James Pacheco
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Author, Betting enthusiast

November 16, 2023

James started working in the betting industry a few weeks before Roger Federer won his first-ever Grand Slam and a few months before Greece shocked Europe’s elite at Euro 2004.

 

Mr Play info & Score

Info

info

Customer Support

question

Bottom Line

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Mr Play manages to compete with some of the biggest British sportsbooks around in several key areas, including its betting markets and odds. It also has several major weaknesses, however, which stop it from truly challenging those brands. 

Rating

percentage
Sign Up offer
60%
Ongoing Promotions
50%
Betting Markets and bet types
90%
Betting Odds
80%
Betting Features
80%
Mobile App
60%
Customer Support
70%
Deposit/Withdrawal Options
60%

Our Verdict

There’s certainly plenty to like about Mr Play. Having over 30 different betting markets is no joke, and both the regular and boosted odds for those markets are impressive. We also like the streamlined user interface, the customer support you get, and the solid selection of special features. 

What you also get with the Mr Play betting site, however, is frustration. This bookie really shoots itself in the foot in several ways. The absence of a mobile app is excusable, but the lack of ongoing promotions is bizarre, as is the imposition of a fee for deposits. 

Overall, Mr Play is a good all-round sportsbook… but not a great one. 

Strengths:

  • Excellent selection of betting markets
  • Highly competitive odds
  • Potentially lucrative acca boost promo
  • Streamlined, user-friendly interface
  • Nice selection of payment methods

Weaknesses:

  • (Small) fees are charged for payments
  • Notable lack of ongoing promotions
  • Better welcome offers available

Intro

It’s fair to say that Mr Play isn’t a massively famous sportsbook, along the lines of William Hill, Bet365, Ladbrokes, and so on. That being said, it has displayed impressive growth since launching in 2017, and is firmly entrenched in that ‘next level’ of British betting sites. 

In our comprehensive Mr Play review, we’ll tell you everything you need to know about this young brand. You’ll learn about its special offers, betting markets, mobile features, customer service, and plenty more besides. Ultimately, we’ll help you decide whether or not Mr Play is worth your time and money.  

Mr Play Sign Up offer

New customers to Mr Play, who are signing up for the first time, can trigger a classic ‘Bet and Get’ welcome offer. Like all such deals, this involves placing a qualifying wager and receiving a free bet. In this case, you’ll be betting at least £10 and getting a £10 bonus.Here are the most important terms and conditions for the deal:

  • New customers only. Max. one offer per household
  • First deposit must be £10+
  • Deposits made using PayPal, Neteller, Paysafe, or Skrill will be ineligible
  • Must place qualifying wager of at least £10, with odds of evens (2.0) or greater
  • Receive £10 free bet token
  • Free bet token expires after 14 days
  • Free bet must be used at odds of 4/5 (1.80) or higher
  • Free bet stake won’t be returned with winnings

Like all ‘Bet and Get’ deals, the Mr Play welcome offer is straightforward to complete. Here’s a quick guide through the process:

  • Create your Mr Play account (more details shortly)
  • Make a deposit of at least £10, avoiding the payment methods listed above
  • Place any sports bet of at least £10, at odds of evens or greater
  • Automatically get your £10 token
  • Use your token on any singles or straight accumulator (i.e. not an exotic multiple) within 14 days

This is a decent welcome offer, but it’s not one of the more exciting ones you’ll find. The basic value you’re getting here is fine, with your initial spending power – if you only deposit £10 – immediately being doubled by the free bet. There are other deals out there, however, which will give you £30 in free bets for a £10 spend. Also, most modern-day bookies won’t impose minimum odds on your free bets usage (even if those odds are reasonably high here).

How to Sign Up to Mr Play

Mr Play is an extremely streamlined and straightforward sportsbook to use, even by modern standards. This simple nature applies from the very start, with these being the few steps you must take to sign up.

  • Head to Mr Play
    Mr Play registration process screenshot

    You’ve got two main choices for how you sign up with Mr Play: you can either use your desktop computer, or your mobile device. Both approaches are completely acceptable though, and there are no major differences (mostly because of the lack of an actual mobile app, which we’ll address shortly). Either way, begin the registration process by bringing up the Mr Play home page.

  • Create your account

    Mr Play registration process screenshot

    Once the home page has loaded, click the big, blue Open Account button in the main menu. You will now see the first of two registration stages. Begin by entering your email address, and choosing a username and password for your account. Click Next after that to proceed to the second step. Enter all the necessary personal information here, then simply agree to the general T&Cs and hit the green Open Account button to finish up.

  • Make a deposit
    Mr Play registration process screenshot

    Once your account has been created, use the details you just set to log in, then click the blue Deposit button in the main menu. By clicking the dropdown menu near the top, you’ll be able to see all your payment options. Pick one, fill in the necessary details, and enter a monetary value, then confirm the payment. Regardless of which method you chose, your account should be funded instantly.

