
Why is Online Sports Betting in Malaysia Popular?
The majority of the population in Malaysia follows Islam which prohibits gambling in any form. Online betting in Malaysia is also unofficial for this reason, even if you visit the best betting site. Online betting in Malaysia continues to be in the gray area, which means that it is neither forbidden nor has any legal seal. However, like the other Asian countries, Malaysians also enjoy watching sports and simultaneously take a keen interest in sports betting. According to the statistics, approximately 1 billion RM is wagered on the betting markets by the Malay people every day on sports betting, especially on football matches.
Though online sports betting is outlawed in Malaysia, it has a rich community of bettors despite its official stance against online sports betting Malaysia. Online betting in Malaysia is as popular as in other nations, where betting online on sports is legal. The Malaysian bettors are reluctant to let go of the plenty of opportunities that the Malaysian sportsbooks offer for betting online on their favorite sports.
From football to lotteries, casino games, horse racing to esports, the best sport betting sites in Malaysia offer live betting with a free bet, competitive odds, lucrative promotions, and much more. Finding any online betting site in Malaysia is thus very easy.
Sports Betting Laws in Malaysia
The legal status of online sports betting in Malaysia is unclear as the Malaysian Betting Act 1953 does not have any references for online gambling in the country. However, the Common Gaming Houses Act neither prohibits any online betting site from operating in Malaysia nor does it prohibit the Malay people from participating in online betting in Malaysia via offshore betting websites.
Many legitimate foreign sports betting sites accept bets in MYR (Malaysian Ringgit). Football betting is the most popular in Malaysia. Therefore, there is a big push from the bettors to the Malaysian government to change the existing law and allow legal betting on football in the nation.
Some parts of the Malay society believe that legalizing sports betting in the country would reduce the match-fixing scandals a manifold and bring in massive tax revenues to the government. However, the government’s reaction to online betting in Malaysia is yet to be seen.
How We Rank the Best Online Sportsbooks in Malaysia?
The best online sports betting sites Malaysia are ranked based on the sportsbooks’ features and benefits. There is no shortage of legitimate online betting sites in Malaysia, and therefore, bettors should choose them wisely depending on their preferences.
Choosing a licensed esports betting site is always better than going for the best promotions offered. Bettors should be cautious because some sportsbook offers are too good for ongoing promotions to be accurate, and they might risk losing bonus funds and realizing that the whole thing was just a bubble.
Bettors should consider the following points before choosing the best online casinos in Malaysia.
Range of Betting Markets
The best online casinos in Malaysia offer various sports to the bettors to bet on. The most popular sports betting options include golf, football, cricket, greyhound racing, rugby, basketball, athletics, MMA, badminton, etc.
Players can wager on the basics like the score of both the teams playing, match result, and Over or Under goals. They can also bet on exclusive options like player props and Asian handicaps (in online football betting) with the best betting odds offered on these favorite sports.
Live Betting & Streaming
Sportsbook in Malaysia allows players to bet on live events both from desktop desktops and mobile apps. Live sports betting in Malaysia allows bettors to bet on their favorite games as and when they happen in real-time. In live betting, the odds constantly change, increasing the chances of winning a manifold.
Some of the bookies of online sports betting malaysia integrated betting features in the live streaming events to add more excitement to the games. There are also cash-out options available in most live streaming sports betting events. They allow the players to either claim their wins before the game ends or reclaim their stakes back if they feel that the odds are turning against them.
Payment Methods
Bettors should always pay attention to the payment methods available with the bookie to fund their sportsbook accounts. The best sports betting sites in Malaysia offer a considerable number of payment options, including debit and credit cards, e-wallets, and cryptocurrencies, to allow bettors from all backgrounds to access the sports betting sites. Players should look for sites that offer instant deposits and withdrawals without transaction fees.
Mobile Sports Betting
With the easy accessibility of the internet, a good percentage of the Malaysian population turns towards mobile sports betting in Malaysia through their phones and tablets. Therefore, they would prefer a sportsbook that has a compatible mobile sports betting app.
The best Malaysia betting sites offer compatible mobile betting apps for iOS and Android devices to let bettors place bets on the go. These compatible Malaysia betting apps offer the same odds and number of betting markets they can find when betting from desktop computers.
The best sportsbooks also offer live streaming of the various sporting events through the app to make the betting experience more enjoyable.
