Dafabet is a part of the AsianBGE Group, that is licensed and regulated by the Cagayan Economic Zone Authority and First Cagayan Leisure and Resorts Corporation. As you read the section on sports betting in the Philippines, you’ll see that there are two licensing groups in the country and both provide for superior regulation.
AsianBGE also counts Nextbet Sportsbook, Platinumbet, BetFrontier, Zipang Casino, 777Baby, Casino Jamboree, and Dreamspin88 amongst its other holdings.
Although Dafabet primarily serviced the Asian market in its early days with players from Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam, it quickly moved into the very desirable United Kingdom where there is a significant customer base of online gamblers.
To establish itself as a major player in the UK, the sportsbook wisely used a strategy that has been successful for some of its competitors like Betway and bet365 where it self-promoted through sponsorships.
The promotional activities were two-fold. In 2011, they signed on footballer Alan Shearer to introduce him to the Asian sports community and generate excitement for the matches. Then in 2012, Dafabet started its partnerships in the UK by sponsoring teams like Everton and West Bromwich Albion, new to the Premier League at that time.
The brand is currently the Official Main Club Sponsor of Sunderland AFC, Celtic FC, Burnley FC, Everton, and the Blackburn Rovers FC. It is also the Official Betting Partner of Wales.
Beyond the football realm, Dafabet uses Jimmy “Whirlwind” White, snooker superstar, to provide insight and analysis and has sponsored the 2014 Masters in Snooker as well as the Snooker Champion of Champions.
It’s a great strategy as the company is getting its name in front of fans who are more apt to stake those bets and traditional advertising may or may not be effective for bookmakers.
Dafabet has continued to enjoy increased success. It accepts players from around the world aside from a handful of exceptions and was named the 23rd Most Influential Gaming Operator by eGaming Review.
The Philippines is one of the fastest growing gambling markets in Asia as online gambling is legal for residents as long is it’s through state-owned casinos, sportsbooks, and bingo sites. For operators, the location is appealing as it’s relatively affordable to set up shop in this area. Annual licenses renew at $40,000, but owners enjoy an appealing taxation system.
Looking at the area as a whole, it breaks down into two gambling regions:
PAGCOR – the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (state-owned)
PAGCOR is the sole authorized gambling operator with all land-based and online casinos, bingo, sports betting, and betting establishments
CEZA and FCLRC – the Cagayan Economic Zone Authority and the First Cagayan Leisure and Resorts Corporation
Cagayan is the only region in the Philippines that is not under PAGCOR jurisdiction, and it is the primary licensing and regulating body for AsianBGE and Dafabet. Cagayan is a province of the Philippines in the northeast of Luzon Island and is well known in the United States for being the location of the reality game show, Survivor, in seasons 27 and 28.
Operators holding either license are considered to provide safe and fair gaming for its customers, and that certainly is reflected in the bottom line. Legal gaming in the Philippines is currently a more than $2 billion dollar industry.
We’d be surprised if you weren’t immediately struck by the bright red and yellow colors featured on Dafabet.com. This bookmaker wants to stand out.
Aside from the “in your face” colors, the website has a fairly standard layout with a left-side sports menu and time-sensitive lines that are front and center. It does a good job of putting as much information as possible in front of the customer without confusing things. The site is organized, and the menus are concise and easy to follow. There is quite a bit of information, but new users should be able to find what they need quickly and efficiently.
The very top menu divides the overall website into the different areas of gaming. Aside from sports betting, they also offer a Casino, a Live Dealer Casino, Poker, and other Games.
In the sportsbook itself, though, players can go directly to the sports they’re interested in as they’re divided up into “Early” and “Live.” There are also handy links for the day’s top matches as well as available coupons.
On the opposite side of the sports menu, Dafabet provides prominent player assistance links such as Cash Out and “click for Customer Service” buttons.
Switching from odds formatting or the Euro View to Asian View is also readily available, as are links to current promotions, live event betting, and a separate section for the increasingly popular e-sports.
Design-wise, it’s an overall great website for the experienced or the brand new sports bettors. Everything is sufficiently explained, and thorough FAQ and Rules and Regulations are all hosted in the Help section. And, when we say thorough, we mean it. Anything you’d want to know about registering or funding a player account or any particular betting rule is outlined for anyone interested in reviewing the information.
