Guide To The Best Social Betting Apps
The phrase “social betting” is an umbrella, referring to a wide variety of activities around a common theme. The idea behind social betting is simple – take the house and/or the bookmaker out of the equation and allow wagers head-to-head between real people.
Social gambling apps are where social media and Web-based sports betting overlap. Capitalizing on people’s desire for all things social and the still-burgeoning online sports betting market, social betting apps are aimed at customers looking for new ways to participate in sports fandom.
Some social gambling sites and apps allow for cash prizes and real money transactions, but many reward bragging rights only. It should be no surprise that social betting apps that don’t reward cash are popular – they are nothing more than specialized social games, which have been popular nearly as long as sites like Facebook and Twitter.
The market for peer–to–peer gambling apps is growing – these days, apps designed to mimic fantasy sports league play are increasingly popular. These are similar to private “sportsbook” services that incorporate the same betting lines available from traditional bookmakers but are limited to a select group of participants, much like a fantasy football league.
The built-in social element raises the stakes, whether a social app pays tangible prizes or not. Success can be celebrated at the expense of losing friends, and victory can be shared among friends that bet in a similar way. The best social betting apps for iOS and Android know how to combine the trappings of a traditional social network with the features of a modern bookmaker app.
To that end, here are the five top social betting apps available for sports betting fans today. These apps allow for increased social interaction among bettors and have created a new way to wager, one that doesn’t involve a centralized authority like traditional bookmaker apps.
BETYOU - WWW.BETYOU.IE
Social gambling apps are where social media and Web-based sports betting overlap. Capitalizing on people’s desire for all things social and the still-burgeoning online sports betting market, social betting apps are aimed at customers looking for new ways to participate in sports fandom.
Some social gambling sites and apps allow for cash prizes and real money transactions, but many reward bragging rights only. It should be no surprise that social betting apps that don’t reward cash are popular – they are nothing more than specialized social games, which have been popular nearly as long as sites like Facebook and Twitter.
The market for peer–to–peer gambling apps is growing – these days, apps designed to mimic fantasy sports league play are increasingly popular. These are similar to private “sportsbook” services that incorporate the same betting lines available from traditional bookmakers but are limited to a select group of participants, much like a fantasy football league.
The built-in social element raises the stakes, whether a social app pays tangible prizes or not. Success can be celebrated at the expense of losing friends, and victory can be shared among friends that bet in a similar way. The best social betting apps for iOS and Android know how to combine the trappings of a traditional social network with the features of a modern bookmaker app.
To that end, here are the five top social betting apps available for sports betting fans today. These apps allow for increased social interaction among bettors and have created a new way to wager, one that doesn’t involve a centralized authority like traditional bookmaker apps.
BETYOU - WWW.BETYOU.IE
BetYou for iPhone and Android
The first social betting app of note doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with sports. This is not to say that some wagers can’t be sports-based – they can – it’s just that the app is designed for something larger.
BetYou is a social platform built around wagers between friends, wagers which can be based on anything the individuals involved agree on. Friends can also “challenge” one another on wagers not agreed on ahead of time; the website shows an example, a man who has bet his friend that he won’t take a solo sky dive, along with a wager of $100.
The design of the app is an indication that the name of the game with BetYou is social interaction; the ability to chat with other members, upload and share photos related to wagers, and see how your friends are faring in their own wagers is what makes social betting different from making a private wager. To that end, photos and avatars are a common sight, as are bright colors and large cartoon-like graphics and icons.
The most obviously “social” aspect of this app is what BetYou calls an “activity feed,” echoing Facebook’s terminology very closely. The activity feed is the app’s landing page, where the activity of friends in a bettor’s BetYou network is displayed, as are quick links to perform most of the app’s functions. Links to visit friend’s profiles, challenge friends to bets, and see how the rest of the BetYou community is wagering on major sporting events and other site-wide contests are a tap away from the home page.
DOWNLOAD: BetYou is available from the Apple App Store and for Android devices.
BRAGSTR - WWW.BRAGSTR.COM
BetYou is a social platform built around wagers between friends, wagers which can be based on anything the individuals involved agree on. Friends can also “challenge” one another on wagers not agreed on ahead of time; the website shows an example, a man who has bet his friend that he won’t take a solo sky dive, along with a wager of $100.
The design of the app is an indication that the name of the game with BetYou is social interaction; the ability to chat with other members, upload and share photos related to wagers, and see how your friends are faring in their own wagers is what makes social betting different from making a private wager. To that end, photos and avatars are a common sight, as are bright colors and large cartoon-like graphics and icons.
