The story of of this sportsbook is not the juiciest one to tell, but it is a success story that started about 20 years ago. 888sport is the sports betting arm of 888 Holdings, an all-encompassing online gambling organization that also includes casinos, poker room, and online bingo halls.
888 Holdings was founded and established as Virtual Holdings Limited by two pairs of Israeli brothers Avi and Aaron Shaked as well as Shay and Ron Ben-Yitzhak. The Shaked’s own approximately 50 percent of the parent company that they purchased through family trusts, and the Ben-Yitzhak’s retain 11 percent also purchased via family trust.
Their first venture was called Casino-on-Net and was launched and headquartered in Antigua. A few years later, the Reef Club Casino and Pacific Poker were established, and operations moved from Antigua to Gibraltar. The notable accomplishment of the company is that it has been listed on the London Stock Exchange since 2005, becoming one of the only gambling companies to go public. Its valuation during the IPO was an impressive £590 million, and that was more than ten years ago.
888 Holdings registers and licenses its gambling sites, which do focus more on poker and casino despite its impressive global sportsbook, under the subsidiary name of Cassava Enterprises.
The company changed to the singular “888” branding back in 2006 but has continued to grow and expand with numerous gambling sites as well as the Mytopia Division, a social gaming studio. Mytopia produced Bingo Island, a game for Facebook and mobile platforms and it continues to develop social gaming products.
The 888casino is offered in 17 languages and has over 25 million registered users from 13 countries including Spain, Italy, Romania, Denmark, and in two specific US states that we’ll detail in the next section. 888poker is also available in 13 countries through 13 language options to over ten million users. These are not tiny little mom and pop operations. The websites are well-known, prominent, and have earned themselves good reputations by delivering top-notch products and paying out the winners.
888 is a three-times winner of the “Socially Responsible Operator of the Year” and the “EGR Best Poker Operator” awards as well as the recipient of the 2016 “Best Digital Operator” at the Global Gaming Awards in Las Vegas.
As far as 888sport and its sports betting service, it launched in 2008 so is close to its ten-year anniversary, and its international betting clientele can select from more than 34 sports including non-sporting events like politics, tv and novelty, and e-sports. The appealing thing about using this gambling site for wagering on sports is that even the most remotely located games and events can usually be found somewhere in their menu.
In similar fashion to bet365, 888sport opted to take the sponsorship route to attract new players and name recognition. It’s a great marketing strategy as it reaches out to the very sports fans who are more apt to be active punters.
Some of their sponsorships have included:
888sport’s team sponsorships have also involved:
Of all of the various advertising campaigns, we especially like the twitter promotion conducted by 888sport during the 2014 George Groves/Carl Froch fight where they posted humorous tweets garnering tremendous attention, and twice as many fight mentions as their closest competitor. It’s refreshing to see a sportsbook opt for some unconventional ways to attract attention and increase their customer base.
The mass exodus of gambling operators from the US in 2006 also included 888 Holdings and their Pacific Poker website. However, whereas the loss of that great gambling market significantly affected many of its competitors, this company didn’t have its eggs all in one basket, and the revenue reduction wasn’t as significant as it could have been. It forged on and expanded its various websites and used its promotional strategy to attract new players from the allowable markets.
That’s not the end of the story, however. To date, the sportsbook maintained status quo regarding its 888sport brand, although US players are still prohibited from registering. However, they made history in 2013 as the first company allowed to provide online gaming by a US jurisdiction with its online license issued by the Nevada Gaming Commission. Just five months later, 888casino signed an agreement with Caesars Interactive Entertainment (through All American Poker Network and Avenue Capital) that allowed for the availability of its poker and casino products to New Jersey residents.
If you pull up the 888casino.com website from the US, you’re not automatically turned away anymore. In fact, there’s a redirect to this relatively new us.888casino.com that states “You may deposit from anywhere in the US, but can only play for real money when in New Jersey.”