Customer Service
Responsive customer service is essential to provide 24/7 support to bettors any time they need them. The most common modes of customer support services available with the bookies in Malaysia include telephone, email, messenger, live chat, and social networks.
Amongst these, telephone and live chat provide the fastest response, followed by email and messenger, which can take up to a maximum of 48 hours for the team to revert to the bettors.
Licensing and Security
When bettors are depositing real money at the various sports betting sites, it is imperative that they look for the maximum security that the sports betting sites can offer.
The top sports betting sites holding a proper license from any regulatory bodies ensures security both in terms of the funds and the security of their accounts registered with the sportsbook.
There are other security mechanisms implemented by modern sportsbooks like installing a firewall, keeping the clients’ accounts segregated from the company’s account, regular KYC checks, and implementing a 2FA (two-factor authentication). As Malaysia cannot grant any license to any online sportsbooks, the bettors have to depend on offshore betting sites to satisfy their sports betting appetites.
How to Register at Online Sports Betting Sites in Malaysia?
Malaysia has an extensive suite of sports markets that offer bets on any favorite sports. The registration process at all online betting sites in Malaysia is more or less the same, and they get completed within a few minutes. Here is a step-by-step guide provided to help bettors understand the registration process easily:
- Find a Licensed online bookmaker and feed in Your Personal Details – this is the first step for registering at the online betting sites in Malaysia. The moment you click on the Sign-Up button on the homepage of the bookie that you have selected, it will ask you to fill in your details like name, date of birth or age, address, etc. Make sure that all the information fed in is correct.
- Upload Documents – to ensure clients’ safety, most online betting sites in Malaysia ask bettors to scan and upload their identification documents (passport or driving license) for KYC compliance.
- Make deposits and start betting – soon after the identification documents are verified, bettors are asked to choose their payment methods, select the welcome bonus, the deposit bonus, or free bets and make a deposit. As soon as the terms of the deposits as specified by the bookie are met, players can start placing their wagers.
How To Choose the Best Sports Betting Sites Malaysia?
When choosing the best sports betting sites in malaysia, bettors need to pay attention to their sports choices instead of randomly picking one.
Football may not be your favorite sport, and you may not have the optimum knowledge about the sport. Will you still be betting on football just because the esport betting site offers the maximum sports betting bonus (welcome bonus or deposit bonus) and competitive odds for the sport?
Here are some more factors that should be considered when choosing the best Malaysian betting site, apart from the lucrative bonuses and the best odds offered by the online sports betting sites.
User Interface
Choosing the best Malaysian betting sites with a simple interface is always recommended to bettors. It helps them quickly navigate the website, thus saving time and effort.
Players can visit the official portal of the online sports betting site and navigate through the sections to find out whether it will be convenient for them to bet on the site.
Market Selection
Before choosing a betting platform for online sports betting in malaysia, bettors should first decide which sport they want to bet on. The best online betting sites in Malaysia support multiple online sports; they allow bettors to bet on over 30 different sports markets. However, it is left to the bettors to choose the right sports market for themselves that they are confident in betting at.
Players should also consider the bet types they are comfortable in, like pre-match, outright, or in-play bets. If they prefer esports, they can search for the best betting tips on any CSGO sites. They provide the links to the safest online betting sites in Malaysia.
Payment Methods
Choosing the best Malaysia betting site that offers multiple payment options is very crucial because that would determine how fast a bettor can receive his winnings into his sportsbook account.
However, it is also true that a bookie may offer multiple payment methods like e-wallets, bank transfers, debit or credit cards, cryptocurrencies, Neteller, PayPal, PayzApp, etc. Still, a bettor would only use one or two.
Therefore, it is always better to seek out a sports betting site with the payment methods that the bettor can conveniently use.
Special Features
In Malaysia, good and trusted bookmakers offer some extra sports betting features like fast bets, cash-out options, live streaming, and virtual sports betting other than the primary features. All of these indicate their responsiveness to the changing needs and demands of the current sports betting market.
The unique features act like betting tools offered by the online betting sites in Malaysia that help bettors place their wagers in the most profitable ways. For example, for bettors who prefer multiple betting, finding a betting site with the bet builder tool will serve the purpose.
The cash-out tools and in-play features would be beneficial for live betting specialists. The real-time streaming offered by some online sportsbooks in Malaysia adds an extra benefit to bettors.