The most obviously “social” aspect of this app is what BetYou calls an “activity feed,” echoing Facebook’s terminology very closely. The activity feed is the app’s landing page, where the activity of friends in a bettor’s BetYou network is displayed, as are quick links to perform most of the app’s functions. Links to visit friend’s profiles, challenge friends to bets, and see how the rest of the BetYou community is wagering on major sporting events and other site-wide contests are a tap away from the home page.
DOWNLOAD: BetYou is available from the Apple App Store and for Android devices.
BRAGSTR - WWW.BRAGSTR.COM
Bragstr Social Betting on iPhone & iPad
Bragstr is among the oldest of apps on this list, available since late 2011. Bragstr says that it offers a marketplace for “sports betting tournaments” tied to live odds and scores. The developers have done a job of branding the service, sometimes referring to it as “sports betting with poker tournament-style play,” sometimes emphasizing its highly-social element.
Players can compete against friends or the growing Bragstr community itself in leagues both private and public. The name of the game is to pick winners more often than the people you’re competing against, in tournament schedules that can range from a single day to an entire season of sports. The app gets its social element by syncing directly with social media sites like Facebook, to the point that members can invite their friends to compete through Facebook’s website or native apps. The app keeps track of a wide range of stats, allowing comparison between bettors in a number of categories besides straight-up wins and losses.
One difference between Bragstr and some of the other apps listed here is the availability of native currency – Bragstr doesn’t accept credit cards or traffic in real cash wagers, but the app has its own currency that is earned through victories and for performing various functions, such as inviting new members from Facebook or Twitter. This currency is used to start and join leagues and wagers, but there is no system in place for making purchases through the app.
The Bragstr app has benefited from a few years of development and time in the industry – it looks better than the majority of social gambling applications, and includes plenty of graphics, animations, photographs, and other visual features. Available wagers get attractive graphical representations in a wide range of colors. The layout could be a bit intimidating for new users, broken up as it is into a lot of categories. The most basic choice is between “Community” and “Private” wagers, but after that initial choice the variety grows immensely. Available sports are limited to American pro leagues, so during some parts of the year, the number of available bets shrinks.
DOWNLOAD: Download Bragstr from the iTunes App Store for free.
KIGGIT - WWW.KIGGIT.COM
Players can compete against friends or the growing Bragstr community itself in leagues both private and public. The name of the game is to pick winners more often than the people you’re competing against, in tournament schedules that can range from a single day to an entire season of sports. The app gets its social element by syncing directly with social media sites like Facebook, to the point that members can invite their friends to compete through Facebook’s website or native apps. The app keeps track of a wide range of stats, allowing comparison between bettors in a number of categories besides straight-up wins and losses.
One difference between Bragstr and some of the other apps listed here is the availability of native currency – Bragstr doesn’t accept credit cards or traffic in real cash wagers, but the app has its own currency that is earned through victories and for performing various functions, such as inviting new members from Facebook or Twitter. This currency is used to start and join leagues and wagers, but there is no system in place for making purchases through the app.
The Bragstr app has benefited from a few years of development and time in the industry – it looks better than the majority of social gambling applications, and includes plenty of graphics, animations, photographs, and other visual features. Available wagers get attractive graphical representations in a wide range of colors. The layout could be a bit intimidating for new users, broken up as it is into a lot of categories. The most basic choice is between “Community” and “Private” wagers, but after that initial choice the variety grows immensely. Available sports are limited to American pro leagues, so during some parts of the year, the number of available bets shrinks.
DOWNLOAD: Download Bragstr from the iTunes App Store for free.
KIGGIT - WWW.KIGGIT.COM
Kiggit Social Betting App
One of the more specialized social betting applications is Kiggit, where the focus is football (soccer). Kiggit is also one of the newest such apps to hit the market, and as such there is not a ton of press concerning this football-specific socialized betting application.
Like other apps of this type, Kiggit is a sports challenge involving groups of friends competing at who can select the outcomes of matches. Kiggit covers all of the world’s biggest football leagues, including English Premier League, Major League Soccer, Primera Division, Serie A, Bundesliga, and others. Outcomes of wagers between friends depend on the outcome of actual matches.
Kiggit is another social app that eschews cash prizes in favor of “social” rewards. Leaderboards and private rankings among friends are easily accessible from every page of the application, encouraging friendly competition and trash-talking. Kiggit awards special medals to users who perform particularly well, and the collection of these medals is another (purely-social) reward users can claim and add to their bragging rights.
The app gets one thing perfectly right – the design elements are attractive and all-encompassing. The color scheme is very dark, with black backgrounds the norm. Text is set off in chrome text fields and buttons, with occasional highlighted fields in blue with white text. The effect is unique – where most gambling-related apps use whites and greys, Kiggit’s bold look stands out.
