Philippine Online Betting Sites

Betting Sites Legislature in the Philippines

Filipinos have been betting on sports for centuries. More precisely, they have been betting on cockfighting: this entertainment originated here early as in the XVI century. In 1977, upon the initiative of then president of the country, Ferdinand Marcos, it was decided to create the PAGCOR organisation and begin to fully control the gambling industry in the country.

In the Philippines, betting is allowed from the age of 21 and only with legal bookmakers. The country has very strict gambling laws, which prohibit local residents from betting with bookmakers without the PAGCOR licence. Moreover, the culprit, depending on the degree of violation, may face not only an administrative fine, but also imprisonment. We at Match.Center also urge you not to break state laws and select official online sports betting sites with a valid licence for having a good time.

List Betting Sites

TOP Online Sports Betting Sites: How we Rate them

Here are the main criteria by which we rate the quality of the Philippine online betting sites. 

A bookmaker with a large range of competitions is the dream of every bettor. These are the best sports betting sites we are looking for on the Philippine market. It is important that selection includes both widespread sports (for example, football, basketball, boxing, tennis) and rare ones (such as darts, Esports, handball etc.).

One of the advantages of an online betting site is high odds. When determining the best sites to bet on sports, we pay attention to odds for a particular event we choose for comparison. If you bet for fun, then, for instance, the difference between 1.50 and 1.60 may be insignificant for you. But regular players would hardly want to lose their potential profit.

Today, live betting is available on all online sports betting sites we know. We assess the range of In Play betting markets that online sportsbooks offer. Live streaming is uncommon for the Philippine betting companies, many of them do not have such a service. A bookmaker that offers the customers the opportunity to follow live sporting events will stand out among competitors.

Sometimes it happens that a betting site has a wide range of sports and markets to bet on, a large variety of payment methods and a competent support team, but it is inconvenient for players to use these opportunities. For example, the structure of the main sections is organized chaotically, or a page is cluttered with too many small details which obscure the most important thing – the bookmaker’s selection of betting markets.

The main tabs that should open in one click on good betting sites:

Page loading speed is very important when you want to place an In Play bet. Especially for those who like betting on basketball, tennis, badminton – since the course of the play changes very rapidly there. If you miss a couple of bets due to slow operation of a website, you will definitely think about looking for another sports betting site.

The support service is the face of the bookmaker. The more competently and quickly the employees of the call center solve customers' problems, the more positive the attitude to the online sports betting site is.  When it comes to analyzing the supports service, Match.Center experts pay attention to:

The speed and convenience of processing transactions is a valuable advantage of the sports betting site. The more diverse payment methods for deposits and withdrawals are, the easier it is for the bettor to fund the account, place bets and withdraw money. 

We take into account such factors as whether the sports betting site has a valid licence, the use of modern personal data protection protocols, compliance with the requirements for verifying customer accounts and their payment data.

The opinion of bettors is not the main but an important factor in assessing the work of the online sports betting sites. And it is important to understand that losing clients often criticize the betting site, while winning ones praise it. The task of Match.Center experts is to highlight adequate reviews and understand what really attracts and perturbs bettors.

Modern bettors increasingly prefer betting via smartphone. It is a huge plus for the betting company, if it does not get by with a mobile website version, but offers the clients a separate app. Meanwhile, we, as experts, are primarily interested in the quality of an app:

We have mentioned this factor at the end of the list because it is not often that there is something really unique on the online sports betting sites. For example, a statistics section, match infographics, a Bet Builder etc.

Legal Sports Betting sites

Let us consider in more detail Philippine online sports betting sites with the valid PAGCOR licence.  

Online Betting Sites: Sports You Can Bet on

Let us tell you more about what sports and how you can bet on them with the Philippine betting companies.

Basketball is the most important part of the sports culture of the country. The national team became the best in Southeast Asia 5 times, and in 1954 they won the bronze medals of the World Championship. It is no surprise that in all Philippine betting companies the range of markets for betting on this sport is always marked with a different colour.

Normally, local betting companies (for example, OKBet, Winzir and MSW) offer their customers only major national championships and international tournaments (the NBA, the WNBA, Euroleague, EuroBasket). The range of events to bet on unpopular championships is narrow, but simultaneously, the selection of betting markets is decent. You can bet on a match/quarter winner, the exact number of points of each club or individual actions of a specific player (the exact number of assists, throws, three-point shots etc.).

