888 Sport Review
888 were one of the biggest online only betting companies in the world, so big that they even managed to buy one of the high street giants – William Hill.
This is a thoroughly modern brand that have an expansive range of products, markets, and features that make them a destination for punters and gamers of all kinds. They quite simply do everything, and they do it well.
With a simple modern interface that performs well on all devices, 888 Sport offer every feature a typical sports bettor would want with some outstanding regular customer offers. There is also access to one of the world’s best casinos and poker platforms from these guys too.
Sportsbook
The sportsbook was a later addition to the 888 family, opening for business in 2008. That still makes it well over a decade old though, and this experience, no doubt with a little assistance from the company’s endless resources, shines through when you begin to use it.
For a start, on an average day you will find more betting lines and depth of market in many sports here than anywhere else online. I am talking 400+ markets for big Champions League games and 300+ for Premier League fixtures; there are a lot of betting options at 888 Sport.
You can also expect to find good depth of market with tennis, golf, darts, and American football, while some niche sports like bandy, cyclo cross, and water polo are available in smaller numbers.
The horse racing coverage is worldwide, and they make a valiant effort of presenting it all on the interface, but for my money there are more efficient places to bet on the gee gee’s, although there’s certainly no reason to avoid 888 if the horses only play a small part in your betting activity, even if their odds aren’t always the best here.
Odds in general are competitive; you will probably always find one or two bookies offering better but not by enough to make you jump ship, and football, tennis, cricket and basketball bettors in particular will be happy with what they find.
In-Play Experience
It’s interesting how much the interface can affect your enjoyment when betting live. Even if you have all the features and fixtures in the world, a sketchy set up sort of ruins the whole thing.
There are no such issues here, and the simplicity with which the whole site is designed plays a big part in its success.
It’s just so easy to use, and the ability to browse other live events while in event view of another is very useful indeed,
In any live event you will have access to:
- Match stats
- Comprehensive historical stats tool
- A bet builder (for certain sports)
- Cash out
- Live streaming
- Match graphic
Plus, the betting markets are broken down into useful categories that are collapsible so you can hunt between them at speed.
Live game availability in general is very good with a wide range of sports covered, so not just the obvious stuff, and you can jump between sports categories in no time at all to see what’s currently going on.
Finances
There are a lot of terms and conditions with all 888 products, and the sportsbook is arguably the most complicated of them all.
One thing that is clear though is that the withdrawal time frames are not great here. Even with ewallets you are looking at at least 2 days, rising to a maximum of 6 days for debit cards and 8 days with a wire transfer – not good.
The payment, deposit and withdrawal terms are convoluted, but I have broken down the payment options available below:
| Payment Type | Minimum Deposit | Minimum Withdrawal |
|---|---|---|
| Debit Card | £10 | £5 |
| Neteller | £10 | £5 |
| Skrill | £10 | £5 |
| Paypal | £10 | £5 |
| Paysafecard | £10 | Not Possible |
| BACS | £10 | £5 |
You should also be aware that 888 reserve the right to cap winnings at £250k, so watch your staking amounts especially for combos and things like that, you don’t want to end up staking more than necessary to win the same amount.
This could put you off if you are a high stakes bettor, but most punters won’t likely be phased by it. Nevertheless, other online bookies of a similar stature have much higher caps.
The Ideal Punter for 888 – Mini Review
This place will suit you if you bet on a range of popular sports and want a better than average selection of bet types to play with.
Also, being a global company, you can expect good coverage of some sports that might not get the same amount of attention at UK only bookies, like American sports for instance. This global customer base also explains why the site is available in so many languages.
Those of you that have specific payment needs will be pleased to see how many different methods are supported here, just watch that £250k payout cap and the withdrawal timeframes.
Finally, with 888 Sport you are betting with one of the biggest gambling brands on the planet, and that makes them one of the most secure places to ply your trade, so if safety and security is paramount for you then they are well worth considering.
About 888 Sport
888 Holdings PLC was founded right back in 1997 in the British Virgin Island’s by 4 Israeli entrepreneurs as Virtual Holdings Limited. In the same year its subsidiary gained a gaming licence in Antigua where they went on to base their operation. Several casino operations were launched over the next 5 years with the 888.com brand launching in 2002.
By 2003 888 obtained a gaming licence in Gibraltar and by 2005 were listed on the London stock exchange. Finally 888 sport began running their sportsbook in 2008.
The 888 sport sites is operated by 888 Holdings, based in Gibraltar. Building on years of experience in the gaming and casino market the group have gone on to create a comprehensive bookmaker package. With a full UK gambling commission licence they are also a very safe betting site.
This bookie can boast good odds, a nice in play betting feature, extras including live streaming, news and stats, a decent mobile app and a big casino enterprise backing it all up. As a consequence 888 have become one of the best UK online bookmakers. International pedigree shines through too with a great deal of payment options, a number of languages and currencies offered and a diverse array of sports markets to bet on.
What makes them even more interesting, is that in 2022 they purchased the UK business interests of high street giant William Hill. That means they own the brand in the UK and so they took a step onto the high street in a big way, when other people were closing stores. It remains to be seen how successful the acquisition will be, but it creates many interesting opportunities for 888.
888 Casino
Being one of the oldest, biggest, and most successful online gambling companies in the world, it will come as no surprise to learn that they also offer a fully loaded online casino containing everything you would hope to find there.
Not only is this full of quality slots, jackpot and casino games, but there is also a live casino and plenty of exclusive proprietary content as well. You see, 888 also have a development wing to their business who make their own slot games. This company is called Dragonfish, and they command a lot of respect in the industry.
888 spice things up by running regular slot races (tournaments essentially) and there are plenty of rewards to be had here too, including challenges set for you by the company, plus a VIP club that spreads across 777 Casino and 888 Games, two other branches of 888’s empire.
888 Poker
Additionally to the above, the 888 Poker product is equally well renowned. This is especially well considered by the poker community, with professional players acting as ambassadors for the brand.
More than 10 million players worldwide enjoy this service, and 888 regularly sponsor top poker tournaments too.
Players can take advantage of daily free tournaments amongst other things, and the product is also available on mobile.
It’s a downloadable client that is easy to install and use, and hosts tournaments of all kinds across a wide range of different poker variations. Quite simply, it’s one of the very best there is.
Don’t Miss!
One or two other things to be aware of are highlighted below in less detail, but at least I’m telling you about them, so don’t be ungrateful:
- App – Yes, one for each of their products. It’s new and improved but still not the best app out there. It’s perfectly serviceable but just doesn’t feel a fluid and intuitive as others that I have used. It could well be down to personal preference though.
- Blog – This is one of the better blogs out there. There are articles on all sports and they are regularly added to as well. Plus, you can find some betting tips in amongst it all if you would like them.
- Promotions – There are certainly plenty of these, and not the same old same old either. They tend to focus on football, horse racing, and American football, but there are sometimes offers relating to other sports. Enhanced specials are worth looking out for, and the casino has a good deal of associated offers too.
