Shangri La Sports Review

Shangri La may be best known by some as a land-based casino, having been in operation since 1992. There's more to them than that, including their fantastic sports betting offering. Shangri La offer a top-class betting site, with competitive odds, plenty of promotions for all customers and a great welcome bonus for new customers. They are licensed in Curacao and have been around a long time, so it's no surprise to learn that they're seen as one of New Zealand's top sportsbooks.

Pros/Cons

Shangri La Welcome Bonus & Promo Code

The welcome bonus at Shangri La Sports is very generous. New players receive a 100% match bonus on their first deposit up to a maximum of €100, plus fans of the top online pokies get 20 free spins on the Starburst slot.

As with every welcome bonus, there are some terms and conditions to be aware of. The minimum qualifying deposit is €10 and the deposit + bonus amounts are subject to 10x wagering requirements. Minimum stake and minimum odds also apply to all qualifying bets in order for them to meet the wagering criteria, but it's nothing too restrictive.

The welcome bonus is something different, as opposed to a normal free bet which needs to be used in its entirety on one selection. This is a great way for new players to get used to Shangri La's sportsbook with some extra funds as a kickstart.

Promotions Available from Shangri La Sports

In the 'Promos' section of Shangri La's betting site, you'll find every promotion currently ongoing, both for casino and sports. At the time of review, there are two excellent sports offers available. With Acca Boost, winning multiples receive a top up – a winning 4-fold gets a 5% bonus, with the bonus increasing incrementally all the way to a 60% bonus for a winning 16-fold.

There's currently a 10% weekly sports bonus available at Shangri La too. Simply make a deposit during the week, select the bonus option when processing it, and receive a 10% bonus. It's that easy.

The promotions change, with new free bets offers and bonuses landing frequently. It's best to ensure you've opted in to receive email and SMS notifications so you don't miss out on any.

Shangri La Free Bets

If free bets are what you want, then you're in the right place with Shangri La. With their Login Rewards, your first daily login has a 10% chance of landing a free bet. Only players who have deposited in the previous seven days are eligible, but a free bet just for logging in is something that's hard to turn your nose up at.

Sports and Markets Available at Shangri La

There are currently odds available on 39 different sports at Shangri La Sports. The top handful are listed in order of popularity along the left-hand side of the homepage, with soccer, basketball and tennis the top three. Once you expand the 'All Sports' option, you can easily browse all of the sports available. These include some of the more popular sports in New Zealand like, rugby league & union, cricket and AFL.

Shangri La also have betting on some popular markets which you won't find everywhere. There's a whole host of virtual sports and Esports available, with live streaming available on nearly all esports events too.

International horse racing can be bet on too, with UK, Irish, French, US and even Uruguayan racing available.

Shangri La Sports Betting Features

The first thing which needs to be called out about the Shangri La sports betting site is how easy it is to place a bet. By clicking on the odds for the selection you want to back, it's added to the betslip. By clicking on more odds, you'll see three options on the betslip – singles, Multi and System. The total combined odds of your selections will also be shown at the bottom of the betslip and, where available, an each-way slider button can be selected if you're not feeling brave enough for win only. From here, it's a case of entering your stake and hitting the 'Place

Bets' button. Your bet will be placed straight away and can be shown either in the My Bets section or your account history.

Another great feature we were happy to find at Shangri La was cash out. It's not available on all sports and all markets, but if you have an eligible bet, you'll see the current cash out value in My Bets, meaning you can either get out while the going is good or cut your losses if it's going less well.

Fans of bet Builders will be happy to find that this relatively new feature can be found at Shangri La. For those who are new to it, Bet Builders allow you to place a multiple bet containing selections from one event. For example you can combine total goals, total corners and the match winner from a particular soccer game, giving you complete freedom over what you bet on. It's currently available on soccer only, but other sports are expected to feature it soon.

A dedicated Virtuals section is sure to have its fans too. A massive 42 different virtual sports are available, ranging from the usual trotting and greyhound racing Supercars and Speedway.