  • Get a Bet Down
    Mr Play registration process screenshot

    With your account funded, it’s time for the fun to begin. Head back to the main sportsbook area, then pick a sport from the long list of options. Select a specific matchup, then click the odds next to a particular selection to add it to your betslip. Then head over to your betslip, set your stake, check everything over, and confirm your wager. If you ever want to check the status of your active wagers, you can use the My Bets tool, just above your betslip, as shown above.

Ongoing Promotions

As you’ve already seen, it’s fair to say that Mr Play’s welcome offer won’t exactly blow you away. Unfortunately, the same is also true of its deals for existing customers.

At the time of writing, you will find literally one ongoing promotion in place. Mr Play has also put its bet builder and cash out tools on the Promotions page, presumably to make it look a bit busier, but they’re not fooling anybody.

We wouldn’t automatically disqualify Mr Play from your consideration just because of this. After all, there are plenty of other factors to consider when deciding whether or not to join a sportsbook. You will need to accept, however, that your loyalty won’t really be rewarded here as it is on other sportsbooks.

Here’s a summary of the single sports promo you can currently claim:

PlayBoost

In fairness, Mr Play’s solitary ongoing promotion is actually pretty good. Called PlayBoost, it is a textbook example of the popular ‘acca boost’ offer type.

As usual, this deal will boost your winnings on successful accas. To qualify initially, you must create an accumulator with at least four selections, and minimum odds of 1/5 per selection.

Do so, and – if your acca wins – your profits will be inflated, with the size of your boost depending on the number of selections in your bet. The minimum four selections will get you a 4% boost, five picks will get you 7%, and so on, all the way up to a giant 77% for an ambitious 15-folds acca. The maximum boost size is a mighty £11,000, and – better still – the winnings are given as cash, rather than a free bet.

Betting Markets and bet types

Even brands that don’t have exciting special offers, like Mr Play, are still worth considering if they nail the basics. One of the most important of those is putting a good selection of betting markets in place, and we’re happy to say that Mr Play bounces back in a big way here.

In total, you’ll find over 30 sports being covered here, which is impressive in anyone’s book. Football has the best coverage by a mile, as you’d expect, with over 1,000 upcoming matches available to bet on at the time of writing. Also receiving plenty of love, however, are the likes of tennis, basketball, Formula 1, and golf. Below, you can see some of the main betting options for each of those major markets.

Betting Market Bet Types
Football
  • Player Props
  • Team Props
  • Handicap Betting
  • Outright Wagers
Tennis
  • Competition Winner
  • Over/Unders
  • Player Props
  • Game and Set Bettin
Basketball
  • Outright Bets
  • Over/Unders
  • Team Props
  • Player Props
Formula 1
  • Constructors and Drivers Championship Winners
  • Qualifying Bets
  • Race Winner
  • Driver To Place
Golf
  • Competition Winner
  • Golfer to Place
  • Money List Outrights
  • To Make the Cut

 

In addition to those big hitters, Mr Play has around two dozen other options. Several of those categories – like eSports, for example – have several further subsections within them. Here are just some of the other important areas Mr Play covers:

  • Rugby League and Union
  • Cricket
  • eSports (LoL, CS:GO, Dota 2, etc.)
  • NFL, NBA, MLB, and NHL
  • Darts
  • Snooker
  • MMA
  • Boxing

We wouldn’t say there are any major absences here, but the horse racing section is underwhelming. While we’re glad the sport of kings is represented, you can only wager on a handful of British and Irish courses, rather than getting the international selection you do on bigger sportsbooks.

Betting Odds

Even when a bookie has plenty of betting markets in place, as Mr Play certainly does, this isn’t automatically the end of the story. Instead, you must also be sure that the actual odds attached to those markets are also up to scratch.

On Mr Play, this needn’t really be a concern. The odds here aren’t exactly exceptional, but they’re generally in line with the competition, whether you’re talking about outright or pre-match markets. They also remain fair for in-play betting, offering a genuine reflection of the latest happenings. In general, the vigs (or overrounds) – which all bookies include in their prices – are also kept to acceptable levels.

In addition to those solid default odds, Mr Play also gives you a nice number of specials markets. As is usually the case, these are typically same-game multiples for which the odds have been significantly boosted. In this case, we found dozens of specials available, with those for the biggest markets – like football – being particularly appealing.

Betting Features

Mr Play isn’t a premium sportsbook – along the lines of Bet365 or William Hill – so it would be unfair to expect the same level of features. That said, while we still wouldn’t call it feature packed, Mr Play actually acquits itself pretty well in this area. Here are some of the most useful tools you’ll find.

Live Betting

Like all modern-day sportsbooks, Mr Play allows you to place in-play wagers on the ongoing action. It doesn’t merely tick that box, however, but genuinely impresses in this area.

The range of live betting markets is very good indeed, and it’s easy to distinguish them from the pre-match ones. There’s no live streaming, but you’re given plenty of information which still helps you to follow the action. This includes not only live statistics, but also one of the better visualisation tools we’ve seen, which has a clear, top-down viewpoint that’s updated extremely regularly.

When you do find the right time to strike, you also get access to a very good live betting tool. Crucially, this is extremely responsive, letting you capitalise immediately on any opportunities you spot.

