Betsafe Poker Review 2024

Betsafe Poker is a fully licensed and regulated poker room based in Europe. The traffic is high and the software is easy to use, so at first glance it appears to be an ideal destination for beginners.

However, the support at this company is frustratingly difficult to deal with. Therefore, I would not recommend making this your primary poker room or hold a significant balance here. You should always prefer deal with companies that respect you as a player, and unfortunately Betsafe Poker is not one of them.

I personally prefer the freedom of unregulated sites like SwC Poker. But if you want a regulated option, try 888 Poker first.

Which countries do they accept players from?

Accepted Countries

Who runs Betsafe Poker?

Betsafe is actually owned by the same company that runs Betsson, which is a large European gambling company with a reliable track record.

Both sites look very similar, but I have a personal affinity for the colour scheme of Betsafe, which I why I prefer to use it over Betsson. It honestly makes no difference either way.

The actual parent company name is BML Group Ltd, and they are licensed and regulated by the Malta Gaming Authority (which is a good one).

What’s the software like?

Their downloadable Windows/Mac desktop client is one of the best. It looks good, runs smooth, and is easy to navigate.

I also like how they’ve simplified the lobby to make it easier to find a seat – just click on the stakes you want and it will automatically find a table for you. Lazy, I know, but also handy.

However, biggest downside about the software is that the player first to act at showdown can choose to muck their cards if they have the losing hand. This takes an informational advantage away from the player in position, and I’m not a fan of this rule. As far as I'm concerned, the player acting first must show their hand.

But anyway, their instant-play browser-based room is a decent offering, but it's not as refined as the downloadable client.

But overall, the downloadable software is a solid piece of kit, which makes it one of the most playable rooms for both beginners and experienced multi-tablers alike.

What’s the player traffic like?

Excellent.

Cash games are consistently busy from €0.01/€0.02 all the way up to €5/€10, so you’ll never have a problem finding a game for the stakes you want to play at.

This is because Betsafe is part of the iPoker network, so it shares the same pool of players are from a range of different poker companies. It's the busiest network in Europe.

What deposit options are available?

Betsafe has all the traditional deposit options you could hope for, like Credit/Debit Card, Skrill, PayPal, and Bank Transfer.

You have to provide a copy of your ID though (and a recent utility bill), which is a bit annoying, but that’s what you get when you sign up to a regulated online poker room.

If you’re looking for a permissionless room where you can sign up anonymously and play, try SwC Poker instead.

What's support like?

Support at this company is bad.

The support team has an annoying habit of repeatedly responding with generic replies. It's as though the support team reads your request and looks for certain keywords only, then replies using one of their predefined messages that may or may not help with your issue.

And they'll keep up the generic responses as long as possible, as if you're the one who doesn't understand rather than them. It's like dealing with an unhelpful chatbot that has no power to actually help you.

The only way to get the support team to address your issue is to keep messaging them until it gets escalated to someone who might know what they're doing. And from my experience, it's at this point they're liable to become argumentative and patronising, and it feels like their goal is to get you to just "go away".

In short, it's clear that they see support as a drain on their resources. And when you're dealing with actual problems with your account and money, it's an incredibly worrying and frustrating experience.

I don't believe the company is rogue, but the support is so bad that I don't trust them with my money.

Summary

Betsafe Poker is an option if you're looking for a regulated European poker room.

The software is good, and the player traffic is high.

However, the way the company operates leaves a lot to be desired. The support is poor, and they have a history of predatory practices when it comes to running their business. It used to be a decent option as a European online poker room, but it seems that management has gone downhill over the years to the point where I can no longer recommend it as a place to play poker online.

If you're playing at a regulated room for safety reasons (and a wider selection of traditional deposit options), then the support at Betsafe Poker should be significantly better than it is.

Try 888 Poker instead.