The door is slowly reopening on one of the strictest but more lucrative markets that is greatly appealing to online bookmakers such as 888sport.
We’re going to be providing some very positive information regarding 888sport so don’t be immediately put off by our first impressions of this sportsbook as we’re a bit unenthusiastic about the website design and initial placement of their content.
Of course, it’s imperative for a bookmaker to provide numbers, a lot of numbers. Reading through multiple lines of seemingly endless stats can be tedious. But, a bookie the size and scope of 888 needs to provide as much information as possible on all of its daily and future offerings, so numbers will be extensive.
With that being said, we find the site just to be downright overwhelming at first glance. It’s not organized in a way that makes it easy to identify the significant events of the day. The main page of the sportsbook has an extreme mix of upcoming sports all jumbled up together. Ice Hockey, Football, Basketball, Trending Now Sports, Upcoming Sports, they’re all there in boxes of different sizes that require anyone reviewing them to take a lot of time to go through them all.
We would rather see just a few upcoming events and then be able to click on the sports we’re interested in and have neater, easier to read information open up for review. And, yes, there is a menu that does just that, but the homepage could guide us to the top sports of the day or the featured events without being so overpowering.
Aside from that, there are a lot of features that we do like and think are helpful to players of all experience levels.
We’ll start with the Live In-play Betting. This section promoting current in-game action is located right at the top of the main menu and is broken down into “Live Right Now” and “Starting Soon,” and also includes the number of current in-play opportunities. Once you click on the menu, the lines do open up in an orderly way that’s easier to review and utilize.
Navigate below Live Betting, and you’ll find 35 sporting and non-sports categories with hundreds and hundreds of markets.
Be sure to open up the sports betting area rather than just clicking on “sports” from the top menu to have access to all games and events. We noted that the sports area has an abbreviated list of the most popular sports, but there are much more in the main sportsbook area.
If you want the fastest way to the exact game or team you’re seeking, there’s a search bar located just under the top menu. A specific search is a handy feature and not widely available within today’s menu-driven online books.
There is a Promotions tab with an entire listing of every possible bonus play opportunity along with links to all of the terms and conditions that correspond to each.
The last big area we want to mention is just entitled “Blog” in the menu but opens up to “Tips-News-Views,” 888sport’s exclusive microsite with articles, betting tips, and some of the racing tips are provided by Emma Spencer. Emma was a former jockey but is now 888sport’s designated racing authority.
Football, Horse Racing, Tennis, and Basketball are the featured areas of coverage in Tips-News-Views, and the information is hugely appealing to hardcore sports enthusiasts or experienced punters always looking to stay on top of things.
To become one of the premiere online bookmakers, you need to do a lot of things right and accommodate both the new players as well as those loyal return customers, and we think this company does have a great product that stands up to its strict competition.
Let’s start with the actual sports offerings, the betting opportunities for its international clientele. We did note that this sportsbook does cater a bit more to its UK bettors, but it more than provides for others in large and small regions around the globe. 35 different sports and non-sports categories that then break down to numerous games, and then multiply that further by the markets and you’re looking at thousands of choices that can be made.
We’ll use football as our example since it is the most popular sport and the most widely covered by these guys At the time of this writing, the football games were noted to have 10,605 opportunities. We opened up the category and looking at just the first game in progress that also featured live betting, and players are looking at 45 different ways to bet on it. You’ve got Next Goal, Total Goals, Three Way Handicap, Total Goals by Home Team, Asian Handicaps, Time Interval Betting, all the way up to the 45 possibilities. That’s just one football game.
So, when it comes to quantity, it would be hard to beat their menu.
We give kudos for offering an equally impressive number of banking options to its customers. We’ve recently reviewed a few of the more regionally-based sportsbooks, and the menus were so restrictive that they must have lost numerous potential players to other websites that provided for more than just credit and debit card use.
