Star Sports Reviews and User Ratings

Full Star Sports Bookmaker Review

A couple of other things that are worth highlighting. Their customer service is excellent, particularly when you use their phone service. This is down to their history and experience as an independent bookmaker, with private bookie services. That has carried through as they have grown over the last decade. In addition to this, there are plenty of promotions to take advantage of, across lots of different sports. Often bookmakers put all their promotional efforts into football and horse racing, then kind of forget the rest. That’s not the case here, with promotions across NFL, tennis, cricket, and plenty more. 

Lastly, Star Sports has a load of great ambassadors, whose knowledge they take advantage of with preview pieces, tipping and general event coverage. Davy Russell is their main man for racing, but the “NEWS” section is crammed full of interesting content across a range of sports.

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.

• Established in 1999

• Star Racing Ltd

• UKGC licence number - 9177

What sets Star Sports apart?

Flynn Goward

Head of Operations

First Impression of Star Sports

My First Impressions

This review will reflect the service offered at the specific point in time. I signed up on the desktop version of Star Sports, but also used the mobile version to compare, as well as the Star Sports app. At OLBG we collect data on every bookmaker’s service, compiling the best bookies in a variety of categories, so that we can determine which bookmaker is the best at what. Based on this data, Star Sports makes our Top 10 in four different categories (listed below), and is one of the top bookies in the country.

- Luke Bradshaw Lee, Commercial content manager

Star Sports Live Betting

When it comes to live in-play betting Star Sports has a solid offering. At the time of review there was football, tennis, cricket, basketball and a few other sports covered. Covering the entire globe, each had a good amount of markets, particularly the football, and this is supported by graphics and statistics to help inform our betting. All live betting is found easily through the “In Play” tab on their main menu. It doesn’t quite make our list of best bookmakers for in-play betting but it’s still an excellent part of the Star Sports product.

Star Sports Live Streaming

Live streaming is available on the Star Sports site and app for horse racing and greyhound racing, assuming you have placed a bet on the race. To watch a race you must place a £1 minimum bet, either a single of each way bet to be specific. The quality of the stream is really good and if Star Sports upped the number and variety of sports that it offers live streaming on then it would start making its way onto our best bookmaker for live streaming list.

Star Sports Betting Odds

In most cases, where Star Sports makes our Top 10s, odds play a big part in why it does so. Star Sports is regularly one of the best places to find long odds for sports such as cricket, NFL, darts, racing and others.

Star Sports Betting App or Mobile Site 

The Star Sports mobile app is very good. When you open the Star Sports app for Android or IOS or on your tablet you can quickly see there is a lot going on, the screen is awash with the latest free bets, promotions, favourites and a quick bet slip. Now we are normally keener on the "less is more" adage with betting apps, as sometimes apps try to fit a quart into a pint pot, but despite the myriad of information going on, the Star Sports app home screen works well, and it felt like a place you would enjoy.

Star Sports was a little slow in releasing an app, but they have clearly spent time and money developing it. When we checked there had been regular upgrades, this is a sign that the Star Sports developers are constantly looking for ways to enhance the Star Sports app. See how it compares to the best betting apps in the UK.

Desktop vs app

Flynn Goward

Head of Operations

Star Sports Football Betting

Star Sports's football section is good. Their odds are fine, but there’s some nice promotions to throw in, and plenty of markets per event. As you’d expect, the major leagues around the world are all covered, with English competitions going down to National League North and South, and domestic leagues in Vietnam, Latvia, Algeria and more.

To dive into things a bit deeper, head to our best bookmakers for football betting to see if Star Sports makes our list.

Bet Builder 

You’ll find Star Sports’s bet builder for events in most sports, although they call it Build-a-Bet. Just look for the yellow icon at the top of the market selection on each event. For one football bet I made, there were plenty of options – maybe not as many as some of the absolute best – but a great option, nonetheless. I will say that the game I was doing was still a good few hours away from kick-off so it’s likely more player markets would be added by the time the game kicked off.In addition, if any bet builder win which has four selections or more, gets a 10% boost to its winnings.

Bonuses

The Star Sports promos team are creating huge betting interest. There are loads of odds boosts dotted around the site, which is great to see and one particular fotoball promotion caught my eye which I don’t think I’ve seen elsewhere. If you pick five different winners in the upcoming Premier League fixtures, and all selections score (they don’t have to win), you get 50% of your stake back as a free bet.

There’s also a boosted goalscorer treble from football correspondent Alex Crook, 10% bonus for BTTS accumulators and plenty of insurance offers such as stakes back if your first goalscorer bet scores second instead, or you lose an exact score bet in added time.

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. Star Sports have done this well allowing their customers to instantly cash out their bets on any device they like.

