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Karamba was formed in 2005 and was historically based in the British Virgin Islands for its casino but has shifted focus to Malta, where it now holds a gambling license from the Malta Gaming Authority and the UK Gambling Commission.
These licences help them to attract customers from across Europe with its casino and sports offerings. Also, according to the urban dictionary, Karamba is derived from the African name ‘great professor’ and means super cool, clever, and smart. It’s not a bad mantra, and the bird logo is fun.
Karamba have been well known for their generous casino offers and speculation was great at what they might introduce for sportsbook backers. It’s early days but Karamba haven’t blown punters away yet with their sporting bonuses.
New sportsbook customers can receive a £10 matched deposit bonus and the funds must be staked on a single or accumulator bet with odds of EVS or higher and must be settled within 14 days. These are quite stringent T&Cs on a relatively small incentive bonus compared to other company’s offerings.
There is also KaramBOOST which provides additional returns on accumulator bets which provides between 4% on a fourfold selection to a 77% winnings increase on a 15-fold bet. This provides increased winnings up to a maximum of £11,000.
At first glance the Karamba website is not revolutionary, but functional. When incorporating the sportsbook into the website the company has made the decision to walk before they can run.
They have adopted good practice from elsewhere, made navigation easy and their first steps into the sportsbook world have resulted in a website that works rather than wows. It’s a sensible approach. Coming late to the party means others have already made any mistakes there are to make.
The predominant two shades of blue design mimics the colours of their bird logo and are a little insipid, but it doesn’t offend and the touch of pink makes a good accent colour.
The casino element of the site is more vibrant, whereas the sports arm has been toned down to appeal to the serious sports betting enthusiastic. It’s the right way to go.
A vertical left-hand side menu starts with featured links to the largest football leagues and horse racing markets and beneath is a list of all sports offered.
The biggest events of the day appear centre top of the sports page, there is a tab to access the current live events and a starting soon tab allows punters to plan their next attack. Above these betting opportunities is a rotating carousel providing latest offers and links to the casino.
It’s not revolutionary, but a seasoned sports backer is faced with easy navigation and won’t have any complaints. Everything you’d expect a sportsbook to offer is there and easy to find.
Karamba Mobile App
Karamba have had a mobile app for some time but that was designed for its casino operation. The app has now been successfully remodelled to incorporate sports betting and is impressive.
Customers are easily able to swap between the casino and sports betting options and all of the betting functions the website provides are available through the app.
It looks good, responds well and is a very easy to use piece of kit.
The app can be downloaded easily from all of the usual application providers.
Karamba have taken the plunge into sportsbook betting and are threatening to make a big splash. The easily navigated site is backed up by good in-play markets, a wide range of betting opportunities and an excellent mobile application. A company without the background in the betting industry that Karamba has gained from running its casino for over a decade would not have been able to get from the starting line to where they are now so quickly and effectively.While known for providing generous bonuses to casino customers, that has yet to translate to sports customers and more could be made of the site in terms of social media, added stats, broadcast content, added value and incentives.It’s a great start and the foundations are there for more bells and whistles to be added in the near future.
Initially, a casino operation, online since 2011, the licensing provides a base assurance that the site has met security and betting standard requirements. That said, a trawl of customer feedback websites showed many complaints about the withdrawal mechanism and difficulties in taking their money out of the Karamba site.
As part of the review, the live chat service suggested that this was all behind them now and that “If all required documents are sent in and approved, the withdrawal will be sent for processing and the standard estimated time will apply.” In Karamba’s defence most of the complainants had experienced card or documentation issues at the time of making the withdrawal, however, the same level of negativity isn’t obvious with other betting websites so an obvious issue was there, however it does appear to have been addressed.
Customers are, however, only allowed to withdraw a maximum of $7,000 per month and VIPs up to $50,000. If you win big that is an issue.
Deposits and withdrawals can be done via Visa, Mastercard, Neteller and Paysafe. Customers can deposit, but not withdraw through Bitcoin and they can withdraw only to Skrill accounts.
It would appear customer issues with withdrawals have not been because of the maximum per month withdrawal limit but centred around issues with cards and the registration process. If the T&Cs are read and adhered to there should be no issue.
