STARS: 4.9 out of 5
WEBSITE: https://www.betxchange.co.za/
ESTABLISHED: 1988, went online in 2003
LOCATION: Johannesburg, South Africa
PROPRIETOR: Keith Ho
LICENCES: Western Cape Gambling & Racing Board, Gauteng Gambling Board and the Mpumalanga Gambling Board.
MINIMUM DEPOSIT: R100
DEPOSIT OPTIONS: Deposits can be made via MasterCard, Visa, and Visa Electron Credit cards or by EFT via IPay, Nedbank, FNB, Standard Bank, Absa or Capitec.
SOFTWARE: Turfsport
PROS:
- Long-established bookmaker
- Clean, easy to use interface
- Optimized for Mobile users
- Offers the best odds
- Attractive welcome bonus
- Interface available in more than 50 languages
CONS:
- FAQ coming but not yet available
MAIN REVIEW:
The BetxChange online sportsbook is owned by Keith Ho who started out as a traditional horse-racing bookmaker way back in 1988 but, who over the years, has since grown it into one of South Africa’s largest and most respected multi-sport betting giants renowned especially for giving betting odds that invariably better even those of their biggest international sportsbook rivals.
Furthermore, while face-to-face and cash betting is still available at the 15 retail betting shops BetxChange has established nation-wide, thanks to their move into internet gambling in 2003, you can also make bets, deposits and withdrawals from your home or office via a PC or laptop or you can use your Smartphone or a mobile tablet if you are on the go, perhaps even while watching from the grandstand the very sport you are betting on,
And if you do take the high road and go the internet route, which is the one this review is all about, you’ll be met by a website that has a clean, businesslike, boldly-coloured interface that is easy to understand, easy to operate, is tastefully decorated with up-to-the-minute pictures of the sporting heroes you are likely to be placing bets on and yes, that’s right, on a platform which gives you more than 50 different language options.
Its website opens with a visually-striking, uncluttered blue white and yellow banner featuring head shots of prominent sporting celebrities and nothing else besides the key buttons you need to get started, be it registering, making a deposit, betting or simply finding out what BetxChange is all about.
Furthermore, with only a couple of clicks you can switch the website’s language from English to German or to French, Chinese, Korean and a host of other international languages.
Sports Bets
If you had pressed the ’sports’ button among the prominent set of five placed across the top of the opening page, you will have learnt within minutes which major international sports events are on the go and what major bonuses and promotions BetxChange is currently featuring.
You will also have learnt that besides your usual suspects, horse racing, football, rugby, cricket, golf and tennis, there are close to two dozen other sports you can wager money on, including motor racing, American football, baseball, basketball and ice hockey, Aussie rules, darts, boxing, cycling, beach volleyball and even politics – and of course there are multitudes of betting markets within each sport.
It’s not the longest list of sports to be found on a South African online sportsbook, but then again it’s not the shortest either and judged by the sportsbook’s popularity, it seems to satisfy the tastes of most of its customer.
And that’s not all. In addition to live-betting, BetxChange is probably one of only two SA online sportsbooks that are also able to offer the exciting new ‘live-in-play’ betting concept where sometimes you only have seconds to decide on a bet.
Lotto
Because there is also a ‘Lotto’ button beside the ‘sports’ button, you will also have quickly discovered that you can buy tickets for more than 100 world-wide Lottos, ranging alphabetically from the Arizona Pick through SA Powerball to the Zimbabwe Lotto.
Bonuses and Promotions
Starting with their boast that they will “match your first deposit of up to R10 000”, BetxChange is not shy when it comes to handing out bonuses and promotional rewards – or telling you about them.
Among their other bonus offers, they also give you the chance to spin and win back your total purchase of up to R10 000 if you pay with IPay and in the promotions field, they are generally on a par with their higher-quality rivals in the industry.
You need to keep an eye out for their betting codes, though, because their promotional activities are based mainly on international sport’s standout events of the moment such as the World Football Cup, the FA Cup, the Tour de France, Wimbledon tennis, golf’s Open Championship, World Sevens rugby or the Durban July horse race and are always changing.
Getting back to bonuses; be careful, with that first deposit bonus. Like most first deposit bonus offers out there in the betting market, there are conditions.
BetxChange stipulates that you will not be able to withdraw any winnings you may have made from their matching offer until you have wagered 10 times the matching amount.
In short, if you have deposited R10 000 and they have matched it, you are going to have to wager R100 000 before you can make any withdrawals.
Customer Care:
BetxChange clearly takes this aspect of their business seriously.
They have dedicated services using Live Chat, Whatsapp and email to answer almost anything you want to know – and you won’t have to look too far to find entry into them.
Featured on the right-hand side of the page listing available sports and highlighted by the words “Chat with US”, it practically hits you in the face.
I could not find any reference to this service being available 24/7, but my emailed query brought, within 24 hours, verification that a 24/7 Customer Care service was, in fact, in place.
The same e-mail also let me know that their FAQ service, not currently available, is undergoing maintenance work and should be up and running in the near future.
Mind you, the information that can be gleaned from BetxChange’s highly-informative info section at the bottom of their home page is so detailed, having no FAQ service was certainly not the end of the world.
BetxChange’s concern for its customers is also underlined by its valuable ‘Sportal’ section which provides you with large amounts of background information about its sports offerings.
This includes log tables and other helpful statistics, up-to-date, tip-giving betting previews and important where-and-when info. It is certainly a valuable asset for the punter who likes to be well informed.
Transactions
BetxChange trades only in the South African Rand (ZAR) with South Africa customers and you can make your transactions via MasterCard, Visa, and Visa Electron Credit cards, or by EFT via IPay, Nedbank, FNB, Standard Bank, Absa or Capitec. You can also pay in cash at one of their betting shops
Credit card, IPay and cash payments are instant, but EFT payments can take a little longer.
BetxChange does not charge for any transaction and because they use SSL encryption technology, you don’t have to worry about the safety of your money or your personal details.
Summing Up
Perhaps because Keith Ho has been in the betting business for some three decades and along the way has learned stuff through trial and error, he and his betting generals have created a 2018 online sportsbook that is clearly one the best I have reviewed.
It’s smart, slick and quick; it gives you as wide a range of sports betting markets as most sports punters seem to want – and to my amazement, can do it in a huge number of languages.
I have a gripe about this facility, though. I could only find the button that switches the languages once. It seemed to disappear after that.
With an FAQ facility not yet in place, BetxChange has left one important box not ticked, but its comprehensive info ‘black box’ at the bottom of its homepage does go a long way towards covering up for this and it does seem to have ticked all the other boxes that really matter.
It gets a big thumbs up from me and a 4.9 out of 5-star rating.