Star Sports Horse Racing

Star Sports ranks highly when it comes to horse racing betting. This is a bookmaker that has built its reputation literally on the track, offering a personal service to its punters. Star Sports Best Odds Guaranteed offer is available daily on all UK and Ireland horse racing bets, from 9.00 am. For example, if you get a tip for horse racing,  take the 6/1 Early Price and your selection wins at 8/1, Star Sports will pay you at 8/1. The Star Sports BOG applies to single and multiple bets placed and although there are some bookies who offer BOG from earlier, not all do it on greyhounds as well, which Star Sports do.

Star Sports US Sports Betting

A full range of American Sports is available. At the time of writing, only the MLB season isn’t up and running, with the other major leagues in full swing. Beyond that there are lots of international markets for these sports.

American Football Betting

The odds at Star Sports are very good, and it is one the best places in the country to bet on American football. If any of your NFL or NCAA bets lose in overtime, you’ll get half your stake back as a free bet. You can also get each way odds on any outright bets, so when comparing the best American football betting sites in the UK, Star Sports absolutely deserves its place on our list. It’s worth checking out our best NFL betting sites in more detail to see in more detail why Star Sports is there.

Best NFL betting sites

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Basketball Betting

Star Sports is a solid option for basketball betting, overall. Keep tabs on the top basketball betting sites though, to see in more detail why they top our list. Obviously there is the NBA, but also NCAA games, and leagues across the globe including Australia, Latvia, South Korea, Italy and Poland. What’s also nice to see, and great if you’re not massively experienced in betting on US sports, is team jerseys next to team names where markets are listed.

Baseball Betting

This is a bit limited, but there’s no MLB or NCAA season currently, so no game markets anyway. There are outrights for World Series winners, plus American League and National League, also. That said, it would be nice is there was a little sprinkling of player futures – MVP, Cy Young award etc.

Ice Hockey Betting

Like the basketball offering, as well as the biggest league in the sport, the NHL, there are a huge number of other leagues around the globe. You can bet on games in Switzerland, Sweden, England, the Czech Republic and more. There are good outright future markets for NHL betting, and the markets within games are loaded.

Star Sports Greyhound Betting

Greyhound service

Flynn Goward

Head of Operations

Star Sports rounds off our list of the best greyhound betting sites in 10th. There are frequent promotions (including £50 cashback), a huge range of betting markets and their live streaming is better than most. It appears that Star Sports have decided to focus on specific things and do them well. For example, there’s no rest of the world racing offered in their event coverage, but their UK offering is exceptional, and there are few, if any, other bookies that rival them for ante post greyhound betting. Star Sports also offer money back as a free bet if your selection loses by a short head for selected meets.

Best greyhound betting sites

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Star Sports Darts Betting

You can get great value on darts markets at Star Sports, one of the reasons it ranks as one of the best darts betting sites in the country. One of the best things about the darts section is that when you arrive it is organised by competition – something you’d expect at most bookmakers generally –  but as well as that, you have the option to change the order based on time of event or region, if you’re after markets in a particular country, for example. Crucially, regardless of how you sort them, you’ll get great odds full stop.

Star Sports Snooker Betting

By Steve Madgwick - Select any random snooker match on Star Sports and you should find around 15 markets available to bet on at your fingertips per match; that’s something that’s difficult to find elsewhere. Star Sports also offers a good option when it comes to in-play betting on particular snooker events, so bear them in mind if you’re a big fan of in-play betting in general. You can see how they compare to our best snooker betting sites.

Star Sports Rugby Betting (Union & League)

Star Sports offers a consistent, brilliant offering across the board. It may not be the single best at many specific ratings, but it’s an all-rounder who offers a very high standard on absolutely everything that they do and their promotions are one of things that this rugby betting site is market-leading at. For a bit of everything, Star Sports is your one-stop shop, and the site is so easy to navigate, with top rugby events easy to find via its quick links. Check how it compares in our top rugby betting sites.

Star Sports Cricket Betting

By James Banting - The second best cricket betting site in the UK is Star Sports. Star Sports may not have live streaming or even odds boosts and stats like the no.1 (Betway) offers, but the bookmaker is all about the odds. This is a bookmaker that focuses on providing cricket punters with the best, most competitive odds around. So, while we rank Betway as the best cricket betting site overall, it does depend on what you’re after. Want some promotions and boosts across more markets then look elsewhere? Simply want the best price on a bet, then nowhere is better than Star Sports.

