STS Sports Betting Review: Everything You Need to Know

STS Sports Markets and Betting Types

The first thing you’ll notice with STS is that they have a vast range of sports that you can bet on. A criticism we usually have with new bookmakers is that they tend to offer a wide range of bets for popular markets such as football, but lack choice in other sports.

That certainly isn’t the case when STS sports betting, you’ll of course find the most popular sports but you’ll also find the more obscure sports. Notoriously hard to find sports such as WWE wrestling, table tennis and futsal are listed here, making this bookmaker a good choice if you want a one-stop place for betting.

If you are interested in football betting, there are few sports betting sites that offer as many betting markets as STS. It’s not unusual to see over 350 different things you can bet on in a game, an incredible choice. For example, whereas the majority of betting sites offer just 2.5 goals (and possibly 3.5 goals), STS’s markets go up to Over 5.5. This pattern of offering a great choice of markets expands into other popular sports such as tennis, golf, and rugby. They’re also on our list of the best boxing betting sites.

STS also deserve credit for their excellent selection of e-sport events you can back. Many sports betting sites feature League of Legends (LoL), Counterstrike, Dota 2, Overwatch and Rainbow Six but you’ll also find others such as Call of Duty (COD), StarCraft (1&2), King of Glory (KoG) and Hearthstone tournaments.

In-play Betting & Live Streaming

One of our favourite aspects of sports betting online is being able to bet while the action is on. Quite often, a sporting event doesn’t go to script and waiting to see how the teams or players are performing in the first couple of minutes reveals more than form or expectations.

At STS, in-play betting is done well with all current events that you can bet on live clearly shown on the home page. We really like the fact that you can ‘favourite’ events, which makes them easy to find later on if you are betting on several events. The best feature, however, is the Multi-view option. You can watch and bet on up to three events at the same time, great stuff. The only downside we found is that there are not many streaming events currently offered, this could, however just us being unlucky and STS not having the rights for the sports we were betting on.

We’d advise checking Ladbrokes live if you want a broader selection of streams.

Multiple Bets, Accumulator Bets and System Bets

If you like placing many bets at once, STS UK sports betting will suit you. While some bookmakers only allow you to put 10 or 20 bets on at once, no such limits are in place with this one. We managed to place all our Premier League and Bundesliga bets for the week, which totalled over 50, all in one go.

Those that have more than just a casual interest in betting will know how important placing accumulator bets are if you want to see decent returns on your money. Placing accumulators, rather than singles, can easily see your odds move into double or treble digits. Placing ACCAS was incredibly simple. STS also accept system bets, offering 2/3 and System-Trixie and System-Patent bets. Chain bets are also offered.

When adding selections to the betting slip for multiples, it keeps track of your total odds selection, which is handy if you are browsing markets and you want to see what impact your choice will have on the accumulative odds. The betting slip does take a fair bit of screen space, especially on smaller mobile devices but it can be minimised with just one click if you find it interferes with your selections.

Minimum and Maximum Bets When STS Betting

With a minimum bet amount set at just 10p, the bookmaker caters for all punters, no matter what the budget, this low bet amount makes accumulator bets more affordable. Some bookmakers insist on a 50p minimum bet, which makes some betting types, such as the Goliath bet (247 bets), unaffordable to all but the more affluent gambler.

The maximum bet is harder to judge as this can depend on a variety of factors such as the sport you wish to bet on (expect higher bet limits on the Premier League than a regional handball tournament in France). It can also depend on affordability measures that are increasingly being introduced to ensure responsible gambling. However, judging by the bank deposit limits, we feel this bookmaker would suit small to medium stakes customers.

Competitive Odds Throughout8

It’s really not difficult to compare the value for money between different online sports betting sites, we often advise our readers to sign up for at least two bookmakers, ideally more. All you need to do is look at the markets you wish to bet on and check the odds at the different companies, exactly what we would do when comparing supermarkets when deciding where to buy our beer from.

In our testing, STS odds varied quite a bit between markets. In Tennis, a match in the International Series between David Metz and Tyler Mercier showed odds of 9/1 for a Metz win and 1/50 for a Mercier victory. If we use the calculation to work out the bookmaker’s profit margin (1/Decimal Odds Option A)*100 + (1/Decimal Odds Option B)*100) it shows 108.03. This means the return to player figure is 91.97%.

To see if this was a typical figure we also checked a darts game in the Modus League. Boris Koltsov is playing Martin Adams with Koltsov priced at 87/100 and Adams at 10/11. Using the same formula as before we get a total of 105.00. That is a return to player figure of 95%, quite substantially higher than the tennis odds.

Football betting is incredibly popular in the UK, and one of the bets most placed is the Over/Under market. As these bets are binary, there can only be two results; therefore, these bets are easy to calculate the return to player. For the Over/Under market, the odds offered in several Bundesliga games we tested showed an average return to player of 5%.