Not the case with 888sport as their menu provides dozens of methods from which to select and additionally breaks them down into five main currency options:
Unlike many of the North American targeted sportsbooks, 888sport doesn’t tack on fees, and it does have a relatively short processing time noted. Of course, everything depends on the date requested and the method employed but, all in all, it’s an excellent financial transaction program.
What else does this company well? We think the maximum payouts are substantial enough to satisfy the majority of players. They’re not in a million pound area like a few of the biggest books, but a £250,000 top tier football level, £100,000 for ice hockey tournament play, £150,000 for tennis tournament play, and £50,000 for American football is equivalent or superior to its closest competitors.
They also accomodate both their customers and their website visitors by providing their Tips-News-Views mini website/blog combination that provides helpful betting tips as well as a lot of international sports information. It’s a great go-to for sports enthusiasts whether they stake any bets or not.
Finally, we think this sports betting site offers a vast amount of bonuses and other promotional offerings that appeal to that betting segment who love these types of opportunities. They’re fun ways to rack up some extra play money, and you probably would have made at least some kind of bet anyway. We’ll go into the various current options in the bonuses section but suffice it to say that there are at least seven offers available to sports bettors at any given time.
The reason we want to highlight deposit bonuses is primarily for the lack of rollover requirements. It doesn’t post those big playthrough mandates that other sportsbooks impose on bonus free play. They are typically anywhere from three times to ten times and are applied to both the deposit and the bonus amount.
The small one-time rollover adds to the extra value and also alleviates so many customer service issues that arise from misinterpreting the prerequisites to cash outs.
Don’t expect any significant issues to arise in this section as we haven’t found anything that should majorly deter anyone from registering and using a player account except for some of the sharp bettors who may experience imposed reductions in their personal betting limits. There have been reports of this happening to the more professional punters. Those high rollers do typically seek out “Winners Welcome” bookies, so this would be one area of potential improvement.
The other things are relatively minor and not detrimental at all to the perception or loyalty of 888’s players.
We did start this review out by mentioning that the sportsbook homepage is confusing. It features a lot of scattered information that’s not organized enough to be useful. There have also been some public comments made about the website’s color scheme, but the basic orange, black and white design is certainly fine for showcasing stats and sporting news. And, color is subject to individual preference anyway.
Lastly, 888sport would be even more competitive by hosting video streaming of some of their in-play events. Just as the live betting concept has only recently become more commonly available, online bookmakers are now adding this relatively new feature to keep their bettors even that much more engaged and entertained.
Football, by far, reigns supreme not only for the incredibly large amount of games and markets but also for the maximum £250,000 payout limit available for the following competitions and matches.
– Olympic, World and Continental Tournaments as well as International Club Tournaments for men governed by FIFA or UEFA, including qualification phases – Any domestic league on the top-level for men in Denmark, England, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Scotland, Spain or Sweden – Any main domestic cup for men in Denmark, England, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Scotland, Spain or Sweden
American National Football League (NFL) games may also offer slightly better odds at -109 as opposed to -110 so American sports bettors have a bit of an advantage there.
Horse racing is a popular area within the sportsbook and 888sport offers “Best Odds Guaranteed” on all UK and Irish racing that applies to all single, multiple, and each-way bet on qualifying races. This guarantee is only for residents of the UK or Ireland, though. It pays to read the fine print here.
Even though this section is for the best “sports” to bet on, we do need to make mention of the TV and Novelty section. This area proves, once again, that this is truly an international sportsbook. Whereas you may find a few novelty bets on many other sites, the guys currently offer over 100 at present. The main reason for this is to provide coverage in cities around the globe and not just a few main markets.
For example, an attractive novelty bet on many sportsbooks is the 62nd edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. We’ve seen this offered in a few different markets with some other online bookmakers, but 888sport has lines for this one particular event in Albania, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Italy, Norway, Poland, Romania, Switzerland, Sweden, and dozens of other geographical locations.
