Match.Center Philippines – For your best bookmaker match!
We are not the type of site that will reward bookies with a good rating for nothing. To complete a sportsbook evaluation, we implement our 9-stage grading matrix. This ranking system was used for each of the legal Filipino betting sites. We then compiled the results to give a comprehensive, in-depth comparison between them. Let’s have a look at some of the scoring process specifics.
A low score will likely be achieved thanks to one of the following:
- We only care about gamblers’ convenience and comfort. Bookmakers can’t buy themselves a spot higher in ranks.
- We have years of practice evaluating countless sportsbooks worldwide including the best ones, so our standards are high.
- Anything outside of betting products will not impact the ranking in any way. Implementing Bingo and casinos does not help platforms get more points.
Our nine parameters are divided into three categories:
- Technology & Product
- Offers & Payments
- UX & Support
We then mark each of these on a scale from 0 to 10. The average of these is being used to rate the bookies. On top of it, the site that is a market leader in any of these categories unlocks an achievement.
Technology & Product
We use these parameters to assess the overall offerings of bookmakers. The range of bets, their features and tools, and how competitive the odds are.
Events and Markets
We assess the number of sports present, how many pre-match markets are available and the margin on a top selection such as total goals. This way we can see, that sometimes, lesser-known bookmakers manage to climb to the top of the list, while the big brands fall lower due to high margins and fewer markets. To get a 10-point grade, a sportsbook must have a 3% or less fee on odds, 500+ selections for top football and at least 30 sports to pick from.
You can find a more in-depth look at the following screenshots.
Evaluating based on the market size is not truly fair. Some might offer you many options for the final score, however, there will only be two choices for handicap or total goals. Therefore, despite having a lot of markets, this would be a case of a bad quality range. That is why we consider not only the number of betting options but their relevancy as well.
Live Streaming
This is the main focal point to evaluate a bookmaker’s live services. Considering In-Play wagering would be tough because it is offered by all of the sportsbooks nowadays. This makes it difficult to judge, specifically the bookies focusing on various sports. On the other hand, not all operators have a great live broadcast choice if offered at all. Therefore, we believe this is a good indicator that Sportsbook strives to provide quality and convenience to In-Play punters.
Evaluation is simple, the more sports you can watch on the site, the better the grade. We mainly focus on popular competitions such as English Premier League and NBA. We then look for the terms to be eligible for this feature: is registration required, is a positive account balance checked, or do you have to place a bet to access it for 24 hours? We also add a point for the streaming schedule and broadcast graphics, even for a bookmaker without live streaming, which we feel is fair, because it is a step in the right direction.
Mobile Apps
Mobile app in itself can’t be the saviour of the bookmaker. If the product is below par, then the application is also deemed for failure. However, we do understand that developing software is a costly task and we can’t objectively untie the application from the main version of the site. Therefore the betting sites will get 5 points for the Android and iOS apps.
The logic here is the same as in the previous case. It is the availability of an application that speaks for the bookmakers who wish to reach more audiences and cover as many punters as possible. It is a convenient way of gambling, so we can’t skip it.
We don’t trust the practice of putting the app logos on a site, which in general is just a shortcut to another web page. We are exposing them by evaluating the functionality of those links, to see if they work correctly, lead to the correct pages and if the application starts downloading.
Offer and Payments
In this category, we evaluate how great the promotions for both regular and newcomer gamblers are. We also look into the payment options, limits, processing time and more. Directly comparing the sportsbooks to find those who present the most swift and convenient ways to accumulate and withdraw funds.
Payment Systems
Each option provided brings a point to the operator. We believe that the more possibilities to choose from – the better for the punters. However, we also acknowledge that you will likely use 1-2 different methods at max. Based on our experience, we have a strong position that the best bookmakers offer as many payment choices as possible.
There are strict measures inside of this evaluation though. For instance, all of the debit cards (Visa/Mastercard/Maestro) are worth only 1 point accumulated. It doesn’t make a difference which one of them will you use, it is all the same a card in your wallet and a handful of banking information.
The same goes for the e-wallets, the cryptocurrencies and other methods that feature many similarities. Therefore getting a 10-point grade in this parameter is specifically difficult. A bookie must not only support various options, it should inform well on the limits, have detailed instructions and more.
