Bet365 Basketball Betting Review

About Bet365

Bet365 is arguably one of the biggest betting brands in the industry. Owned by a UK based company, the site accepts players from around the world, boasting millions of customers from countries such as Kenya, Finland, Sweden, and Germany, in addition to the home country the UK and Ireland.

Bet365 has built an intense online gaming ecosystem with comprehensive betting services that range from a sportsbook to an online casino featuring esports. Bet365 is mainly famous for its sportsbook, which features over two dozen sporting categories including football, basketball, cricket, darts, hockey, horse racing, esports, golf, and tennis. For this review, I was interested in the Bet365 sports betting section, in particular, basketball betting. Being a global sport, basketball is one lucrative sport that gives players multiple betting markets.


Basketball Betting at Bet365

As a betting expert, whenever I’m doing a review on a particular sports betting site, the main question in mind is always ‘Why should I choose this platform over the other?’. With Bet365 online, I got plenty of answers to this question. Bet365 gave me access to a global basketballing arena, featuring tournaments played in Europe, Asia, Africa, South America, in addition to the most popular tournaments in the USA. With such a wide array of basketball tournaments, I am assured I can get a game or two to bet on daily.

I was equally impressed by the numerous betting markets available here. For example, in a single game, I was able to choose whether to bet on game lines, main props, team props, quarter props, half props, and game props. Within each of these markets are multiple selections. I had the option to build my coupon, a feature that I will describe in more detail in the section below.

In addition to the regular basketball betting markets, Bet365 gave me the chance to place live in-play bets on basketball matches. I found the live betting markets to be equally rich in content, with odds that average slightly higher than standard market rates. Here I could place bets on:

  • Full match results
  • Quarter lines
  • Quarter margins
  • Point spread
  • Quarter both teams to score
  • Half race to
  • Team Totals
  • Winning Margins

I realized most of the matches available in the basketball in-play section had a live streaming option. I have reviewed this feature in more detail in the next section below. Another betting market I eagerly exploited was the future markets. Unlike the regular betting markets, this is a betting method which entails betting on future outcomes of basketball matches, preferably the immediate result. In the next betting model, I could place bets on outcomes such as the overall winner in a tournament, NBA series correct score, NBA finals MVP, Outright FIBA Winner among several others. One advantage I realized with such future markets is that the odds tend to have higher payouts than regular betting markets.

Overall, I can summarize the pros and cons of betting on basketball at Bet365 as below:

  • Pros:
  • Cover global basketball matches thus many betting options
  • Multiple betting markets for each basketball match, including handicap
  • Supports in-play live betting
  • Feature a live streaming option for the basketball matches
  • Can be easily accessed and used from mobile devices
  • Allows cash outs on live bets
  • Has a live stats and results page that gives a history of past matches, enabling you to make informed predictions
  • Cons:
  • Cashing out does not apply to all matches
  • The live streams for the basketball matches tend to be fewer compared to other major sports such as football

Visit Bet365


Having played at Bet365 before, the site was quite familiar. But even for new players, you will find the layout and overall design to be straightforward to use. I have always been impressed by the dark theme grey theme used here, with green and bright yellow being used to highlight the various tabs and links. I could quickly locate the main navigation menu at the very top of the home page. This menu is a vital tool when playing here as it gave me a shortcut to each of the site’s gaming and betting section.

Being interested in the basketball section, I clicked the ‘Sports’ tab at the top green menu bar. That leads me to a new page populated with lots of sporting action. On the left side panel, I could easily locate the full list of online sport betting options offered here. Filtering through the over two dozen sporting categories was quite easy since they have been arranged in alphabetical order. To access the basketball page, I clicked on the ‘Basketball’ link. Here is another important feature worth noting; if you are an avid basketball fan, you can click the small star icon that appears when you hover over the basketball tab. That adds the sport to your favourites list, making it appear above the rest of the sports.

Once on the basketball page, I found the matches categorized according to their leagues or tournaments. The most popular of these tournaments appeared first, followed by the rest in alphabetical order. By clicking the drop-down arrow on the right of each of these bars, I could quickly reveal the list of matches lined up to take place, with the respective betting markets. It is also worth noting that the markets are not standard for all the tournaments but will vary from one league to the other.

I also made use of the alternative filtering option whereby I could filter the matches set to play in the next 24 hours only, rather than the entire schedule. On the far right panel was my bet slip together with minimized screen for the live streams. I did notice that when adding events to my bet slip, I had the option to develop my customized coupon comprised of multiple events.

As it is the case with the rest of the Bet365 sportsbook, I could easily switch the format in which the odds were displayed from decimals to either fractional, American or American/Fractional. While still on the basketball page, I was able to locate the ‘Help’ page at the mini-menu bar placed horizontally above the bet slip. The help page was a valuable resource centre where I could retrieve tips on how to play, step-by-step guides as well as the rules about betting on basketball.


Euro Basketball Promotion

While doing this review, I came across numerous bonuses and offers by Bet365. Most of the offers here a for niche markets or sports and basketball is not left behind either. I want to mention that along the welcome bonus, there are offers for different sports from bet365 too, including basketball.


