Fun88 Bookmaker Review
Fun88 are an Asia-based bookmaker licensed in the Philippines as well as the Isle of Man. True to the form established by many of its Asian bookmaker predecessors Fun88 offer decent odds, easy payouts and a generous selection of live bets. Fun88 have also opened an online casino and poker room although for the purposes of this review we’re going to concentrate on their sportsbook offerings.
Before we get into the specifics of this review, we’re going to take a few moments and talk about the website. The site is visually busy with most pages emphasising photos over text links. While the English language version of the homepage is fairly easy to navigate take a wrong turn or two. You wind up in hard sell city with lots of photos of rail-thin, scantily clad young ladies holding pencils to their lips (the Fun88 “Angels” as it were) rather than actual footballers or rugby players. While that’s all well and good in theory, in practice it can be more than a little distracting for those who come to the site to bet. That said let’s dig in.
In-Play Betting
Once you get to the sportsbook main page you’ll find that Fun88 actually offers a fine selection of in-play betting options including all major football leagues from around the world (with an emphasis on Asian leagues), horse racing, basketball, American football, tennis, rugby, hockey, snooker, badminton, cricket, volleyball and much more. Transactions are typically processed quickly and without problems. Some features of their in-play section include:
- Live betting on a full range of sporting events.
- No fees on deposits and withdrawals.
- Bet on under/over, odd/even, correct score, HT/FT or 1st goal.
- Live streaming of a variety of events.
- Decent odds on most events.
- Tonnes of live and mobile betting options.
- Prompt payments, typically within a few hours or even less.
Fun88 Free Bet and Promo Offers
The dearth of Fun88 free bet offers and promotions is one of the most glaring shortcomings of the site and certainly takes some of the fun out of Fun88. Perhaps the company believes that if you stare at the pretty girls long enough, you’ll forget about the fact that they give you virtually nothing by way of promos and bonuses and that they don’t offer a way to accrue credit toward VIP status (because there is no VIP status). This lack of love for the customer base may fly in some parts of the world but is not going to go down well in Old Blighty. The one Fun88 bonus currently being offered is their sign up matching bonus.
- Welcome bonus – The only Fun88 bonus comes into play the moment you sign up. Fun88 will match your initial deposit up to £30 as a welcome bonus for new members. That turns your £30 deposit into £60 worth of bettable cash. But you have to use the combined amount on a single bet. While other betting sites offer higher sign on bonuses, there are some that offer nothing, so this is right in the middle. The fact that it’s the only Fun88 bonus offer, however, means it could have/should have been far more robust.
Fun88 Deposit and Payment Methods
While they offer almost nothing by way promos and Fun88 free bet offers they do provide a fairly significant number of ways to deposit money and receive payments. These include:
- Moneybookers
- Neteller
- Bank Transfer (local)
- China Debit Card
- Neteller (1-Pay)
- Moneybookers
- Neteller
- Bank Transfer (local)
- Neteller (1-pay)
- China Debit Card
While the companies involved are the same, the amounts in question vary from deposits to payments, so you’ll need to read the fine print on their website to select the method that is best for you.
What We Like About Fun88
While we’re not ones to quibble with pretty girls, there has to be something more to a betting site than a parade of lovelies. We’re here to bet after all. So what do we like? Well, Fun88 have some decent odds on several of the major sports, including basketball. Live in-play betting is also available for just about every sport and, if better tires of gambling in their online casino they can transfer any remaining balance to the sportsbook at no charge. The site also offers live streaming of most high profile events which is a good way to keep track of the status of your wagers. In addition, the site is fully mobile friendly so you can keep up on the action while you’re waiting for your take-out order or just sitting in the park enjoying a sunny afternoon.
What We’re Not Crazy About
The lack of Fun88 free bet bonuses and promotions can’t be emphasised enough. The design of the site is also not one most European customers are used to dealing with. Chances are many female gamblers in the UK will turn elsewhere when faced with the soft core onslaught. Also, we noticed that European leagues are absent for some reason from the ice hockey offerings. And while we’re piling on with things we find a bit annoying we should mention that as far as accessibility goes the only Western language, the site is translated into is English. Great if you’re sitting in your favourite pub in Manchester perusing the site on your tablet. Not so great if you’re located in Berlin, Stockholm, Genoa or Lisbon.
Fun88 Bookmaker Conclusion
We like the odds offered by Fun88. We like the fact that payouts are easy and fairly quick. We like the fact that they offer both in-play action and live streaming and we have no problem with pretty girls. However, if you’re looking for a gambling site that will offer you a tonne of promos and bonuses and like your customer service to include phone support and live chat then you’re going to be disappointed by Fun88. All in all, there’s plenty of action to be had on Fun88 just don’t expect them to repay your loyalty with a Fun88 bonus or anything more than the insincere smile of the auto show model.