Sportingbet Australia offers Maxi Div and SB odds to support the gambler in ascertaining a better price. Maxi Div bets are available for all metro thoroughbred races and guarantee a dividend that is at least better than the highest official win dividend paid by the three national TAB’s.

Sportingbet is tremendously proud of the release of the newest product to their line-up – Sportingbet Mobile. Sportingbet Mobile is a free service an also a convenient and painless way to investigate markets and prices when you are on the move. Sportingbet.com.au are offering all visitors of SportsBetBlog a reward of a $100 free bet to put on any horse, greyhound, harness racing or sports event when you deposit $30 or more. As one of the oldest, Sporting Bet are a well respected online Australian bookmaker and are certainly up there with the best of them in the nature of site functionality and ease of use.

Sportingbet also offers some notable betting options that are known as ‘exotics’. Game totals, first half handicap, first point and first and final try scorer are among the ‘exotic’ options. Sportingbet has a wide range of bookmaking products available. Their racing product offers punters a full-price service each day with a selection of fixed-price products, Feature Racing (pre-post), MaxiDiv (the best price, the best payout), SP, and more. According to the Sportingbet.com.au website, they are the biggest bookmaker in Australia. They provide an extensive variety of betting options across a vast selection of sports. This collection is much greater than many other bookmakers.

Punters can bet on greyhounds, gallops, harness racing and also receive excellent odds on NRL and AFL matches. There are plenty enough bet types to keep any punter satisfied, new or experienced.

Sportingbet PLC has been trading publicly since 1998 and is traded on the Alternative Investments Market, part of the London Stock Exchange. When you allocate a bet with Sportingbet Australia, you will have the security and confidence of knowing you are dealing with the Australian branch of a publicly listed and international organisation. Sportingbet is also known as a sports book site which is owned and operated by the exceptionally large Sportingbet group of companies. The first notion that hits you when you open up the homepage of this excellent site is the thought that has gone into its fluid design.

So run along now and check out their site at SportingBet.com.au.

Sports alive was born after the amalgamation of Sports Acumen and Global Sportsbet business with idea of offering punters a wide range of sports betting opportunities. The site itself is packed with news, reviews and tips, and in 2009  Paul “Fatty” Vautin and Robert Walls signed up to give their weekly thoughts on the NRL and AFL.

But the one thing that Sportsalive have monopolised here in Australia and New Zealand is spread betting.

Sports Alive & Spread Betting

Spread Betting has become very popular in the UK because it offers an exciting betting option that can deliver you greater rewards while keeping you involved for every second of every sporting occasion. Sportsalive is Australia’s leading spread betting agency, offering a comprehensive range of markets on the most popular sports and racing events.

Spread Betting allows you to back your judgement and your pick doesn’t have to win for you to win on the bet. If you think that a player or team will do better (or worse) than the Sportsalive quote, then the more accurate your prediction the more you will win.

For example if Sportsalive predict that there will between 30 or40 goals in an AFL match then this is the spread 30 -40. The punter has two options to buy or sell against the spread. If you buy you are betting that there will be more than 40 goals in the game. If you sell you are betting that there will be less than 30.

Special Offers

Apart from special offers to previous Sports Acumen and Global Sportsbet business clients Sportsalive are offering up to $125 if you refer a friend to their site. This will include $25 paid directly in to your betting account while your friend will recieve the same as their first deposit up to $100. So if they deposit $100 in to their acount when they first sign up Sportsalive will match it.

Go to Sportsalive now for early betting on Wimbledon. My hot tip is Rafael Nadal with Sportsalive paying $5.00 for the Spaniard to instantly get over his French Open nightmare. But if my prediction of Andy Murray winning at Roland Garros is anything to go by you are probably best off ignoring me and betting on the Australian elections instead. Sportsalive are offering $2.50 for the Coalition to bounce back from last times embarrasment.

Betfair have built themselves up to be one of the market leaders in internet betting due innovations that simply can’t be found on any other site.

