Fill Your Boots with the Winner Bookmaker Review
Winner are another one of those online sportsbooks which started out as a casino but quickly realised that the opportunity to add a sportsbook to their online business operation should not be missed.
The Winner sports betting business was added in 2013, and it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that they have made an impact within the sports betting industry which is no mean feat.
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- Football acca bonus offers
- Competitive Odds
- Good Bonus Range
- 24/7 Customer Support
- In-play betting
- Minimum deposit: £10
As you would probably expect, it has not been all plain sailing, and whilst Winner UK has a reputation for closing accounts which have been used to take advantage of various bonuses and promotions, it is still regarded as being a sportsbook account which is well worth having.
They offer a wide range of sports betting opportunities, and as you will read a little later in this review, the Winner sign up offer is one of the more generous promotions on the market at the moment.
Do Winner Meet All of the Licensing Regulations?
Winner have been fully regulated by the Malta Gaming Authority, so if you have had any concerns whether or not they meet all of the licencing requirements, your mind should now be at ease because they most definitely tick all of the boxes in terms of offering a safe and secure betting environment for their customers.
Something else which should be mentioned is that they seem to be taking their responsibilities towards responsible gambling extremely seriously.
If you are not familiar with responsible gambling, it refers to the steps which gambling websites are prepared to take in order to help any of their customers who may be experiencing problems with their online gambling activities.
In the past, the attitude of many online sportsbooks would be just to shrug their shoulders if it became apparent that any of their customers were setting off alarm bells regarding their betting patterns.
Times have most definitely changed now though as offering responsible gambling safeguards is now the norm, but not all sportsbooks offer the same level of support.
Winner offers various resources if your online betting is no longer as enjoyable as it used to be and they also allow you to put various limits on the time that you spend logged into your account and the amount of money which you deposit into your account.
The Winner Sign up Offer
The Winner sign up offer is one of the better welcome bonuses on the market at the moment, but as you are about to find out, there are a couple of points in the terms and conditions relating to the sign-up offer which you should be aware of.
This welcome bonus has received a great deal of attention, especially amongst matched bettors, so the chances are, you will have already seen the Winner 200 free bet mentioned on the various matched betting forums and Facebook groups.
This has replaced the Winner 10 get 30 offer, and even though this offer is a good one, it doesn’t come close to this larger offer.
The Winner 200 free bet is basically a 100% matched bonus up to £200 but please bear in mind, if £200 is too much for you, the minimum amount which can be deposited in order to take advantage of the Winner sign up offer is £30.
The way that the Winner sign up offer works is that you make a deposit between £30 and £200 and place a bet with minimum odds of 1.5.
When that bet has been settled you will receive the bonus, but this is where you should be aware of one of the main terms and conditions which relate to this bonus, and that is the wagering requirements.
Both the deposit and bonus need to be wagered 8x before a withdrawal can be made and if you haven’t already realised, this means that the total amount which needs to be wagered can be substantial.
Winner UK gives an example on their website of the wagering requirement if you have deposited £30 and received a £30 bonus.
(£30 + £30) x 8 = £480
That is quite a lot to wager, but they don’t give an example of the wagering requirements if you deposit £200 in order to claim the maximum bonus.
Don’t worry, though; we have worked it out for you.
(£200 +£200) x 8 = £3200.
Whilst it is still possible to come out with a profit from these wagering requirements, make sure that you are fully aware of what is involved before you decide to go ahead with it.
There is another term that you should also be aware of, and that is deposits which have been made using Skrill. NETELLER and Paysafecard cannot be used in order to claim the Winner sign up offer.
The welcome bonus is credited automatically, so there is no need for a Winner promo code or any Winners bet code for that matter.
The Betting Markets Which Are Available at Winner
Unless you are interested in betting on something like tortoise racing in Russia, the betting markets which are available at Winner sports betting will be more than enough to meet most bettors’ requirements.
The most popular markets, such as football and horse racing, are adequately covered along with a wide variety of less popular sports such as table tennis and volleyball.
If you are one of those punters who enjoy placing a daily short-priced acca across a number of football matches which are being played around the world, you will find that Winner has hundreds of football matches for you to get involved with on most days of the week so that would be another plus point for Winner UK if you are one of those punters.
When you choose a selection to bet on, the selection will automatically be placed in the betting slip, which can be found in the top right-hand corner of the website.
As you add more selections to the betting slip, you will have the opportunity to bet on these selections as single bets and the different combination bets which are available will automatically be calculated for you.
For instance, if you add three selections to the betting slip, you will automatically be shown that the combinations which are available would be a treble, three doubles, a Trixie (four bets) and a Patent (seven bets).
How Competitive Are the Winner Odds?
In general, the odds are average.
Sorry for not being more specific on this subject, but Winner are not well known for offering stand out odds on various events, but instead, the odds are pretty much run of the mill.
The problem with Winner though is that if they are slow to update their odds on certain events, and you pile in to take advantage of them taking their eye off the ball, they don’t like it and will be very quick to limit your betting account.
At this point, it should be mentioned that almost all sportsbooks do not like it if you spot arbitrage opportunities, so Winner are not alone on this stance, but they are stricter than most of their competitors.
In-Play Betting with Winner
The in-play betting options at Winner are actually very good and can be accessed by clicking on the in-play tab which can be found at the top left-hand corner of the website.
Before the in-play section of the website can load up you will need to enable the flash player if you are using a laptop/desktop because there is an informative live play graphic which is displayed at the top of the page which will indicate the live-action on the main in-play event which is taking place when you load up the page.
The extensive list of events which are live at the time you are logged into your account are displayed down the left-hand side of the website, and there is also a calendar which lists the up and coming live events which are taking place.