Before moving on, we did want to make mention of the five different odds formats that Dafabet offers for its users as it’s uncommon for a non-Asian bookmaker to offer so many choices.
The five options are:
US Odds – US (American) odds are indicated by a plus (+) or a minus (-) in front of the numbers. Positive numbers (indicated by the plus sign) provide the total payout that a bettor will receive if they wager 100. So, if the odds are listed at +105 for the underdog, a winning bet of 100 will yield 205 total. For the favorite, odds are listed as negative numbers and equate to the amount that needs to be staked to win 100. So, -110 requires that 110 is bet to cash out a total of 210.
Decimal Odds – Decimal odds provide for a simple mathematical formula. The punter multiplies the bet by the odds to determine the payout. 100 at odds of 2.12 would result in a 212 payout.
Malay Odds – Malaysian odds also have positive and negative numbers associated with them, and negative odds are for the underdog, and favorable odds are for the favorite, which is opposite of American odds. When the odds are positive, they are just like Hong Kong odds, so +1.02 means that the wager of 1 is risked to win a 1.02 profit. When the odds are negative, it reflects the amount needed to be staked to win 1. So, -0.55 means that a stake of .55 yields 1 in profit.
Indo Odds – Indonesian odds can be more confusing than the Hong Kong or Malay format, but they are basically the same as US (American) odds. The only difference is that US odds are displayed in a multiple of 100. So, whereas American odds would be posted as +120, Indonesian odds would look like +1.25.
HK Odds – Hong Kong odds have one formula just like the decimal odds. You simply multiply the amount staked by the odds. So a 100 bet at 1.02 HK odds equates to a potential profit of 102.
There’s quite a lot to like about the bookmaking service. It provides a good overall website experience that’s eye catching and extremely informative without cluttering things up.
We particularly like the live event play by play that’s provided with a click of a button. Players simply select a game or match in progress and click the little update icon on the far right, and the current score pops up and then morphs into a play-by-play script.
Bettors who have action on that game can stay up to date with everything that’s going on through this extra and free service.
That’s not the only good thing about the live betting area, though. It’s an easy to use platform and options for in-play wagering are plentiful as long as you’re looking for soccer, NBA, baseball, or tennis.
We also appreciate the substantial amount of information the site offers to its customers. It provides written answers to most of the questions that players frequently have and also details all of the rules, terms, and conditions so its users should have no surprises.
Dafabet also substantially accommodates soccer (football) punters from all around the world. Its sports schedule and markets are sizeable and cover the most popular as well as some of the lesser known teams. It also added horse racing which wasn’t part of the original service, so race bettors now have a sportsbook and racebook through this bookmaker.
The first things we noticed that might not sit well with some new players are in the bonuses and promotions that are offered. Many of the publicized value-adds are only available to users who finance their player accounts with the Malaysian Ringgit.
The bonus information does state that other users can contact customer service to see what’s available but that’s not a user-friendly way to conduct a promotion for new and loyal players. They want to see, straight up, what types of benefits they’ll receive through this sportsbook and exclude them or make them jump through hoops to get a similar deal is not desirable.
We made mention of the live, in-play area and we do think it’s a good live betting service. However, only offering four different sports also leaves out some players who enjoy staking their bets on American Football or golf or rugby or any of the other available games that rival books offer up with in-play action.
As far as the sports that are provided, Dafabet covers most of the bases, but other bookmakers expand on the basic menu with Gaelic football, lacrosse, squash, and water sports. They also trail behind with prop bets like entertainment and politics which are typically mainstays now through many sportsbooks.
Financially, Dafabet has a lot of great choices for its Asian clientele but, for a bookmaker that specifically markets itself to punters in the United Kingdom, its options need to be increased substantially. Skrill and Neteller are the only two ways for a UK customer to cash out in Great Britain Pounds.
The sportsbook has a broad menu of opportunities across the board but, for the most part, it offers better odds on American Sports including MLB (baseball), NHL (hockey), NFL (American football), and NBA (basketball). They’re one of the top books for basketball, and when we compared some current lines on baseball and hockey to its direct competitors, the betting site matched the lines and even had some slightly better offers.
