Betdaq is an online betting exchange based in Ireland. Founded in 2000 by Irish entrepreneur Dermot Desmond, the site offers betting markets on a range of international sporting and novelty bets. The company claims to handle in excess of £20m worth of bets every week, by linking punters up to bet against each other. Just like Betfair it is licensed and based in the United Kingdom, and follows in its footsteps in servicing the betting community with another betting exchange option. This week I stopped by to take a look and verify if it really is a valid alternative to the ultimate betting exchange system that is Betfair.

Due to the unconventional way betting exchanges work, Betdaq claim that they improve odds by as much as 20 percent compared to the high street bookie. This is a big incentive for punters who are always looking to increase their margins. Betdaq has a no nonsense site, with popular bets listed on the homepage for convenience. Its simple platform makes it easy to understand exchanges for those new to this form of betting.

Website design
At first I did get blinded by all the purple text coming out at me. The presentation seemed too chaotic. However, I then discovered the ‘My Preferences’ option in a horizontal menu bar at the top of the screen just below the usual ‘username’ and ‘password’ spaces. This gave me access to a wide variety of specifications I could handle to my liking. The 18-item menu allows to modify such details as minimizing the left navigation menu, displaying my balance at all times, displaying expiry time on a bet slip, or setting an own personal staking or liability limit. This definitely made the interface more personalized and adapted to my immediate needs.

Features
The first thing that hits you when you log onto the homepage of Betdaq is its bright purple colour scheme. It’s the same sort of colour I imagine Veruca Salt turned after pinching Willy Wonka’s blueberry gum, i.e. quite garish. Look beyond this and you find a simple to use site, with easy to use navigation to find the bets you are interested in. There aren’t any other notable features to speak of at Betdaq. It really is log in, make your bet, put the kettle on and wait for the result. Bet in-running is allowed on certain sports, with markets updated every few seconds.

Betdaq doesn’t offer as many betting markets as its main competitor Betfair, therefore it is worth checking your bet exists before you make a deposit. This will only affect a small percentage of the betting market as the selection of bets is still good.

Commission Rates
What would apparently give the edge to Betdaq over Betfair is their more client-friendly commission rates. I cannot deny I was more than thrilled to find out that their charging rates go as far down as less than half those at Betfair. A 2% rate in contrast to one of 5% is more than a fair deal.

Transactions
Most regular payment methods are available for making deposits, including visa, mastercard, electron, switch and solo. There are also a limited number of money transfer services, such as moneybookers and Neteller. It is simple to add and withdraw funds to your account, using links found on the homepage when you are logged in. It will usually take 24 hours to receive money back to your debit card, if the same as used to deposit. Expect 2-5 days for other money transfer services.

Betdaq have employed the banking services of Allied Irish Bank to handle transactions. They use 128 Bit SSL encryption technology to protect customers personal details registered at the site.

Odds
As with most online betting sites, you get into the habit of thinking “what’s the sign-up bonus”. The answer is there isn’t one. Now before you throw your rattle out of your pram, there is a good reason for this. Betdaq offer the most competitive commissions of any online betting exchange. They are pretty much 2 percent of the winning bet, which is quite a saving compared to Betfair, which is as much as 5 per cent on bets. In fact a large part of Betdaq’s marketing is currently focused on attracting disgruntled Betfair users, tired of paying higher commission rates.

Football Asian Handicaps
Personally, I do like to bet on the Asian Handicap market. Betfair were once my obvious choice as they had very good odds and their commission rates, unique for Asian Handicaps, went as low as 1%. Today that promotional policy is no more as they brought all markets in line at 5%.

In this respect Betdaq did entice me to open up an account with them. I did find they were still a little restricted in terms of Asian Handicap options offered but they open up their market much before and this is always a vital feature in betting exchanges.

Online Assistance
They do an average job in assisting their clients, being reachable both by e-mail and by the always trustworthy and efficient ‘Live Chat’ option. They seemed quite well organized with up to six different e-mail contacts available in order not to cram all information up, yet when I tested them out there were a few e-mail addresses which seemed non-functional as messages kept coming back reporting a fault in their system.

Customer Service
Overall the customer support at Betdaq is pretty average. If you’re the kind of person that needs to be guided every step of the way then your going run up a pretty hefty phone bill. Email support can take up to 3 hours to get a response, so try and be as detailed as you can with your questions. The responses we received were good, as long as the questions were clear. The help guide is comprehensive, so don’t be afraid to look through this first.

Tel Support UK: 0870 178 1021
Tel Support IRE: +353 1633360
Email support: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

www.betdaq.com