Virgin Bet

Who Are Virgin Bet?

Virgin Bet is relatively new on the scene, but has managed to establish itself as a bookmaker worth considering. They offer a decent range of sports that are peppered with different promotions.

• Established in 2019
• Virgin Bet Ltd
• UKGC licence number – 54310

First Impression of Virgin Bet

This review will reflect the service offered at the time of writing. I signed up on the desktop version of Virgin Bet, but also used the mobile version to compare, as well as downloading the Virgin Bet app. 

Virgin Bet feels very clean. Aside from the promotional carousel that runs along the top of the screen (more of that later), the rest of the site features a tonne of white space, clean lines, and a general design that is at-odds with what you expect to see from most bookies, cramming in as much as possible in. A quick look down the side bar menu suggests that the variety in sports is top drawer – I’m not sure where else I’d find lacrosse to bet on.

Virgin Bet Live Betting

Overall, Virgin Bet makes our list of best bookmakers for in-play betting, ranking second best overall. The live betting at Virgin Bet is excellent. Head to their In-Play section, listed at the top of the sidebar menu, and you’ll see all their live markets, as well as upcoming and featured markets. They also list how many events are currently live. This is then split between respective sports. At the time of review there is some tennis, football, golf, cricket and plenty more. Any sport you see with a red button icon next to it has live, in-play markets available.

Virgin Bet Live Streaming

Virgin Bet offers a great live streaming service. They cover sports including football, tennis, horse racing, basketball and American football. What’s really impressive is that all the events that have live streaming have the small “play” icon visible to see, but even ones that you can’t stream through the site or app, Virgin Bet lists where to watch, so NBA League Pass, TNT Sports etc.

Virgin Bet Betting Odds

After going through some comparison sites – OddsChecker and a few others – as well as a closer look across some other bookies, it appears that the odds offered at Virgin Bet are pretty good, but across the board. We checked football, basketball and tennis for in-play odds, plus horse racing and some other sports for pre-match stuff. They’re very competitive and, crucially, because they have some sports that other bookies don’t, you’ll find odds for niche sports here that you won’t elsewhere.

Virgin Bet Betting App or Mobile Site 

I really like Virgin Bet’s app. Unless you want to go to their casino or live casino sections, the menu on the app is all along the bottom of the screen, with collapsible options to navigate to other parts of the app. This sounds a little odd, but every time you click on something a new page slides slowly into view, rather than completely changing (you probably have to see it to get the idea). It does two things – makes the process seem considered, and also displays the ability to go back and forth. I’m really impressed.

Virgin Bet Football Betting

Virgin Bet offers a very broad range of football markets, with odds that are competitive, making it one the very best football betting sites in the UK. There’s obviously the major leagues and competitions, but punters can also find domestic leagues as broad and varied as Bahrain, Cyprus, Ethiopia and Thailand. There are also loads and loads of promotions running that are football-specific.

Bet Builder 

There’s an absolute tonne of events within their bet builder feature, which is relatively new to Virgin  Bet. There’s a really good selection of markets within this, with all laid out nicely, especially on the app. There’s all the markets that you’d like, plus the likeable parts of the feature are also apparent in other sports, which is great to see.

Bonuses

As well as the welcome offer, and regular price boosts, there are a few different promotions to take advantage of, although it’s worth noting that they are usually opt-in. You’ll get a £5 free bet for football when you make a £10 football bet. Likewise, when you make two (minimum) £10 accas, you’ll get a third one free.

Free Bet Club

Virgin Bet have the best free bet club compared to other bookies currently in the UK and it’s centred around their free bet club around accas. These accas have to be four selections or more, with total odds at 3.00 or greater, and if you place two bets that fit that criteria, staking £10 or more on each, you’ll be given a free £10 bet to be used on another accumulator as a result. 

Cash Out

Cashout is a very important betting feature for punters these days so it’s crucial that bookies integrate this feature into their mobile betting apps. Virgin Bet have done this well, allowing their customers to instantly cash out their bets on any device they like.

The horse racing section at Virgin Bet is very good – there are a few different promotions for horse racing alone. There’s extra places on selected races, money back as a free bet if your selection loses on selected races.

Virgin Bet also have BOG (Best Odds Guaranteed). They don’t offer BOG on greyhounds (they do on UK and Irish racing), and the timing cut off is only 10am which isn’t ideal. That said, the limit that they put on maximum benefits from the offer is an enormous £50,000. Aside from those that offer no limit, it is a fantastic part of Virgin Bet’s Best Odds Guaranteed offering.

Virgin Bet US Sports Betting

A full range of American Sports is available. We’ll check out the major leagues, but also look into the sports further down the pyramid and, as well as across the globe. 

