Review
Simple, clean, no-frills design of website and mobile app
Create your own racecard each day made up of the races you want to bet on and watch
Range of offers on horse racing and other sports
£30 in free bets when you sign up
18+ New UK & NI customers only. promo code ‘SPORTS60’. Deposit & place first sports bet of £10 in one bet transaction, at odds of Evens (2.0) . settled within 60 days. First bet must be on Sports. £30 in Free Bets credited within 48 hours of bet settlement, 7-day expiry. Payment restrictions apply. SMS validation may be required. Max 60 Free Spins on Justice League Comics. 7-day expiry.Full T&Cs apply.
Full T&C's apply
Fred Done, the founder of Betfred, opened his first Done Bookmakers shop in Salford in 1967. He famously paid for it from the proceeds of a bet on England to win the World Cup the previous year. The company, which was renamed Betfred in 2004, has grown to be the largest independent bookmaker in the UK.
Done, a master in generating publicity, was the first bookie to pay out early on the result of the Premier League. He settled bets on his beloved Manchester United to be champions in 1998 - only to see them pipped to the title by Arsenal.
Betfred’s profile in the horse racing world has been raised by its sponsorship of big jumps races such as the Cheltenham Gold Cup and flat highlights including the Ebor and the Cesarewitch Handicap.
The company’s USP is its no-nonsense approach to betting, which definitely applies to its website and app. Both offer a minimalist, streamlined design to visitors, and are extremely easy to navigate when looking to find the right bet.
That no-frills sentiment even extends to the navigation bar where, instead of a tab for “horse racing” there is simply the word “horses” with the outline of a horse’s head. But there is nothing minimalist about the amount of sport in general – and horse racing in particular – for Betfred racing fans to enjoy.
International races are found under a separate tab from the UK and Ireland, and the action takes in meetings from France, the USA, Australia and more. Placing a single bet or compiling an acca are both very straightforward. You also have the facility to build your own racecard, composed merely of the races you want to bet on and watch on a particular day.
The offers for new customers include a healthy £30 in free bets in return for a £10 stake on your first bet after signing up. This is an operator that clearly loves horses and horse racing, and that enjoys the challenge of the daily tussle with the punting public.
App easy on the eye and very simple to use
One of the best sign up offers around
Live stream racing very easily
Daily odds boost with Fred’s Pushes
You need to bet to live stream a race
Could take up to 10 hours for free bets to reach your account
The Betfred free bet offer to new customers is an eye-catching one. Deposit £10 in your account and use it for your first wager, and Betfred will credit you with £30 in free bets. Please bear in mind, though, that the first bet must be on a selection with odds longer than even money. And it could take up to 10 hours after that wager is settled for the free bets to reach your account.
You can withdraw any winnings from those free bets, but your returns will not include the free stake. The bonus code for this offer is SPORTS60 and also includes 60 free spins on the site’s casino games. Once you are a Betfred horse racing customer, keep an eye out for price enhancements, also known as Fred’s Pushes, plus extra places for each-way wagers on certain races.
18+ New UK & NI customers only. promo code ‘SPORTS60’. Deposit & place first sports bet of £10 in one bet transaction, at odds of Evens (2.0) . settled within 60 days. First bet must be on Sports. £30 in Free Bets credited within 48 hours of bet settlement, 7-day expiry. Payment restrictions apply. SMS validation may be required. Max 60 Free Spins on Justice League Comics. 7-day expiry.Full T&Cs apply.
Full T&C's applyOnce you’ve made a Betfred horse racing bet, you can watch your selection in action. The Betfred racing service includes live streaming from all UK and Irish racing and most of the worldwide action too.
The streaming service is easy to access on both the website and the app, and the quality of picture and sound is excellent. You need to have placed a bet of at least £1 on the Betfred horses tab to qualify and see how your choice fares when the race to the finish line is on.
Betfred’s Best Odds Guaranteed is one of the ways in which the company takes one source of anxiety out of the process of betting on horse racing. This facility applies to all UK and Irish racing. It means that if your horse’s odds lengthen after you placed your bet, you will be paid out at the longer price.
Equally, if your selection shortens in the market, you will still be paid at the odds that applied when you staked your bet. This only applies after 8am on the day of the race, so wait until you bet on Betfred horse racing today before being sure your odds are protected. It’s also worth noting that it doesn’t apply to certain full-cover bets like Lucky 15s.