There are also some unique future propositions that cover a broad range of current events such as:
Nobel Peace Prize Time Magazine Person of the Year The Next Host of the Oscars Pound Sterling vs. Euro
It’s difficult to narrow down the best sports to bet on as 888’s odds are competitive and markets are so abundant that it all boils down to a simple matter of preference.
The minimum total stake is only 10p, and maximum limits vary depending upon the sport and the type of bet made. Players need to be aware that the site can limit the net payout for one player to £250,000.
We have already outlined the top-level (£250,000) football payouts above, and these are the other sports-specific maximum payout levels imposed by 888sport.
Football – £250,000 Top level
Football – £100,000 All other international or international club tournaments, other top-level domestic leagues, main domestic cups, any domestic league on the 2nd level for men in Denmark, England, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Spain or Sweden, and any international friendly FIFA regulated match
Football – £50,000 All other competition offers (excluding Beach Soccer and Futsal), all bets related to players, and PR and novelty bets
Basketball – £50,000 and £100,000
Ice Hockey – £50,000 and £100,000
Handball – £25,000 and £100,000
Volleyball – £25,000 and £100,000
Tennis – £40,000, £50,000, £75,000, and £150,000
American Football and Baseball – £25,000
Australian Rules – £25,000 and £100,000
Cricket – £50,000 and £100,000
Darts – £50,000 and £100,000
Golf – £25,000 and £100,000
Rugby League – £50,000 and £100,000
Rugby Union – £50,000 and £100,000
Snooker – £50,000 and £100,000
Motor Sports – £25,000 and £50,000
Other sports including Athletics, Bandy, Boxing, Cycling, Trotting and Winter Sports – £25,000 and £40,000
Non-sport – PR and Novelty Bets – £10,000
Once you get past the initial page of jumbled information, 888sport is quite organized and easy to use. The sports are all listed in the main left side menu and include the number of current betting options per category.
The location of each bettor is irrelevant as 888sport offers such a broad range of international leagues and teams. Coverage is significant for even the smallest of markets so both recreational and sharp bettors can get in on some non-mainstream action.
Players who gravitate to bonus-heavy books will appreciate the numerous opportunities to grab some free play cash and they can put the calculator away as 888sport has the absolute lowest one-time playthrough requirement.
The other thing that enhances player satisfaction is the near all-encompassing menu of deposit and withdrawal options. New customers want to know that they’ll be able to quickly move money in and out their sportsbook account without jumping through a lot of hoops so the e-wallet, e-check and pre-paid options should satisfy their requirements.
Extreme bettors may be ones who don’t enjoy the 888sport experience as much simply due to the payout constraints and the possibility of having limits lowered if proven to be more professional and fruitful.
We gave you a heads up that these guys has a broad range of bonuses aside from a great welcome deposit promotion. The number of offers is not even as impressive as the one-time rollover requirement. It’s rare for an online operator to not impose at least a three-time playthrough mandate before any cash-outs, so the one-time is a significant player benefit.
Welcome Bonus Newly registered players can triple the winnings from their first bet. This offer is not a deposit match gift; it’s a winning ticket multiplier. The way that it works is that the new player makes their first bet ranging from £5 to £10 and, if it’s successful, the winnings are tripled the next day.
Double Winnings on the IPL This limited time promotion is good on single bets (pre-match or live) in Indian Premier League matches. Players need to place five bets of £10 or more on any IPL match, and then 888sport credits their account with a 100% £5 maximum bet profit boost token for the next day.
Free Bet Saturday Three Live in-play action football bets made on Saturday yields a £5 free bet.
88th Minute Special This bet is expressly in conjunction with the English Premier League Championship, Scottish Premiership, La Liga, Bundesliga, and Champions League on the Win-Draw-Win or Correct Score markets. A single bet of at least £5 is all that’s required. If a goal is scored from the 88th minute until the end of normal time subsequently resulting in a losing bet, 888sport will issue a refund in the form of a Free Bet up to a £25 maximum.