Interestingly, there was variance, albeit minimal, between the different Over/Under score lines. For 0.5 goals the figure of 105.12 represented a profit line for the bookmaker of 5.12% and a return to player figure (RTP) of 94.87%. For one goal it was 105.31 (profit line 5.31 and RTP of 94.68%), for 1.5 goals it was 106.30 (profit line 6.30 and RTP of 93.69%), and for 2.5 goals it was 105.54 (profit line 5.54 and RTP of 94.45%). This shows a consistent pattern of above-average odds for this market.

Basic but Fully Functional Platform

The sports betting platform is simple to use but as we have already mentioned in our STS review, it does seem fairly basic compared to some sites such as betway and bet365. However, this is more of an observation rather than a criticism as the site is perfectly functional, and some people will like the simplistic design.

The main screen is split into three sections; Live Now, Highlights and Starting Soon. At the top of the screen, quick navigation buttons give you instant access to in-play, sports, casino, live casino, esports and virtual games. There is also a separate button for promotions; this does appear as a little overkill as all the promotions are already on display, taking up a quarter of the screen on the right-hand side. There is also a ‘More’ button which gives you access to Betgames (more live casino games) and STS’s excellent blog which has some great betting tips featured.

It is the left-hand side that allows fast access to the many different sports you can bet on at STS. A handy search option at the top enables you to type in a player, team, league or event to locate that market quickly. The top (most popular) leagues and events are displayed in the top third while the rest of the screen on the right-hand side lists all the sports they offer.

How to Place a Bet at STS

Before you can place a STS UK sports bet, you first need to open up an account with the bookmaker. This is a fast and easy process and shouldn’t take any longer than five minutes. At the STS website, click on the join button and you’ll be asked to provide an e-mail address you wish to use and provide a password for you to access your account once created.

You will also be asked for the following details; full name (which must match your ID that you’ll be asked to provide), gender, your date of birth, full address including postcode and mobile number. You’ll also be asked what level of daily, weekly and monthly deposit limits you wish to put on the account. By default, it sets a daily level of £200, a weekly limit of £500 and a monthly limit of £2500. You will also be asked if you wish to receive marketing materials.

• [1] Choose Your BetSetting up a new STS betting account is simple. From the main page of the website, click the join button and enter the required details.
• [2] Lay Your StakeThe next step is finding the event or events you wish to bet on.
• [3] Confirm On Your Bet SlipOnce you have found the market, you will see the odds displayed. Click on your selection, press confirm.

The next step is to find the event you wish to bet on, if it is a big event or game and it is starting soon, the chances are it will be clearly shown on the main page. If not, you can use the search option or find the event by clicking on a sport on the left-hand side of the screen. Once found, click on the odds of the event you wish to bet on. A betting slip will appear, enter your stake and confirm the bet.

Another way to bet is live betting (also called in-play betting). Simply click on the ‘Live Now’ header on the main page, and all events that are currently underway will be shown. As the odds continuously change through a live event, the possible returns will fluctuate. A good tactic is if the underdog takes the lead, you could back the favourite, as you will get better odds than if you had bet before the event started.

STS: Company Info

In this next section, we’ll take a closer look at the company themselves. We’ll tell you more about the company, tell you when they started, sponsorships they have in place and other information. We will also assess how good their customer service is and discuss the different ways you can contact the bookmaker.

The Business Under the Microscope

While STS may not be a well-known name here in the UK, in their native Poland, they are a big player and have over 400 land-based retail shops. Their commitment to grassroots sport in Poland, especially for football is commendable, and the company is also a significant contributor to the Sport Your Opportunity Foundation, an organisation that supports various initiatives related to the development of Polish sport.

The company is the official betting partner of all 14 teams including Lech Poznań, Pogoń Szczecin, Korona Kielce and Wloclawe in Poland’s PlusLiga futsal league. STS also is the official bookmaker of the league overall, recently signing an extension with PlusLiga that will run until 2022.

As well as interests in football and futsal, STS is also highly active within the e-sports arena. They are one of the few bookmakers in the world who sponsor an individual gamer; they have a partnership in place with Paweł “innocent” Mocek who is a successful CS:GO (Counter-Strike: Global Offensive) player.

Customer Support10

Customer support is one of the most important aspects of any online sports betting site and can make or break a customer experience. However, for the average bettor, we barely have any contact with support staff unless something goes wrong. Luckily, we are not your average punter, so we put STS to the test.

Although we found in this STS review that they do not have a telephone number for customers to contact them on, this is not unusual for a modern bookmaker who often prefers customers to use the LiveChat functionality. When you launch the live chat, there is an STS knowledge base in which you can attempt to find the answers to your question yourself. Alternatively enter your name, e-mail and what language (English or Polish) and click ‘Start the chat’.

We used the LiveChat option at peak-time (9-11 am and 6 – 8 pm) several times as well as early morning and late evening. At all times, the waiting was minimal and much better than many other operators we have reviewed. Customer service representatives were always polite and helpful and provided the answers we were looking for. They never rushed us (even when we were purposely slow), and we always got the impression they genuinely wanted to help.

