Pros and Cons

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VicBet is one of the more trusted horse racing bookmakers in Australia and they are the bookie to head to if your focus is purely horse racing.

They have been in operation across four generations, going back to 1941. They have been online since 2005, which makes them the longest running non-corporate in Australia, which speaks volumes of how well they do their business, and a quick research can see why that is the case.

Why Are VicBet Popular?

They are a dedicated website that is all about horse racing, both Australian and overseas, across all three codes. It’s a new style of website format, which stands out and is excellent, but with racing knowledge and expertise going back so long, they are a must for punters wanting bet on racing.

They reward customers that bet with them. They have a “VRewards” program, where punters that bet with them, each point results in earning points, which can be redeemed for rewards. The only other bookie I know of that has that sort of thing for punters is Topsport, regarded as one of the best wagering operators in Australia, which speaks volumes olf VicBet and what level they are at compared to their rivals.

A great feature on the website that they have is ‘Big Bets’, where you can see big bets roll in live on the races, which is a great product to provide, because it gives punters an idea of what others are backing with confidence, especially the professional punters that do this for a living. That is something that other online bookmakers don’t provide, not to that level anyway. It’s outstanding.

Why We Like VicBet

The majority of bookies just provide Best Tote, or even Mid Tote, but VicBet have Best Of The Best for all the mainland meetings, every day of the year, so you’ll get either the Best Tote or Top Fluc. You can win up to $6,000 on non metro meetings and up to $15,000 on metro meetings, which are levels that are heads and shoulders better than most of their rivals.

The type of bets they have on racing meetings is seriously impressive. They provide exotic bets, special bets eg Odds v Evens, Fav vs Field, and the one that I find very good is that you can request certain Head To Head bets on races, which is something that is usually only saved for the Melbourne Cup, but they provide that on every Australian thoroughbred race.

The website is outstanding. It has the three panel format of the menu on the left, markets in the middle and the bet slip on the right. Their next to race ticker is the best, comfortably, across all bookmakers, which includes the big boys. It’s very easy to see and it also provides results of the previous few races, something that isn’t seen anywhere else.

Why We Don’t Like VicBet

As good as the website is, it would be good if they had an app to go with it. Most of the online bookies have an app and it’s the preferred way punters like to bet. It would take them to the next level and IMO match it with the likes of TAB and Sportsbet as the best betting websites Australia has to offer.

Credit to them for the racing focus, but no sports betting is a knock and it shuts the door on an ever growing landscape. During COVID, there were certain sports that boomed while others were stopped during the pandemic. That, to me, looks like it’s an opportunity they are missing.

Another knock is that they don’t live streaming of the racing. It can be quite annoying, especially when betting online, you bet with one bookie, then have to go elsewhere to watch. It’s ideal betting and watching the racing in one place, instead of jumping from one to the next.

6 Reasons To Bet With VicBet

1. Bet Anywhere, Anytime

The majority of online bookers, especially the new ones, don’t offer phone betting. Given their betting began with phone betting many moons ago, they still use phone betting as an option, which is a massive tick. They also have the internet betting, which is simply and easy to use.

2. Wide Range Of Racing Markets

As stated earlier, they pretty much lead the way when it comes exotic racing betting options, whether it be odds v evens, favourite v field, Hd2Hd etc. Those sort of things are only reserved for someone like Sportsbet, and the Hd2Hd markets are only really reserved for the Melbourne Cup, so the fact they provide that on a daily basis is a great promotion.

3. Great Odds

Given the experience they have in racing, over 80 years overall, they are experts at putting up odds and markets on horse racing, unlike some of the other online bookies, that pretty much just copy/paste one another. VicBet have an opinion and are happy to show it via their markets.

4. Customer Service

The response time is very good re customer service. They have live chat, email and phone as contact for customer service, as well as phone numbers for those betting overseas, which leads the way outside the big boys and girls. Response time is fast and they are very helpful.

5. Vrewards

With most of the online bookies, it seems like loyalty isn’t rewarded. That is clearly not the case with VicBet. They have ‘Vrewards’ which sees their punters earn points for every dollar thay bet. Topsport is the only other leading bookie who has something like that on offer, which is a massive edge.

6. Slick Website

The BetMakers technology can be quite mundane and boring. VicBet are offering up something totally different and the layout they have, with the colours, it’s a very sharp website. No App, which is disappointing, but the website certainly stacks up well enough with their rivals.