Smarkets
Smarkets is an online betting exchange operating under a UK Gambling Commission licence, offering sports and political betting with low commission rates. It's operated by Smarkets (Malta) Limited, which has held its UKGC licence since November 2014. The domain scores an A grade on technical security, and there are no enforcement actions on record.
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About
Smarkets is an online betting exchange focused on sports and political markets. According to their website, it offers back and lay betting with a 2% commission on net winnings, which the site describes as among the lowest available. The site states it supports a mobile app for iOS and Android, and accepts payments via Visa, Mastercard, PayPal, and Skrill.
Smarkets is licensed and regulated by the UK Gambling Commission for customers in Great Britain. The operator behind the brand is Smarkets (Malta) Limited, which was first granted its UKGC licence in November 2014, giving it over 11 years of continuous regulatory standing. The company is incorporated in Malta and doesn't have a UK Companies House entry.
Features & Offerings
Key Offerings
- Sports
- Politics
Main Features
- Back and lay betting
- Low 2% commission on net winnings
- Mobile app for iOS and Android
Can You Trust Smarkets?
Positive Signals
- Active UKGC licence held continuously since November 2014
- A-grade SSL with TLS 1.3 support and a domain score of 84
- No enforcement actions recorded against this operator
- IBAS registered for independent alternative dispute resolution
Concerns
- Trustpilot score of 2.80 from 579 reviews indicates a notable volume of dissatisfied customers
- No UK Companies House data as the operator is Malta-incorporated, which limits publicly available corporate transparency
What Users Say
Smarkets carries a Trustpilot score of 2.80 out of 5 from 579 reviews, which places it in the lower end of the rating scale. That's a meaningful sample size and the score points to a significant proportion of users reporting negative experiences. No individual review summaries or topic breakdowns are available to identify recurring themes.
Regulatory Context
Despite the low Trustpilot rating, there are no enforcement actions recorded by the UKGC against Smarkets (Malta) Limited. User dissatisfaction at this scale doesn't always translate into regulatory action, particularly where individual complaints are resolved through ADR channels like IBAS rather than escalating to the Commission.
Source: Trustpilot
UKGC Licence Status
Smarkets (Malta) Limited holds a betting intermediary licence issued by the UK Gambling Commission, first granted on 1 November 2014 under account number 39173. A betting intermediary licence covers operators that facilitate wagers between customers rather than acting as the bookmaker themselves, which is the standard licence category for betting exchanges. The licence is currently Active.
Smarkets is registered with IBAS (the Independent Betting Adjudication Service) as its approved Alternative Dispute Resolution provider. IBAS offers a free, independent route for customers to escalate unresolved complaints that haven't been settled directly with the operator.
Regulatory Actions
There are no enforcement actions recorded against Smarkets (Malta) Limited or the Smarkets brand. The UKGC has not published any fines, licence reviews, or formal warnings linked to this operator.
Site Assessment
Licensed Operator
Smarkets (Malta) Limited is the licensed operator behind the Smarkets betting exchange. It holds a UKGC betting intermediary licence under account number 39173 and has been licensed since November 2014, a period of over 11 years. The operator sits in the online gambling category and its licence status is currently Active.
The company is incorporated in Malta rather than the UK, which means there's no UK Companies House filing to cross-reference. This is common for Malta-based operators serving the UK market under a UKGC licence, but it does mean some corporate details that would otherwise be publicly accessible aren't available here.
Other Sites by Smarkets (Malta) Limited
Smarkets (Malta) Limited also operates betsbk.com (trading as SBK) and getsbk.com (trading as GetsBet). Both carry an A-grade SSL rating. GetsBet has a Trustpilot score of 2.50 from 247 reviews. SBK doesn't have a Trustpilot profile listed.