As far as soccer, it’ll be competitive for some matches especially with Asian handicaps, but for other markets, the betting site will be well behind some of its competitors. Boxing and MMA are also an area that Dafabet could use some improvement regarding the odds it offers.
Dafabet’s sportsbook menu:
Football is extensively covered globally with matches and tournaments from the following areas:
The list of countries is impressive but delve into the International Clubs area, and you’ll find even more. They’ve put an emphasis on this global sport and covers it from the biggest tournaments to the smallest leagues in remote areas of the world.
Dafabet is one of the originators of the Asian Handicap, so its punters will find a broad range of handicap betting including in-play options as well as competitive odds.
The offer 5,000 live events each week, but their in-play betting takes things to the next level for players. Not only are there a lot of opportunities to wager during games and matches, but the in-play area is taken to the next level by graphic depictions of the games in progress. The website does not offer video streaming on sporting events but does offer its own version of play by play.
On the right side of a live play line, there’s a graphic depiction of a court. Click on that icon and the updated score appears and then play by play action is provided courtesy of ever-changing text messages right on the screen within the sportsbook. No, it’s not as good as the actual game, but it does provide players with additional benefits through real-time updates.
We said that there isn’t live streaming for traditional sporting events, but esports is a different story. Dafabet’s dedicated esports area provides punters with a good selection of these increasingly popular events and, as long as you have some betting cash in your player account, you can watch live streaming of these developments.
Dafabet doesn’t impose an actual betting limit. The maximum bet is determined by the maximum payout that applies to each sport. The minimum bet is set at “1” meaning one Euro or one pound, etc…
The following are the payout limits for each sport in US dollars:
Football (Soccer)
The following payouts are in conjunction with goal-related bets on Asian Handicap, Total Goals, WDW (Win-Draw-Win), and long term Outright winner markets.
$150,000 – Men’s full international matches and English Premier League, Spanish La Liga, Italian Serie A, German Bundesliga I, French Ligue I, UEFA Champions League, and UEFA Europa League competitions
$100,000 – Australian A-League, Scottish Premiership, English Championship, Dutch Eredivisie, German Bundesliga II, Belgium First Division, Danish Superliga, Norwegian Tippeligaen, Japanese J-League, South Korea K-League, Portuguese Primeira Liga, Swedish Allsvenskan, Turkish Super League, and US Major League Soccer competitions
$50,000 – For all other soccer competitions, and for qualifying rounds of all competitions including UEFA Champions League qualifying rounds Europa League qualifying rounds (except for Men’s Internationals qualifying rounds)
$25,000 – For any other soccer markets not previously listed
Basketball
$100,000 – for NBA any Head to Head, Handicaps, and Totals for the match period. Also for any NBA championship outrights
$50,000 – for any other NBA markets; also for Euroleague/Spain ACB Match Head to Head, Handicaps, and Totals, and Outright winner markets
Baseball
$100,000 – for all MLB Head to Head Handicaps and Totals for the match period; also for World Series Outrights
Ice Hockey
$50,000 – for all NHL Head to Head, Win-Draw-Win, Handicaps, and Totals for the match period; also, for Stanley Cup Outrights
Tennis
$50,000 – for full ATP/WTA tour match winner and outright tournament winner
Other sports, tournaments, and markets
$25,000 – for any other bet not accounted for above
We think that recreational and experienced players alike will enjoy betting on sports here. It’s an easy to use, easy to navigate website and the information is so accurately detailed that it provides for a comfortable experience.
There are a lot of choices to make. For example, players can select from Euro View or Asian View for the layout itself and then from one of five different odds formats. The site can also be translated into 11 different languages.
Depositing to a player’s account is extremely fast. All of the available ways from which to select provide for near-instant turnarounds in funding, and they are all free of additional fees.
The sports menu is laid out just like the majority of other online sportsbooks with a left side menu of the available sports that can be wagered, and then they break down again into different regions or tournaments.
In-play is right up front and center, and the extra play-by-play feature ups the ante for player services. We think that video streaming is the best overall addition that could be added, but at least Dafabet has a backup program that provides for real-time updates for players that have skin in the game.
