Established in 2005, Matchbook is one of the earlies sports betting exchanges to operate in the world. Owned partly by WSEX at their inception, Matchbook now operates as a standalone entity and is trusted by punters around the planet. Their ability to stay strongly in the market for 13 years while many of their compatriots folded indicates the quality and benefits Matchbook provides to its customers.
Matchbook is licensed and regulated by AGCC (Alderney Gambling Control Commission) and their UK business is licensed by UK Gambling Commission. As a betting exchange, they are known to provide the most competitive commissions available in the market and among the best odds a punter can get. Listed as a trusted and high quality betting exchange by most reviewers, Matchbook is also the recipient of multiple awards in the betting sphere. Today, let us take a quick look at how it fares in the current market conditions and what are the benefits you might derive from it.
Joining is extremely easy as they operate as a stand-alone entity. No agency or broking is required and registration is as simple as 1-2-3. Click on the Join button on home page, fill in the details, fill in sensitive info and your account would be up and ready. Unlimited access to all parts of the website and ability to place bets would be open immediately.
The Matchbook website is fairly intuitive with all major links conveniently provided on the home page. Once you hit the website for the first time, you can pretty much figure out where all the relevant pages are right from the word go! The sports section is tucked at the left with accordion menu displaying the list for easy browsing. Casinos, live casinos and popular games are directly linked. At any time, the popular events are displayed at the center of the home page. Right side of the page is dedicated towards promotions.
Usually, the value of a sportsbook is determined by the sports it offers for betting. Matchbook stands right at the middle with not too many obscure sports in the offing but great coverage all of the popular sports that most punters bet on. The full list of 17 sports also includes politics and current events, two of the hottest betting categories often overlooked by most exchanges.
The collection of Cricket, Football, Boxing, American Football, Baseball, Basketball, MMA, Horse Racing and Motorsport should serve you well. For those who like to tread a different path, Greyhound racing, snooker, Ice Hockey and Golf can be satiating. All of the sports have a comprehensive coverage of events and championships from across the globe. One notable omission is that of the esports. In this day and age, esporting events are often as popular as regular sports and many new age bettors may find this to be a major negative.
Betting is relatively simple as a single direct click over a popular event will open the betting slip section on the right. Or you can scroll down to your favorite sport and choose the event you want from there. Placing the bet is extremely easy and all the odds are shown in real time. Both pre-match betting and live betting options are available and as you would expect from a betting exchange, options of Back and Lay are there for you to take benefit of. When it comes to the types of betting, you get the traditional offerings of total score, over/under, handicap, Asian handicap and so on. In soccer, for example, you can bet on number of cards, fouls, corner kicks and a plethora of other options. As there are no wagering limits, Matchbook suits both veterans and newcomers perfectly.
When it comes to odds and commission, Matchbook is often in a league of its own. As it likes to proclaim to be the lowest commission exchange for horse racing, the commissions in other sports are not too bad either. You can pretty much get 1% commission rate for most bets you place, lower than most sportsbooks operating today. If you win, the 1% commission is applied on the winnings and if you lose, the commission is applied on the lower of the stakes. Hence you are always in a secure positions. One small point of concern is the liquidity. Exchanges like Betfair pull in a huge number of customers and Matchbook struggles to provide liquidity of that level.
Matchbook provides a nice casino gaming experience to its bettors with both roulettes and live casinos in the ready. The live casino section is well organized with classic games such as Baccarat, Poker, Roulette and BlackJack. The casinos are powered by Evolution Gaming, one of the most leading online live casino experience providers.
The casino section contains a number of exciting slots and casino games including video poker, BlackJack, Mega Fortune, Starburst, Double Stacks and more. The offerings are expansive enough for most casino and live casino enthusiasts to get a kick out of. The Play For Fun option of casino games allows players to try out each game before investing real money. This is a great touch to an already great experience. Games line Starburst and Dragon’s Fire are extremely engaging.
While not as many as some other sportsbooks, Matchbook does offer some interesting promotions to new players. Here are some of them:
Despite these promotions being in place, Matchbook leaves a lot to be desired in terms of promotions, especially for loyal existing customer. In today’s market, most sportsbooks offer something as a loyalty bonus to say thank you to long term bettors. This is a significant absence. Also, the promo offers for new players are only valid if they make the first deposit via Visa or MasterCard credit or debit cards. This significantly limits the ability of many players of availing the promo offers.
Matchbook has limited payment options but the ones it has are globally accepted and should serve most bettors perfectly. In terms of funding your account, it can be done using Visa or MasterCard credit or debit cards, PaysafeCard, Neteller, bank transfer and Skrill. Withdrawal to PaysafeCard is not available which is a big letdown. Withdrawal to MasterCard or Visa cards, Neteller and Skrill are allowed. Each payment method has separate processing times but mostly Matchbook has a good reputation for payouts.
Lack of a cryptocurrency support is disappointing.
As mentioned earlier, the Matchbook website is extremely intuitive and uses an attractive color scheme that works perfectly. Navigation design and page setup is perfect for both new and experienced bettors. Despite showing a ton of information and media on each page, the website loads extremely fast both on desktop and mobile. This is a great factor since real time odds can change within a few seconds. The website settings allows display of the webpage in 4 types of odds including, Decimal, Malay, US and Hong Kong. You can also choose any of the 6 currencies including EUR, GBP, HKD, CAD, AUD and USD.
Keeping with the ages, Matchbook is available both on Android and iOS. For iOS users, two different versions are available, one for iPad and one for iPhone. The Android version has two flavors as well, one for UK and Ireland users and one for the rest of the world. The app is a stripped down version of the website where the major operations are simplified and supported.
Matchbook has very strong customer support which is often appreciated by their customer base. They provide three different phone numbers for direct contact, one UK phone number, one Ireland phone number and an international number. Presence of a live chat is always great for a bookmaker and you get the same service with Matchbook. Alas that it is not available round the clock. In case you prefer written communication, you can reach out to the operator via email or post.
All in all, Matchbook is a solid betting exchange and sportsbook that has maintained a level of quality for 13 years. There are certain limitations here and there but overall the experience should be worth the time and money. Presence of quality casino games and live casino provides a well-rounded experience to the users which in turn boosts the community.
| No wagering limit for betting | Simple to register |
| High quality casino games | Great customer support |
| No esports | Liquidity can be very low at times |
| Limited promo offers | Very few promotions and bonuses |
| Bonus can be availed only with bank cards | Limited payment options |
The list of international bookmakers
