Registered in 2004, SBOBet is an Asian bookmaker that caters to a large number of bettors from Europe and Asia. Licensed in Philippines and the Isle of Man, SBOBet is fully authorized to operate in UK and Asia. Their online presence is operated by Celton Manx Ltd and it has been growing stronger and stronger over the last 14 years. Well known amongst the betting community, they sponsor as many as five teams in the English Premier League.
SBOBet’s won the title of Asian Operator of the Year back to back in 2009 and 2010. With a solid reputation and customer base, they are no doubt a safe and secure place to bet on. But when it comes to betting, there is always more than it meets the eye. So today we are taking a hard look at the website, the odds, how it operates, how beneficial it is for the punters and if they are lacking in some areas. Upon the detailed analysis of their pros and cons, we aim to bring to you the clear picture about SBOBet.
The SBOBet website is open for all irrespective of your registration status. You can switch quickly between the pages, look the sports events being covered and the odds that are available. You can also take a quick tour of the live casino section or go through the terms and conditions. Such an open existence always bodes well with punters as they get to know the operator well before jumping in.
Registering on the SBOBet website is hassle free and can be completed in under 3 minutes. All you need to do is select username and password, put in your personal details, agree to the terms and conditions and you are set. Once you log in for the first time, you get a chance to set your preferences for the website such as odds type, currency etc. You are given a chance to deposit money but you can skip the step and explore the website instead. This is a great touch to not force new members pay before they get familiar with the platform.
The SBOBet sports list provides you with choice of over 30 sports to bet on. With such a large offering, there is something for everyone. For bettors who love to bet on somewhat obscure sports, the availability of Lacrosse, Water Polo, Gaelic Football and Winter Sports would surely bring a smile to their faces. At the same time, you can bet on hundreds of events from the classics such as Football, Rugby, Tennis, Golf, Cricket and athletics. To make things interesting, SBOBet also allows you to bet on financial events and opens pre-match events for Olympics years before they start.
Clicking on any sport reveals the events that are taking place and gives you the opportunity to bet. Football being the most popular sport on any betting website generally pulls in the most events from the around the world. Apart from the best European and South American leagues, SBOBet provides a comprehensive listing of Asian football events that you would struggle to find anywhere else. But despite the lengthy offering of sports, you may often find a sport without any events being covered. That is a bit disappointing for bettors who expect round the clock action on any sport they choose. The virtual esports section is a major let down with only Football, Basketball and Horse Racing being covered. In this day and age, a bookmaker of this size should be offering the best of MMORPG, FPS and RTS games that are popular in the online sphere.
Being one of the best Asian bookmakers, SBOBet is known to provide some of the best odds in the market. As they welcome high volume players, punters can really benefit from the great odds and convert their bets into considerable winnings. As soon as you click on an event, the odds are provided in clear terms. Clicking on the suitable odds lets you enter the stake amount and shows estimated winnings side by side. At the time of handicap betting, you can choose between Euro, Malay or Hong Kong odds. All other odds are in Euro format. You can switch instantly between odds from the top menu of the website.
The betting options are pretty good with both Handicap and Asian Handicap thrown into the mix. Other than that you also get correct score, over/under and 1X2 bets for most sports events. SBOBet allows large volume betting hence the betting section can be profitable for new and seasoned punters alike. One prime concern is the lack of live broadcast for important games, especially for a bookmaker of this stature.
Like most of its compatriots, SBOBet has brought along the live casino section for punters who enjoy casino games. But unlike the huge sports list it offers, the options at the live casino are fairly limited. You are given the choice of two suits, 338 and Royal. Each contains live casino experience of Sic-Bo, BlackJack, Roulette and Baccarat. In terms of the spread, SBOBet has stuck to the absolutely classic options. But the offerings, while good at a basic level, may not jive well with seasoned punters.
The saving grace is of course the comprehensive virtual games section which is chock full of betting games of all types, not just slots. Games like Mazzetti, Virtual World Cup, Football Madness and Jack in the Box will surely bring a smile on every player’s face and they will also get a chance to win handsomely. The biggest advantage of the games section is the Play for Fun option which allows you to try out each game without having to pay real money. This lets you understand each game completely before you start betting. However, use of the dated Adobe Flash player to bring out the games can be quite frustrating as you are asked to update/allow flash player each time you want to access a game.