American Football Betting

Unfortunately, Virgin Bet does something that is a real bugbear of mine when it comes to American sports, well certainly American football and basketball. When you see the event (a specific game) it only lists the spread. This is better than just displaying the result market, which some do, but what it really should show is three markets: spread, total and moneyline (result). You can see these once you click through, but it’s not how bettors on these sports bet.

Basketball Betting

I think Virgin Bet has a brilliant selection of basketball leagues to bet on. There’s obviously the NBA, but Virgin Bet covers a wide range of EuroLeague and domestic world competitions, also. There are events in Iceland, Latvia, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and more. There are stats supplied for bigger games, like the NBA, as well as price boosts and pre-made bet builders to take advantage of.

Baseball Betting

Of course they cover MLB, but they also have markets for the Japanese and South Korean leagues, also. The markets, and the odds, especially on the outrights, look really good. The MLB season hasn’t quite kicked off, but there is a healthy amount of things to bet on, such as individual awards and the like. Keep tabs on the top baseball betting sites though, to see why they make it onto our list.

Ice Hockey Betting

The NHL takes up the bulk of space here, as expected. But there are also some French, Austrian, and Danish fixtures included. I selected an upcoming NHL game and there 12 markets listed, which is okay. For the smaller leagues that reduces a bit more, which is understandable. Overall, I think this is a fairly standard offering. 

Virgin Bet Greyhound Betting

There’s no live streaming or Best Odds Guaranteed for greyhounds, which is a bit disappointing, but generally the odds are good and there are a couple of promotions that punters should definitely be aware of. You’ll get your stake back as a free bet if your dog finishes second to the favourite and you can get a daily free bet up to £5 dependent on your other greyhound racing bets.

Virgin Bet Darts Betting

In terms of darts betting sites in the UK, Virgin Bet is a really nice option. There are markets for the Bahrain Darts Masters, European Tour, and Modus Series, as well as the Premier League, with a really decent selection of markets within. What’s also nice to see, and it consistent with other sports across the bookie’s output, is the price boosts and stats that support the markets.

Virgin Bet Snooker Betting

As with the best snooker betting sites, there are markets for a few different tournaments, including the World Championships, the Masters and World Grand Prix. At the time of the review we’re in the middle of the Champions League, a tournament that I can live stream here, as well as access a load of form and stats on the players and competition. I’m really impressed with the snooker offering here, and will be adding Virgin Bet to my preferred bookies.

Virgin Bet Rugby Betting (Union & League)

There’s some good and bad here. First off, there aren’t enough competitions listed. There is the Six Nations, Champions Cup and French league games, but nothing else listed. I can only imagine this is a temporary thing, and I’d expect to see competitions such as the Premiership and URC added at some point in the week. That said, the markets within a game, plus all the stats that come along with it are really good. In short, there’s quality, but not a lot of quantity.

Virgin Bet Cricket Betting

This is exceptional. Virgin Bet stands out for cricket betting due to its competitive odds and an extensive array of markets. Combine this with their comprehensive statistics for informed betting and high user ratings.

Virgin Bet Tennis Betting

This is pretty good across the board, and the list of competitions covered is great, with games in Romania, India and Argentina at the time of review. I like how you can choose between “upcoming” and “streaming” to filter out games that you want to watch through the site or app. The odds are fine, nothing incredible, but the amount or markets listed is really good.

Virgin Bet Golf Betting

Virgin Bet has a nice golf offering, with a few extra competitions on top of the majors, and extra places at selected tournaments, but it’s all PGA and European Tour ones, which is amazing coverage. On top of that they also have a 2nd or 3rd Place Special – you’ll get a free bet if your outright pick to win finishes 2nd or 3rd. 

Virgin Bet Motorsports Betting

Motor Sports bettors should be happy with the mixture of events at Virgin Bet. Understandably, the F1 grand prix takes centre stage, although it doesn’t have its own tab and is housed within the “Motor Racing” section. Here you’ll also find Formula E, MotoGP, NASCAR and Speedway. F1 is definitely the deepest here, which should come as no surprise, with plenty of markets and driver specials for the next Grand Prix of the season. 

Virgin Bet Boxing Betting

There’s lots of boxing bouts to get stuck into here, and the markets look dependent on timings. Those this weekend and over the next few weeks have a decent offering, whereas the further away they get the less markets on offer. That’s understandable, and I wouldn’t expect to find round by round and the like for fights that are months away. On top of this, however, there are some price boosts on the bigger fights, which is really great to see and not something a lot of bookies do.

Virgin Bet Other Sports Betting

Whilst these sports might sound very niche, there is still a large enough market for fans, and millions of them in the UK, so good coverage of niche sports and events is key to be reviewed on OLBG; let’s dig in a bit further.