It would not be an exaggeration to say that the in-play betting section is one of the best in the industry, so if you are into your in-play betting, you will love what Winner have to offer.
What about Winner Live Streaming?
At the time of writing, Winner don’t have a live streaming facility which is actually quite surprising when you take into account how good the in-play betting options are.
This won’t be a problem for most punters, but there will be a proportion of people for who the lack of live streaming will be a problem.
People who are at home during the day such as pensioners who like to watch events which they have placed a bet on are a prime example so if you are someone who likes to watch live events, it would be advisable to open an account with another bookie and take advantage of their live streaming sports.
Cashing out Winners
Like so many sportsbooks, Winner enables customers to cash out bets in certain markets but how many times have you been in a position whereby the stress of deciding whether to cash out or not leaves you feeling like a nervous wreck.
There was a story on Twitter this week where someone cashed out an acca with only a few minutes of the football matches remaining for something like £14 in order to get his stake back, but the acca went on to win, and if he had not cashed out, he would have won over £20k!
That person probably wishes that cash out had never been invented but it is now a permeant feature of Winner, and if you want to cash out a bet in play, it is just a matter of opening the betting slip at Winner, and if the cash out is available, it will be displayed directly underneath your selections.
Is There a Winner App?
There is a Winner app which is available in both iOS and Android versions.
Something which is slightly confusing though is that when you look at the app store, you will only see a Winner casino app.
Don’t worry, though, if you go ahead and download this app you will be able to access the Winner sports app from there.
- High quality app
- Available on Android and iOS
- Intuitive Design
- Easy to use
- Live bets
Once downloaded, you will be able to log into the Winner app using your usual log in details, and you will probably be pleased to know that the layout is exactly the same as the desktop version of the website.
It is extremely easy to navigate, and the bet slip is set out so that you can easily see which selections you have chosen to place bets on without having to keep on refreshing the app.
The Winner app also makes it clear when a bet has been accepted, especially useful when betting in play so that you are not left wondering if you will need to attempt to place the bet again.
Winner Deposits and Withdrawals
Winner offers a wide range of deposit options, from the more traditional methods such as Visa, Mastercard, and bank transfers to web wallets such as Skrill and NETELLER.
| Winner Banking Options | ||
|---|---|---|
| Sports | Min. Deposit | Withdraw |
| Football | Tennis | Basketball | Volleyball | Golf | Boxing | Other | £10 | 3-5 Working Days |
| Payment Methods Mastercard Visa Skrill NETELLER | ||
There is a £10 minimum deposit requirement across all deposit methods, but please bear in mind that if you are making a deposit in order to take advantage of the sign-up offer, the minimum deposit is £30.
When it comes to making withdrawals, the minimum amount is also £10, and Winner are sometimes a little slower than they should be regarding the time that it takes to process withdrawals.
Maximum Betting Levels
Winner are quicker than many of their competitors in limiting the size of the bets that you are allowed to make.
All sportsbooks keep a close eye on the betting patterns of their customers, but many punters have complained that Winner have limited the size of their bets within the first week of opening an account.
The lesson which should be taken from this is that if you want to place a larger than normal bet, don’t even attempt to try this with Winner because it will be refused.
Registering an Account with Winner
Taking everything into account, even though Winner has its negative aspects, it is still worth opening an account with them, even if it is just to take advantage of the sign-up offer.
All you need to do is to click on the green ‘Join Now’ button in the top right-hand corner of the website and then go through the easy to follow instructions to open an account.
You will probably receive a KYC request from Winner, and this just involved sending them a scan or photograph of your ID (passport/driving license) and utility bill.
This process is perfectly normal and has been put in place in order to protect you as well as the sportsbook.
Placing That First Bet
Placing a bet with Winner is extremely straightforward so assuming that you are going to take advantage of the sign-up offer, make sure that you have deposited a minimum of £30 and then look for a selection with minimum odds of 1.5.
The selection will appear in your betting slip, choose your desired stake, and then click on the ‘Submit’ button.
Congratulations, you will have placed your first bet.
Ongoing Winner Sports Promotions
Winner actually provide a wide selection of free bet ongoing promotions, whether your account will still be open to take advantage of these promotions is a different matter!
The sportsbook has an acca club whereby they will refund your stake if one selection in a minimum fivefold acca lets you down and also a mobile loyalty scheme where customers are awarded as free £10 bet for every twenty mobile bets of £10 that they place.
As with the welcome promotion, all bonuses are added automatically, so there is no need for a Winner promo code or any other Winners bet code.
What Is the Customer Support Like?
The customer support is OK.
You will get any questions answered eventually, but it seems like the advisors often have to double-check before answering a question which is a little out of the ordinary.
The Winner sport contact options are available from 6 am until midnight and include email, phone number and live chat, with live chat being the recommended option as you usually don’t have to wait too long to get connected and you will have the added benefit of a record of your live chat conversation.
Safety and Security
Winner offers full SSL encryption as well as ticking all of the regulatory boxes in terms of necessary requirements. Malta Gaming Authority regulates the sportsbook, which guarantees a fair and safe gaming experience.
So, Should You Open an Account with Winner?
As Winner is one of those bookies which started out as a casino and added a sportsbook at a later date, they have actually done a great job, and the sportsbook is of a very high standard.
They are guilty of limiting accounts a little too readily, and they are doing themselves no favours as word soon gets about, and punters will begin to look elsewhere for their online betting requirements.
As it stands though, the sign up offer is well worth taking advantage of, as are some of their other Winner sports free bet promotions so bearing that in mind, it is advisable to seriously consider opening an account of you don’t have one already.