Bonuses and Promotions at Best Sports Betting Sites Malaysia
Ongoing promotions and bonuses are the additional perks offered that set one bookmaker apart from the others. Though offering a lucrative welcome bonus is the first critical impression that the bookmakers create in the mind of the Malaysian bettors, a bettor should also gauge the other promotional offers available with a sports betting site on regular and popular sports events.
The best online betting sites in Malaysia offer regular promotional offers every week for existing customers. Some of the primary betting offers available in Malaysian sports betting casinos are:
Welcome Bonus
A welcome bonus is an attractive incentive offered by most online gambling sites in Malaysia. A welcome bonus is offered to new players who register at any online casino for the first time. Sometimes players are given a welcome bonus code even before making their first deposits.
Deposit Bonus
A deposit bonus is given out by most Malaysian sports betting sites as a percentage of the first or subsequent deposits made by the players to any online sportsbook account. Sometimes the match is almost 100% of the first deposits made.
Cashback
Cashback is the refund that the bettors receive on losing a bet. Bettors must comply with specific terms and conditions to claim a cashback from the betting sites.
Reload Bonus
A reload bonus is given out to the casino’s loyal players to encourage them to continue betting on the site. It is similar to the deposit bonus but is paid out to players who already have an account with the online sportsbook and have paid their deposits in the past.
Free Bets
A Free bet is the most common promotional offer offered by sportsbooks of online sports betting in Malaysia. Free bets are primarily risk-free wagers that can be claimed as a cash bonus, and it depends on the amount deposited by the bettor into his sportsbook account.
Some sportsbooks in Malaysia often give out free bets to bettors for betting with a mobile app. If he loses the free bet, he only loses the money deposited in his sportsbook account for the free bet and not his own money.
Money-Back Bets
Money-back bets are more or less the same as the free bets offered by any sports betting website in Malaysia. The only difference between the two is that a bettor has to put his own money in a money-back bet, unlike a free bet. The player can keep the winnings and continue playing on winning the money-back bet. However, if he loses, the sports betting site would reimburse the bet amount, and thus the player loses nothing. Therefore, the money-back bet is a more lucrative option than a free bet.
Enhanced Odds
Enhanced odds are offered mainly by the football betting sites in Malaysia on special occasions. Enhanced odds are better than the usual odds offered by bookmakers for a wager because enhanced odds increase the chances of a win and thus typically boost the payout.
Winning Boosts
Winning boosts are pretty similar to the enhanced odds, but they are offered only to boost the players’ payouts and do not increase the chances of winning. Winning boosts are more prevalent in Parlays types of betting options.
However, Malaysian bettors can claim all these lucrative offers only after meeting specific terms and conditions specified by different bookmakers in Malaysia. The most important ones are:
- Wagering requirements – wagering requirement is the minimum amount of a bet that a player must place before withdrawing the winnings generated from the bets. It is generally denoted as a multiple of the bonus amount (both for the welcome bonus and deposit bonus).
- Expiration or the length of validity of the offers– it is the minimum and the maximum number of days within which a bettor has to withdraw the winnings after meeting the wagering requirements; otherwise, the bonuses will expire.
- Minimum odds– Most of the sportsbooks in Malaysia require players to use their bonus (both welcome bonus and deposit bonus) funds on the minimum odds above a certain level. This is done to ensure that they cannot wager on near-certain odds with their bonus.
Thus, the best strategy to use the best odds is to choose a site that offers minimum betting odds requirements and lower wagering with longer validities.
List of Sports to Bet on in the Top Sports betting sites in Malaysia
The top Malaysian betting sites allow bettors to bet on some of the popular sports in the world. Football is one of the favorite sports for the Malay people, followed by cricket, golf, rugby, basketball, etc. The best betting sites in Malaysia offer several types of betting tips on the football matches like match results, over or under goals, both teams to score, player props, Asian handicaps, etc. Some of the other popular sports betting markets available on the best Malaysia betting sites are:
Horse Racing
Some of the best betting sites in Malaysia offer players to bet on horse racing. It was introduced in the Malaysian sports markets during British rule, and since then, the game has been hosted at all the best Malaysian betting sites.
Greyhound Racing
Even though commercial greyhound racing is banned in most countries globally, the Common Gaming Houses Act does not prohibit esports betting on the sport.