Handball Betting

Betting on handball at Virgin Bet looks great. What is nice to see, and not something everyone does, is pretty much as many women’s tournaments as men’s, with the Women’s World Championships, European League, Women’s Bundesliga, and more. That’s on top of me’s leagues in Norway, Romania, Sweden and more. Handball is increasingly popular and Virgin Bet looks to be struggling in terms of providing a platform for punters to bet on various handball events and tournaments worldwide. 

Cycling Betting

Virgin Bet offers betting on cycling for sports bettors who like to dabble in cycling betting, and comparing it with others out there it’s what we’d expect. There isn’t a load of markets, but that’s true of anywhere to be honest. What you can get is odds on next year’s Tour de France winner.

Aussie Rules Football Betting

As far as Virgin Bet is concerned, their event coverage is pretty standard – they have most parts covered. The games, competitions and odds are good, but the actual list of markets isn’t huge per game. It’s not as great as some others out there, but overall they are still a solid option.

Political Betting

There is no political betting on Virgin Bet at the time of writing.

Entertainment and Specials Betting

This is quite basic. There’s a market for Dancing on Ice, but that’s it. No other TV shows, no sports awards shows, usual market type stuff (the next James Bond, for example) and, most surprisingly, none of the big film/TV awards odds such as the Oscars, Baftas or Emmys.

Esports Betting

There is good betting here for esports, with markets available on games such as DOTA 2, Counter-Strike, League of Legends and FIFA as well as many others. Esports betting is of course not as traditional as normal betting markets but it’s popularity is increasing as gaming grows in size year-by-year.

Virtual Sports

Virgin Bet has an okay virtual sports section. Housed in the site’s main menu, there is football, racing and greyhounds. Most other bookies will have basketball, motor racing, tennis and a few other options, so while this is fine, it’s not that much more than that.

Casino

Virgin Bet does have casino. Despite the name of the brand, it’s incredibly easy to find their casino offering from their sportsbook, with banners across the top. They also have some bonuses and offers that lead to casino spins should you win sportsbook bets.

Virgin Bet Account Opening Process

A reassuringly easy process. At the top-right of the screen Virgin Bet has their “Join Now” button. Bettors just need to select this and follow the simple steps as guided through. You’ll be asked for the usual information – name, date of birth, address etc – and once complete be sent a verification email. Clicking this from your inbox will redirect you to the site, and then you’re free to get betting.

Navigation and user experience [desktop v mobile]

The Virgin Bet app is exceptional. The desktop version is very good, in fact it’s better than most in terms of navigation and user experience, but the app is top drawer. I mentioned earlier the way pages move in such a considered way on the app, which provides the sense of control and calm as you’re going through different parts of the bookmaker. I can’t recommend it highly enough.

Placing a bet

This section should only really highlight if there are issues, as the process is almost identical on every site. Within a few minutes of signing up to Virgin Bet I placed a couple of bets on different sports, one of which took advantage of the welcome offer, and I used their bet builder feature, which was very indeed. 

Managing your account

As mentioned above, the design really helps this along. On the desktop version, it’s stuff to the  left of the screen. On the app, it’s all at the bottom, with just the login at the top. I haven’t experienced any issues logging in, or finding customer service options, either. Overall, it feels like Virgin Bet has got this part nailed.

Virgin Bet Responsible Gambling Features

As with all online betting companies, responsible gambling should be and will be an essential element of the service provided.

Expect KYC procedures and document supply as a matter-of-course, to confirm your account after you have deposited a certain level of funds and in the event of any large wins.

You can set limits for yourself across depositing options and daily staking options too, so you can set your levels and keep control of your gambling.

Expect Unibet to contact you via your preferred communication method if there are suspicious activities on your account. This protects your account from being accessed by someone other than you and ensures you control your gambling activity. Unibet have a legal obligation to question your activity if they believe it to be suspicious.

As part of Unibet’s commitment to safer gambling, they aim to make zero revenue from harmful gambling by the end of 2023.

Virgin Bet Review Summary 

The more I use Virgin Bet, the more I like it. It ranks in OLBG’s Top 10s for five different things, and three of these are product-based, rather than sports, which shows how much effort is put into the actual service being delivered. As you us the app, the ever-increasing impression continues to grow and you come across all these little features.

The red button that displays whether sports have live markets is great, the information about where you can watch games (albeit on Virgin Bet or elsewhere) is a brilliant feature, and the level of stats supplied for so many different sports is so good to see.

I’d like more markets for US sports, and the lay out to be improved, but overall Virgin Bet delivers a brilliant service and should absolutely be a consideration beyond some of the heavyweights in the industry.