Avabet UK Review - No Longer Operating

AvaBet UK Review (Before it Shutdown)

UK sports fans have another option for a betting site to join after the launch of AvaBet in early 2021. New to the market, AvaBet will be hoping to make a splash in a highly competitive field.

Users do not just get access to a new sportsbook if they opt to create an AvaBet account. Like a lot of operators these days, AvaBet combines a sportsbook with an online casino.

But what does AvaBet have to offer that can make it stand out from the crowd? Our complete review of AvaBet for UK players has all the answers, so read on for the breakdown.

Introduction to AvaBet

AvaBet is a brand new betting site that has been launched by an operator called Vivaro Limited, an iGaming company that like a lot of other firms in the industry has its base on the island of Malta.

Vivaro is also the company that is behind the VBET.co.uk online sports betting site, so it does have plenty of prior experience of launching new brands onto the market.

With Vivaro being licensed and regulated by the UK Gambling Commission for the provision of betting services to the United Kingdom (UKGC Account number 44662), it is fully legal.

Claiming to offer more than 40,000 live matches per month, AvaBet is making a strong play to appeal to sports fans in the UK who like to focus on placing in-play wagers on the action.

Indeed, AvaBet stresses that the site uses hundreds of traders, who are in charge of market management and odds setting and use complex automated tools in order to do so.

With real-time video streaming and voice commentary available, users at AvaBet can easily keep up with the latest sporting action as they consider which market moves they will make.

There are more than 50 categories of sports and events on the site, so the offering here is fairly comprehensive, with poker, politics, TV and esports included alongside the regular sports.

Security standards are taken very seriously at AvaBet, which potential customers will welcome. The site has an ISO/IEC 27001:2013 certificate on Information Security, which means it is safe.

AvaBet also stresses in a statement that the site "is committed to endorsing safer gambling among its customers as well as promoting the awareness of problem gambling and improving prevention, intervention and treatment". Its safer gambling policy includes age verification, while users can make the most of reality checks and deposit limits to stay in control of their betting.

AvaBet Sportsbook Review

Although there is a casino section that many will enjoy - more on that later - AvaBet is primarily targeting itself as an online sportsbook, so we will take a look at that first in our review.

New users who sign up for an account at AvaBet can get a risk-free £10 bet to get them up and running. This might not be the biggest welcome bonus out there, but it is better than nothing. Other top betting offers of note at the AvaBet sportsbook are thin on the ground, however.

Curiously, when browsing the AvaBet sportsbook users have to pick between two options: classic and European. There does not appear to be a lot of difference between the two with the classic style appearing to be slightly quicker and easier to navigate. It only confuses visitors though, so it might be worth AvaBet exploring whether or not these can just be merged.

For football betting markets, AvaBet customers will never be short of options, though you might still want to check out the best betting sites for the sport. A typical game in the Premier League has more than 400 different markets to pick from. The main menu for football offers over 1,000 events, with competitions and cups from all corners of the world offered.

Virtual sports are available to bet on at AvaBet. The section of virtuals on offer here includes virtual drag racing, which is something a bit different to what most other sites have, while there is even virtual marble racing available to bet on along with the likes of virtual dogs and horses.

Esports has also been embraced by AvaBet, following in the footsteps of other new betting sites in the UK that have identified this as a vital growth area for the future. The last couple of years has seen an explosion in esports betting, with AvaBet's markets covering everything from Dota 2 and StarCraft II through to Overwatch, CS:GO, Rainbow 6 and many more to boot.

One of the key things to note about AvaBet is that the sportsbook - which runs on a platform that has been provided by Soft Construct - has relatively low maximum win limits in place. The most that a customer of AvaBet can win from a football bet in a single day is just £100,000 - much less than the biggest betting brands in the business can offer. No more than £50,000 can be won by betting on horse racing in one day, while other sports have a maximum win limit of £25,000.

Bets on media and television events like Love Island or the Eurovision Song Contest are subject to a maximum win of just £5,000, which again is quite a lot lower than most other sites can offer.

AvaBet does have a betting blog available, but it does not seem to be updated regularly. At the time we checked it out for this review, it featured content that was many months out of date.

The live in-play betting section of the AvaBet sportsbook has a calendar, which is useful to see what is coming next, but the design of this part of the site is a bit muddled and confusing.

All in all, AvaBet has made a promising start but there is a lot of work to do if the site is to be able to compete with the biggest and best betting sites in the UK over the years to come.

AvaBet Casino Review

As well as the AvaBet sportsbook, users who sign up for an account here can also play a wide range of online casino games too. There is a special welcome bonus up for grabs for those who join AvaBet to play online casino games, with a 50% deposit bonus of up to £100 offered.

As is the case with the sportsbook's welcome bonus, this is not that generous when compared with some of the leading online casino sites in the UK right now. In the terms and conditions for the AvaBet casino welcome bonus, it also notes the bonus must be used within seven days and only on certain eligible casino games: Emerald King Rainbow, Classic Fruit and Dark Thirst.

Furthermore, deposits that are made with some of the top payment options like Skrill, ecoPayz, MuchBetter, Neteller, Trustly or PayPal are excluded from qualifying wagers, while there is a wagering requirement of 35x that must be met before any bonus winnings can be withdrawn. The maximum payout from the AvaBet welcome bonus is limited to £1,000 per player as well.

Games from a wide range of the industry's top developers and studios can be played at AvaBet. NetEnt, Microgaming, Playtech and Evolution Gaming are among the heavy hitters on board. The site also features a clear breakdown of the RTP of all the casino games offered, which is good news as some other leading online casino sites in the UK do hide this information.

The live casino section is perhaps the best part of AvaBet's site. When they head to the lobby, AvaBet customers will be able to find games such as blackjack, baccarat and roulette, as well as the likes of Crazy Time, Dream Catcher, Football Studio and Monopoly. There are also a few different live casino rooms that cater to poker players at AvaBet's live casino section as well.

Navigating around AvaBet's casino site is not the easiest, with no menu section in place to let users search between different types of games such as table games and slots. Instead, games are simply listed by default in alphabetical order, rather than having new games or popular titles featured in a prominent position to make them easy for users to find when they log in here. Most top UK online casinos also have a search box so that their players can find their favourite games, but this is not a feature that AvaBet has available to use at the time of writing either.

A 24/7 customer support team is a tick in the box for AvaBet. Both sports and casino customers on the site can therefore get access to the help they need at any time of the day or the night. Live chat is probably the best way to get in touch with customer support, through email and telephone are among the other options for those with a query that needs to be resolved.

As with the sportsbook side, there are some good points about AvaBet's casino site, with the live casino area certainly an area of strength. But the welcome bonus on offer is far from the best around and the wagering requirements are not particularly low either, which is likely to make it difficult for the average player to make a profit out of this promotion. Improvements are likely to come to AvaBet as it is still fresh, so this new site could be one to watch in the future.