Bonuses for New Customers
As it is allowed by laws, you shouldn’t prevent yourself from grabbing the welcome promotions on as many platforms as possible. Note, however, that some offers are easier to complete than others. Commonly, behind a lucrative offer, stands an almost impossible-to-complete wagering requirement. This will force you to risk more of your funds and therefore lose most of its value.
A high sum of bonus doesn’t always mean a great Match.Center rating.
We evaluate much deeper than that looking through the time punters have for completion and the flexibility of rollover. We also indicate if the bonus forces you to partake in the casino section. In the case of the latter, this is a major downside and will cause the bookmaker to lose points in this criterion.
We also look if the bonus amount is split in parts if it is a package deal, or a one-time extra cash, how strict are the qualification rules, etc. For example, a No-Deposit welcome promotion should receive praise, while a smaller amount deposit offer that forces you to use half of it in slots will likely be lower rated.
Let’s take MyBookie as an example of a good welcome promotion that still features a casino bonus as well. You can claim up to 1000$ and as a gift to that you will get a 10$ casino chip which does not directly impact the sports offer. You can use it if you want, however you are not obliged to play through it to collect winnings from the sports one. On the other hand, a 10x rollover rule of extra cash makes it significantly harder to complete, therefore the overall grade will be not as high.
Bonuses for Existing Customers
This is the premier addition of bookmakers that strive to keep their audience. Loyal punters need to be rewarded for continuously gambling on the same platform and we evaluate how much the bookmakers support their core player base.
It is important to have regular promotions for returning customers, such as boosted odds, or enhanced accumulator prices. Operators who have a Free Bet Club will get the highest ranks. This promo allows customers to claim extra coupons on a weekly and sometimes daily basis.
Additionally, we add points for the loyalty programmes, free betting games such as prediction tournaments and fantasy leagues with rewards and more.
UX and Support
There is a point in time when each punter contacts customer service or goes down the endless pages of rules and conditions. Most of the time there are specific cases when that happens, either the offered reward was not as big as expected, or, perhaps, the wager was settled incorrectly. Sportsbooks must react quickly to these problems and be prepared to give a fast and reliable solution while explaining the reasons politely and easily to understand.
Registration and Customer Support
Typically it takes more than just an email and password to create an account. The operator is legally obliged to ask for more information, however, they tend to keep the whole process easy and simple, transparent and not take much of your time. We assess how well is this action structured, and what steps you need to take to create an account.
The support team must be available to both registered users and potential customers. The bookmaker needs to be accessible through multiple communication methods, such as phone, email and live chat. We’ll be looking for operators that offer 24/7 support and those that don’t use bots to answer questions.
Legal Information
Match.Center only assesses licensed sportsbooks. The punters should be able to easily find that information on the web page and click through it to read all the further details. We check that and other data including the details on bet settlement, fees, different bet type rules, etc.
Ease of Navigation
No one wants to spend tens of minutes searching for the desired tab. Therefore website design and its user-friendliness remain one of our top priorities when ranking a bookmaker. Additionally, we seek convenient tools such as Bet Finder, filters and other means to help you get to the needed event quicker. Punter should be able to favourite the competitions and maybe even have a customisable page with chosen events.
If you can see everything at a glance we believe that the platform’s interface will be intuitive, even for newcomers and that’s worth 10 points.
What We don’t Consider
- Internet reviews. Most of the time, reviews on the web are not favourable to bookmakers. They are typically written when the punter just had a bad beat or after a single specific instance of miscommunication. On top of it, many bots fill the reviews and competition always tries to badword the opposing brands.
- Reputation on the market. This criteria is so abstract, that it is unmeasurable. Keep in mind, that there can be smaller operators that value their clients much more, than the big brands which switch the focus towards casino gambling more and more.
- Partnership. Whether the betting site is our partner or not, we use the same measurement criteria and keep the ratings clean.
- White label network bonus restrictions. In some cases, there can be two betting sites from one company. Typically, they restrict punters to claim welcome offers from both bookmakers, so you can only pick one. We don’t support such actions but measure bonuses, not policies.
