races on offer are from that of places outside Australia. This isn’t because there are limited in markets in Australia, far from it, but the cumulative amount of meetings outside the country is obviously going to be higher. It’s also great that for each meeting they clearly signify which country that meeting is based in, compared to other apps which merely list the name and it’s often not apparent as to where it’s actually based. Another positive to this is that you will be able to access some form of racing almost around the clock making it much more accessible to people outside of Australia.
The addition of a horse racing specials section on the app also makes it stand out against the crowd. Whilst the bread and butter for any company will be making sure they cover as many meetings as possible, the addition of more specialist markets like these is something that begins to set companies apart. The sorts of markets you can expect from this section will differ depending as and when you access the app, but expect things such as trainer, jockey, horse and race specials to take up the bulk of this market.
The inclusion of both early markets and horse racing futures selections means that punters can bet on events days, weeks or even months in advance. For those of you outside Australia, you may be more familiar with these being called Ante Post markets, but they essentially have the same concept. One thing we did notice is that there are not always live odds available for the markets on offer. This seems a little strange as the whole point of these sorts of markets is to provide an early look at the betting. Futures betting is available for the Golden Rose, Caulfield Cup, Cox Plate, Melbourne Cup, Caulfield Guineas, Thousand Guineas, Puissance De Lune and many other major races.
The multiples section is actually one of our favourites on the app. Here you can select between three options including daily doubles, Quaddie’s and Super 6. The daily doubles allows you to choose between two races from one meeting. Basically from here you select the winner of one race then the winner of the other to try and get an enhanced price. It works very much the same as an accumulator type bet. The Quaddie is a similar bet but includes four picks with the Super 6 being the same again but with 6 selections. This is without doubt one of the best features on the app.
The race card is about as compressive as you are going to get. You get all your standard information such as horse name, jockey, quick look form, price, time of race, meeting and date. But included is an addition chunk of info for each horse that includes place percentage, win parentage, track, prize money, last 6 races, career, sire, dam, age and sex. There is also an option to switch the betting market between fixed price, starting price and exacta, although these do vary depending on the race.
The inclusion of both early markets and horse racing futures selections means that punters can bet on events days, weeks or even months in advance. For those of you outside Australia, you may be more familiar with these being called Ante Post markets, but they essentially have the same concept. One thing we did notice is that there are not always live odds available for the markets on offer. This seems a little strange as the whole point of these sorts of markets is to provide an early look at the betting. Futures betting is available for the Golden Rose, Caulfield Cup, Cox Plate, Melbourne Cup, Caulfield Guineas, Thousand Guineas, Puissance De Lune and many other major races.
The multiples section is actually one of our favourites on the app. Here you can select between three options including daily doubles, Quaddie’s and Super 6. The daily doubles allows you to choose between two races from one meeting. Basically from here you select the winner of one race then the winner of the other to try and get an enhanced price. It works very much the same as an accumulator type bet. The Quaddie is a similar bet but includes four picks with the Super 6 being the same again but with 6 selections. This is without doubt one of the best features on the app.
The race card is about as compressive as you are going to get. You get all your standard information such as horse name, jockey, quick look form, price, time of race, meeting and date. But included is an addition chunk of info for each horse that includes place percentage, win parentage, track, prize money, last 6 races, career, sire, dam, age and sex. There is also an option to switch the betting market between fixed price, starting price and exacta, although these do vary depending on the race.
Verdict
As there are now so many mobile betting apps in the industry these days, the punter really does have the choice when it comes to With Sportsbet being one of the bigger bookmakers in Australia, we had high hopes coming into this review for what they were going to offer from their horse racing section. We are delighted to learn that they did not disappoint.
As soon as you get into the app there is just an air of professionalism about it and that is often something that many companies fall short on. But it’s not just all style and no substance; far from it. They offer a massive range of racing meetings not just from Australia, but around the world. This could be argued that it’s more dedicated than some of the bigger global betting brands and we are almost certain that the buyout from Paddy Power has had something to do with this.
There’s very little to grumble about with the app. In fact, we can’t find anything that feels as though it shouldn’t be there or even things that we feel are needed. There are always aspects that can be added to, which is the same as anything really, but Sportsbet have pretty much managed to nail the horse racing section of their fantastic betting app.
As there are now so many mobile betting apps in the industry these days, the punter really does have the choice when it comes to With Sportsbet being one of the bigger bookmakers in Australia, we had high hopes coming into this review for what they were going to offer from their horse racing section. We are delighted to learn that they did not disappoint.
As soon as you get into the app there is just an air of professionalism about it and that is often something that many companies fall short on. But it’s not just all style and no substance; far from it. They offer a massive range of racing meetings not just from Australia, but around the world. This could be argued that it’s more dedicated than some of the bigger global betting brands and we are almost certain that the buyout from Paddy Power has had something to do with this.
There’s very little to grumble about with the app. In fact, we can’t find anything that feels as though it shouldn’t be there or even things that we feel are needed. There are always aspects that can be added to, which is the same as anything really, but Sportsbet have pretty much managed to nail the horse racing section of their fantastic betting app.
SPORTSBET RATING: 4/5
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Check out these reviews of other top Australian mobile bookmakers.
