MarathonBet Review

Having set up their digital presence way back in 1997, MarathonBet are one of the oldest ‘new’ bookmakers around yet still somehow manage to fall under the radar of many punters. They are on most odds comparison sites and have a well-earned reputation for good service, a logical but cluttered website and a strong introductory offer. However, one potential drawback for customers is that the promotions page here is very hard to find. You need to find an icon at the left hand side of the page marked as ‘Services’ and a Bonus option will flag up, a strange approach but a free £20 bet awaits new punters who manage to find it!

Deposit & Withdrawals

Only a few deposit methods are available at MarathonBet and the omission of PayPal is somewhat jarring. Still, only the most obscure of eWallets are left out and you get all the main players – Skrill, Neteller and PaySafeCard.   Of course, there is the option to use bank transfers or any of the major debit or credit cards so while other bookmakers’ lists may be wider, MarathonBet should have covered everything you could possibly need. On our site you will also find information about MarathonBet bonus and MarathonBet mobile app.

Customer Service

A full set of customer service options are here but once again they are not easy to find. The live chat button is quite prominent at the top of the home page however. Beyond that you have to click on that services button again and this gives you two options: the help facility lists a very comprehensive set of FAQs while the contact button reveals a telephone number and an e-mail. They’re not easy to locate but the live chat is relatively simple to find and will be the quickest way to answer any problems.

License Information

For customers in the UK, Marathonbet licensed and regulated by the Gambling Commission, Licence Number 38762

MarathonBet offers its odds in UK and European formats which are easy to read, but their overall betting margin hovers around 2.3%. That notably drops to 1.5% for football bets.It is a fairly basic website and it’s certainly not the most eye-catching, but the good news is that the sporting markets are laid out very logically in alphabetical order.

Betting limits

Their minimum stake allowed is €1 and there is no maximum, although there is a hard limit of £250,000 per day on winnings.

Types of bets

Marathon bet offer a wide range of bets including standard bets like singles, doubles and trebles, as well as Lucky 15’s, Lucky 31’s, Lucky 63’s and other combination and system bets. They also provide Asian Handicap betting and their unique “Lose to Win” accumulator.

Sport coverage

One real positive of the MarathonBet operation is the sheer volume of sports you can bet one which currently includes some very obscure niches like Sumo, Water Polo and Hurling. E-sports are also covered quite heavily while there is also an active market for specials from politics and entertainment.

In-play experience

MarathonBet has you covered here too, with a handy tab letting you choose between single bets, accumulators and multiples, while a vast array of statistics are also only a click away on any fixture. The live schedule is can often look cluttered however, which is where the site’s limited layout can be its downfall. Live streaming isn’t an option with MarathonBet.

Live streaming

There is no live streaming facility

The website itself is very old fashioned looking with lots of quite boring images. The navigation of the site uses the three column approach which is used quite extensively today with a lot of online sportsbooks.

The main menu contains all of the betting products with the left side menu containing all of the sports. Selecting a specific sport from that left menu will open the sport in the middle column where each event will be shown. The interface is using a lot of white space as a background but will appeal to the user who wants a minimalistic and simple view of the odds.

Each event is listed and a small red graph icon to the right of the event allows you to open up a full set of statistics for each player or team.

Below the red graph icon you will see the number of markets for the event in blue. Although the site is old fashioned they have made the user journey very simple.

When looking at the market view it looks a little congested with a white and grey interface. It just does seperate the markets clearly so could take some getting used to.

Now if we look at other content then special note goes to the “Statistics” tool which covers every sport and every league in every sport. If you bet by analysing and using data and trends then Marathon Bet has an amazing tool. The depth of information is staggering.

Ok so here is where you can get real benefit from Marathon Bet, they do not have tons of bonuses and promotions. What they do have are great odds and arguably the best in the market.

The average overall betting margin is just 2.2% which tells you straight away they offer better prices. they are not interested in taking big chunks of profit by adding high margins. They focus on providing a simple betting interface with great odds and having lots of players betting on their platform.

Their football and tennis margins are just 1.5% which you just will not get with a bigger high street bookmaker. And American sports are also very competitive with American Football at 1.9% and Basketball and Baseball at just 2%.

If you bet based on margins and are a trader then Marathon Bet are a great potential option for you.

Marathon Bet have a very good market coverage on football and tennis with these being the main sports. As an example you will find football betting opportunities from 90 countries across the world.

Each of these countries has a minimum of 2 leagues (local cup competitions are also included) and some have five or six leagues. In total you are likely to have more than 400 leagues to bet on.

As you can imagine this provides tens of thousands of markets to bet on.

In terms of the offer then the In-play options on Marathin Bet are vast but from a user perspective the interface is really not very easy to use.

If you are viewing the whole In-play offer for a specific sport (e.g. football) then it is very crowded and not easy to find information. Clicking on an individual game and looking at the In-play betting is a little easier but still needs some work. Like all sportsbooks, the site takes getting used to but as we mentioned, Marathon Bet do not go in for bells and whistles. There selling point is the odds, and at the end of the day this is the core
thing that most punters look for.

The other thing is that you will find any markets here that just do not appear on the bigger “commercial” new bookmakers sites like bet365, Corals and Paddy Power.

Marathon Bet do not have any bonuses or sign up offers. They bring players in based on the excellent odds that they offer.

They do run a loyalty programme which rewards clients on a points basis which can then be redeemed for a range of gifts and free bets.

It is very straightforward to manage deposits and withdrawals with Marathon Bet. They offer a wide range of payment options including the major credit and debit cards, as well as the leading e-wallets and electronic payment cards. Also available are bank transfer options.

No commission or fees are charged for transactions and nearly all payment methods offer a minimum deposit and withdrawal of £5.

Well they certainly have top class support on Live Chat based on our testing. An operator joined the chat within 10 seconds which is very quick.

We asked the operator a range of questions including:

How many markets do they have on football betting?
Are they offering NRNB (Non Runner No Bet) at the Cheltenham Festival?
What sign up bonus can i get when I join Marathin Bet?

The operator was highly knowledgeable and also provide links to information answering my questions in more depth. Overall a really good Live Chat experience with questions answered quickly and courteously.

As a responsible operation that has been established for many years, Marathonbet endeavours to ensure that should it ever be required to close its business, all customers’ funds will be returned to them. They are required by licence to inform customers about what happens to funds that are held on your account, and the extent to which these funds are protected in the event of insolvency.

They hold customer funds separate from company funds in dedicated bank accounts and with various payment processors. These funds are not protected in the event of insolvency. This meets the Gambling Commission’s requirements for the segregation of customer funds at the level of:

Basic segregation and corresponding requirements of the Alderney Gambling Control Commission.

Licensed and regulated by the UK Gambling Commission for UK customers playing on their online sites.

Licensed and regulated by the Alderney Gambling Control Commission for non-UK customers playing on their online sites.