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BetPhoenix Review
BetPhoenix.ag was established the same year the United States Congress passed the UIGEA in 2006. Their history has been a tumultuous one in the offshore world, but they have been improving in recent years. Though, they’re still a risky option.
BetPhoenix is based in San Jose, Costa Rica and is the flagship sportsbook of the BetPhoenix Entertainment Group. The bookmaker has several sister sportsbooks, which are located at BetMania.ag, BetLatina.com and SkyBook.eu.
A Personal Opinion on BetPhoenix Sportsbook
What We Like About BetPhoenix
Their backend and sportsbook menu is pretty solid, and while they’re certainly not what we would call a trustworthy site in the US market, their ratings at major watchdog sites like Sportsbook Review have improved over the past few years.
BetPhoenix may also be one of the better sites for Asian transplants living in the United States. They offer live help, not just in English, but Vietnamese and Chinese as well. There are also many Asian focused markets. It has an excellent selection of odds for expats from the region and has a similar betting menu in those markets to offshore giant, 5Dimes.
What We Don’t Like About BetPhoenix
Until late 2012, the sportsbook has had many issues with payment complaints and with the dreaded “syndicate betting” rule that is a favorite among dishonest bookmakers. Again, these issues have not happened in the past several years, but they can’t be forgotten.
There have been several slow pay disputes. Worst yet, slow-pay payment issues with BetPhoenix’s non-US customers, including withdrawals to Skrill. Payments in the US market are tougher due to laws against online gambling, but international e-wallet delays are worrisome. These were eventually resolved but are an awful sign to see from any online bookmaker.
It’s worth noting for high-volume bettors that want to look for inefficiencies in the lines or chase steam that BetPhoenix has marked several players as “professional” and cited a syndicate rule. These players have six-figure balances and were slow-paid for nearly over two years. They did eventually get paid, but sportsbooks that pull these stunts are hard to trust fully. That’s the real risk of BetPhoenix. If you happen to win big, they will offer up delays and try to brand you as a non-recreational bettor.
Again, though, in recent years, there haven’t been too many complaints alleging this. Some may have gone unreported, but it’s certainly possible they have changed their ways.
The sportsbook also has absurd fees and limits on withdrawals. This is especially dishonest because of the many deposit methods available to deposit larger amounts. They make it extremely expensive and time-consuming to get money off their site. It’s tough to have confidence in a sportsbook that slow-pays their big winners or has tried to use their terms and conditions to invalidate winnings and/or slow-pay. Thankfully, once pressured by watchdog sites like SBR and other forums, these issues were resolved.
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BetPhoenix Review – Sportsbook Deposits & Withdrawals
BetPhoenix has a strong selection of deposit options. Their list beats many of the sportsbooks offering their services to Americans. However, their withdrawal options call into question their integrity as a bookmaker.
Deposits at BetPhoenix
Players can deposit a maximum of $500 through visa card. That’s the only instant option available and will be the preferred choice of most. Person-to-person transfers are available up to $900. Transfer fees will be reimbursed on deposits of $300 or more.
Larger Deposit Limits with Check and Bank Wire
Larger amounts can be deposited through cashier’s checks (up to $5,000) and through bank wire or bank check (up to $10,000).
Bitcoin Casino Deposits
Bitcoin is also available, solely as a deposit option. They have yet to implement BTC withdrawals as of April 2016. Players can deposit up to $5,000 per transaction with Bitcoin.
Payout Options at BetPhoenix
With their large deposit limits, you would think they would offer players an efficient way to get large amounts of money off at a time, but that’s not the case. In fact, they make it painfully slow and expensive to do so.
They don’t offer bank wire as a withdrawal option. This is the best method for getting high four-figure and five-figure amounts off sportsbooks. Instead, the only options are paper check and person-to-person transfer.
Checks, shockingly, only come in $500 increments, and bettors are only allowed $2,000 in check withdrawals per week. While they receive one free check payout a month, each check past that threshold comes with a $50.00 fee.
This means that at a minimum, bettors will be paying $150 in fees for $2,000 in checks. All of which take 3-4 business days to process. On top of that, they can only request one check per week. If they have larger amounts to withdraw, this will amount to $200 in fees for every $2,000 requested. Not only that, the funds will take forever to get there.
Players can use person-to-person transfer for withdrawal as well. These come with a max of $800 per day, but again, fees are going to be around $100 or more for the maximum amount. Couple these expensive fees and restrictive maximums with complaints from players in that BetPhoenix doesn’t even meet their quoted processing times. These guys will pay you, but it’s a nightmare in terms of costs and time to get your winnings.