Back or Lay

The “back” or “lay” system allows you to bet on two outcomes winning or losing. When you “back” a selection (be it an individual, a team, horse or dog) you are betting that it will win. This is called traditional betting.

When you ”lay” a selection you are betting against it winning. For example, if you’re betting on which team is going to win the Premiership and you ”lay” Man Utd, if they end up winning the league you pay out. This is something that is usually only done between bookmakers, but Betfair gives you the opportunity to do it with other punters.

Choose you own odds

One of the great things about the “back” or “lay” system is that it allows you to choose your own odds. If a horse you fancy is showing odds of $3.00, you can put an order in for $4.00, and if someone is willing to “lay” off against that bet then those are the odds you get. The thing with this is to not be greedy. Choose realistic odds or you are likely to miss out all together.

In play betting

Another of Betfair’s great initiatives is its in play betting service. This allows you to bet on a number of out things within most sports as they are taking place. This includes sports like baseball, darts (yes you can even bet on the fat guys chucking things at a small circle while drinking their weight in beer) and cycling. Lance Armstrong is at $8.00 to win his eighth Tour De France by the way.

The Betfair website also offers a comprehensive guide and results system. Showing stats on trainers, jockeys and horses as well as the Betfair TV guide so that you will never miss your favourite sporting event ever again. They have even introduced a hotline. So if there is no way of making it to the internet you can give them a call and still get your bet in.

Betfair is easily one of the best betting websites around as it offers unrivaled features, and if you sign you up right now you are entitled to a free $50 bet. Just go to the site to claim it, but make sure you stick it all on the Aussies winning the Twenty20 World Cup, at $4.50 you can’t go wrong.

In my opinion Canbet would be the best place to go for horse racing bets. They cover all race meets in Australia and around Asia including Singapore and Hong Kong.

They are known for their excellent racing promos.

1. They have 25% cash rebate on losses for each month. This is a first for any Australian bookmaker and a welcome one. For example if you lose $100 on race bets during a month you get a $25 return!
2. Canbet also encourage horse owners and trainers to bet on their own horses in return giving them an extra 10% on all winnings!
3. Another horse racing deal they have is call “protest payout”. What happeneds is if your horse wins the race and a protest is called and the horse is then relegated from first place the win still stands!Its deals like this that keep people going back to Canbet.

They have also made their mark in the bookie industry with a superior support team including a live chat facility, telephone support and super quick email responses.

Canbet cover all Australian and International sports events ranging from the not so known sports like Snooker and Yachting to the high profile sports like the AFL and English Premier League. You would be amazed how interesting Snooker can be to watch once you have some money on it!

Canbet’s sign up bonus is one to take advantage of.Use the promo code FREEBET when signing up and make a deposit of $50 or more and a $100 free bet will be awarded. I checked out the conditions on this offer and found that $50 worth of bets must be made before the free bet is given. Also the free bet winnings must be turned over twice before a withdrawal can be made. As I said in my Centrebet Review earlier, it means if you win $50 from the free bet you must make another $100 worth of bets before you can withdraw any money into your bank account. This is pretty usual for signup bonuses with all Australian online bookies. An easy way to get around both of these conditions is make the bets on markets with really short odds that are almost sure to win and then you will be able to withdraw at any time after that point.

With all the promos Canbet has on offer not only on sign up but throughout the year and the support that is a click away I recommend Canbet. I haven’t had any issues with their services and find their odds among the best.

I gave them a 5 out of 5

For more info on Canbet’s offers or to signup checkout the website here.

Sportsbet is known for the ease of use and a fantastic support team including a live chat feature where questions can be answered there and then with a real person. This is a first for online bookmakers in Australia and a very useful tool for newcomers.

