Centrebet

Having been founded in 1992, Centrebet is certainly a very well-established online bookmaker with operations in more than one country. Indeed, in 1996 the company became the first licensed bookmaker in the entire southern hemisphere to offer online sports betting. This puts Centrebet firmly in the middle of Australian sports betting and racing, and many punters go to the site as their number one choice when placing bets. The company does have a truly international feel about it; its parent company is licensed in Malta and on the website itself you can search for competitions from around the world, and even view the website in around a dozen different languages.

Bonuses

All experienced punters know that one of the best ways to maximize your bankroll and potential returns when sports betting is to make use of bookmaker bonuses and promotions. Centrebet certainly offers a great opening promotion by offering to match your first bet with the company up to the value of $200. It is actually worth registering with the company simply to take advantage of this excellent Centrebet promotion. There can’t be many better ways of opening a bookmaker account than by doubling your return on your first bet.

Taking advantage of this bookmaker promotion is very straightforward: simply register for a new account, deposit funds into your account, and then place your first bet using the “USE BONUS TOKEN” option on your bet slip. As well as this standard welcome promotion from Centrebet, this particular bookie also tends to offer special bonuses and promotions on various events throughout the year. Keeping an eye out on which offers pop up on the home screen is a good idea, as it may help you make an extra few bucks from your bet.

Sports Covered

Centrebet has an excellent range of sports betting markets to choose from. All of the most popular sports and markets are well accounted for here, with plenty of options when it comes to betting on the AFL, NRL, cricket, soccer, rugby union, and tennis etc. There are also plenty of more niche markets available such as cycling, handball, Mixed Martial Arts, and surfing competitions. Centrebet is also particularly good for betting on sports that are predominantly American in nature; the NBA, NFL, ice hockey and baseball are all represented.

As well as there being plenty of individual sports to bet on, within each of these sports there are plenty of different types of bet and markets you can look into. Centrebet has certainly done its best to present as many different betting options as possible on all of the different sports they offer, meaning you can make your betting as simple or as complex as you like. Centrebet also has a search feature called ‘Find a Contender’ which allows you to search for any nation, team, player, horse or dog you like. This obviously makes it very easy to quickly find exactly what you’re looking for.

Racing Coverage

When you log on to the Centrebet homepage, there is a racing tab at the top which will bring up all of the day’s runners and races. First of all, the next three horse races available will flash up in front of you, together with details of various racing offers and promotions. You also have options on the left hand side of the screen for choosing horse racing, greyhounds and harness racing over the next couple of days, and from around the world. Horseracing on Centrebet covers races in Australia, New Zealand, Great Britain, Ireland, France, South Africa and the UAE, providing plenty of betting opportunities for even the most ardent horseracing fan. The greyhounds in the UK are also covered and there is an option to view the early prices and futures for all notable racing events taking place over the next weeks and months.

Other Markets

Betting on sports and racing certainly takes up the majority of a punter’s attention, but sometimes it makes a nice change to bet on something a little bit different. Centrebet has markets based on elections, entertainment and financial markets also, and these are certainly a nice distraction if you feel so-and-so is a shoe in for an Oscar or Grammy for example.

Live Betting

Centrebet is also one of the best Australian bookmakers for live betting. There are two ways of accessing the live betting at Centrebet; first of all there is a tab at the top of the screen which will bring up any sporting events currently taking place which you can place bets on. On this live screen, there is a status key showing which live events can be bet on by all users, or only users outside of Australia. If the second status is the case, Australian punters can still place a live bet on the telephone. Also, on the home page you will find a set of links on the left hand side which will show you which sports in particular are subject to live betting on Centrebet.

Mobile Betting

Mobile betting with Centrebet is pretty easily accessible using modern mobile phones and can be done in two ways. There is a dedicated mobile site at m.centrebet.com and the company also have dedicated applications for iPhones, Android phones and BlackBerry users. These mobile betting platforms are pretty straightforward to use, although you don’t really get to appreciate the full range of markets available without visiting the proper website.

Summary

Centrebet deserves its place as one of the most prominent bookmakers in Australia; the range of sports, racing and other markets available is as good as any other site. Centrebet also has a good range of live betting options and they have obviously made an effort to keep up with the times using mobile technology. The only small criticism is the usability of their website itself; Centrebet use a kind of multi-frame layout which means that you have multiple screens scrolling all over the place. This can be a little bit annoying at times but with a few tweaks, their website layout would be as good as the rest of their content.