BetPhoenix Sportsbook Bonuses
BetPhoenix offers a couple of choices when it comes to deposit bonuses and options.
Freeplay Sign-Up Bonus
Their main sign-up bonus is a 175% Freeplay Bonus that is good up to $2,625 in freeplays if you deposit the maximum amount of $1,500. However, this comes with a whopping 20x rollover, making it a bad option, despite the massive bonus amount.
Cash Bonus
The other deposit promotion is a 75% Cash Bonus + 25% Freeplay. This has a maximum bonus of $1,125 cash and $375 in freeplays. The difference here is that your cash portion of the deposits won’t be subject to freeplay restrictions. Again, the viability of this promotion is –EV by an extremely large 20x rollover. Both of these sign-up bonuses need to be used by cash deposit. This means depositing via check, bank wire, or person-to-person transfer. They cannot be used for deposits through credit card.
Deposit Bonuses
For those that deposit via credit card, there are two more bonuses opportunities, 25% Monthly Cash Back and -105 Reduced Juice. However, I can’t tell if these are purely limited time offers or something they offer frequently. The cash back offer will give players 25% based on a four-week balance sheet, (28 days) and on the fifth week players will get 25% of their net wagered amount during that period returned to their account. This is a far better deal than taking a massive deposit bonus with a ridiculous 20x rollover, but the reduced juice market offer is better.
Reduced Juice at BetPhoenix
Bettors should always take reduced juice as an option if it’s available. The reduced markets have a $500 max, but that’s perfectly acceptable for bettors who are trying to build a bankroll. These markets are for NFL, NCAA Football, and NBA only. Be sure to read the fine print of each bonus and it might be best to talk to live support before depositing to make sure your bonus is credited correctly.
BetPhoenix Review Highlights
Strong Betting Markets and Odds
Players will find that betting markets will be a bit more expansive, at least regarding the number of sports and leagues offered at BetPhoenix. Their focus is still North American sports, but they do they have tons of markets that many other US-facing bookmakers don’t offer.
There’s a massive list of European and Asian basketball and soccer leagues. Their full list of sports including all American and Canadian based basketball, football, hockey, and baseball is quite large. They also offer rugby, tennis, racing, mixed martial arts and boxing, golf, cricket and more.
Their bet types and customization aren’t as large as other sportsbooks, but they’re not exactly lacking either. Aside basic wagers like sides and totals, the sportsbook has parlays, teasers, round robins, win and action reverses, and if-bets. There is, at least, one future bet for every sport offered.
As far as propositions go, BetPhoenix has a decent list for nightly NBA games, NFL contests, and more prominent college games, like during March Madness and Bowl Season. There are also propositions for MLB baseball.
They do provide live betting on some nationally televised sports, like NFL, NBA, and MLB games. However, their live betting interface doesn’t match the rest of their polished site. There aren’t many options and they, as a whole, don’t offer nearly the amount of games that other sites do for in-play betting. Their parlay and teaser odds are around the industry standard. They offer +260 for two-team parlays and -110 on 6-pt NFL teasers. There’s nothing to chase here if you’re an avid parlay or teaser player and are looking for the best odds.
Betting Limits at BetPhoenix
BetPhoenix offers moderate limits for the offshore industry. They won’t be as high as some larger bookmakers like Bookmaker or 5Dimes, but are higher than some of the smaller books servicing the market.
The big four sports all have maximum limits of $5,000 on sides and $3,000 on totals, and this includes college. Other markets will vary, but they can be as low as $1,000 per side for smaller markets like the Euro league basketball or the WNBA. Propositions and live betting options will be $500 and sometimes as low as $100 on certain bets.
BetPhoenix Sportsbook Excellent Support
Their agents are extremely helpful, among the best online. They respond to emails within 24 hours or less, and they also have phone support.
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BetPhoenix Sportsbook Summary
BetPhoenix is certainly not in the sportsbook scam category. They do pay their players, but their withdrawal fees and lack of any excellent odds or deposit bonuses make them an easy avoid. The rollovers are way too high despite the thousands in freeplays. Paying $50 in fees for $500 checks is simply a bankroll killer. Remember you already have to contend with the oddsmakers’ 10% edge to win. If you want to try your luck with their freeplay promotions or reduced juice – they are paying players, but they’re just not treating their players fairly with withdrawal costs.