In the Philippines, you can bet on both the most popular championships (La Liga, the Premier League, Serie A, League 1), and minor ones (leagues of Norway, Japan, Paraguay etc.). Betting on international tournaments (Champions League, Europa League, Copa Libertadores, World Cup, Nations League etc.) is also available.

Bookmakers have a very large selection of markets to bet on. On average, over 100 betting markets for a football match of a major European championship are available. You can bet on 1X2, O/U goals in a match or a specific half, handicaps, the exact score, odd/even etc. There are even bets on match statistics (corners, offsides etc.) and Asian handicaps.

Tennis is also among the leaders in the number of betting options on the Philippine sports betting sites. Usually, you can bet on such major events as the Grand Slam tournaments and the ATP/WTA tours. There are also lower rank tournaments – the Challenger and the ITF.

Sports betting sites also have other sports. For instance, in MSW, you will find bets on kabaddi and squash, and in Winzir – on sumo and pelota. These are disciplines that are rarely seen on sports betting sites. The full list is presented below:

How to Bet via the Philippine Online Sports Betting Sites

To place a bet with a Philippine bookmaker is as simple as with any other betting company in the world. The procedure is no different.

Before you star betting, you need to select a bookmaker. We have been dealing with betting and analysing sports betting sites for many years. Here is a list of criteria that a decent betting site needs to have according to the Match.Center team:

After choosing a betting company, sign up for it. To do this:

After successful registration, you will receive an email with a notification that now you are a client of a betting company.

After creating an account, you need to verify it – without this you will not be able to participate in various promotions and withdraw funds. The verification procedure is simple. Usually, you need to upload in your personal account or send a copy of your passport and a document, confirming your residence in the Philippines on the bookmaker’s email. It can be either a bank statement or a utility bill with your name on it.

In the Philippines, the most popular payment systems are DragonPay, GCash, GrabPay and PayMaya. Of course, the more deposit methods, the better. The unquestioned leader when it comes to the number of payment methods is the Winzir betting company. Their customers can also use the services of 7-eleven, ShopeePay, UnionBank, ChinaBank, FortunePay, MoneyBees, BetShop etc.

Select a suitable sports match and decide on a bet type. Good sports betting sites should have a large selection of markets to bet on regardless of the season. As for match outcomes, for example, you can select to bet on a specific winner of a match or try to predict O/U goals or games. Sometimes Philippine betting sites can even offer Asian handicaps, bets on individual statistics of players or their teams.

Enter a bet amount in your coupon, look at a potential winnings amount and confirm the bet. You can find the list of your bets in the “My bets” section.

Betting Sites: Types of Bonuses

Bookmakers use various bonus types either to attract new customers, or to maintain the interest of their existing clients. In this part of our review, we will analyze in detail each bonus and tell, which of them can be found on the Philippine sports betting sites.

This is a bonus with which betting sites attract new customers. Most welcome bonuses can be received after your first deposit or your first bet. The bet can have qualification requirements: minimal odds for a market you need to bet on or only specific sports etc.

There are two types of a welcome bonus: a Free bet or a cash bonus. In the Philippines, welcome bonuses are offered by the following sports betting sites: OKBet, Winzir and MegaSportsWorld (MSW).

To get this bonus, within 30 days after the deposit, you need to hold at least 1000 PHP on your account in a betting company. This is a recommendation from the PAGCOR regulator, and Philippine sports betting sites try to reward their customers who follow it.

Security deposit bonus can be found at Winzir and OKBet.

A Free bet is a bet, which users can place without spending their own money. The bookmaker will pay for them. If customers win, they will get the net profit, which is calculated by the formula: all winnings minus a stake amount. You cannot withdraw Free bet funds. You can only bet them, and frequently, for Free bets, the bookmaker has special conditions: for example, min odds. Also, for Free bets, you are prohibited to use a Cash Out.

Sometimes sports betting sites offer several Free bets for a certain amount: for instance, 5 small Free bets that you need to place separately.

In the Philippines, Free bets are offered by MSW and Winzir.

It is just extra money. In most cases, the sports betting sites award them for the first deposit, but meanwhile, the OKBet betting company offers a 68% bonus for the second deposit.

Normally, cash bonuses need to be wagered. This means that the bettor has to place bets for a total amount equal to a bonus or several times greater than it. The acceptable wagering amounts are x1 or x3, but sometimes they are even x5. The larger wagering is usually common for casino bonuses.

Many sports betting sites have referral programmes. The rules are almost always the same. Existing clients give potential new clients their referral links. If they sign up by it, make a deposit and start betting, the owners of the links will be awarded a certain amount.

