
TLC Bet was founded in the Phillippines, and the operation was originally aimed primarily at the Asian market. However, there is a big cultural difference between Asia and Europe.
The website states that TLC Bet “pioneered a social media-focused marketing strategy in Asia with innovative animated characters such as the Big Boss.” While all UK-based countries maximise the use of social media, the traditional approach is to provide standard news, betting options, and the occasional funny posting, not cartoon-themed postings. It is possible they lost faith in their strategy in their last Twitter tweet in 2017.
TLC Bet is very limited in the bonus area of their operation.
As sign-up offer exists where a new customer can deposit funds and stake six qualifying bets. Once settled the customer can contact customer services to get a bonus token, which is received within 24 hours. The maximum available as a bonus is £30 to match the initial amount deposited.
The only other offer available as a sports promotion is football ACCA Protection where a bonus token can be redeemed if one selection of a fivefold accumulator (or bigger) lets the bet down. This is standard fayre on most betting sites these days.
The lack of any other incentives in the sports area of the site is a disappointment and lets its down in comparison to the industry’s major players.
TLC has always been primarily associated with its online casino operation, but have built up the sportsbook area of their website significantly in recent years. Customers are presented with the simple choice on the landing page – sports or casino?
The site itself is nothing extraordinary, but functional and the colour scheme of black, red and white doesn’t offend the retinas.
Unlike other leading sites, there has been no effort to have a carousel featuring key news and offers and there are no visual bells and whistles at all in terms of photographs or eye-catching imagery. You are straight into the markets and encouraged to bet.
Consequently the sports page is limited, not particularly appealing, but it does what it sets out to do – provide core markets on the sport.
TLC Bet Mobile App
The site is mobile friendly, but there is currently not a bespoke application for use on mobiles.
The casino area of TLC Bet is their prime focus and, although the sportsbook area of the website has improved significantly over the last few years there are many better sports betting websites available with superior bonus incentives and a larger array of markets.
Reasonable prices and markets, less so bonuses and offers
Customers can deposit a minimum of £20 instantly by Visa and MasterCard along with the Skrill & Neteller e-wallets. Withdrawals are available by the same mechanisms and usually received in 2-3 days. A full transaction history can be located in the customer’s account.
A comprehensive customer service section can be found on the website offering the customer the option of contacting the company by email, telephone or via a live chat service. The phone and live chat option are available 24/7, although customer feedback would suggest the service is slower ‘out of hours’.
There is also comprehensive information on site about how a customer can register a complaint.
Initially they were licensed in the Cagayan Economic Zone, but once established made efforts to break into Europe and other target areas.
Now operating globally, although some nations like Ireland and an extensive list of other countries are unable to access their services, the website provides casino and sportsbook gambling.
The company is owned and operate by TGP Europe Ltd and hold licenses with the Isle of Man Gambling Supervision Commission and with the UK Gambling Commission.
A generous list of available sports is listed on the left-hand side of the sports page. Key tournaments (The Open golf and the Tour De France cycling were top of the list at the time of review) are listed at the top. A football Transfer markets heading followed as the transfer window was in full swing.
Those white label events are then followed by the key money makers – horse racing and football, darts, golf and tennis.
Then the remaining sports markets were displayed in alphabetical order – American Football, Aussie Rules Football, Badminton, Baseball, Basketball, Beach Soccer, Beach Volleyball, Boxing, Chess, Cricket, E-Sports, Handball, Ice Hockey, MMA, Motor Racing, Netball, Rugby League, Rugby Union, Snooker & Pool, Speedway, Surfing, Table Tennis, Volleyball, Water Polo, Winter Sports and Gaelic Football. A Specials market was also thrown in to complete the list. The prices available are competitive.
In each sport the outright markets are fully stocked and markets exist for most competitions and leagues around the world. Ante-post options also exist on upcoming matches. It’s all there, but the volume of markets available within a match might prove limiting to the seasoned online punter.
Expect industry-standard odds from TLC Bet.
There is nothing. Zilch. Diddly squat. While the rest of the industry has appreciated for some time that punters like to be wooed with moving images and the occasional podcast or blog posting, this new-fangled malarkey seems to have passed TLC by.
Again this provides the punter with the impression the sport section is perhaps an afterthought and would be an easy area to improve the company’s offering if they were looking for quick fixes.
That impression is reflected in their social media presence. When the website was reviewed there were no options to go through to the social media side of things. Upon further digging, both of TLC’s Facebook and Twitter accounts lacked recent content and therefore fell behind from a customer engagement standpoint.
TLC Bet’s in-play activity is wide-ranging and their live markets have grown significantly in recent years.
The In-Play markets are easy to find, displayed on the middle of the screen, although they are not as extensive as on some other sites. The major players have circa 300 markets on major matches, while TLC Bet offer around 100. A cash-out facility is also available in-play.
There is a Live Schedule section on the website so customers can see what matches are upcoming.
Statistics are available in-play, but no form guides or further information is available pre-match. A results service is available on the website.
The same can be said for the horse racing section where basic statistics such as age and weight, plus jockey and trainer, are offered but again a lack of form information will turn seasoned punters off.
Although the sportsbook is well stocked there are better and more established websites around. While there is nothing overtly wrong with what is on offer it does smack of a sports section for existing casino users rather than something that would lure punters away from the major players in this field.
While the markets are there, a seasoned punter would want more. In a time where the very best in the industry are providing enticing deals and offers all day long, TLC is limited. When the market leaders are providing blogs, video features, punditry advice and even live TV and radio, TLC feels more pen and quill. When bookmakers are going big on in-play markets and offering bets through every minute of a game, TLC seems to throw a few in-play offerings into the pot to tick that box.
TLC has the foundations of a very interesting sports betting business, but aligning yourself to a few Premier League football teams doesn’t make you a big player in the industry overnight. There is work to be done.
Full coverage of poker and bingo, from reviews of providers to guides and much more besides!
21+ and present in VA. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER.
Trading financial products carries a high risk to your capital, especially trading leverage products such as CFDs. CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. Between 74-89% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.