Very few modern gambling sites focus solely on sports betting. Instead, most of them will also have casino and live casino sections at the very least. Many will offer the likes of poker, bingo, and a lottery too. If the operating company pays equal attention to each area of their site, this is rarely a problem.
In the case of Rizk, their casino section is the clear focus. It was founded as an online casino in the first place, and the website and promotions are clearly geared towards this part of the business.
The question therefore becomes, have Rizk paid enough attention to their sportsbook? Is it worth your time and money, or is it simply an add-on to the online casino? Well, that’s exactly what we plan to find out, in our comprehensive Rizk review. En route we’ll evaluate this bookie’s promotions, betting markets, customer service, and plenty more besides.
As you can see above, we were pretty disappointed to find that Rizk had allowed their sports welcome offer to expire without replacing it. Unfortunately, things don’t get much better when it comes to ongoing promotions.
Frankly, Rizk’s ongoing promotions are a bit of a mess. There’s evidence that sports bonuses have been provided in the past, buried deep on the site. At the time of writing however, there are basically no such offers available. In fact, there’s only one way in which sports bettors can get any rewards at all, which you can learn about below.
One of the few sports bonuses you can get on Rizk is a ‘Rizk Free Bet’. These work in the same way as risk-free bets elsewhere, simply returning your stake if the token is used on a losing wager. Certain T’s & C’s might apply to specific tokens – usually restrictions on what betting markets or bet types are eligible – but these are usually fair.
Technically, Rizk say there are three ways to get a risk-free bet, but two of these are basically useless. The first is via ongoing promotions (there aren’t any right now), and the second is that they ‘might just give you one’ (which seems unlikely). The only vaguely reliable method for getting a token, therefore, is the Wheel of Rizk.
This is essentially a creative version of a loyalty program. When you wager on Rizk (or bet in the casino), you’ll gradually fill up your Power Bar. When the bar is completely full, the Wheel of Rizk will be activated.
This is basically a wheel of fortune, which you spin and get a reward depending on where you land. These rewards increase in value as you continue to climb through the levels by filling the bar, and may indeed include a Rizk Free Bet. In the best cases, you can even simply win cash via the Wheel of Rizk, which can obviously also be used on the sportsbook.
Clearly, Rizk’s promotions for both new and existing customers leave something to be desired. That’s not necessarily the be-all and end-all, however. A bookie’s long-term success often depends on more fundamental factors, and their selection of betting markets is one of the most important of the bunch.
Rizk don’t exactly excel in this department either, but their range of markets is certainly respectable. At the time of writing they have around 25 different sports you can wager on, which is roughly in line with what you’d find at most premium sportsbooks.
As is usually the case, the football section has the most individual markets, and we’ll investigate that in more detail shortly. Backing this up though, you’ll also find plenty of other popular options. These include tennis, golf, motorsports, rugby, cricket, and boxing. Major American leagues like the NFL, NBA, and NHL are also included, as are more niche sports like bandy, volleyball, and water polo.
With all that said, there are definitely some notable options missing here. The biggest is undoubtedly horse racing, which is the second-biggest sport around for online betting. Admittedly it can be difficult to secure gambling licenses for racing, but this absence is still a big blow for Rizk’s credibility.
While the same can be said for UFC (also not supported), the fact that eSports are missing too is a little harder to understand. The popularity of this market has exploded in recent years, and there are no such licensing difficulties, which is why just about every other modern sportsbook – large and small – lets you bet on video games.
With horse racing not included here, as noted, the football section takes on an even greater importance. We’re happy to say that Rizk pass this test with flying colours, giving the beautiful game the attention which bettors have come to expect.
The selection of football markets here is highly impressive. While the likes of the Champions League, Premier League, La Liga, and so on are obviously all available, Rizk also show some love to competitions further abroad too. This applies not only to less-heralded European leagues – like those in Portugal, Austria, and Greece – but also to ones in Asia, Australasia, Africa, and South America too. That applies to domestic, continental, and international matchups.
There’s also a good amount of variety in how you bet on all of that. For most games you will have dozens of individual bet types to choose from. These include all your old favourites, such as:
Both regular and Asian handicap wagers are also easy to put down. This selection isn’t perfect by any means though, as there’s a complete lack of player props available – not just for shots or cards, but even for first, second, or anytime goalscorer too. Given that these are commonplace on basically every modern betting platform, their absence here is confusing to say the least.
Elsewhere, Rizk also allow you to wager on live football matches. There’s a drop-off in the number of actual markets here, as you’d expect, but you can still get bets down on Match Result, Both Teams to Score, and so on while games are ongoing. We were also pleased to see a solid range of outright wagers available, for both club and international competitions. In the Premier League alone, for example, you can bet on League Winner, Top Four Finish, Top Goalscorer, To Be Relegated, and even Team to Score Fewest Goals.