Sportsbet put the fun back in betting with numerous features and promotions.
1.    Soccer Super Coach is where you take the role of a soccer Manager and choose the ultimate soccer team from Europe’s best players with a budget of $115 million! The top scorer get a nice $10,000

2.    2009 Million Dollar Tipping Competition where the winners of both AFL and NRL seasons get a cool $250,000. It’s free to enter and the top 500 place getters also receive cash prizes and there are plenty of weekly prizes to even keep the losing tippers interested. I entered this last year and didn’t come anywhere near winning but won $50 during the season for being around 80,000th place!

3.    The promotion weekends that Sportsbet run are usually on a monthly basis and called Super Saturday. They run deals on these days that include 10% refunds on losses, 20% extra on winnings and 100% extra on deposits made on that day.

4.    If you are really unlucky when picking winners at the horse races then Lucky Loser may be what you are looking for. Sportsbet has created an enormous amount of interest where punters can actually bet on horses that DONT finish in the top 3 places. It’s a laugh to actually be willing a horse to slow down as it comes down the straight!

5.    Sportsbet’s free Black Book feature allows you to follow your favourite horses and greyhounds and receive email or SMS notification when your selections are scheduled to race. This is very handy for the serious punter to never miss a race where a favourite horse in running.

With all these products it’s hard to pass up an account with Sportsbet and equally as hard to pick anything wrong with their service. The odds are among the best and they offer a huge range of Australian and international events. However I did find that their credit service a little too easy to apply for it only took a few clicks and $200 was granted instantly into my account, this could catch a few people out so care must be taken.

Like most bookies they have an initial signup bonus. Unlike others, Sportsbet offer a high 100% extra on your first deposit of up to $200. So if you deposit $200 you get a $200 free bet. The winnings of the free bet must be turned over once before a withdrawal can be made. For example if you win $150 from the free bet then $150 worth of bets must be placed before you can withdraw funds into a bank account.

I give Sportsbet 4.5/5

To signup with Sportbet or find out more info checkout the site

Centrebet provides the most easy to use website out of all the online bookies. They have a colourful layout that is very inviting and simple to navigate.  Centrebet’s help section is clear and precise, answering all the simple and technical questions. Although they lack a live chat facility they make up for it with quick email support replies.

They have recently launched a new service called Centrebet Mobile. It’s a new and easy way to make bets on the go. All newer model mobile phones can install the Centrebet Mobile software. From there you can login to your account via 3G or Wi-Fi internet and make bets anywhere at any time. I’ve used this service a few times and found it very fast and well worth having for when you’re at the cricket or footy and want to get a quick bet on rather than using the TAB and getting much lower odds.

The main reason I use Centrebet is that they always have a full range of entertainment and quirky markets ranging from TV makerkets like American Idol and So You Think You Can Dance, to the quirky markets like the sex of a pregnant Celebrity baby! They also have very competitive odds on the main sports including AFL, NRL and horse racing markets.
Unlike other bookies Centrebet also cover a large range of football leagues from around the world for the football mad punter including Denmark’s SAS Ligaen league and Norway’s Tippeligaen league as well as the major leagues of the English Premier League and Germany’s Bundesliga.

The signup bonuses they offer are a great chance to get a kick start with Centrebet. Currently for signing up with them you can get a free bet bonus of double of whatever your first deposit is. For example if you deposit $50 you get a $100 free bet.

I checked out the term and conditions of the offer thinking that they would be very strict. I found that other than the free bet must be used within 45 days after being issued the only other condition worth mentioning is that the free bet must be turned over twice before you can withdraw. This means if you get a $100 free bet you must make another $200 worth of bets before you can withdraw any money back into your bank account. This is pretty usual for signup bonuses with all online bookies. An easy way to get around this is make the bets on markets with really short odds that are almost sure to win and then you will be able to withdraw at any time.

All in all I think Centrebet isn’t the most popular bookmaker in Australia but they do have the most to offer in a clean and well set out site. They are great for people who are just starting out as they explain things in a step by step process. If you have any stories or opinions about Centerbet please leave a comment, I would love to hear them!

I give them 4.5 out of 5

To signup or find out more about Centrebet check out their site.