Fitzdares UK Review - Is It Safe or a Scam? (2024)
Fitzdares is a horse racing specialist which launched its online sportsbook in 2018. Having actively decided to lay low on the advertising front, which is a very different approach compared to other bookies, most punters will have a lot of questions about the site. In this review, therefore, we will take a look at everything you need to know about Fitzdares.
Fitzdares offers
Fitzdares Overall Score
| Bonus | 6 |
|---|---|
| Sportsbook | 7 |
| Customer Support | 7 |
| Payment | 5 |
| Licensing Safety | 8 |
| Design and Usability | 7 |
| Overall | 7 |
Fitzdares is a bookmaker that clearly has horse racing at the core of its operations, catering to the audience it has built up over the years with the in-person betting clubs. Even so, the sportsbook is decent overall and customers will also find some promotions to claim, while the betting margins average is another big reason to sign up.
There are positives, in other words, but these are tainted heavily by a poor welcome offer, lack of payment methods (only one available) and a customer support with no live chat. Fitzdares will not be for everyone and although the attempt is to entice a larger audience, it feels like the site is still only suited for horse racing enthusiasts.
About Fitzdares
Fitzdares launched its online operations back in 2018 after having been in the industry for a long time (2006) with its exclusive betting member clubs. However, despite over 15 years of experience, Fitzdares continues to operate under the radar. While its clientele is said to include big-name actors, the brand does not advertise its services on radio or television, as the most prominent UK betting sites tend to do.
The core focus of Fitzdares is on horse racing and the company made a name for itself with the aforementioned betting clubs for the king of sports. This is also the case for the online sportsbook, as horse racing is the first thing you will see when visiting the website. This is also why Fitzdares was named among the top three new horse racing sportsbooks by us.
"My view is that if you want a loyal, happy and safe punter, UK and Irish horse racing is absolutely the best product available. And racing isn’t going anywhere. It is the most glamorous, evocative and passionate sport around, the CEO William Woodhams said.
Although Fitdzares has opted against what can sometimes be toxic advertising from betting sites, the brand has partnered up with the football club Fulham, becoming its official UK betting partner. This has likely acquired quite a lot of football punters, while there might also be some who have questions about the site's quality.
In this review, we take a look at everything you need to know about Fitzdares, from the welcome offer to the withdrawal times and more. This should help you make an informed decision about whether to sign up on the site or not.
Is Fitzdares Safe?
Fitzdares, more specifically Fitzdares Limited, is licensed and regulated by the Gambling Commission in the UK. This means that it is fully safe and legal for customers to sign up on the site. Fitzdares also has a great reputation given its history, putting the customer experience first, but as always the licence is not a guarantee for high quality.
Taking a look on Trustpilot, Fitzdares has a rather poor rating of 2.2 out of five stars, with many customers complaining about the verification process. This is a very common issue that we see when reviewing bookmakers, especially among new betting sites in the country. This is also a relatively new procedure for Fitzdares, as confirming the identity in person is much easier.
Fitzdares is registered with IBAS (the Independent Betting Adjudication Service), it should be mentioned, and this means that any disputes can be escalated to this service. Since Fitzdares is indeed registered with IBAS, that means that any ruling will be legally binding as well. So this is indeed another layer of safety for punters.
Fitzdares Welcome Offer
Customers who sign up at Fitzdares can claim £25 in free bets plus 10 free spins to use on Reel King. However, the terms of this welcome offer are far from favourable, in fact they could actually be labelled as dreadful. In order to even qualify for the welcome offer, punters need to stake a hefty £50 at a minimum odds of evens (2.0) as their first-ever bet on the site.
Upon settlement of the qualifying bet, the free bets will be credited as follows: 1x £10 on Football, 1x £10 on Greyhounds and 1x £5 on Virtual Sports. Some punters do not like to have the free bet markets decided for them, and this is another disadvantage of the Fitzdares welcome offer. We would advise punters to take a look at some of the bet £10 get £30 deals that are available instead.
In short, Fitzdares has a lot to do on this front and it is a bit surprising that the welcome offer does not include a horse racing free bet, which you would expect from such a horse racing-focused bookmaker. There are plenty of other good sign-up offers on the market, though, which are certainly worth checking out instead.