Cash Out

Placing wagers is only half the story with live betting of course, and Mr Play is also happy to let you cash out your in-play picks.

While there’s no partial cash out option, as you’ll find on the bigger bookies nowadays, the full cash out here still works very well indeed. It’s available for both singles and multiples bets, and – when you’ve requested your cash out – it tends to be executed with pleasing quickness.

Bet Builder

Creating same-game multiples bets is an absolute cinch on Mr Play, thanks to the handy bet builder tool.

This is currently available on 10 different sports, notably including football,rugby, and all four major North American leagues. Accessing the bet builder within a game’s markets couldn’t be easier, and subsequently adding and removing selections – with your odds updating as you do so – is also incredibly straightforward.

Favourites

Like the bet builder, the favourites tool is a relatively simple feature which helps to make your sports gambling just that little bit easier.

Adding a market to your personal favourites – whether it’s pre-match or in-play – is as easy as clicking a little star icon. Once you’ve done so, that market will be prominently displayed above the other sports to the left of your screen. You can then access it at any time, or simply bin it if you’re no longer interested.

Betting Tips

Mr Play’s betting tips aren’t as impressive as those on SBK, for example. They can still, however, provide you with some useful guidance in your gambling.

These tips are housed within a special ‘Magazine’ section, accessible via the main dropdown menu. Within this area you’ll find a whole range of tips for a wide variety of matchups, which are usually based on strong statistical analysis.

Online Casino

Obviously, we’re focusing on the Mr Play sportsbook here. We would be remiss, however, if we didn’t tell you about the Mr Play casino too.

This is an extremely impressive effort in its own right. There are three main sections-  Casino, Live Casino, and Scratch Cards – adding up to hundreds of different options. If you’re looking for a change of pace, or specifically like to mix sports betting and casino gaming, this makes Mr Play a great option for you.

Mr Play Betting App

We already noted that Mr Play isn’t exactly feature-packed, even if it does have some useful tools. Unfortunately though, this is one of the more conspicuous absences.

Even non-premium sportsbooks nowadays tend to have apps in place. At the time of writing, however, there is no Mr Play sports betting app. This is particularly strange because there is indeed a solid app for the casino games, which hopefully means one will be added soon enough for sports bettors.

In the meantime, you’ll be reliant on the mobile version of the main website. This is actually a reasonable substitute. The loading speeds here aren’t the fastest, but the interface – as with the desktop version – is nicely streamlined and ‘no nonsense’.

For more info on downloading betting apps, visit our mobile betting app page.

Customer Support

The best way to get in touch with Mr Play is via live chat. This is not available 24/7, as with some sportsbooks, but the hours of 08:00 – 00:00 are respectable. If your enquiry is less urgent, you can send an email or submit a support request instead.

Regarding indirect support, you will find an FAQ section in place. It’s not arranged very elegantly, with all the articles basically being on one massive page, but there’s still plenty of useful information to be gleaned.

Deposit/Withdrawal Options

Mr Play has a highly respectable selection of payment options in place. In fact, these are competitive with what you’d normally find on a much bigger sportsbook.

There are an impressive eight different payment methods supported, at the time of writing. These include traditional options like bank transfer, plus newer ones like eWallets and prepaid cards. The payout times, while not exactly the quickest, are still acceptable.

Unfortunately, however, Mr Play does something which is largely unheard-of on modern British sportsbooks – it charges you fees simply for making deposits. The size of that fee will vary depending on the method – it’s 2.5% for debit cards, for example, 3.1% for PayPal, and so on.

Obviously, fees of that size aren’t breaking the bank. But it’s still very unusual, and – in our opinion – pretty ridiculous, however, that a sportsbook nowadays is charging you just for using its services.

Payment Method Minimum Deposit Minimum Withdrawal Processing Time
Debit Card £10 £10 Up to 6 working days
Trustly £10 £10 Up to 4 working days
Bank Transfer £10 £10 Up to 4 working days
PayPal £10 £10 Up to 2 working days
AstroPay £10 £10 Up to 4 working days
MuchBetter £10 £10 Up to 2 working days
Skrill £10 £10 Up to 2 working days
Paysafecard £10 N/A N/A

Mr Play in the Media

Mr Play actually originally launched as a casino-only platform, back in 2017. The sportsbook then followed two years later, in 2019.

In truth, even as it’s enjoyed a steady stream of new punters, Mr Play hasn’t generated much media attention. It is worth noting, however, that Mr Play is owned by the Marketplay Ltd group, which also runs the likes of ZetBet and Luckster. The sports betting platform itself, meanwhile, was created by industry veterans Aspire Global, who have provided similar services for some of the biggest brands around.

FAQ

There are around 30 different options. These include everything from football and horse racing, to tennis, golf, rugby, eSports, and more. 

You have eight different options, including debit card, bank transfer, and eWallets. All deposits are instant, although you will be charged a small fee.

Newcomers to Mr Play can get a Bet £10, Get £10 welcome offer. There is also an acca boost deal for existing customers.

Definitely. It holds a license with the UKGC, has a solid track record, and the actual platform was created by a reputable software developer. 

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