Hopa Sports

As bettors in the United Kingdom, we’re in the privileged position of having lots and lots of choice. In recent times, more players are starting to realise that there are hundreds of brilliant services away from the biggest names. Today, we’re here to further this realisation with another excellent service; Hopa. By the end, you’ll know all about their features and whether the platform would work for your needs!

Background

You might be more familiar with the casino on Hopa, and lots of players have been enjoying the many scratchcards and slots on the platform for some time. Now, it has joined the growing sports betting market. Using the SBTech platform, the website has a smooth interface with in-play betting and many other features.

Aspire Global is actually behind Hopa, the name also responsible for Karamba. Therefore, we can be confident of good customer service, rewarding promotions, and clever branding. The parent company was launched way back in 2005 and has a license from the UKGC. With this, we’re confident in their security and fairness.

Registration and Welcome Bonus

As we always do before a review, we registered to Hopa and played around for a little while. With the registration process, it comes in two stages. Firstly, we’re asked to provide a username, password, and email address. From here, the second step asks for more personal details including:

• DOB
• Gender
• Mobile number
• Name

After accepting the normal terms and conditions, you’re almost ready to open your account. What’s left? It’s the industry standard verification process. No matter where you go, this step is required for licensed operators, so we recommend getting this done early to prevent worrying about it later.

On a more exciting note, there is a welcome bonus for all new users of Hopa. After depositing £10 and then placing it on a bet with odds above 2.00, you should see a £10 free bet enter your account. With the free bet itself, the odds need to be greater than 1.80 to work. Although there are better welcome bonuses elsewhere, we do like the simplicity of this one. In a world full of confusing offers and convoluted processes, this is essentially a simple 100% bonus up to the value of £10.

Markets

Thanks to their relationship with SBTech, Hopa is able to accommodate lots of different sports and markets. For example, this includes all the major sports including rugby, football, horse racing, ice hockey, basketball, tennis, and boxing, However, it doesn’t end there and they also dip into the niche sports such as handball, Aussie Rules, Gaelic sports, and pesapallo (the national sport of Finland – just in case you were interested!).

With the very biggest sports and leagues, Hopa is full to the brim with markets. Whether you like to bet on first goalscorer, first wicket, or first ace, you should have everything you need. Alternatively, you might turn your attention to politics, TV, celebrity awards evenings, or eSports.

Banking Methods

As more customers have demanded eWallets and different payment methods, betting sites have obliged. For Hopa, they got the memo and have been offering several banking methods since the beginning of operation. While some will choose Visa and MasterCard, others might select Euteller, Sofort, EasyEFT, ecoPayz, Skrill, Trustly, EPS, Zimpler, Neteller, Instadebit, Paysafecard, or even a bank transfer. Please note that not all of the same options are available for withdrawal.

For the majority of banking options, deposits go into the account instantly. On the other hand, those withdrawing from their account will have to wait up to eight days for bank accounts and cards. Meanwhile, this reduces to three business days for eWallets.

Betting Features

Why choose Hopa? What makes the service unique? First and foremost, we couldn’t believe the variety of leagues and betting markets available. Although we wouldn’t delve into Vietnamese football or political betting ourselves, it’s always good to have the option. For fans of obscure football leagues and other sporting events, you’re well covered on Hopa. In fact, we even saw some semi-professional football during our time on the platform.

For the more traditional bettors among us, the website still caters to your every need with sometimes over 150 markets for a single big fixture. Especially with La Liga and Premier League football, you can bet on goal scorers, corners, and even when a player needs to tie their laces (perhaps a slight exaggeration!).

There’s no live streaming, but we like the infographics available for ongoing events as well as the in-play markets. With so many statistics and figures available, there’s no need to watch the event to know what’s going on and place a live bet. Some platforms only provide statistics and match events for big leagues, but Hopa seem to be on this feature right across the board.

With regards to odds, this is another reason to choose Hopa. They’re on a level playing field with some of the biggest names in the niche, and some events we saw even had them leading the way.

Mobile and Desktop Experience

When first loading the website, Hopa takes a little time, but then it gets over the initial lag and runs as smoothly as you would want from a betting platform. If you’ve played on Karamba, you might feel at home because the two are very similar in appearance and navigation. With Hopa, the colour scheme includes grey, black, white, and blue.

What about the mobile experience? The website works just as well, and we would expect nothing less these days. Not only is the layout clear, the search function allows bettors to find their chosen markets quickly. With each event, there are menus so you can flick between the pre-event markets and in-play betting.

When on mobile, make your selection and you’ll see a bet slip icon (by clicking on this, you see the odds). After entering a stake, it’s possible to place a bet (and the nervous waiting begins!). If you like an accumulator, add different selections to your betting slip and Hopa will show your betting options and potential returns.

Customer Support

Hopa is one of the betting platforms that has joined the Customers Are Really Everything (CARE) campaign recently, and this is great news. Firstly, it starts with the live chat feature on the website. With any problems, concerns, or questions, just open the live chat and a member of the team will join as soon as possible.

Otherwise, players also have access to their email and phone support. The team is available from 6am to 11pm every single day, and they aim to respond to emails quickly. When speaking with the customer support team, we found them to be pleasant and helpful.

Promotions

Every so often, Hopa run additional promotions and this is brilliant for the existing players that get tired of seeing new customers get all the joy. For example, the Hopaboost earns bettors up to 77% more on their accumulators. As long as each selection has odds greater than 1.20, accumulators get a nice boost. It starts with an extra 4% for a four-fold and goes up to 77% for a 15-fold.

In the past, we’ve seen some reviews say that this bonus is small, but we think it’s well worth your time and effort. We all know that accas add excitement to a Saturday afternoon, but it’s sometimes hard to make a profit. Considering Hopaboost is willing to boost your winnings, we shouldn’t be disappointed.

Additionally, we should mention that Hopa has a VIP scheme for players. Once you get into this programme, there’s more opportunities for cashback and other promotions. With all of this in mind, we think Hopa makes the platform worth our time.

Responsible Gambling

Finally, click onto the responsible gambling page on Hopa to see Aspire Global explain their policy. The page is split into five different sections:

• Protecting minors
• Self-assessment
• Preventing compulsive gambling
• Restricting an account
• Getting help

We were impressed with Hopa, and the information they provide might just save somebody from gambling addiction and potential financial woes. Firstly, those under the age of 18 cannot play on Hopa under any circumstances, and the verification process should prevent minors from gambling. Secondly, restrictions on the platform include a time out period, deposit limits, reality check, and self-exclusion. Thirdly, they provide links and organisations for those who think they need additional help – such as Gamblers Anonymous and Gambling Therapy Helpline.

Conclusion

To summarise, Hopa is a strong service, and Aspire Global has done well to introduce another reliable and professional brand to the market. They have the correct license, the variety of games is highly impressive, and it accommodates those who want to bet in-play. There are some shortages, and the lack of live streaming might affect some (along with the basic welcome bonus). However, we believe that most will enjoy the platform.

Just like Karamba, Hopa is a brilliant service and one that looks after customers well!