SBOBet seems to quite stingy when it comes to promotions and bonuses. There are only about three bonuses that run throughout the year. Out of the four, two are for new members and one is invite only hence long time loyal customers do not get much juice from the promotion section. The site does provide periodic and seasonal bonuses such as the Fifa World Cup bonuses and the Lunar Yearend bonus. But those are too few and far between. Most bookmakers today offer comprehensive loyalty bonuses and promotions to help their bettor win more and this is one area where SBOBet is certainly lacking.
The bonuses include:
SBOBet offers support for 16 different currencies but unfortunately there is no support for USD. However, they support EUR, AUD, GBP, MYR and THB among others which should work for most of the bettors on SBOBet. The deposit and withdrawal payment methods supported change with currencies. While the options are not comprehensive you still get support for Visa and MasterCard bank cards, Neteller, Skrill, Entropay, internet banking and QQ.
No deposit methods have any service fees. Some withdrawal methods levy a service fee after 4 free withdrawals every month. This is great news for the bettors as they can deposit and withdraw money mostly without paying a dime extra. But the not so great news is the high minimum deposit amounts. With SBOBet requiring minimum deposit of 40 GBP, it is certainly tough on the small bettors.
Deposits are immediate for all e-wallets but withdrawals using e-wallets can take up to 24 hours. Speeding up the withdrawal process would come as welcome change for punters as most bookmakers now-a-days allow withdrawal to e-wallets within 15 minutes or so. The lack of cryptocurrency support also stands out considering most bookmakers have started to allow Bitcoin for deposit and withdrawal.
Each bookmaker website may have some pros and cons but the biggest letdown of the SBOBet site is how it is designed and represented. Just one look at the website tells you that it is exactly how websites looked like in 2004. The top menu is slightly confusing as users do not get the full idea of what each menu page holds just by looking at their titles. The color scheme could be much more refreshing. The website, despite not being content heavy, runs pretty slow. In most cases, click on a link opens a new window. This can be quite frustrating to manage and track as you could soon be sitting with 5 new windows apart from the original SBOBet page you had opened. Another issue is that the website logs users out after remaining idle for a certain period. It is definitely a pain having to log in again and again.
A major let down for the website is the use of archaic Adobe Flash player. Most new and even old bookmakers have chosen to shift their media content to HTML5. With Adobe Flash player, you are reminded to enable the plugin each time you want to access a virtual game or live casino section. Also, games played in flash player do not feel as smooth as HTML5 content. The betting section is pretty organized which is a great news. The SBOBet website is available in 14 different language options.
SBOBet does come with mobile betting options as they provide apps for both Android and iOS. The mobile version of the site is also available but again, runs pretty slow. The apps are a better choice if you want to bet on the go with SBOBet. They provide much more stripped down look of the platform with the important events, betting options and betting slips available at your disposal with a few touches.
The customer support of SBOBet is a joy due to their coverage of live chat, phone and email at the same time. Live chat is always a favorite of bettors as it allows quick resolution for any matters of extreme urgency. The SBOBet customer support can also be reached via phone round the clock 365 days a year. They provide two separate phone numbers for Asia and Europe which is always a great avenue to take. The customer response times are obviously pretty quick considering the live chat and phone options but you can expect a reply to your emails within 24 hours as well.
All in all, SBOBet is a bookmaker that has some very strong points but also a few glaring weak points. As far as betting and winnings go, they have their heart at the right place. Robust customer support indicates a customer oriented approach which is always a great sign. But their outdated website with outdated technology gives the feeling that they are stuck in a time warp. Reluctance to roll out new fresh promotions and bonuses for long time customers could also be hurting them a little bit. The fact that they have not regained the Asian Operator of the Year since 2010 shows that they must be lacking somewhere. Just freshening up the whole presence of the platform and throwing some encouragement at bettors in the form of bonuses could bring back their lost mojo. Hence if you are considering to join SBOBet, do take into account all of these pros and cons and take an educated decision.
| Very good odds | Large number of sports supported |
| Extremely small coverage of esports | Great virtual games selection and free play options |
| Strong customer support | Outdated website using outdated technologies |
| Website load times are quite slow | Very few promotions and bonuses |
| No live broadcast for in-game betting | Live casino options are extremely limited |
The list of international bookmakers