Tennis obviously doesn’t see the same level of betting action as a sport like football, but – thanks largely to its year-round nature – it’s still a very popular market. Rizk have clearly recognised this, as they’ve put a highly respectable tennis section in place.
At the top end, all four grand slams are represented in detail – as you’d expect – but there’s also excellent coverage of lesser-known tour events. This applies not just to pre-match betting, but to in-play too. Outright markets are also available for the biggest tournaments, and – in most cases – these actually open months in advance.
As mentioned in our introduction to this section, Rizk definitely has a few noteworthy holes in its market selection. In addition to horse racing, MMA, and eSports, this includes a complete absence of virtual sports too. If you can look beyond those though, you’ll find plenty to hold your attention here over the long term.
Fans of classic British betting markets are particularly well-served. Not only are the big-hitters such as cricket, golf, and rugby represented, but sports like darts and snooker have solid coverage too. American sport lovers are also catered-for here, with American football, baseball, basketball, and ice hockey all in place. Pleasingly, this includes not just pre-match and in-play betting, but also an excellent choice of outright wagers too. The NBA alone, for example, has 37 different outright markets at the time of writing.
It’s been around for a few years now, but the impact of live betting’s introduction is still being felt. The popularity of in-play continues to rise, to the point where some bookies almost seem to prioritise it over old-school pre-match betting.
Rizk themselves have gone some way towards taking this approach. Head to their sports section, and the first thing you’ll see is a selection of the biggest live markets (usually ongoing football games).
As is always the case, live matchups have fewer markets than pre-match ones. An upcoming football match might have some 60 different bets available, for example, but this can drop down to as few as 10-20 when the game kicks off. You still have a decent amount of choice, however, and the odds for live markets update with reasonable regularity. The quality of those prices is solid too, offering a fair reflection of what’s actually taking place in the game.
Rizk have done an excellent job of providing for their mobile-focused users. Both iOS and Android apps are available, although – while the former is available via the App Store – the latter must be downloaded directly from Rizk’s website.
We didn’t think much of the interface on Rizk’s desktop site, as you can see in the ‘Rizk Layout’ section below. On the mobile app however, things make a lot more sense. The box-based format of how the odds are displayed fits the smaller screen size perfectly, and scrolling down the list of both live and upcoming games is a cinch.
Rizk also make smart use of side-scrolling menus, which you can use to access the different sports areas, and the subsections within them (Overview, Starting Soon, and so on). There’s a handy, ever-present menu at the bottom of your screen too, which you can use to access the ‘My Account’ area, or flick between the casino and sportsbook sections of the app. Functionally the app worked flawlessly during our testing – all pages loaded quickly and smoothly, and we experienced no crashes or freezes whatsoever.
If you’re not interested in downloading the actual app, the mobile website is an excellent substitute. It follows exactly the same layout as the app, has all the same features, and loads just as quickly.
While we certainly don’t want to be too harsh on Rizk, this is – unfortunately – another area in which they come up a little short. As noted, they do execute well on some of the most important fundamentals, such as their market selection and in-play betting. If eye-catching special features are one of your main priorities though, Rizk might not be the sportsbook for you.
As mentioned, virtual sports are completely absent. While they’re not the easiest thing in the world to implement, a number of non-premium sportsbooks still manage to do so, meaning they’re absence here is a little disappointing.
More understandable is the lack of live streaming, which – typically – you’ll only get on the very biggest betting sites around. Rizk actually do well in making up for this, however, with a very good visualisation tool. Not only does this look great, but it also does an excellent job of keeping you up to date with the game. Everything from dangerous attacks, to shots, to substitutions is displayed. The updates are literally constant too, allowing you to very much follow everything that’s happening live, and an exceptionally good selection of stats is also available. Importantly, the in-play betting and cash out tools work well too, with both the placement and bailing-on live wagers being reliably smooth.
As you’ve seen, we have already found Rizk wanting in a couple of key areas. We’re pleased to say, however, that this isn’t one of them. Rizk’s sign up process is clearly explained, straightforward, and requires barely a couple of minutes to complete.
To kick things off, you simply head to Rizk.com and click the yellow ‘Sign Up’ button in the top-left. This will take you to the first of three stages, at which you must enter your email address and mobile number, and set a password for your account. Click the green ‘Continue’ button, and you’ll be taken to the second stage. You’re asked to enter some personal information here – namely your full name, residential address, and date of birth.
After completing the second stage, a confirmation code will be sent to the phone number you provided. Enter this into the box at the top of the third stage, then agree to the site’s main terms and conditions, and decide your marketing preferences. Once all that’s done, hit the ‘Create Account’ button. After a few moments your account will be created, and you’ll be free to make your first deposit and start betting.