Golf
Golf betting is allowed on most Malaysian sports betting sites. Mobile betting is also allowed to place bets on golf events hosted by the esports betting sites in Malaysia.
Cricket
Malaysia was once a British colony, and thus cricket has remained in the blood of the Malaysians. Recently the Malaysian got a chance to bet on cricket in the International T20 games, making it popular among sports bettors.
Rugby
Rugby is another favorite sport in the Malaysian casinos, and there are many rugby betting sites in Malaysia for both local and international bettors.
Basketball
Whether it is an ASEAN league or Malaysia’s own NBL league, there are plenty of basketball betting sites available in Malaysia.
Badminton
Most Malaysian sports betting sites offer badminton as a betting option. Badminton betting has a lot of patrons registered with online bookmakers in Malaysia.
Payment Methods at Top Sports Betting Sites Malaysia
The top betting sites in Malaysia offer multiple payment methods to fund a betting account. The most popular ones are debit and credit cards, e-wallets, bank transfers, and cryptocurrencies. However, each crypto sportsbook has distinct deposit and withdrawal requirements, and players have to meet them before making a deposit or claiming a withdrawal. Players should choose a betting site that offers suitable payment methods with the minimum requirements.
The popular payment methods are discussed below:
- Debit and Credit cards – the minimum deposit accepted by the best betting sites in Malaysia via debit or credit cards is around 1 USD or 4.05 MYR. There are no transaction fees charged, and the minimum payout is approximately 1.50 USD for most betting sites.
- PayPal– it is one of the most used payment options for Malaysian players. For most sites, the minimum deposit and the minimum payout are the same as the prepaid debit or credit cards, 1 USD and 1.50 USD, respectively.
- Bank Transfers – bank transfers involve the transaction fees charged by the respective banks for confirming the payment transactions to or from the sports betting sites. The minimum deposit accepted by the Malaysian online betting sites is 1 USD, and the minimum payout is 1.05 USD for most sites.
- Cryptocurrencies- Malaysian betting sites also allow bettors to use cryptocurrencies to make deposits and claim withdrawals. It is one of the preferred payment methods because it is instant, does not require any KYC compliances, and keeps betting transactions private. The minimum deposit that a bettor can make in cryptocurrencies to fund his account is 0.00003 BTC, and the minimum payout is 0.000045 BTC.
Sports Betting Apps Offered by the Top Malaysian Sportsbooks
Most of the online betting sites in Malaysia offer a compatible mobile app for iOS and Android users. The mobile app offers the same game features, odds, varieties of bets, and benefits as the desktop version of an online sportsbook. However, the icons appear somewhat squished because of the small screen space in a mobile device.
Some online betting sites in Malaysia offer exclusive bonuses to players for placing their first wager on their favourite sports from their mobile devices. Some other online sportsbook send those exclusive bonuses via the application’s push notifications which are only available to mobile bettors.
Compatible mobile apps help players place a bet on the go and access special features like live streaming of their favorite games. Players can also manage their betting accounts and view their transaction history on the mobile app as they would navigate any online Malaysia betting site.
Customer Support at Top Sports Betting Sites Malaysia
All the top online betting sites in Malaysia offer 24/7 customer support via email, live chat, and phone calls. Some online betting sites also respond via social media channels to retain their customer base. Moreover, the customer support services are available in both Malay and English. It helps overcome the language barriers that many bettors face when they navigate through the official portal of the online betting sites. There is a separate FAQ section at most online betting sites, making it way easier for bettors to solve their queries independently.
FAQs
Is Sports Betting Legal in Malaysia?
The Malaysian Betting Act is silent about online betting. The betting act does not prohibit any Malaysian player from participating in online betting on overseas betting sites. However, it cannot grant any online betting site a license to conduct online gambling in Malaysia.
Is Paypal Sports Betting Possible in Malaysia?
Yes, the online sports betting sites in Malaysia accept PayPal.
What Betting Offers Can I Find at Malaysia Sports Betting Sites?
There is an extensive suite of betting offers at the Malaysian sportsbook, including live streaming, cash-ons, deposit bonus for deposit matches, welcome bonus, free bets, VIP bonuses, etc.
Is Live Betting Possible in Malaysia?
Yes, live betting is possible in Malaysia. Nowadays, most Malaysian online bookmarker have integrated the in-play sports betting features into the live streaming options.