In-Play Betting

If you like in-play sports betting, Shangri La has you covered. They offer a wide range of live betting markets, from sports like soccer and basketball to Esports and cricket. To get to the live betting events, click on 'In-Play' at the top of the homepage. From here, you'll see any sport with events currently going on, with a number indicating how many events from that sport are currently live.

The page is laid out so you can see the odds for the main market – usually the match odds, handicap or over/under – without needing to go away from the main in-play page. Each event will have a number beside it, which shows how many markets are available. You may also see a TV icon, which lets you know there's a live stream of that event available.

By clicking into a particular event, you're met with three options. You can hide the information at the top of the event, you can launch the live stream, or, as a lot of punters prefer, there's a widget option which shows a simple graphic of the playing field with live stats listed beside it.

Live Streaming

Those who love the best live streaming betting sites are in for a treat at Shangri La. Top football leagues like the Dutch Eredivisie have selected matches shown in play, and there is tons of basketball, cricket, snooker and Esports, provided by Twitch.

All streams can be switched to full screen and are crystal clear and smooth. The best part is that, unlike with some other sportsbooks, there's no need to have a bet in order to watch. Simply log in to your Shangri La Sports account and you can watch the event live.

Registration Process at Shangri La Sports

Opening a new account at Shangri La Sports is very easy. There are just five steps and it takes only a couple of minutes. On the first page, you’re asked to choose a username and secure password as well as confirming your e-mail address. Next, confirm your name, date of birth and mobile number. The last information required is your home address and currency of choice. Unfortunately, there's no option at present to use NZD, so we selected Euro for our currency.

Once you've filled that information in, there's what Shangri La call "the legal bit". Two tick boxes allow you to opt in to email and/or SMS marketing correspondence, while a third box must be ticked to confirm you've read the Terms and Conditions and that you're over 18. That's it. You'll receive an email verification where you must click on the link to activate your account, but from there, you're ready to make your first deposit and place your bets.

Depositing and Withdrawing at Shangri La Sports

It might be quicker to list the payment methods Shangri don't accept instead of the ones they do. There are an astounding 19 different deposit options for new players. These range from more established banking methods like Visa and Mastercard to e-wallets including EcoPayz, Neteller and Skrill. On top of all that, Shangri La allow their customers to deposit with a selection of cryptocurrencies – something which is becoming more popular at online sports betting sites. Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin and Ripple are all accepted.

Withdrawals to VISA and Mastercard will be processed and be back with you within 3-5 working days. Withdrawals to e-wallets should be fully processed within just a few hours. Deposits, as you would expect, are instant and from what we could see, no methods apart from Bank Transfer had any fees attached for either deposits or withdrawals.

Deposits for as little as €10 can be processed, with a maximum of €2,000 on most deposit methods. The minimum withdrawal amount is €20 and again, most have a maximum of €2,000 per transaction or €10,000 per week.

Shangri La Sports Desktop Experience

We were struck by how slick the Shangri La betting site looked. A black background gives the site a very nice feel. Finding your way around is very easy, even if you're new to online sports betting. Along the left of the homepage, you'll find next and popular events. Further down there are direct links to some of the more popular events, while you'll find an 'All Sports' option if you still haven't seen what you hoped to find.

Despite that simple layout being easy to follow, Shangri La have also included a search option. With this, you can search for a league or fixture and jump straight to it.

All of the sports are clearly marked, sometimes with a small icon of a ball making it even clearer, and the number of events, be it live or pre-match, will be listed beside each one.

Even though the Shangri La sportsbook is packed with plenty of features and even more sports, the site is lightning fast. You don't notice any loading times and all updates, whether it's events starting or odds updating, are instantaneous.

Mobile App

Shangri La do offer a dedicated mobile betting app for their casino, but unfortunately not for their sportsbook. That's not a major inconvenience though, as customers who enjoy mobile betting apps can instead save a shortcut to their mobile device's homescreen and always be one click away from accessing the sports betting site through their mobile's browser.

Once you're on the site, you'll find that the layout is very similar to desktop, just optimised for mobile. The amount of markets visible at a time is less than you'll find on desktop, which helps keep loading times to a minimum. The Shangri La mobile site is just as comprehensive as the desktop version. Every feature, such as cash out, live streaming of in-play events and your account history, is available.