Dafabet is bookmaker that offers quite a few value-adds for its players. From the welcome bonus to the reload bonus to all of the sports-specific promotions, there are quite a lot of opportunities for customers to earn some extra betting money.
Dafabet’s promotions are listing in Malaysian Ringgit, and the currency exchange naturally fluctuates, but one Ringgit converts to approximately $0.23 in US dollars.
First Deposit Bonus – 150% up to RM 588
Current players can also take advantage of this promotion by making an Instant Transfer into their player account.
To be eligible for this bonus, at least RM 30 must be deposited into the player’s account, and then a credit of a 150% matching amount will be made into that player account after the deposit is finalized and the customer opt-ins to receive this offer. Also, players using the Ringgit are the only ones eligible. Everyone else needs to contact customer service to find out about alternative options.
There is a wagering requirement applied to this bonus and quite a hefty one at that. Players need to bet the bonus plus the deposit 15 times at odds of 1.50 and above to have any winnings qualify for cash out.
Reload Bonus – 25% up to RM 300
Again, this promotion is only for players using RM currency and then need to contact customer service after depositing to claim this special bonus.
The good news is that the wagering requirement is less than the first deposit bonus. It’s an eight-times playthrough on the deposit plus the bonus amounts together on odds of 1.50 of higher. The maximum weekly amount that can be received in bonus cash is RM 300.
Weekly Free Bet – up to RM 90
Once again, RM currency-users are the only ones eligible for the Weekly Free Bet. Players need to register to participate in this promotion, and it’s specifically for sports betting only. Players who bet up to 30,000 in a week on sports, can receive a bonus amount of RM 90. Players betting as low as RM 7,000 can also participate and will receive RM 20 as their free bet amount.
Even better news on the rollover front as the requirement for this free bet bonus is only a one-time playthrough.
Let’s talk about some things that don’t require the use of the Ringgit.
Unlimited Parlay Rebate
The Unlimited Parlay Rebate introduction is listed in RM currency but will convert to other currencies, so all players are eligible to participate in this one.
Players need to bet a minimum of RM10 on a mixed parlay (at least two selections) with minimum 1.2 odds to qualify and no match under 1.2 odds. The rebate is 2.25% on every parlay that meets these qualifications and, (hooray!), only a one-time rollover requirement on odds that are 1.50 or higher.
NBA Finals Promotion
The NBA Finals Promotion is a free contest for all customers, but players must have made at least an RM 150 bet to qualify for an entry. Players guess the final outcome of the NBA Championship game to try to win RM 150.
Back to that nasty rollover, though, as the winner needs to play through the prize money at least ten times to qualify for any real payout.
There are other cash back offers and challenges depending on the season, but a player just clicks “Promotions, ” and the entire list appears with all of the ins and outs of the offers.
As Dafabet caters primarily to Asian punters with a secondary focus on the UK and then followed by the rest of the world, it has quite an extensive line-up of banking options. However, they are all currency-specific, so there is only a handful available to customers from each area.
The following is the list of acceptable currencies for transactions:
We’re going to focus on the methods available to players from the UK. All of these deposit methods are available for GBP currency users and, additionally, Dafabet does not list any additional fees for financial transactions, whether for deposits or withdrawals.
Another benefit to players is that all deposit methods provided to them allow for instant (or near-instant) processing.
Usually, we start out with the most popular which is the credit or debit card, but Dafabet uses Skrill as an intermediary for credit card transactions instead of straight processing from the credit card to the gaming account.