Fitzdares Promotions
There are quite a few decent promotions that customers at Fitzdares can make use of. Starting with the horse racing side of things, the standard best odds guaranteed is (of course) in place for all UK and Irish meetings. There is also a money-back deal (max £10 free bet), which will come into effect if your backed horse finishes second after a horse with odds of 20/1 or higher.
As for football punters, they can enjoy money back as a free bet when betting on the Champions League, provided that a win-draw-win (1X2) pre-match bet has been placed and the game ends 0-0. Any bet on Fulham, if the London side wins the game by at least two goals, will also result in a free bet. We did notice, however, that the otherwise popular acca boost or acca insurance deals were missing here.
To Fitzdares' credit, however, loyal customers are rewarded with a weekly free bet. Customers who have been considered loyal will be contacted by Fitzdares via email, so this is another incentive to sign up on the site. There is no information on what is needed, though, which could result in punters placing bets just for this reason (and that likely will not end well).
Fitzdares Deposit and Withdrawal
When it comes to the payment methods available, Fitzdares needs to do some serious work in order to compete with the best betting sites. Punters who sign up will only be able to deposit and withdraw with debit cards, more specifically MasterCard and Visa, which is far too poor. And it is not one of the betting sites offering £5 deposits either.
As for the withdrawal times, as is the case on all betting sites when using a debit card, customers can expect to have their money within 1-3 business days. This is far from ideal for those who rely on fast withdrawals from betting sites, mainly with the use of e-wallets such as PayPal. In short, all of this could very well prompt a potential new customer to look elsewhere.
| Payment Method | Min. Limit | Max. Limit | Transaction Fee | Processing Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Visa
| £10 | Not specified | No fee | Instant |
Mastercard
| £10 | Not specified | No fee | Instant |
How to Deposit and Withdraw at Fitzdares
- Make sure you are logged in to your Fitzdares account
- Tap on 'Account' in the top right corner
- Choose 'Deposit' or Withdraw' from the drop-down menu
- Pick your payment method (add details if not saved)
- Enter the amount you would like to deposit/withdraw
- Tap on 'Submit' or 'Withdraw Money' to complete the process
How to Verify an Account at Fitzdares
As already discussed in the 'Is Fitzdares Safe?' section, some customers have been complaining about the verification process on the site. KYC, short for Know Your Customer, is something that all Gambling Commission-regulated betting sites must have in place. Some handle it better than others, though, and Fitzdares might ask you to upload one or more of the following:
- Proof of ID: Passport or driving licence
- Proof of address: A Bank Statement/Utility Bill showing your name and address
Fitzdares states that it will attempt to verify the identity of its customers with the information provided during the registration. It is only if this were to fail that customers would be required to provide more documentation. It is important to comply with this process, and ideally to get it done straight away, as some have had their accounts suspended/winnings locked in the account.
Fitzdares Sportsbook
Punters who sign up at Fitzdares will find that there are around 30 different sports to bet on, which is not terrible by any means, and there is obviously a greater focus on horse racing and football. In 2020, Fitzdares was even named SBC's 'Racing Sportsbook of the Year', proving that you do not need to be flashy to be a successful bookmaker.
Starting with the horse racing coverage, punters can bet on meetings from all over the world, with French and Japanese races being two examples of the international offering. In that sense, therefore, Fitzdares certainly gets a high score and the selection of ante-post markets is also very good. Cheltenham and Grand National ante-post bets can be found here, but also a lot less prominent meetings.
As already mentioned in the 'Fitzdares Promotions' section, best odds guaranteed is in place for all UK and Irish races, while live streaming is another strength of Fitzdares. Moving on to football, and taking Premier League game markets as a reference, there are around 130 of them for punters to choose between. This is certainly on the lower side, especially compared to the best football bookies, and the bet builder is also rather underwhelming.
Betting margins is another important aspect that needs to be highlighted, as most punters tend to overlook these, and our testing showed an average of 5.48%. This is indeed a very good score, up there with some of the best bookies around, and customers will thus not have to worry about excessive fees being charged by the bookmaker.