Like all British sportsbooks which are registered with the UK Gambling Commission, Rizk is obliged to verify the identity of its users. This not only ensures that they’re of a legal gambling age, but also helps significantly to prevent fraud.
Rizk’s verification process must be completed before you can make a withdrawal, but – thankfully – doing so is completely straightforward. Here’s a quick guide to the handful of steps you must take:
Assuming you uploaded the required documents correctly, your identity will be verified shortly, and you’ll be free to withdraw money from your account thereafter.
Rizk doesn’t have the widest range of banking options in the world, but you still have a decent amount of choice here. Specifically, the deposit methods you can use are Visa/Mastercard, PayPal, Trustly (for bank transfers), Skrill, Neteller, Paysafecard, and Apple Pay. The minimum deposit amount for most methods is an industry-standard £10, and no fees whatsoever are charged for making payments (although the payment provider might charge you separately).
The aforementioned options are also available for cashing out of your account, minus Paysafecard and Apple Pay. If possible though, you must use a method with which you’ve previously deposited. All withdrawal requests are subject to a 24 hour pending period. Thereafter, the processing time depends on the method you’ve chosen. eWallet withdrawals take 15mins – 24 hours, Trustly takes 1-3 days, and Visa/Mastercard can take anywhere from 2-10 banking days.
Let’s make one thing clear up front – visually, Rizk definitely doesn’t make a great first impression. Head to the home page of the sports section, and the first thing you’ll see is… a load of boxes.
All the biggest live games are in boxes towards the top, along with their most prominent in-play market (such as 1/X/2 for football). Just below that you’ll see the most notable upcoming matchups, also in boxes. There are no real graphics, the fonts are basic, and the black, red, and yellow colour scheme is unremarkable. In short, this certainly doesn’t have the feel of a premium sportsbook.
You can’t judge a book by its cover, of course, and how a betting platform actually handles is much more important than how it looks. Unfortunately, Rizk is mediocre at best here too.
The interface only has one real menu – situated to the left of the screen – and several of the options there are irrelevant for sports bettors. In the sports section itself, there are only quick links to four of the 25+ available sports, for some reason. To find anything else, you must open the separate ‘All Sports’ menu and search for the one you want. The layout is slightly better when you delve into an individual game’s markets, but some of the design decisions here are still strange. Did ‘Asian’ (for Asian handicaps) and ‘Half’ really need their own sub-sections, for example?
Overall, the interface here isn’t disastrous, by any means. It’s certainly not intuitive though, and simply isn’t on par with what we’ve come to expect from a modern-day sportsbook.
However good a sportsbook is, you’ll run into issues with sooner or later. All that really matters is that you can get those issues solved in a timely and helpful manner.
This is one area in which Rizk does actually excel. There are three ways to reach out to the customer service team: email, phone (via call-back), and – crucially – live chat. The typical response times are reasonably speedy for those too – standing at 30-60 mins, 15-60 mins, and 30 seconds respectively – and help is available 24/7.
In addition, Rizk also have excellent indirect support in place. This comes primarily via the FAQ section, which is packed out with useful information. All major topics are covered, from deposits and withdrawals to technical matters, and you can instantly find what you’re looking for by using the handy search function.
Rizk was originally launched in early 2016, with their online casino enjoying some impressive early success. In June 2018 they took the understandable decision to add a sportsbook section to their website just before the World Cup – one of the biggest betting competitions in the world – took place.
For most of its history, Rizk was owned and operated by Gaming Innovation Group (GiG), which also owned the Guts sportsbook. In February 2020 however, both sites were acquired by Betsson. Today – like Betsson’s other brands – Rizk is based in Malta, and holds full licenses with both the UK Gambling Commission and Malta Gaming Authority.
Despite having carried out extensive testing of the Rizk sportsbook, it’s still difficult to form a strong overall opinion of this brand. This is because – while there are certainly areas in which Rizk genuinely excels – there are other respects in which it is massively disappointing.
There are definitely things to like about Rizk. Both the direct and indirect customer support is excellent, ensuring that – if you do have a problem – it should be solved quickly. The mobile app is also impressive, there’s a respectable range of payment options, the live betting features work very well indeed, and in some respects – such as the sign up and ID verification processes – this is an easy-to-use platform.
There are also major issues, however, which simply can’t be ignored. The lack of both a welcome offer and genuine ongoing promotions are two major examples. These are particularly problematic because the casino section has both, indicating that this – as questioned in our introduction – is where Rizk’s true focus lies. The desktop interface is also sub-par, and the absences of certain major betting markets is disappointing.
Overall, Rizk is a reasonably solid option for punters, particularly if you like betting on a mobile device. With a few simple tweaks however, the entire offering really could be improved dramatically.
