This page provides a one-stop reference for betting agencies that are suitable for Australians. The agencies listed here all offer Australian dollar accounts. Agencies fall into two categories: bookmakers and exchanges. Bookmakers are agencies that set the odds and you bet against the agency. With exchanges, the odds are determined by fellow users within a marketplace, so you bet against fellow users. Bookmakers are recommended for beginners, while an exchange membership is a must have for serious enthusiasts, because it enables you to bet against outcomes.
Some useful features and articles:
- The Bookmaker Reviews section features comprehensive reviews of the top betting agencies that are available to Australians.
- Bookmaker Ownership Structure in Australia outlines which companies own which bookmakers and which bookmakers are locally or foreign owned.
- Bookmaker Membership Combos That Reduce Bookmaker Margins looks at the impact of bookmaker membership combinations on effective bookmaker margins and which combos are best.
- Betting Agencies that Don’t Ban Winners surveys which betting exchanges will not limit or close the accounts of winning members.
If you’re in a hurry…
If you don’t wish to spend too much time choosing an agency, below are our picks for the best in the following categories:
- Best for promotions and competitions – Sportsbet
- Quick to post odds for upcoming fixtures – Sportsbet, bet365
- Best for live (phone) betting – bet365
- Best betting selection on international sports – bet365, Unibet
- Best betting selection on Australian sports – Sportsbet
- Best for beginners – bet365, PlayUp
- Best for fantasy sports – Draftstars
Frequently asked questions
- Q: I’m a beginner, should I go with a bookmaker or an exchange?
A: Go with a bookmaker - Q: What benefits are there to using an international bookmaker?
A: The Interactive Gambling Act makes it an offence to offer live online wagering to Australian residents. Operators are only permitted to offer phone betting during live events. International services either ignore or aren’t aware of this law, and continue to permit Australians to bet live ‘in-play’. Adherence to the Act is the responsibility of gambling operators and not individual Australians. It is not an offence for Australian residents to bet live ‘in-play’ online. Another upside is offshore bookmakers typically offer a greater betting selection on international sports. - Q: What benefits are there to using an Australian bookmaker?
A: Australian agencies offer superior betting selections on Australian sports. They also offer a better range of deposit and withdrawal methods for Australians. - Q: How many memberships do I need?
A: Just one if you’re a casual punter. If you’re looking for additional memberships, view our recommended bookmaker combinations.
If margins are what drive you
UPDATE: Marathonbet, Pinnacle and SBOBET no longer accepts Australian members.
The margin is a measure of the bookmaker’s profit for an event and can be regarded as a hidden transaction fee for punters. From a betting perspective, the lower the margin, the better.
The table on the right displays the fixture results from our latest bookmaker margins and markets survey.
Pinnacle came out on top of the general survey with the lowest margins of 2.9%. Unibet and bet365 had the lowest margins of the Australian-licensed services at 5.0%. The average margin when combining the best available odds was 0.7%, which highlights the value of shopping around for the best odds.
Unibet came out on top for the number of markets per fixture.
Sportsbet and bet365 topped the day of the week survey for launching markets early in the week.
bet365 topped the results for offering the best odds for particular selections. Sportsbet performed well too, despite finishing far further down in the margins survey. This highlights the fact that operating with higher margins doesn’t preclude a bookmaker from offering the best odds for particular selections.
Bookmakers that are suitable for Australians
Below is a list of the best Australian-licensed betting agencies.
All new member sign up offers can be viewed here
- Name: bet365
- Owner: Bet 365 Group Limited
- Owner HQ: Stoke-on-Trent, England
- Licence: Northern Territory, Australia
- Type: Bookmaker
- Live (in-play) betting: Phone
- Average margin: 4.8%
- Key deposit methods: Credit card, Skrill, Neteller, bank transfer, POLi, BPAY, Paypal
- Positives: Great betting selection & interface. Live video feeds.
- Negatives: Limits accounts of successful punters
- Visit website
- View our full review
- Name: BlueBet
- Owner: BlueBet Pty Ltd
- Owner HQ: Randwick Racecourse, NSW
- Licence: New South Wales, Australia
- Type: Bookmaker
- Live (in-play) betting: none
- Average margin: no data
- Key deposit methods: Credit card, bank transfer, POLi, BPAY
- Positives: clean interface, founded by former Sportingbet & Centerbet CEO Michael Sullivan
- Negatives: no live betting, no online identify verification
- Visit website
- View our full review
- Name: Draftstars
- Owner: PlayUp Interactive Pty Ltd
- Owner HQ: Victoria, Australia
- Licence: Northern Territory, Australia
- Type: Daily fantasy sports
- Live (in-play) betting: none
- Average margin: N/A
- Key deposit methods: Credit card, POLi
- Positives: leading daily fantasy sports provider in Australia
- Negatives: 15% rake is higher than fees charged by Sportschamps
- Visit website
- View our full review
- Name: PlayUp
- Owner: PlayUp Interactive Pty Ltd
- Owner HQ: NSW, Australia
- Licence: Northern Territory, Australia
- Type: Bookmaker
- Live (in-play) betting: Phone
- Average margin: No data
- Key deposit methods: Credit card, bank transfer, POLi, BPAY
- Positives: Australian owned
- Negatives: fixed odds typically only provided on the day of weekday races
- Visit website
- View our full review
- Name: Sportsbet
- Owner: Flutter Entertainment
- Owner HQ: Dublin, Ireland
- Licence: Northern Territory
- Type: Bookmaker
- Live (in-play) betting: Phone
- Average margin: 5.2%
- Key deposit methods: Credit card, Skrill, bank transfer, POLi, BPAY, Paypal
- Positives: Frequent promotions. Easy to use interface. Good betting selection.
- Negatives: New member bonus based on first bet, not first deposit
- Visit website
- View our full review
- Name: Unibet
- Owner: Unibet Group plc
- Owner HQ: Malta
- Licence: Northern Territory, Australia
- Type: Bookmaker
- Live (in-play) betting: Phone
- Average margin: 5.1%
- Key deposit methods: Credit card, bank transfer, POLi, BPAY
- Positives: Good interface & betting selection
- Negatives: Fewer deposit options than leading competitors
- Visit website
- View our full review
- Name: WinnersBet
- Owner: WinnersBet Pty Ltd
- Owner HQ: Melbourne
- Licence: Victoria, Australia
- Type: Bookmaker
- Live (in-play) betting: none
- Average margin: no data
- Key deposit methods: Credit card, bank transfer, POLi
- Positives: Australian-owned and fast interface
- Negatives: narrow range of sports markets
- Visit website
- View our full review
Notes and explanations of terms
- Live betting – due to the Interactive Gambling Act, bookmakers licensed in Australia cannot offer live online betting to Australian residents. Australian customers must phone in to bet live.
- Key deposit methods – other deposit methods such as cheques and Ukcash may be available, but only popular methods have been listed.
- POLi – enables you to make online bank transfers that are acknowledged immediately by the bookmaker. This feature is only available for Australian bank accounts.