Online Bookmakers / Andy Morris / 14 March 2009 / Leave a comment Bet Now

One of the smaller players in the market, Betstar is based out of Victoria and as such are heavily focused on the Victorian market. Betstar is a collaboration between father and son bookmaker Alan and Michael, both of whom still field on track.

Similar to most bookmakers Betstar's offering includes Fixed Win, Best Tote, Top Fluc and Tote Plus 5% on all metropolitan racing, and middle tote and fixed prices for all racing outside the metropolitan area. Middle tote, and Tote Plus 5% is offered for win and place bets for offshore racing as well as Harness and Greyhound racing throughout Australia, as well as the occasional meeting covered on Sky from NZ.

Betstar real point of difference comes with their desire to focus heavily on what the focus of Victorian's is, the AFL and the Spring Racing Carnival. Each year just after the Melbourne Cup carnival has concluded, Betstar will be the first bookmaker up, fielding on the following years Caulfield Cup, Cox Plate and Melbourne Cup almost a year in advance, so if you fancy the long term flutter on the G-G's, Betstar certainly offer it to you.

And their depth to the exotic markets on AFL knows now bounds. Whether it be betting on the NAB Rising Star prior to the commencement of the season (kind of like betting on the unraced 2YO babies in the Golden Slipper!), to head to head options for possessions or number of goals for individuals in AFL games, Betstar has got it covered. They are seemingly always on the lookout to add to the array of options they have, and the number of bet types on the Brownlow Medal is also something to behold.

Betstar offers a handy sign-up bonus of 20% up to $500 to entice new customers, although interestingly have been the first bookmaker to ban this deal from NSW clients following changes to NSW advertising laws. Of the drawbacks from Betstar is a slow phone service, that involves and automated answering system that asks you to direct yourself to Sports or Racing departments, which can be a pain when you trying to get a bet on at the last moment and time is critical. Larger scale punters can also be scared off by Betstar, with many experiencing problems getting larger scale bets on with them.

The depth to their sports markets isn't as strong as some of their competitors, but it certainly isn't weak by any stretch of the imagination, and betting $1.93 lines on AFL, NRL and Super 14 is certainly advantageous to the punter.

Betstar make North Melbourne a 51.0 shot to win the flag in the AFL in 2009; they go 1.58 about Queensland in the State of Origin; Phil Mickelson is a 8.50 shot to win the US Masters.