Happistar Sportsbook Review

Happistar Summary

• Payment Methods: Bank Transfer, Mastercard, Visa, Ecopayz
• Restricted Countries: None
• Languages: English, Chinese, Japanese, Indonesian

Happistar Features

• Colourful and eye-catching home page
• Innovative layout and sportsbook design
• Nice selection of sports on offer
• Fantastic selection of bonuses and promotions

It’s Different – No Doubt About It!

First impressions count for quite a lot in the sportsbook game, especially so given the massive number of sites competing for a slice of the market, so for Happistar sportsbook’s home page to contain big, bold images of the top footballers in Europe tells you a lot about its direction.

Once you move off the home page and into the sportsbook itself, the first thing that hits you is that it looks different – not a site that has followed the traditional norms, and this is no bad thing. Except, it does look a little bit of a muddle.

There is no three-column layout here, instead a vertical control panel down the left side of the page doubles as a high-level menu, and the main bulk of the page goes straight into a listing of the sports on offer, including those which are live and available for betting in-play.

We’re not going to pretend we weren’t a little thrown when we first set eyes on it, but once you’ve familiarised yourself with it, it seems workable. Below the listing of sports, you go straight in to the in-play offerings. So, a little unusual, but we’ll run with it…

Bonuses? Promotions? Oh Yes…

Oddly, there is no mention of bonuses and promotions within the sportsbook itself – not a single word – but the aforementioned homepage, the one adorned with Messi and co, mentions a few, including a welcome bonus. So, while the sportsbook doesn’t shout about them, there are some available, and they can also be located on the vertical tab on the left side of the main sportsbook page.

As always, we’ll deliberately be not too specific on bonuses, as these are subject to periodical change, but at the time of our review there were eight different ones available.

Most notable was an excellent 100% welcome bonus available for first-time users, but equally interesting was a series of deposit bonuses which are pitched at varying levels based on values. Obviously, these and the other bonuses are all subject to the usual terms and conditions.

Generally, it looked like a very decent selection.

At the time of writing there were 16 live soccer matches available for betting and 668 events in total

A Select Few – but Still an Okay Selection

Some of sites we review do their very best to offer markets for every sport know to Man, but Happistar sportsbook has resisted this temptation and instead have a core of 17 sports which they consider most attractive to their customers. Unlike most other bookmaker, who separate out the live betting from the traditional betting pages, here they integrate the two. The full list is…

Baseball, Tennis, Boxing, Golf, Handball, Hockey, Snooker, Winter Sports

Football, in common with almost every bookmaker out there, is their big sport although they offer nothing like the numbers of matches and markets of many of their competitors. They also combine live events with those that are imminent or further down the line, making for a slightly chaotic format. At the time of writing there were 16 live soccer matches available for betting and 668 events in total.

Ice hockey and basketball are their second and third biggest sports and, again, are offered to the customer in a rather muddled format.

For live, in-play betting, they don’t have live streams and neither do they have any form of match tracker. Instead they offer their punters a straightforward listing of the live games, which includes a list of the various bets on offer – 1×2, over/under etc – which are constantly changing, based on the latest score and flow of the game. A single click on any bet immediately transports it to your betting slip. It’s basic compared to what’s on offer from many of their rivals – there is no point in pretending otherwise.

In terms of odds and the value on offer, Happistar sportsbook is a fair way off the mark. We tested their soccer odds in terms of the percentage to which they compile them, and it came out at an average of 112%, well above what is considered average in the industry.

To give this jargon some context, a bet compiled to 100% gives the bookmaker a zero-profit margin and so the closer to 100% the odds the tighter their margin and better the bet for the customer. It’s generally accepted that odds compiled to between 105% and 106% are acceptable, and so for Happistar to compile theirs to an average of 112% was pretty rubbish to be fair.

Betting on the Go Is Easy with Colonybet

As is the case for almost all sportsbook these days, Happistar are nicely geared up for those who like to bet on the move. In addition to providing a site that’s been configured perfectly to translate to a smartphone, tablet or phablet, they also have an Android app. As has become almost customary these days, we’re inclined to say that the mobile version is as good if not better than the desktop equivalent – not a difficult call with Happistar sportsbook. It can be accessed on a mobile browser using Google Chrome, Safari or Internet Explorer.

Depositing? Withdrawing? They Set Their Own Limits

Happistar offer their customers the chance to deposit and withdraw funds using the following methods:

Deposits:

Payouts:

Unfortunately, other than listing the options available, we’re unable to add much detail. We, of course, attempted to obtain this information from their customer services team but with no success. In the sites Tc & Cs there are sections devoted to both the depositing and the withdrawing of funds, and there does appear to be a fee involved, but they also appear to be tailored to the individual.

Japan Facing but Open to All and Sundry

The site defaults to English but also translates Japanese, Chinese and Indonesian. Deposits and withdrawals can be made in the currency of the customers choosing, but payouts are made in Euros. Customers worldwide, assuming they comply with the terms and conditions can register to bet with Happistar sportsbook.

Safe and Secure Enough but Terrible Customer Services

There appeared no specific security issues with Happistar and, despite our grumblings, there was nothing in our review to suggest it was anything but robust and safe. Equally, there were no online issues registered.

As mentioned above, we were however very disappointed with the service we received from their customer services team, which was pretty much non-existent. We still have three queries awaiting replies. They do however have a list of FAQs, which are quite good, and they do acknowledge the need for responsible gambling.

Our Verdict

It was quite nice to review a site that looked different from the norm, but we quickly discovered quite why the three-column layout is the one used worldwide. Happistar sportsbook has tried to do something different, but they haven’t really succeeded.

The live betting was a little on the basic side too and we were extremely disappointed when we calculated the value of their odds. And let’s not even start on the customer services function – or non-function.

A lack of customer service and poor odds means Happistar sportsbook only gets an average rating. We recommend that you click below to sign up to one of our best betting sites.