Bet-At-Home
There are hundreds of European bookmakers that claim a share of the gambling market. We are talking about a revenue as high as 108.5 billion Euros, according to the latest statistics. And that’s only for the clientele of the old continent. The equivalent amount for the entire globe goes to 150 billion Euros. The top names on the list should be well-known to everyone. However, in this review, we will discuss about one that is not included in that list. Despite this obvious oversight, Bet-at-home presents a package that make for a most worthy alternative.
The operations span from Düsseldorf, location of the headquarters of the company, to Linz, for the development department, to Malta, for the subsidiary of the group that applies for, and acquires all the required licenses. The relevant paperwork requires a separate permit for each one of the services rendered to the bettors. Bureaucracy at its finest.
What is Bet-At-Home?
It all begins in 1999 and the city of Wels in Austria. Franz Ömer and Jochen Dickinger came up with the idea and begun working on their site, which went online in March 2000. At first it was only about online sports betting, as was the trend of the era. However, the demands of the punters led to constant redesigning and expansions, in five different occasions between 2002 and 2009. The product range got expanded with casino games, as well as a poker platform.
Eventually, the rapid increase of gross revenues and the growth of the company, brought it in the sites of groups looking for possible lucrative investments. Through the introduction of the Austrian bookmaker’s shares at the stock exchange and the relevant negotiations, it became the property of Betclic Everest Group SAS, based in France. It was a process that lasted for quite a while, and at this time, the French hold 53.9% of the stocks.
Initially, the two founders kept 1% and retired. At this time the owner is Marco Falchetto who keeps 45.1% of the stock shares open for investments via free float. The 53.5 million of revenue, justify the interest of people for a nice return of their capital. Especially for a company that employees 109 people working on improving the total product line constantly.
The selections for traditional gambling
The options for the online betting industry amount to staggering numbers: up to a million of total sporting events per year, and 206,000 live streams, just for the Sportsbook section. The usual sports in the likes of football, tennis, cricket, basketball and others, are at the disposal of the users. And so are the most standard markets like 1X2, Over/Under, Double Chance, Correct Score, Handicaps, Half time/Full time suggestions, etc…
No modern gambling establishment is considered complete without a casino section. And in this one, the bookmaker from Austria went the extra mile. The well-known game designer and provider EveryMatrix, is the company that supplies the titles as of 2023, while players can still have access to games made by companies like NetEnd, Evolution Gaming and Microgamming. The section also includes all of the popular live dealer and table games. Consequently, we are talking about a package that, according to the opinion of most users, satisfies all needs. Especially for the adolescent part of the population and the number of professional gamers that make a living out of the practice.
Bet-At-Home and eSports
This industry has experienced a tremendous growth in the last five years alone. In all likelihood, it was this fact that led to the decision to turn the company’s focus to the genre. The last update added the titles that take up much of the time of the younger generation. Titles like League of Legends, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and Dota 2. Those well versed in the world will surely recognize the existence of professional teams competing for great prizes in international championships derived from these titles. However, some a bit lesser-known, games of the likes of Rainbow Six Siege, King of Glory and others, have also become available.
In addition to all of the above, the word is, that, in the near future, the operators will add live streaming of events such as the International Dota 2 Championship, or the LoL World Championship. Furthermore, there will be a section dedicated to analyses of data per event, while the addition of live betting will be an important step for the virtual games. If they are the first to release such options to the general public, it is quite possible that we will see an Austrian bookmaker at the top of the list of the favorite bookmakers for this part of the industry.
Total User Experience
Going through the necessary research steps for this Bet-at-home review, we couldn’t leave out the usual basics on how the site itself works. Overall navigation is quite easy through self-explanatory menus and other settings. If there is a downside to talk about, that comes with the quite strict process that potential clients will need to go through, in order to verify their account. And we say «if» because we have one gambling establishment that doesn’t just comply with the requirements for anti-money laundering and other frauds. They adhere to it completely. And that may create unreasonable delays.
The next step is to talk about the bonuses and promotions. Let’s begin with the free bet offer, where new clients can place the first bet without actually risking money. A welcome bonus also expects the same clients, while there are other incentives like cashbacks, seasonal promotions and free bets for a number of preselected matches. Loyalty points reward the returning customers as a thank you for their business.
Money and Information Security
This is an issue of concern for every person that things of entering the world of online gambling. Is their personal information safe? Will any talks they have with the operators become public knowledge? Will the details of their ways to fund their accounts find a way to the hands of people who should not have them? For the bookmaker from Austria, the answer to all of the above is a definite negation. Every step for the encryption of all data that needs to be in possession of the operators, is in use. And the software deployed is proprietary, which means it is not available for possible testing on how it can be breached.
As far as the actual transactions are concerned, here we have something to talk about. While all of the traditional and all of the more modern methods are available, there is no option to use the quickly rising in popularity cryptos. And the ability to use cryptocurrency to place bets is crucial to the residents of certain parts of the world.
The deposits and withdrawals themselves are handled with reasonable speed, however, here are a couple of things more to discuss. The fees that bet-a-home charges for the transactions can be considered as rather discouraging, while the limit that they impose on the money transfers is also a reason for some people not to select their services.
Having the Customers’ Backs
The third major concern in every online user’s mind is whether there will be someone to have their backs, in case of trouble. And that includes from the answer to the simplest of questions, up to the resolution of the most complex of problems. To that effect, the Austrian bookmaker has employees manning the chat function that is available on the site.
In general, the feedback we found on the issue, does not report any problems other than the occasional (and unavoidable) failure. Some issues are just impossible to find a satisfactory completion. After all, as the saying goes, no one and nothing is perfect.
So, Bet-At-Home? Yes or yes?
While there are issues to consider, we did not come up during our research with something so major, to justify a negative reaction to the question. We have an establishment that offers a quite complete and modern package of services that covers all needs. Considering that we may also be dealing with a future specialist in e-sports betting, we are inclined to recommend to those interested, to get in touch with one of the best betting agents and discuss the possibility of opening an account.