Live Streaming feature

As I hinted earlier in this review, Bet365 gives its clientele the chance to live stream games from their website. This favour extends to the basketball betting section as well. While placing my live bets, I was able to follow all the live action across various basketball games. However, for practical reasons, not all basketball matches are available on the live streams. Most of the live matches I caught up with were those played in major European leagues and tournaments. For the majority of matches here, I was left to make do with the animated graphics displayed above the bet slip.

To use the Live Streaming service you will need to be logged in and have a funded account or to have placed a bet in the last 24 hours. With these conditions met, I scrolled to the basketball betting section, then clicked the yellow ‘In-Play’ link placed at the top right corner. This link filters only the live basketball matches from the entire selection. From this page, I could point out the matches with a live stream option as they are indicated using a small ‘Play’ icon next to the team names.

The quality of the video streams is quite impressive. The video streaming screen comes with some control features that allowed me to either mute, maximize or minimize the screen, or even stop the video altogether. Another cool aspect of this entire streaming feature is that I did not have to install any additional software for it to work. The video streaming screen embedded in the Bet365 website, and I found out it could work any functional web browser, including on mobile devices as well.

To use the Live Streaming service you will need to be logged in and have a funded account or to have placed a bet in the last 24 hours.


Basketball betting thru mobile version or mobile app

Speaking of mobile devices, betting on the go has become a common feature in online betting. Smartphones and tablets have liberalized the industry further allowing gamers to place their bets at any place on any time of day, without needing to access a PC. As such, a sports betting site would be incomplete without an easily accessible mobile platform. While doing this review, I did not expect the contrary with Bet365, considering the big brand that they are.

With Bet365, I had two options for accessing the basketball betting markets from my phone. The first option involved downloading the standalone apps, which are available for both iOS and Android devices. The app download process is pretty fast since the apps have been optimized to work efficiently without hogging too much space. I found the user interface of the app to be well structured, with the overall Bet365 theme colours featuring dominantly. The apps bring together all the betting and gaming services available on the desktop site, including the live streaming capabilities.

The second option for mobile gaming is through the Bet365 mobile site version. This option is appealing to most gamers since no downloads are required. All I did was open my normal mobile browser and type in the Bet365 URL. The site automatically adjusted to the mobile version. Most of the features in the design and layout are similar to those of the desktop site, save for a few tweaks in the main menu. For the live streams to work with this mobile site version, you will need to ensure the mobile browser you are using is capable of handling instant play flash videos.


Deposit & Withdrawal

When playing at either the desktop or mobile platforms, I was able to transact my money easily thanks to the numerous payment options available here. By visiting the deposits and withdrawals page, I discovered that I could deposit and withdraw using several e-wallets, any major direct bank transfers, and even cheques. The cashier section is quite user-friendly in that one can play using different currencies. Also, I did not encounter any transaction charges from Bet365, with most deposits being completed within a few minutes.

My withdrawal requests were processed between 24 hours and five business days, depending on the mode of payment I opted to use.


Frequently asked questions

Which tournaments are featured at the Bet365 basketball betting section?

I could count well over two dozen basketball competitions at the Bet365 sportsbook. These include significant competitions such as the NBA, Euroleague, Germany Bundesliga, Spain League and even smaller competitions across Asia and Africa.

Do the basketball markets at Bet365 support handicap markets?

Yes, I was able to spot handicap basketball betting options on Bet365. As an industry-wide practice, the handicap appears with the + or symbols.

Does the Bet365 virtual sports section feature virtual basketball matches as well?

Virtual sports are among the many sports offered in this sportsbook. While the virtual sports section features several simulated sports, I did not find any virtual basketball matches.

If I change the currency on my account, what exchange rate does Bet365 use?

The exchange rates applicable will change daily depending on the actual market rates.

Can I set daily betting limits on my Bet365 account?

While sports betting is meant to be fun, things can get out of hand pretty fast. For this reason, you can set daily betting limits for your account. For more information on this, check out the ‘Responsible Gaming’ page on the Bet365 site.


Customer Care & Contacts

The quality of customer support services is integral to the overall experience one has at a given betting site. With Bet365, the customer support services offered are top notch. First, the team is available round the clock, which good considering the site serves people in different time zones. Secondly, the response rate itself is commendable, as I did not have to wait on line for way too long. There are numerous modes of communication that I could use including:

  • Phone calls
  • Live Chats
  • Emails
  • Postal mail

The icing on the cake is the FAQs page whose link placed at the bottom section of the home page. From my experience, the FAQs section is detailed enough to resolve any issue you might have, making the direct customer support interaction a last resort.


Rating & Conclusion

When I decided to try out the Bet365 basketball betting section, my expectations were quite high, mainly because of the much that has been said about this brand. And true to my expectations, everything here was up to standard. While the basketball matches are plenty, the odds assigned are at par with average market rates, meaning you can still enjoy some quality betting here. The live streaming feature makes everything better, even though it is limited to a few games.

Rating: 9/10

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Published on 06 June 2019, last edit on 10 April 2024
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