18+ New UK & NI customers only. promo code ‘SPORTS60’. Deposit & place first sports bet of £10 in one bet transaction, at odds of Evens (2.0) . settled within 60 days. First bet must be on Sports. £30 in Free Bets credited within 48 hours of bet settlement, 7-day expiry. Payment restrictions apply. SMS validation may be required. Max 60 Free Spins on Justice League Comics. 7-day expiry.Full T&Cs apply.
Full T&C's applyBetfred made its name as a chain of licensed betting shops. There are still many high streets that feature the distinctive royal blue signage of the company. However, the firm has moved with the times and now has an app for Apple and Android devices.
As you would expect, both apps are easy on the eye and very simple to use. Horse racing is one of the first tabs on the main navigation bar, as is the Price Boosts button that leads to offers in many sports including racing.
The nav bar at the bottom of the home page has tabs for Vegas games and casino, as well as virtual sports - including virtual horse racing. This is a contrast with many operators who include virtuals as part of their mainstream horse racing offering and switching between virtuals, casino, numbers and sports betting is an extremely easy process.
This is an app that incorporates all the functionality of the website - including live streaming and cash out - but in an even more streamlined and effectively presented format. The simple message is that if you want to enjoy the Betfred racing service while you are on the go, you can be confident that you will be able to.
The importance of in-play betting in the modern world is emphasised by the fact that it is the first tab you arrive at on the home page of the Betfred website and apps. Betting on horse racing, and many other sports, has been revolutionised by the technology that enables odds to be updated instantly. That in turn means bookmakers can continue to offer bets safely once a race has started, and Betfred has embraced this trend. The facility to cash out a bet, meanwhile, enables you to close a bet down and take some profit before the final outcome is known.
If you are looking for guidance from previous Betfred customers, there are plenty of places to find their opinions. And many people have visited these forums to pass on their positive experience of betting on horse racing and other sports with Betfred.
One visitor to bookmakeradvisor.com praised two particular aspects of life as a punter that always score well as they praised the “quick payments and consistently good promos” they had experienced with Betfred.
That sentiment was echoed by another visitor to the same site who said they were “very happy with Betfred so far - so many offers”. Bookmakers who have developed their own app are always looking to upgrade and revise their offering, and Betfred is clearly no exception to that rule.
“It’s a great app, easy to use,” said one reviewer on the App Store, while any suggestion that only millennials can get their heads round apps was dismissed by another visitor. “I like the app and understand it, and I’m 76,” was the claim by a veteran reviewer. Another happy customer clearly still identifies the company with Mr Done, the driving force behind the business: “Really enjoy betting with Betfred - he’s the main man.”
Betfred are very committed to protecting all customer information. Their security and privacy system ensures they handle it with the utmost care and take all appropriate steps to protect it.
To ensure the continuous security of the website, Betfred perform annual PCI-DSS assessments. The PCI-DSS security standards enforce rigorous controls surrounding cardholder data and are intended to protect sensitive cardholder data.
To further the security measures, they also perform annual independent security audits as requested by the Gambling Commission. These assessments are based on a subset of the remote gambling and software technical standards, the purpose aims to ensure customers are not exposed to unnecessary security risks.
Year Founded: 1967
Telephone Number: 0800 032 0878
Email: support@betfred.com
Live Chat:
High Street Shops:
Banking Options: Debit cards, Neteller, Skrill, PayPal, Bank Transfer, PaySafeCard
How long does Betfred withdrawal take?
When you have a Betfred racing bet that wins, you may want to take the money out of your account. It will appear there within minutes of the runners passing the finish line, but - depending on your withdrawal method - it will take between 24 hours and five days for you to receive the cash.
Who owns Betfred?
Betfred is still owned by the man who gave his name to the company, Fred Done. Since establishing his first betting shop in Salford in 1967, Done and his brother Peter have steadily built the business to what it is today.
How do you change to decimal on Betfred?
If you want to see your Betfred horse racing bet with decimal odds rather than traditional fractions, the process is extremely easy. Find the Settings tab in the navigation bar and choose the option Odds Type. You will be able to choose your favoured odds format there.
How do you use free bets on Betfred?
Once a Betfred free bet has been credited to your account, it is very easy to use. When you make a selection and it appears in your bet slip, you will see a prompt asking whether you want to use your free bet. If you do, it will appear on the slip and you can then place the bet.
How do I withdraw money from Betfred?
Betfred makes it easy to withdraw money from your account, either on the website or apps. At the top right of the home screen, you will see a tab with your current balance on it. Click the arrow on the tab and a menu will appear that includes the facility to withdraw some or all of your funds.