Karamba’s support team is available seven days a week between the hours of 06:00 GMT and 23:00 GMT. Contact can be made by phone, email and a live chat service. When the live chat service was tested as part of this review the response was immediate and questions were very well answered.
While many sites promote and encourage interaction via social media, Karamba’s Twitter and Facebook presence is catering for the casino and its sports presence on social media is very limited indeed.
Karamba has always focused on its Casino operation, but the addition of the sportsbook isn’t overshadowed by the more longstanding venture. They have added sport and given it due prominence and many markets are available.
Football takes priority with the major leagues prominently displayed on the left-hand side and inside the football area of the website the top leagues and competitions around Europe are the first markets shown.
The number of markets offered on a big football game may not be as many as provided by the industry’s biggest hitters, but the obvious core markets are all displayed well. Football punters won’t want much more.
The other sports covered have detailed markets on offer too and Karamba should be applauded for offering horse racing as it’s a market that a lot of the smaller sportsbook operators leave alone. The inclusion of horse racing is done well and shows that Karamba are not content to be a bit-part player.
The full range of sports available on the website at the time of the review were: Football, Basketball, Tennis, Ice Hockey, Volleyball, Aussie Rules, Baseball, Bowls, Boxing, Chess, Cricket, Cycling, Darts, Darts, eSports, American Football, Gaelic Hurling, Golf, Handball, Horse Racing, MMA, Motor Racing, Rugby League, Rugby Union, Snooker & Pool, Specials, Speedway, Surfing, Table Tennis, Trotting, Winter Sports and Pesapallo.
Other sports covered recently have been Triathlon, Badminton, Floorball, Futsal, Gaelic Football, Hockey, Netball and Sailing.
A good example of Karamba’s prolific spread of markets comes in the Specials markets, an area some bookies display but don’t populate well. At the time of the review, the Karamba Specials included USA, Denmark and Swedish elections, BBC Sports Personality of the Year, UK politics and Game Of Thrones.
There is precious little that Karamba do not provide betting markets for. Odds are comparable, but not more generous than other bookmakers.
No live streaming was available and there is no added journalistic or broadcast content currently available on the Karamba website.
Karamba In-Play
In-play markets are clearly visible on the main sports page and the tab informs prospective punters how many markets are currently available on the site. When clicked a new screen shows the current in-play football markets and also provides tabs to other sports, again showing how many live markets are currently available for each. The site also shows the live markets starting soon.
Good graphics are available within live markets and statistics provided on the match so far.
On larger football events a fast market option is also available where a quick question on the action in the next one or five minutes can be gambled on. The questions include goals, corners, penalties, throw-ins, free kicks and goal kicks.
Sports offered for In-Play betting at the time of the review were Football, Basketball, Tennis, Ice Hockey, Volleyball, e-Sports, Handball and Table Tennis.
There is also a cash-out slider which allows customers to partially settle bets early to minimizes losses or guarantee a return as they let the rest of the bet ride.
Karamba Stats & Form
The only statistics provided by Karamba were during live events. No form guides could be found.
Karamba was a casino and still is, but the addition of a sportsbook has been dramatic. They have invested heavily in sports betting and it shows. Only six months into existence the sports book has been planned well and has hit the ground running, providing punters with an easy to navigate site that provides as many markets as some far more established websites in the industry.
If the impressive start and the obvious hard work is continued they are definitely one to watch.
The in-play markets, mobile application and ease of use of the sports betting function makes them a player in the sports betting industry.
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really easy and quick to contact support, they are very helpful and quick to reply
ok for sports
Had no issues with this site except my docs not being verified when I sent them in but this was sorted quickly after a 5 min chat on live chat and withdrawal was in my account within the hour. Good selection of games.
I initially didn’t expect much from Karamba. However, it is now one of my all-time favorite betting websites! I won big with the welcome offer, and they processed my payout very quickly. I sent a withdrawal request on Friday, and the money was in my account by Tuesday.
Best site I’ve tried for mobile use and very easy to use. This has become my go-to fave whenever I want to make a bet.
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