Best cricket betting sites

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Star Sports Tennis Betting

By James Banting - Star Sports has a decent event coverage for the tennis season. Obviously there are the Grand Slams, but also every tournament on the ATP and WTA tours, as well as Davis Cup, Fed Cup and Challenger Series, as well as even smaller tournaments. And, although it probably doesn’t need saying, this applies to in-play betting, as well as pre-match stuff. Generally the odds here are really good, and definitely a consideration when placing tennis bets. 

Star Sports Golf Betting

By James Banting - Star Sports is the best bookmaker for betting on golf, and by some way. The bookmaker tends to have decent promotions for most events, and that applies to golf too, with dedicated offers for smaller PGA events, not just the majors. They also have a tonne of markets per event, great event coverage and brilliant in-play betting. What helps it stand alone, however, is the level of statistics that you get for events – it is totally unrivalled. Like I said, they are conclusively the best out there. You can see why in more detail with our Best Bookies for Golf Betting.

Best golf betting sites

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Star Sports Motorsports Betting

By Andy Powell - Star Sports is better than most, but not at the very top. Very few bookmakers run motorsport specific promotions (more of that later) but despite that, there are good opportunities at Star Sports to take advantage of general promotions and use them betting on motorsport. It’s something to definitely bear in mind when shopping around. As well as Formula 1, you’ll find markets on MotoGP, NASCAR and Speedway.

Star Sports Boxing Betting

By Frank Monkhouse former professional boxer - I quite like the approach to boxing betting that Star Sports applies. They know there’s not a lot of value in the “fight winner” market for most bouts and so put a lot of focus and value into other markets. This means thinking of Round Betting, Round Group Betting and the like. 

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.

Star Sports 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; AFL betting has comprehensive stats and esports offers all major games like League of Legends and CS:GO.

Political Betting

By Nigel Skinner - Star Sports’s UK political betting offering is pretty basic, certainly in terms of markets available, and odds on those markets. There’s a few markets for British events – the next General Election, party leaders, and the London Mayoral election – plus the US Presidential election, but it ends there.

Entertainment and Specials

By Jake Ashton - This is very good. Grouped under “Other”, you’ll find the markets that you usually see in “Specials” or “Entertainment”, so different reality shows and awards ceremonies (Oscars, Emmy’s and so on). 

On top of that, however, you’ll also find markets that you will struggle to see anywhere else. Odds on the next Royal Rumble winner in WWE, and even the next CEO of gambling company Entain. I really like this offering overall.

Casino

Star Sports has a fantastic casino with all players from small to large stakers given the best experience possible on the platform.

A huge range of slots and interactive promotions are on Star Sports Casino to keep the most demanding of players happy and consistently able to use the services available.

You can see further information in our Star Sports Casino review which takes a look at each individual sections on there.

Star Sports Account Opening Process

Couldn't be easier and can be completed in three easy step

1. Click a sign up offer on this page

2. Enter your personal information

3. Set up your security info including passwords.

4. Add a deposit method and make your first deposit

That's it. You're ready to bet with Star Sports. 

Navigation and user experience [desktop v mobile]

The Star Sports site and app both have a similar layout, with the design being well-structured and efficient despite its interface absolutely crammed full of info. I found myself using the app over the desktop more and more, which is no sleight on the desktop version, but the app definitely feels more intuitive. Our user reviews point towards the reliability of the site being impressive plus the app being good due to the fast sign up process there.

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 Star Sports 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. Placing a bet on Star Sports is straightforward with the betslip instantly appearing on your screen when you click a selection. Crucially, betting on Star Sports through their phone service, is probably the better than pretty much anywhere else. 

Telephone betting

Flynn Goward

Head of Operations

Managing your account

As mentioned above, the design really makes this tick. On the desktop version, it’s stuff left and right of screen (menu and search to the left, account and bets to the right). On the app, it’s at the bottom, with search, account and bets at the top, with a main nav bar at the bottom that can get you to different sports, in-play options and casino (plus return to the home page).

Star Sports Responsible Gambling Features

As with all online betting companies, responsible gambling should be and will be an essential element of the service provided. Expect KYC procedures and document supply as a matter-of-course, to confirm your account after you have deposited a certain level of funds and in the event of any large wins. You can set limits for yourself across depositing options and daily staking options too, so you can set your levels and keep control of your gambling.

Expect Star Sports to contact you via your preferred communication method if there are suspicious activities on your account. This protects your account from being accessed by someone other than you and ensures you control your gambling activity. Star Sports have a legal obligation to question your activity if they believe it to be suspicious. As part of Star Sports's commitment to safer gambling, they aim to make zero revenue from harmful gambling by the end of 2023.

Bookie Review Expert Contributing Team

Opinion, research and data collection for this Star Sports review by

• Darren Brett (Greyhounds expert) 

• 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

• Edited and Published - Steve Madgwick - Editor-In-Chief