Full Hollywoodbets UK Bookmaker Review
HollywoodBets gives, but it takes away at the same time.
On a basic level, the odds are very good and the vast majority of sports have each event filled with more markets than most other bookies. The multiview feature for in-play betting is fantastic and not something that I’ve seen elsewhere. There’s also a brilliant stats page, but it’s separate from the site, and doesn’t go straight to the sport you’re betting on i.e. it requires navigating once you’re there. Lastly, there are some sports to bet on here that you’ll struggle to find anywhere else – surfing, futsal, biathlon etc.
That’s generally all pretty good, but there are some glaring blind spots here. For a site to offer surfing, for example, but not greyhounds, esports, or politics is a bit odd. The navigation on the desktop is hard work. It gets better the more you use it, but it shouldn't have to be like that.
HollywoodBets Review Summary
If you mainly (/only) use the app, and your sport is covered, you’ll find great odds and markets here and have an amazing experience. If you don’t have the app and like the dogs, everything becomes a bit trickier.
Advantages and Disadvantages
All explained in greater detail in this review, these pros and cons allow users to scan and understand where the strengths lie quickly.
Pros
- Amazing market depth across multiple sports
- Brilliant statistics page
- Ranks highly for Acca Insurance
Cons
- No greyhound racing covered
Who are HollywoodBets?
HollywoodBets arrived online in 2019. The South African brand began as a bricks and mortar betting shop around the turn of the century and has grown steadily since, adding a casino to its product in the process.
First Impression of HollywoodBets
My First Impressions
This review will reflect the service offered at the time of writing. I signed up on the desktop version of HollywoodBets, but also used the mobile version to compare, as well as downloading the HollywoodBets app.
At first glance, it looks a lot, and then once you start looking around the site, you realise it’s even more. There’s definitely been some decisions made here that are a little at odds with most bookies and their layout, so let's see how many of them pay off.
- Luke Bradshaw Lee, Senior Sports Betting Editor
Live Betting
Everything takes a bit of getting used to. The navigation definitely takes some getting used to as it doesn’t quite follow what I’ve come to expect from an online bookmaker, but that’s not to say it is necessarily bad. There are some sports here that are covered a little less than others (tennis), some that have quite a bit more (cricket) and some here that you won’t find anywhere else (futsal). There’s a good amount of markets for each, and the odds aren’t bad either.
I do really like their multi-view feature though, allowing you to drag different events into sectioned tiles so that you can follow multiple events live at once. See if they make it into our best bookmakers for in-play betting.
Live Streaming
HollywoodBets offers live streaming on selected horse races.
Betting Odds
After looking at some other bookmakers, plus going through some comparison sites such as OddsChecker and the like, it seems as though that the odds offered at HollywoodBets are pretty good. We checked football, basketball and tennis for in-play odds, plus horse racing and some other sports for pre-match stuff. They’re very competitive and, crucially, because they have some sports that other bookies don’t, you’ll find odds for niche sports here that you won’t elsewhere.
Also, remember that it is always worth checking alternative betting options, including best spread betting sites and betting exchange sites, depending on who you are as a bettor.
Betting App or Mobile Site
I’ve spoken about the navigation on the desktop being a little different and taking some getting used to (although I do quite like it). Well this isn’t the case on the app, which follows a much more classic template. Definitely the menu works better on the app, because I think trying to find specific sports on the desktop version is a bit tricky – there’s no “All Sports” or “A-Z Sports” – whereas on the app, they’re all listed as you’d expect. See how it compares to the best betting apps in the UK.
⚽ Football Betting
The odds at HollywoodBets are very good, and the list of leagues covered is huge, but they don’t make our best football betting sites in the UK. There’s obviously the major leagues and competitions, but punters can also find domestic leagues as broad and varied as Thailand, Slovakia, Saudi Arabia and Lebanon. There are also loads and loads of promotions running that are football-specific.
You can see in the chart below, in greater detail, why certain bookies rank among the top for football betting sites, and what HollywoodBets is up against.
Tap or mouseover chart elements for more info. Pinch to zoom.
Bet Builder
There’s an absolute tonne of events within their bet builder feature. There’s all the markets that you’d like, plus the likeable parts of the feature are also apparent in other sports, which is great to see.
Bonuses
As well as the welcome offer, and regular price boosts, there are a few different promotions to take advantage of. There’s HollywoodBets' Acca Bonus, which boosts your winnings by up to 75%, as well as Acca insurance, where you can get your stake back, and sometimes more, if one of your legs lets you down in any football acca. These are on top of plenty of caino-based promotions.
Hollywood Bets offers three tiers of acca insurance based on the number of predictions you include, starting out at 5 picks at a minimum acca odds of 5.00, the maximum refund amount increases with the more predictions you include, rising through tiers of 8 and 12 picks returning a max of 2 x or 5 x stake (£20 and £50). With increased picks, there are also increased minimum odds that need to be achieved. This is one the best acca insurance offers that you'll find across the UK gambling market.
