Matchbook Review | Sports | Markets | Odds

Matchbook

New Customer Offer

Money Back as Free Bet up to £20

BONUS CODE: MB20

Claim Offer

New customers only. Sign up using bonus code MB20. Place your first bet, if it loses we will refund your first bet stake as a free bet, up to the value of £20. The first bet must be placed within 7 days of registration and at odds of 1.8 or more. 18+ only. T&Cs apply. Be Gamble Aware #ad

Matchbook is a betting exchange and so placing bets works slightly differently to placing a bet with a bookmaker.

First of all, you’re able to place both back and lay bets. If you’ve bet with a bookmaker, you’ll be used to placing back bets which are when you are betting on something to happen. Lay bets can only be placed on betting exchanges such as Matchbook and are when you are betting on something not to happen. For example, if you placed a lay bet on Arsenal to beat Chelsea, your bet would win if Arsenal didn’t win (Chelsea wins or the match ends in a draw).

When you bet with Matchbook, you are often able to get better odds than when betting with a bookmaker. This is because the bookmaker offers slightly lower odds than the true odds in order to make a profit. However, when betting with a betting exchange, you are not betting against Matchbook but rather other customers. Therefore Matchbook takes a commission in order to generate a profit.

Sports & Betting Markets

Matchbook offers both back and lay odds for a variety of sports and events. You’ll be able to bet on all of the major sports such as Football, Horse Racing, Tennis, Golf, Boxing, Cricket, Basketball and Greyhounds, with a good number of betting markets featured for each event.

If you’re used to betting with a bookmaker then you’ll notice that there aren’t as many sports or markets listed on Matchbook as there are on bookie websites. This is mainly due to liquidity in those markets and is normal for betting exchanges to have slightly fewer sports available.

Matchbook Liquidity

One advantage of betting with a large betting exchange such as Betfair Exchange is the high liquidity in the markets which means that you’re more likely to get your bet matched at the price listed.

So, how does the liquidity at Matchbook compare?

Overall, pretty well. With the large customer base Betfair Exchange has, there is usually more liquidity available. However, having used Matchbook for a while now, it’s not very often that liquidity isn’t available for many of the major markets. In this department, Matchbook is a great alternative to Betfair.

Matchbook Horse Racing

Horse racing is widely covered in Matchbook with races from the UK, Ireland and SouthAfrica available. We would like to see races from other parts of the world available but you will find some of the major race events available which are taking place in the USA, France, Australia, UAE and other countries around the world.

Live in-play betting is available on horse racing at Matchbook as well as the options of Win, Place and Multiples.

In-Play Betting

Live betting is a huge part of betting exchanges given that they are often used by traders who are backing and laying bets in-play. Customers at Matchbook are able to bet in-play on the vast majority of sports and markets which are available pre-match. Just like with pre-match markets, you’ll find a larger selection of in-play markets at a standard bookmaker but many of the most popular markets are covered in-play such as the Match Winner, Goalscorers, HT/FT, Correct Score etc. 

One advantage of betting with a betting exchange such as Matchbook over a regular bookmaker is that you can often get much better odds. However, be aware that in-play odds can fluctuate very fast and so you often have to be quick to have your bet matched at the price you take.

Both back and lay odds are available in-play at Matchbook with the back odds shown in the blue boxes and lay odds in the pink boxes.

Live Streaming

Live streaming is not currently available at Matchbook but users are able to view a range of in-play stats as for most events along with a Match Tracker which shows current happening in the event. For tennis matches, the Match Tracker will show when a player is serving or when there has been an ace or a break in play and for football matches, it will show when a team has a corner, a foul has been committed or a substitution has been made etc.

Customer Service

Support is available to Matchbook customers 7 days a week. Telephone support is available from 8am to 10pm (8am-12am on Fridays & weekends) GMT with separate numbers for UK, Ireland and International customers. Email support is available 24/7 and there is also the option of connecting to a support agent via live chat which can be handy for quick answers to queries. Live chat support agents are available 7 days a week from 8am to 10pm (8am-12am on Fridays & weekends) GMT.

Matchbook App

The Matchbook app is available to download for both iOS and Android devices from the associated app stores. The app works great being fast loading and very easy to navigate between sports and markets.

Being a betting exchange, odds can move fast and so it’s essential that any exchange has an app that works flawlessly. Thankfully, the Matchbook app doesn’t disappoint and allows customers to log into their account quickly when on the move and access everything that they can do on the Matchbook website.

MatchBook Commissions

Matchbook charges customers 2% commission on net profit on a market. You do not pay any commission on losing bets. The 2% commission charge applies to customers in the UK, ROI, Channel Islands and Isle of Man with customers in the rest of the world being charged 4%.

If you’d like to calculate the commission prior to placing your bet, you can do so using the formula below:

Commission charged = ((stake * odds) – stake) * commission rate

For example, if you placed a £100 bet at odds of 2.4, your expected returns would usually be £240. However, with the 2% commission, should your bet win, your actual returns would be:

Commission = ((£100 * 2.4) – £100) * 2% = £2.80

Total Returns after commission = £240 – £2.80 = £237.20

Matchbook Casino

Unlike their rival betting exchange Smarkets, Matchbook hosts an online casino which features hundreds of games from various game developers such as Red Tiger, NetEnt and others. 

There are 200+ different online slots to choose from with many of the big titles available such as Dead or Alive 2, Narcos, Starburst Blood Suckers and many others. There is also a selection of video poker and table games which include Blackjack, Roulette, Baccarat, Sic Bo, Craps, Caribbean Poker and many others.

You won’t find as many games at the Matchbook Casino as you would at a dedicated online casino but there is more than enough to keep the casual and intermediate casino player happy.

Matchbook Live Casino

All games in the Matchbook Live Casino are provided by Evolution Gaming and there is an excellent selection. As well as several live Blackjack, Roulette, Baccarat, Live Dragon Tiger and Poker tables where you can play with real-life dealers and croupiers, Matchbook offers an excellent range of live game show games of which Evolution has many of. These games include Crazy Time, Monopoly Live, Dream Catcher or Deal or No Deal Live, Lightning Roulette, Lightning Dice, Mega Ball.

Overall, Matchbook has an excellent selection of live casino games which will surely attract those who enjoy playing these games alongside betting on exchange markets.

Banking

Matchbook offers customers a number of options when it comes to depositing and withdrawing from their accounts. As well as using debit cards, customers can opt to use e-wallets such as Neteller and Skrill or pre-paid card Paysafecard.

The minimum deposit for most methods is £5 and withdrawals are processed relatively fast with withdrawals to bank accounts taking roughly 2-5 days and e-wallet withdrawals reaching accounts in 1-2 days.

Summary

Overall, Matchbook is a solid betting exchange which covers a range of sports and markets and has reasonable liquidity in the main markets. It’s a good alternative to those who are on the 5% commission rate at Betfair as the standard 2% commission at Matchbook can save a lot of money over time. 

As well as an excellent betting exchange, Matchbook also offers an online casino and live casino with an impressive number of games.

Click below to visit Matchbook betting exchange today.

Matchbook

New Customer Offer

Money Back as Free Bet up to £20

BONUS CODE: MB20

Claim Offer

New customers only. Sign up using bonus code MB20. Place your first bet, if it loses we will refund your first bet stake as a free bet, up to the value of £20. The first bet must be placed within 7 days of registration and at odds of 1.8 or more. 18+ only. T&Cs apply. Be Gamble Aware #ad