American Dream Another £5 minimum bet and an MLS, NFL, NBA and NHL accumulator with at least five selections at minimum 3/10 odds will yield a free bet refund up to £25 if one of the selections isn’t successful.
Goals Bonanza Every time a bettor loses a first/last/anytime goalscorer bet in matches featuring five goals or more, they receive a free bet refund up to £25.
Big Bet Bounty This one is a bit different in that the bigger the price of a winning accumulator, the greater the free bet award. There is a total weekly prize pool of £2,000 with a top £888 prize amount. The heftier the winning bet, the higher the position on the leaderboard with the top ten positions ending up in the money (the free bet money).
We always recommend that players review all of the bonus requirements before making any deposits, opting in, or requesting a cashout. You won’t find as many stipulations as you will on some competitor sites, but there are a few things that are important to note such as the welcome bonus is not awarded to players who use Skrill or Neteller to deposit into their new player’s account.
You’ve already heard it a few times, 888sport makes financial transactions as easy as possible with a massive menu of methods from which to select.
888sport posts minimum deposit limits, but maximums are set at their discretion. Players who run into any issues with their deposit processing should contact customer service to obtain their personal cap.
Visa or Mastercard Minimum Deposit £10 Turnaround Time – up to ten minutes
Diners Club Minimum Deposit £10 Turnaround Time – up to ten minutes
Apple Pay Minimum Deposit £20 Turnaround Time – up to ten minutes
Eurocard Minimum Deposit £10 Turnaround Time – up to ten minutes
Maestro Minimum Deposit £10 Turnaround Time – up to ten minutes
Entropay Minimum Deposit £10 Turnaround Time – up to ten minutes
Qiwi Visa Virtual Minimum Deposit £10 Turnaround Time – up to ten minutes (note: non-virtual cards take up to ten days)
iCheque Minimum Deposit £10 Turnaround Time – up to ten minutes
Postepay Minimum Deposit £10 Turnaround Time – up to ten minutes
Astropay Minimum Deposit £10 Turnaround Time – up to ten minutes
Paysafecard Minimum Deposit £10 Turnaround Time – up to ten minutes
ToditoCash Minimum Deposit £10 Turnaround Time – immediate
Instadebit Minimum Deposit £10 Turnaround Time – up to ten minutes
Abagoos Minimum Deposit £10 Turnaround Time – up to ten minutes
Eps Minimum Deposit £10 Turnaround Time – up to ten minutes
Giropay Minimum Deposit £20 Turnaround Time – up to ten minutes
iDeal Minimum Deposit £10 Turnaround Time – up to ten minutes
Instant Banking Minimum Deposit £10 Turnaround Time – up to 15 minutes
Multibanco Minimum Deposit £10 Turnaround Time – up to ten minutes
Op-Pohjola Minimum Deposit £20 Turnaround Time – up to ten minutes
Przelewy 24 Minimum Deposit £10 Turnaround Time – up to ten minutes
Sofortuberweisung/Sofortbanking Minimum Deposit £10 Turnaround Time – up to ten minutes
Trustly Minimum Deposit £10 Turnaround Time – up to ten minutes
Wire Transfer Minimum Deposit £100 Turnaround Time – up to five business days
Verkkopankki Minimum Deposit £20 Turnaround Time – up to ten minutes
Skrill Minimum Deposit £10 Turnaround Time – up to ten minutes
Neteller Minimum Deposit £10 Turnaround Time – up to ten minutes
Paypal Minimum Deposit £10 Turnaround Time – up to ten minutes
WebMoney Minimum Deposit £10 Turnaround Time – up to ten minutes
Cash outs on are directly related to the payment method originally utilized for deposits. 888sport does not explicitly state any maximum limits for payouts, but Visa specifically notes £25,000 as their daily threshold.
In addition to the following turnaround times, players should expect at least one business day for the 888sport’s internal processing.