Cash Out
Cashout is a very important betting feature for punters these days so it's crucial that bookies integrate this feature into their mobile betting apps. HollywoodBets have done this well, allowing their customers to instantly cash out their bets on any device they like.
🏇 Horse Racing
The horse racing section at HollywoodBets is very good – there are a few different promotions for horse racing alone. There’s extra places on selected races, money back as a free bet if your selection loses on selected races and first past the post.
HollywoodBets also have BOG (Best Odds Guaranteed) and is the only sportsbook to offer this on UK, Irish and South African races. They don’t offer BOG on greyhounds, and the timing cut off is only 10am which isn’t ideal. That said, the limit that they put on maximum benefits from the offer is an enormous £50,000. Aside from those that offer no limit, it is a fantastic part of HollywoodBets’s Best Odds Guaranteed offering. They still make our top 10 best betting sites for BOG.
🇺🇸 US Sports Betting
A full range of American Sports is available. We’ll check out the major leagues, but also look into the sports further down the pyramid and, as well as across the globe.
🏈 American Football Betting
Unfortunately, HollywoodBets does something that is a real bugbear of mine when it comes to American sports, well certainly American football and basketball. When you see the event (a specific game) it only lists the spread. This is better than just displaying the result market, which some do, but what it really should show is three markets: spread, total and moneyline (result). You can see these once you click through, but it’s not how bettors on these sports bet. It’s worth checking out our best NFL betting sites to see how HollywoodBets compares.
🏀 Basketball Betting
I think HollywoodBets has a decent selection of basketball leagues to bet on. There’s obviously the NBA, but HollywoodBets covers a wide range of EuroLeague and domestic world competitions, also. There are events in Iceland, Latvia, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and more. There are price boosts and bet builders to take advantage of. Bu, again, it’s quite difficult to locate particular games.
⚾ Baseball Betting
HollywoodBets obviously covers the MLB, but they also have markets for the Japanese and South Korean leagues. The markets, and the odds, especially on the outrights, look really good. The MLB season hasn’t quite kicked off, but there is a healthy amount of things to bet on, such as individual awards and the like. Keep tabs on the top baseball betting sites though, to see why they make it onto our list.
🏒 Ice Hockey Betting
The NHL takes up the bulk of space here, as expected. But there are also some Finnish, Swiss, and German fixtures included, among others. I selected an upcoming NHL game and there are loads of markets listed – more than pretty much anywhere else. For the smaller leagues that reduces a bit more, which is understandable. Overall, I think this is a very good offering.
🐕 Greyhound Betting
HollywoodBets offers no greyhound racing betting at the time of this review.
🎯 Darts Betting
Matthew Edgar
Darts Editor and WDF Professional
In terms of darts betting sites in the UK, HollywoodBets is a really nice option. There are markets for the World Championships despite it being nearly a year away, with markets for the Premier League and Live Online League, also. I also really like the amount of markets per match.
Compare to the best darts betting sites in the UK.
Snooker Betting
Steve Madgwick
Editor-In-Chief
As with the best snooker betting sites, there are markets for a few different tournaments, including the World Championships and the Champions League. At the time of the review we’re in the middle of the Champions League, which I can’t live stream unfortunately, but I do like the amount of markets per game that they offer, and generally the odds are pretty good.
Compare to the best snooker betting sites in the UK.
🏉 Rugby Betting (Union & League)
By Luke Bradshaw Lee - There’s some good and bad here. First off, there aren’t enough competitions listed. There is the Six Nations, Champions Cup, Super Rugby and French league games, but nothing else listed. I can only imagine this is because of the bookie’s Southern Hemisphere leading, because I’d normally expect to see competitions such as the Premiership and URC. Weirdly, they do list domestic British rugby league. The markets within a game, plus all the stats that come along with it are really good. In short, there’s quality, but not a lot of quantity. See how they compare to our best Rugby betting sites.
🏏 Cricket Betting
James Banting
Tipster Competition Assistant
This is pretty good because HollywoodBets offers all the competitions that I’d expect to see, plus a few more such as the D10 League in Oman, that’s not something that you’ll find everywhere. I also love how many markets are available here for each game, assuming it’s not quite a bit in the future before teams are announced etc.
We list the 10 best cricket betting sites here.
🎾 Tennis Betting
By James Banting - At the time I reviewed their tennis section, HollywoodBets had 341 different tennis games to bet on – that’s seriously impressive. These games obviously cover the globe, with the Grand Slams right down to smaller Challenger events. The odds are good, and there’s plenty of markets, but I’d like to see more support for in-play markets as there is nothing in the way of streaming, graphics, or live stats. See if they make it into the top 10 tennis betting sites on OLBG.
🏌️ Golf Betting
By James Banting - HollywoodBets has a nice golf offering, with a few extra competitions on top of the majors. That includes the Phoenix Open, Astara Championship and Commercial Bank Qatar Masters. I’d like to see a few more markets listed, but this overall is okay, without being spectacular.