In the Philippines, the referral bonus is offered by OKBet.

This is a promotion, due to which the bettor can get higher odds than usual. The sports betting sites offer them for selected events. Normally, odds are enhanced not for the entire selection of betting markets, but for specific ones.

Enhanced odds are offered by MegaSportsWorld. Every day there are up to 3 matches (maximum) with enhanced odds. 

A loyalty programme, as the name implies, is a bonus offered to existing clients. For example, Bet 5 times in a week and get a Free bet.

In addition, very often under such programmes, bettors gain VIP points by betting. Later, they can be exchanged for something useful, for instance, for Free bets or prizes.

A loyalty bonus for regular basketball betting is offered by Winzir

Cash back is the return of a part of wagered funds. It can be awarded only for losing bets or settled ones. The bettor gets a percentage of these bets.

For example, once in a week, Winzir returns  5% of all funds wagered on basketball (regardless of the result of a bet). And MSW will return 10% of the first bet on "numbered" UFC events, if this bet loses.

This bonus works as cash back, but to the fullest extent. A risk-free bet is a refund in case of losing. More often it is returned in the form of a Free bet.

The promotion conditions can be either simple (a bet loses – your money is refunded), or elaborate (you bet on statistics of a specific player in football, and a match ended in a goalless draw – get your stake amount back).

Filipinos can get a risk-free bet on the Winzir sports betting site. This bookmaker will return the first bet to new bettors if it is an accumulator bet with at least 3 events at min odds of 1.30 for each one and loses.

This is a bonus that a bookmaker provides to a client for no reason. Still, there are certain conditions that must be fulfilled to get the bonus: for instance, a birthday promotion. This one you can find at OKBet and MSW. At OKBet, bettors can get 500 PHP, if they have made at least 3 deposits by the beginning of the months in which they were born.

MSW awards the clients a Free bet, the amount of which depends on how regularly they placed bets prior to their birthday. The more months in a row the client wagered at least 100 PHP, the greater the bonus amount is, and so on to a maximum of 1000 PHP.

A no-deposit bonus is a very rare thing. It is offered to bettors only for registration and personal data confirmation. Usually this is a small Free bet. No deposit is required, that is why, for the bookmaker, this bonus is not very profitable. It is more to the liking of bettors. Unfortunately, currently, Philippine bookmakers do not offer no-deposit bonuses.

Sports Betting Sites: Key Bonus Terms and Conditions

Let us take a look at the main requirements of various Philippine bonuses.

Minimum deposit

This is the minimum amount of money that you need to deposit to your betting account that is required to get a bonus from the bookmaker. In the Philippines, the minimum deposit is indicated, for example, in welcome offers and security deposit bonuses.

So, in the Winzir and OKBet welcome bonuses, the minimum amount is 1000 PHP. As for the OKBet security deposit bonus, the minimum balance after the first deposit must be 1000 PHP. If during these 30 days the balance falls below 1000 PHP, the bettor will not get the bonus.

Minimum stake amount

This is the minimum amount that the client can bet in order not to lose a bonus. Normally, in the Philippines, the minimum stake amount does not exceed 100 PHP. For example, you can find such a condition in the «Up to 2500 Risk-free first bet» promotions of Winzir or the «UFC: Ultimate money back» promotions of MSW.

Minimum odds

To get any bonus, it is often necessary to place a bet at certain odds. For instance, under the «5% weekly basketball cash backs» promotion, all odds must be at least 1.50. If you fail to follow this condition even once, then you will lose the bonus right away.

Wagering requirements

Wagering requirements will vary significantly depending on a bonus type.

So, Winzir has the «Up to 2500 Risk-free first bet» bonus with the following wagering requirements: you need to place an accumulator bet with at least 3 events at odds of 1.30 each.

MSW has simpler wagering requirements. Under the «Birthday Bonus» promotion, all bettors awarded a Free bet on their birthday. The gifted bonus must be used for any sporting event. The odds size is also not important. The main thing is to place a bet of the Free bet amount.

Validity

Everything is individual here. Most promotions are valid from 7 to 30 days. However, for some promotions, the bonus validity may be shorter. For example, for the «Up to 2500 Risk-free first bet» and «5% Weekly basketball cash backs» bonuses, Winzir gives customers only 5 calendar days.

Betting Sport Sites: Payment Methods Available In The Philippines

Below are the major payments systems that local bettors use for account depositing at Philippine bookmakers.

Philippine Online Betting: Advice

If you decide to start betting, here is what you should pay attention to principally, according to Match.Center experts:

FAQ