Licensing & Security9

One of the first things that struck us when reviewing the STS betting site was the level of transparency that the bookmaker offers. Away from sports betting, the operator also offers casino games, and they list the RTP (return to player) rate of all of the games they provide, this information is not always easy to get with other sites. STS, however, publish this information every five minutes, which was a good indicator for us.

The UK Gambling Commission, who licence and regulate every bookmaker who offer sports betting for the UK audience, insist on strict social responsibility measures that operators must comply with. The company offer several responsible gambling tools, including; turning off marketing notifications, deposit limits, betting limits as well as offering ‘time out’ and self-exclusion options.

Another option we really like is that STS enables you to see how much you play and spend on gambling by offering your full history at the click of a link, the added bonus of this facility is that it is easy to see which bets and markets have been profitable in the past and which ones to maybe avoid. STS Limited is regulated by the United Kingdom Gambling Commission, you can see their licencing information here.

Bonus Points7

In this section, we like to award the bookmakers that go above and beyond in creating an excellent betting experiencewith bonus points. It is only fair, as we are unashamedly quick to point out negatives in any aspect of their service.

As a new player in the UK market, this STS review found they deserve credit for offering ‘The Full Monty’ as regards to the choice of sports they offer, rivalling even big names like bet365 and Ladbrokes. Call us sentimental, but we also love the fact it sponsors the national football team (Poland). Another highlight we’ve already mentioned is their seemingly genuine commitment to social responsibility, which is often a need to do rather than a want to do at some bookmakers.

• Live Streams.2/3
• Sponsorship.3/3
• Awards.0/2
• Extra Markets.1/1
• Bonuses.1/1
• Bonus Points.7

eSports lovers will be right at home when STS betting, the bookmaker offers one of the most comprehensive list of games that you can bet on that we have seen, as a new entrant we’d expect to see this focus on the next generation of betting, they didn’t disappoint. That’s why it made our list of the best eSports betting sites.

However, we’re slightly disappointed by the STS betting bonus. Its terms are hard for the average gambler to attain, so bear that in mind when you sign up. If a free bet offer is what you’re after, check out our list of betting bonuses in the UK.

Conclusion

STS is a new entrant to the UK sports betting market but has extensive knowledge of sports betting in their native Poland. This experience shows as the bookmaker offered a very robust and enjoyable platform to bet on. The interface is not the best we’ve ever seen; it’s totally functional but doesn’t deliver the wow factor. However, looks are subjective; we’d prefer a quick and easy interface rather than a work of art that’s unusable.

Often you feel with bookmakers that social responsibility is an afterthought, but with STS, you sense a genuine desire to deliver a great product while offering the tools and support when needed. However, the STS welcome bonus is below average, as its based on playthrough amount instead of a straight up deposit match.

One of the biggest disappointments we found in this STS review is the lack of horse racing betting. As the sport is the UK’s second-biggest market, it seems strange this is missing, so instead you’ll have to check out the best horse racing betting sites if you want to bet on racing. This is also the case with greyhound racing. However, if these are not essential markets for you, then there is a lot to like here. The STS odds are good, there is a wide selection of sports, and betting types and the customer service is excellent. Overall a recommended bookmaker and a good choice for sports betting online. Check out our list of best UK betting sites to see where they rank overall.

FAQ’s About STS Sports Betting

That concludes our STS UK sports betting review, and we hope you found it informative. In this section, we will cover the frequently asked questions regarding the operator. If you do not find the answer to the issue you are looking for, feel free to drop us an email to info@bestbettingsites.com, we read every email and would love to hear from you.

Do STS Have a Good Range of Sports to Bet On?

As a new player to the sports betting market in the UK, it would be understandable if STS didn’t have a good choice of betting markets available. However, they have a great selection of sports available to bet on, including several sports that you’ll struggle to find elsewhere. To read in more detail what sports are supported, read more here.

Can I Place Bets Live at STS?

You certainly can, the STS sports betting main page has a dedicated section on live betting (also called in-play betting). As when live betting, the odds fluctuate a lot, this can create opportunities. If a team or player is losing, but you expect them to win eventually, the increase in odds can benefit you greatly. Check out our dedicated section to find out more.

Can I Cash-out Bets Early at STS?

Yes, you can. Cashing out bets is an excellent example of how technological advances have changed how we bet and is available at STS. Customers can utilise the 'cash-out’ option to receive cashback from a wager, even if the action is still going on. The amount of money that you will receive will depend on the current state of play in the fixture and the odds you placed the bet at.

Does STS Have An App I Can Download?

Currently, STS does not provide an app for either Apple or Android devices. However, using your web browser on any device will enable you to use the service. As the website is HTML 5 compatible, it will look great, no matter how big or small your mobile device is. The process to place a bet is the same, no matter what device is used.