The Greek

Click here for audio version of this review ("The Sports Investor" podcast, episode #10)

 

QUICK FACTS

They first operated under the name “Olympic Sportsbook”, which was changed to "The Greek sportsbook" in 2006.

pros

Alluring promotions: The Greek sportsbook has attractive bonuses:

          • At the time of the writing, the first-time depositor had two options to choose from: a) 100% bonus up to 100$; b) 25% bonus up to 1000$. That’s a fantastic offer: deposit 4000$ and you get an additional 1000$ in your account. We are talking about real cash, not free plays (unlike what many other bookies are offering). Not only that, but the rollover requirement is lower than most bookmakers at 4x (i.e. you need to place wagers totaling at least four times the deposit+bonus amount).
          • Reload bonuses are the icing on the cake: in the early days of online sports betting they were pretty common, but not anymore. The Greek has stuck to this practice as they are promoting a 10% cash bonus up to 250$.

Solid reputation: As a very general rule, sportsbooks marketing great bonuses tend to be less reputable. In this case, we are getting the best of both worlds. They were one of the first online sportsbooks to launch in the late 1990s, and I have had an account there since their early days (when they were called “Olympic”). I was also playing poker with their platform called PokerWorld, which brought me the most memorable online tournament of my entire life. I still have the email I sent to my brother on March 7th, 2006 at 1:22am to let him know in details what had just happened to me. I had just won a seat at the WSOP (World Series Of Poker) in Las Vegas by winning a 42-player tournament. I will never ever forget the excitement I felt that night. The Greek indeed paid for the buy-in as well as travel expenses, just like they always processed my withdrawals requests promptly over the years. I have had zero bad experiences with them (I can’t say that about many other bookies, as you can see in other sportsbook reviews I wrote).

Quality website: I do like their interface. Not too basic, while not being too fancy either. They have limited the number of images on their website which makes it quick to react when you click links. It’s very easy to navigate on their site.

Fine player support: Their customer service is very good. They are open 24 hours a day and they don’t make you wait very long on the phone. Their friendly Jamaican accent makes you dream of a vacation on their beautiful island (on a side note, I have been to Negril once and it’s awesome! The food was super tasty and their beaches were breath-taking. I am no travel agent, but I highly recommend this place!).

Quickly-processed withdrawals: Payout speed is among the best in the business. They are fast and effective. That’s often a source of anxiety for players, as we are not very patient when it comes to getting money back from sportsbooks!.

cons

Withdrawal fees: Many sportsbooks offer one free payout per month, but that’s not the case at The Greek. Granted, some of their withdrawal methods (Skrill, E-Check, Neteller, Instadebit and iDebit) may be free of charge at certain conditions: 1) previous deposit was made using the same method; 2) no withdrawals in the past 14 days; 3) some bets were placed each week over the last 30 days.

Very limited live betting matches: The live in-play wagering at The Greek is extremely subpar. On a given Friday afternoon I checked the offerings on their website: one soccer (football) game and one tennis match. Meanwhile, William Hill had live betting on over 40 soccer games and 10 tennis matches. Talk about a huge difference!

Forgetting about smaller leagues/sports: In terms of market variety and side/prop bets, they are below-average. The list of available sports on the left-hand side of their website is pretty extensive, but once you start clicking links you realize many of them have no selections. They do have prop bets on selected games, but don’t expect too many of them. For example, there are five of them on each MLB game (total hits+runs+errors, team to score first, will there be a run in the first inning and a couple of total bases matchups).

Unfavorable odds: The Greek has 20-cent lines on major sporting events (for example -150 vs +130). Several sportsbooks have the same level of juice so that is not out of the ordinary, but be aware that’s probably the worst juice you can get online (as a comparison, Pinnacle and 5Dimes have 10-cent lines which basically cut their commission in half, which is a huge benefit for you). Their juice on prop bets is on par with the norm at 30 cents.

METHODS OF WITHDRAWAL
  • Skrill (Moneybookers)
  • E-check
  • Neteller
  • Instadebit
  • Express Transfer
  • Cashier/Bank Check via FedEx or DHL
  • Cashier/Bank Check via standard postal service
  • Bank Wire
  • iDebit
METHODS OF DEPOSIT
  • Skrill (Moneybookers)
  • E-check
  • Neteller
  • Bitcoin
  • PaySafeCard
  • WebMoney
  • Instadebit
  • EntroPay
  • Credit card (Visa, Mastercard)
  • Express Transfer
  • Cashier/Bank Check via FedEx or DHL
  • Bank Wire
  • iDebit
  • Instant deposit through Skrill (no Skrill account necessary) via GiroPay (Germany), EPS (Austria), eNETS (Singapore), Maestro (United Kingdom, Austria, Spain), Solo (UK), Laser (Ireland), CartaSi & PostePay (Italy) or bank transfer (see list of available countries here)
PLAYER EXPERIENCES

 

 

STORY 1

“You find better odds with Pinnacle or Betfair. I took bonus, finished rollover and asked 400 Euro for a withdrawal. Manager told me if I withdrew then they would cancel Bonus, because they don't want players just coming for taking bonus! I finished rollover!!! No fair practices here from bookmaker!!!"

SOURCE: http://www.top100bookmakers.com/comments/the-greek.php

ANALYSIS: I do remember that they were pretty strict about their bonus rules, but so are many online sportsbooks.

 

 

STORY 2

“This bookmaker is one of the worst I've ever signed up to. I bet on a hockey match on odds I liked and then I received an email saying that the manager closed my account with my money in cause I bet on bad lines!!!"

SOURCE: http://www.top100bookmakers.com/comments/the-greek.php

ANALYSIS: Almost all sportsbooks cancel wagers placed on incorrect lines (human errors). This player is acting like he got robbed, but I’m pretty sure he knew what he was doing. Closing the account is a pretty harsh measure though, and this does not look like an isolated case as I have read similar stories about The Greek in other forums. So if a line is clearly out of whack, don’t tick them off by betting on it because they might close your account.

 

STORY 3

“A real American bookmaker with American odds and bets. They do offer some football from Europe but it's not much. Their welcome bonus is a friendly one. Their customer service does always reply at once. Enough possibilities to deposit and withdraw. For the European player The Greek is not a bookmaker which you want to use: too few bets and only Asian goal and win line bets. Although they are a good bookmaker, stable and reliable I don't promote this bookmaker in this comment, as I am a European player."

SOURCE: http://www.top100bookmakers.com/comments/the-greek.php

ANALYSISThat sums up pretty well the most important features around The Greek. Good bonus and customer service, but not the best market variety (especially for Europeans).

 

 

 

BOTTOM LINE

In my opinion, The Greek sportsbook is primarily intended for recreational players. The bonuses are among the best in the business, but the lines are not very favorable to the player (they have high juice) and the betting options are not plentiful. Live in-play wagering is a big area of weakness if you are a fan of that form of betting. However, the overall experience is pleasant (good customer service, fast payouts and easy to navigate website) and their solid reputation gives you a peace of mind.