🏎️ Motorsports Betting
Andy Powell
Content Editor
Unfortunately HollywoodBets only offers Formula 1. That means no NASCAR, no Speedway, no MotoGP or any other motor racing events. This is a little odd because there are some very niche sports listed here, so you’d expect to have things like NASCAR included.
Compare to the best motorsport betting sites.
🥊 Boxing Betting
Frank Monkhouse
Boxing Editor
There’s lots of boxing bouts to get stuck into here, and the markets look dependent on timings. Those this weekend and over the next few weeks have a decent offering, whereas the further away they get the less markets on offer. That’s understandable, and I wouldn’t expect to find round by round and the like for fights that are months away.
Compare to the best boxing betting sites.
Other Sports Betting
Whilst these sports might sound very niche, there is a massive market for fans, and millions of them in the UK, so good coverage of niche sports and events is key to be reviewed on OLBG.
Other Sports at HollywoodBets 🌍🏀🏐🚴🎮
HollywoodBets offers diverse betting options: handball 🏆, volleyball 🏐, cycling 🚴, and Aussie rules 🏉 Explore global matches, detailed stats, and infinite markets.
HollywoodBets offers extensive betting options for Handball, volleyball, cycling, AFL betting, and esports. Handball includes global competitions; volleyball,covers European Championships and various tournaments; cycling features future tours and current races and AFL betting has comprehensive stats.
🗳️ Political Betting
HollywoodBets offers no political betting at the time of this review.
🎭 Entertainment and Specials Betting
HollywoodBets offers no specials betting at the time of this review.
Casino
HollywoodBets does have casino. Despite the name of the brand, it's incredibly easy to find their casino offering from their sportsbook, with banners across the top. They also have some bonuses and offers that lead to casino spins should you win sportsbook bets. Check our Casino Sites page for dedicated new online casinos and slot sites.
You can also check out OLBG’s latest addition; our Best Bingo Sites. All of which are, obviously, sites fully licensed by the UK Gambling Commission.
HollywoodBets Account Opening Process
A reassuringly easy process. At the top-right of the screen HollywoodBets has their “Sign Up” button. Bettors just need to select this and follow the simple steps as guided through. You’ll be asked for the usual information – name, date of birth, address etc – and once complete be sent a verification email. Clicking this from your inbox will redirect you to the site, and then you’re free to get betting.
Navigation and user experience [desktop v mobile]
The HollywoodBets app is very good, the desktop version not so much. I think the desktop site is trying to be too clever. You have to scroll across the top to find your sport, which is fine if it’s football and there, but not if you have to slowly move to the end to find other sports. Once you select that, you then have to use the menu down the left-hand side to determine which competitions you want to select, and that then populates the page with the markets. The app works much better in my opinion.
Placing a bet
This section should only really highlight if there are issues, as the process is almost identical on every site. Within a few minutes of signing up to HollywoodBets I placed a couple of bets on different sports, one of which took advantage of the welcome offer, and I used their bet builder feature, which was very indeed.
Managing your account
As mentioned above, the design really helps this along. On the desktop version, it’s stuff to the left of the screen. On the app, it’s all at the bottom, with just the login at the top. I haven’t experienced any issues logging in, or finding customer service options, either. Overall, it feels like HollywoodBets has got this part nailed.
Responsible Gambling Features
You can set your deposit limit while you’re signing up; long before you’ve got close to actually making a bet.
There is also a Settings tab at the bottom of the page, no matter what page you’re on, that allows you to make changes to limits, as well as odds formats, or odds change preferences/notifications.
There are the following measures within its functionality:
All are explained in further detail on their safer gambling page. As well as this, on the same page they list links to the likes of the National Gambling Helpline, Be Gamble Aware and the National Gambling Treatment Service.
Responsible Gambling
There is a full suite of responsible gambling tools for your protection and may request further identification after certain depositing levels are exceeded or stakes are increased quickly.
Bookie Review Expert Contributing Team
OLBG Expert Review Team
This review was conducted by our expert team. Our dedicated review process guide provides a full description of the undertaking.
How OLBG reviews betting sites
Opinion, research and data collection for this review by
James Banting (Horse Racing, Golf and Tennis)
Nigel Skinner (Football and Politics),
Matt Edgar (Darts)
Frank Monkhouse (Boxing)
Andrew Powell (Horse Racing, Ice Hockey and Motor Sports)
Jake Ashton (Entertainment and Specials)
🛂 Fact Checked - Sam Darkens - Commercial Manager
✍️ Written by - Luke Bradshaw Lee - Commercial Content Manager
✏️📚 - Steve Madgwick - Editor-In-Chief
| Hollywoodbets UK Mobile Offering |
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| Rated: 2.20 / 5 |
| Rated: 2.60 / 5 |
| Rating not available |
Please note: Betfair, Paddy Power and Skybet do not partner with us. As a result we do not have sufficient up-to-date information to provide accurate product comparisons with those specific sportsbooks.