Credit Cards – Visa or Mastercard Minimum Withdrawal £3 Turnaround Time – up to six business days
Debit Cards – Visa or Mastercard – accepted for UK players only Minimum Withdrawal £3 Turnaround Time – up to eight business days
Wire Transfer Minimum Withdrawal £10 Turnaround Time – five to eight business days
Neteller Minimum Withdrawal £3 Turnaround Time – two to three business days
PayPal Minimum Withdrawal £3 Turnaround Time – two to three business days
Skrill Minimum Withdrawal £3 Turnaround Time – two to three business days
Entropay Minimum Withdrawal £3 Turnaround Time – three to four business days
WebMoney Minimum Withdrawal £3 Turnaround Time – three to five business days
888sport is one of the few bookmakers that do not have an agent available for assistance 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It offers email and phone support but no live chat availability and, additionally, limits service hours to 9 am to 10 pm Greenwich Mean Time. The lack of live chat is somewhat surprising considering its global reach and high traffic.
We haven’t heard many extreme comments regarding customer service. Unfortunately, there are always going to be the negatives from people who don’t receive the answer they want. Additionally, people are less apt to post a positive observation, but we have heard of some who appreciate the service that 888’s staff provides.
We’ll get into a few of the smaller areas of comparison but, as a whole, punters that are seeking the biggest selection of international sports and markets, large and small, will put 888sport at the top of their list. The selections are just so much more plentiful than on the majority of other sportsbooks.
A few other relevant comparisons:
– Bonuses – Maximum betting limits – Live betting – Financial transactions – Reputation
We’re going to give the bonus category to 888sport for not only offering multiple bonuses but offers that are more valuable. 888’s free bet awards have a one-time rollover, and its welcome bonus applies a multiplier to the potential winnings of a player’s first bet and not to their deposit amount. Top that off even further with three times the win and not just a 100% match.
Maximum betting limits are not the highest. Some major competitors offer £500,000 and even £1 million payouts on football and other mainstream sporting events. 888sport is not bad for the recreational bettor, but the more experienced may be looking for bigger action as well as the ability to win without being penalized. 888 does not have a winner’s welcome policy so top winners may have their betting limits reduced or wagering privileges taken away entirely.
888sport’s live betting area provides its players with a lot of options for in-play action with the majority of games centered around football with its international appeal. We would equate 888’s live betting to most of the other bigger books, but there are a few out there who do offer live match feeds that give them the edge in this category.
You already know how we feel about 888sport’s banking options. They are thorough, diverse, and cater to its multi-national clientele. We can’t think of any options that aren’t covered and the turnaround times are fast, and transactions are fee-free. Hmmm… aside from actually receiving those payouts, is there really anything else players would need?
Lastly, we do have to give high marks for 888’s reputation regarding their sportsbook and their other gambling websites. They’ve been around for awhile now, and the fact that they are listed on the London Stock Exchange bodes well for them and their stability.
888sport provides exceptional multinational services for recreational bettors despite their home base. It doesn’t stop with mainstream offerings; its coverage is in depth and extensive. For players in locations limiting their betting options, 888sport is a definite online go-to.
Recreational bettors can benefit from the entire 888sport experience. They can study up on the teams and get some betting tips and tricks from the Tips-News-Views microsite. When it comes to the actual money wagering, a low minimum of just 10p per bet shouldn’t scare anyone away. For real beginners, 888sport’s proposition bets are fun and easy to get in on without having to study a bunch of stats. A quarter million pound payout is also appealing enough, especially for the less experienced who are just getting their feet wet.
Speaking of those payouts though, we know that the more professional bettors can be deterred by them if they have greater possibilities at their fingertips, but we think that the fun bonuses that could potentially maximize winnings without the necessity of a higher wager could offset some of the payout concerns. At least the sharp bettors could count 888sport amongst their roster of sportsbook accounts.