As for the rest of Fitzdares' sportsbook, it is more or less what you would expect with significantly less depth of markets for the minor sports. It is not close to any of the top Esports betting sites either, offering a mere three games (Call of Duty, League of Legends and Valorant). Having said that, there are some special markets that could be quite fun for some punters.
The political betting for the UK general election is quite comprehensive, while there are also markets for TV shows such as Dancing on Ice. Overall, the Fitzdares sportsbook is decent and the betting margins certainly make up for a few shortcomings. However, it is likely a good place for horse racing enthusiasts, rather than fans of other sports.
| ⚽ Football Markets (Premier League Game) | Around 130 |
|---|---|
| 🔢 Betting Margins | 5.48% |
| 🏇 Horse Racing Coverage (Countries) | UK & Ireland + International |
Fitzdares Mobile App
New customers who are looking to join Fitzdares will be happy to hear that there is indeed an app to download. Of course, mobile betting has become the most common way to bet in recent years and apps make this experience a lot better. Although commendable, following this trend is more or less a necessity for betting sites.
The Fitzdares app is rated at 3.7 and 2.9 out of five stars on the App Store and Google Play Store respectively. And we can confirm that it is not among the best betting apps around, although it is certainly decent. Horse racing punters, for example, will be able to watch the races live in the app as all the features on the mobile website can be found in the app as well.
To download the app, simply head over to your app store and search for 'Fitzdares'. The Fitzdares logo, which features a red F and a grey background, should then pop up. Now all you need to do is hit 'Install'!
Fitzdares Responsible Gambling
It has become increasingly important for betting sites to advocate responsible gambling, as the Gambling Commission has been clamping down on social responsibility failures with sometimes hefty fines. A number of tools are usually in place on betting sites, therefore, and below are a few of those that can be found on Fitzdares:
- Deposit limits (daily, weekly, monthly)
- Reality checks
- Timeout
- Self-exclusion
There is also a page dedicated to 'Safer Gambling' where customers can find information about these tools, as well as links to third-party organisations such as Gamcare. Customers are advised to start with deposit limits as these can go a long way in preventing overspending, but it is also important to have the other 'stronger' tools in place.
Fitzdares Customer Support
Fitzdares has made a name for itself over the years thanks to a customer focus, as is the essence of their betting member clubs. However, the brand has not had the same success on this front online. Taking a look at the customer support options, customers can get in touch with the team 24/7 but there is no live chat. Instead, most customers will likely turn to email.
There is also a phone number that customers can call, which is a plus, and text messages can also be sent. It is a bit strange, therefore, that there is no live chat given that the rest of the customer support is quite comprehensive. Not to suggest that the support at Fitzdares is brilliant, as some customers have complained about poor service in the past.
We also could not find a proper FAQ page during our testing, which was very frustrating, as we had to navigate to the terms and conditions to find certain information. This is far from ideal as most punters want quick answers to their questions, and a comprehensive FAQ can sometimes help make up for the lack of a live chat option.
| Chat | No |
|---|---|
| bet@fitzdares.com | |
| Phone | 020 7851 5407 |
| Opening hours | 7 Days a week, 24/7 |
How to Get Started at Fitzdares
If you are looking to sign up for an account on Fitzdares, you can follow our step-by-step guide on how to do so below:
Head Over to fitzdares.com and Tap on ‘Join'
You can use our link at the top of this page, or the one in the bottom banner ('Visit'), which will bring you straight to the welcome offer and the registration form.
Enter Your Personal Information
In the first step of the registration, you need to enter your personal information such as full name, date of birth and telephone number. Tap on 'Continue' once you have done that.
Choose Your Account Details
In the second step of the registration, you will be asked to choose your account details such as username and password. You will also need to provide your email address. Scroll down to continue the process after this.
Opt In/Out of Offers and Tap on ‘Join'
Finally, you only need to opt in/out of marketing messages (offers) and accept the T&Cs. Tap on 'Join' to complete the registration once you have done that.
FAQs
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User Reviews
mark london
September 7, 2023
The Fitsdares online casino site is nothing but a rip off. Thousands after thousands of spins paying back nothing or below stake returns