Credit Card – via Skrill – Diners Club, Mastercard, Visa Minimum Deposit – £8.29 Maximum Deposit – £829.07 Turnaround Time – within a few minutes Other currencies accepted using this method: USD, EUR, INR Notes – credit cards are not directly accepted; Skrill is the intermediary
Skrill (Moneybookers) Minimum Deposit – £10.00 Maximum Deposit – £60,000 Turnaround Time – within two hours Other currencies accepted using this method: USD, EUR, INR, KRW, PLN
NETELLER Minimum Deposit – £10.00 Maximum Deposit – £31,000 Turnaround Time – within a few minutes Other currencies accepted using this method: USD, EUR, INR, PLN, RUB Notes – also accepts the Neteller credit card
Online Bank Transfer – by Skrill Minimum Deposit – £8.29 Maximum Deposit – £829.07 Turnaround Time – within a few minutes Other currencies accepted using this method: USD, EUR Notes – Skrill is the intermediary for this method as well
Paysafecard Minimum Deposit – £10.00 Maximum Deposit – £880.00 Turnaround Time – within a few minutes Other currencies accepted using this method: USD, EUR, PLN
Skrill 1-Tap Minimum Deposit – £10.00 Maximum Deposit – £60,000 Turnaround Time – within a few minutes Other currencies accepted using this method: USD, EUR, KRW, PLN
We won’t go into great detail on the other methods, but here’s a listing of what is available for other currency users.
Withdrawals are also fast via Dafabet’s methods. Unless otherwise specified, players need to use the same method for cashing out as they did for depositing into their player accounts. Unfortunately, for a non-Asian player that whittles down to very few options when they’re ready to withdraw some of their winnings.
Again, we’re using the methods offered for UK players using GBP and that only leaves Skrill or NETELLER. If a player can cash out in Euros or US Dollars, the Wire Transfer method accommodates cash outs of up to 1,000,000 Euros or Dollars.
Credit Card – via Skrill – Diners Club, Mastercard, Visa Withdrawals are not accepted using this method
Skrill (Moneybookers) Minimum Withdrawal – £10.00 Maximum Withdrawal – £60,000 Turnaround Time – within two hours Other currencies accepted using this method: USD, EUR, INR, KRW, PLN
NETELLER Minimum Withdrawal – £10.00 Maximum Withdrawal – £31,000 Turnaround Time – within a few minutes Other currencies accepted using this method: USD, EUR, INR, PLN, RUB Notes – also accepts the Neteller credit card
Online Bank Transfer – by Skrill Withdrawals not accepted using this method
Paysafecard Withdrawals not accepted using this method
Skrill 1-Tap Withdrawals not accepted using this method
Customer Service agents are available through three methods including email, phone, and live chat. The live chat method offers the choice of five languages as well. Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Korean, Bahasa Indonesia, and English are all offered as options 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
We always feel that customer service is up to interpretation and certainly depends on the person providing the service so wanted to look at a lot of player feedback to get a better overall impression of customer service.
What we determined is that it’s a good, average service department. Many reports that it takes a bit longer than they expected to receive any answer but most were pleased with the courteousness of the representatives. The one thing that they could do better is to provide good, thorough answers and not simply guide players to a link on the website. At times a customer may just want verification on something, and Dafabet seems to rely on referencing their printed material and advising players to read through everything instead of providing a quick, pointed answer for them.
If we compare Dafabet to other bookmakers that service the UK betting community, there are some significant differences.
First of all, Dafabet does offer good bonuses, but UK players are not eligible for the majority of the ones that are promoted within the sportsbook as the Ringgit must be used as the chosen currency. Also, financial options for UK players don’t compare as other bookmakers offer a large menu of selections that accommodate GBP currency and the site has limited deposit options with only Skrill and Neteller offered for pound withdrawals.
Regarding the sports lines, Dafabet is competitive in both the markets and the majority of odds that it offers. It provides live, in-play action just like some of the big guys, but can’t compete with the video streaming and the massive payout amounts of bigger books like bet365 and Ladbrokes.
When we compare Dafabet to some direct Asian market competitors such as SBOBet, it stands up when it comes to the sports offerings although SBOBet has some additional sports like hurling and lacrosse that Dafabet doesn’t have, but Dafabet covers more regions for soccer than SBOBet.
188bet has a larger UK customer base, offers more financial options, and much higher payout limits. Bodog88 has more virtual events, but Dafabet comes in strong with eSports.
Overall, Dafabet is a good, typical sportsbook with benefits that are substantially better for Asian punters than for bettors from other areas of the world.
Yes, it covers a vast area with its soccer coverage and customers looking for some more obscure and hard to find games will find benefit from this site. However, its focus on the UK gambling community comes up short, as there aren’t enough financial options to make it more appealing than some of its competitors, but UK players may count Dafabet in as a secondary sportsbook as the margins are better, especially regarding Asian handicaps.
