Betsafe was officially launched in January 2006 and claims to have as many as 450,000 customers in over 100 different countries. After a shaky start in the gaming world they have improved markedly in the last two or three years and now offer good sports book, casino and poker products.

They are registered and licensed in Malta and (whilst full details of their ownership are not readily available) they are operated by Safepay Malta, a subsidiary of Betsson AB. Betsson AB are a publicly listed Swedish Holding company that has over 45 years of gaming experience, so you could say they are in safe hands.

At the time of writing Betsafe were offering 12,180 different markets with some unusual sports covered such as Trotting, Pesapallo (a ball game popular in Finland), Bandy (also popular in Scandinavia) and Handball. They have a wide-reaching football offering, including such leagues as the Guatemalan Liga National and the Egyptian Premier League.

The focus on sports such as Pesapallo and the fact they offer plenty for ice hockey fans reflects the fact that they are ultimately a Scandinavian company and that's where most of their clients originate. If you want to bet on Scandinavian football this is about as good a place as any to do so.

Their odds are solid overall, especially on outsiders where they occasionally stick their neck on the line to the potential benefit of punters.

The main sports book bonus is not one that will tempt too many people as it is a 50% bonus up to 25 EUR but must be wagered on trebles to qualify. Still tempted? Once the bonus is credited it must be turned over 10 times, again on trebles only!

No part of the bet must be on odds lower than 1.10 and the combined odds must be at least 2.00 (evens). Moneybookers deposits do not qualify for the promotion and there are rarely other offers in the sports book.

Thankfully, they do offer further freebies in the casino (100% to 100 EUR) and for poker fans there is a choice of bonus ranging from 200 USD to their diamond 2000 USD sign-up bonus.

Betsafe have a reasonable in-play offering that is clearly shown from the home page. It has its own dedicated area which we like as confusion is avoided. It is easy to find the upcoming live markets and whilst the range isn't huge it is an area they are growing all the time.

They do not offer any dedicated mobile betting option at the time of writing, but it is surely only a matter of time before they do.

Telephone: +44 808 2800 766
Email: support-en@betsafe.com
Address: Level 4, Marina Business Centre, Abate Rigord St, Ta'Xbiex XBX 1127, Malta.
Other contact methods: Live chat

The customer service is very good with the live chat being quick, efficient and always rapidly available in our tests. Emails are swiftly answered and customer service is available 24/7.

The customer service options cleverly default to the language in which you are viewing the site, so there are different phone numbers available depending on where you are calling from (the number above is for UK customers). Swedish live chat was unavailable when we tried but it gave us the option to chat in English or email in Swedish, which was a nice, efficient solution. (Given that my Swedish is a little rusty, it was just as well.)

Betsafe are, at present, probably a bookie with only a limited appeal. Their focus is two-fold: football and the Scandinavian countries. As discussed, for fans of the Beautiful Game they offer various markets for unusual leagues whilst the fact the website is available in all the Scandinavian languages (as well as Polish and Bulgarian) shows the market they largely draw custom from.

The biggest issue they will face in attracting new business from elsewhere is the bonus, which, frankly, is no incentive at all to join. A 50% match in itself is not fantastic but when you consider the wagering requirements - 10 times the bonus - and the fact it has to be gambled on trebles, it is clearly unattractive. The poker and casino offers, whilst more generous, still have large wagering requirements.

However, for people who want to bet on some unusual sports, such as Bandy, or who want a punt on the lower echelons of Swedish or Norwegian football, Betsafe are ideal. The customer service is excellent and the website is quick, slick and easy to navigate.

All in all, not bad, but not likely to be challenging the big boys anytime soon.