As for the layout, simplicity is the common thread. The app’s main menu offers just a few options, each of which is vital to the experience of the app. Selecting “Pick Winners” takes users to the board of available matches, while “Pick Friends” allows one-touch bet creation. The “Leaderboard” option displays both public and private scores. Users who want to watch the matches they’ve wagered on as results come in can do so under the “My Picks” tab, with simple green and red highlights to display winning and losing wagers. Live match scores (and a few simplified statistics) are also available through the “My Picks” tab, allowing bettors to closely follow individual contests as they play out.
DOWNLOAD: Download the Kiggit social betting app for soccer from the App Store today.
BETTOGETHERAPP - WWW.BETTOGETHER.COM
BetTogether is another new social betting app that’s earning a lot of attention in the industry. Like BetYou, it depends heavily on traditional social media interaction (in the form of chats and activity updates), but unlike BetYou, BetTogether is focused on social wagers involving sports, and only a select few sports at that.
BetTogether does not reward any sort of prize – the purpose is to give bettors a market where they can compare their skills with friends and other sports fans. The app ranks every member according to their performance, and can also create rankings among select groups of members, similar to a fantasy league setup. This app allows wagers on the five major American sports leagues, and lets bettors build their own custom wagers and betting leagues for peer-to-peer wagering. Members can join wagers or groups made by other users or keep their bets private between friends.
Less a bookmaker app than an interactive social game, BetTogether incorporates a social feature not common in today’s social-based applications, the awarding of points to different participants by the community involved in the wager, like a “like button” with some meaning behind it. Winners are chosen through the vote system rather than a straight-up head-to-head contest. A familiar social element found on BetTogether is the ability to tease other competitors. Winners can place different icons on the profile picture of losing participants, and use various animated “takedowns” provided by the app on a friend in a chat setting.
Users familiar with mobile bookmaker apps won’t find anything particularly revolutionary about the app’s design or its layout. In fact, the look of the app should be familiar, with muted blue and silver colors against a mostly-white background. If anything, the app is a bit too similar to existing mobile applications. The design is intuitive – the landing page includes links to the five available sports leagues for easy access to available wagers. The “bets” section is further divided into three tabs – “Available Games,” “General Bets,” and “My Bets.”
Like other apps of this type, Kiggit is a sports challenge involving groups of friends competing at who can select the outcomes of matches. Kiggit covers all of the world’s biggest football leagues, including English Premier League, Major League Soccer, Primera Division, Serie A, Bundesliga, and others. Outcomes of wagers between friends depend on the outcome of actual matches.
Kiggit is another social app that eschews cash prizes in favor of “social” rewards. Leaderboards and private rankings among friends are easily accessible from every page of the application, encouraging friendly competition and trash-talking. Kiggit awards special medals to users who perform particularly well, and the collection of these medals is another (purely-social) reward users can claim and add to their bragging rights.
The app gets one thing perfectly right – the design elements are attractive and all-encompassing. The color scheme is very dark, with black backgrounds the norm. Text is set off in chrome text fields and buttons, with occasional highlighted fields in blue with white text. The effect is unique – where most gambling-related apps use whites and greys, Kiggit’s bold look stands out.
As for the layout, simplicity is the common thread. The app’s main menu offers just a few options, each of which is vital to the experience of the app. Selecting “Pick Winners” takes users to the board of available matches, while “Pick Friends” allows one-touch bet creation. The “Leaderboard” option displays both public and private scores. Users who want to watch the matches they’ve wagered on as results come in can do so under the “My Picks” tab, with simple green and red highlights to display winning and losing wagers. Live match scores (and a few simplified statistics) are also available through the “My Picks” tab, allowing bettors to closely follow individual contests as they play out.
DOWNLOAD: Download the Kiggit social betting app for soccer from the App Store today.
BETTOGETHERAPP - WWW.BETTOGETHER.COM
BetTogether is another new social betting app that’s earning a lot of attention in the industry. Like BetYou, it depends heavily on traditional social media interaction (in the form of chats and activity updates), but unlike BetYou, BetTogether is focused on social wagers involving sports, and only a select few sports at that.
BetTogether does not reward any sort of prize – the purpose is to give bettors a market where they can compare their skills with friends and other sports fans. The app ranks every member according to their performance, and can also create rankings among select groups of members, similar to a fantasy league setup. This app allows wagers on the five major American sports leagues, and lets bettors build their own custom wagers and betting leagues for peer-to-peer wagering. Members can join wagers or groups made by other users or keep their bets private between friends.
Less a bookmaker app than an interactive social game, BetTogether incorporates a social feature not common in today’s social-based applications, the awarding of points to different participants by the community involved in the wager, like a “like button” with some meaning behind it. Winners are chosen through the vote system rather than a straight-up head-to-head contest. A familiar social element found on BetTogether is the ability to tease other competitors. Winners can place different icons on the profile picture of losing participants, and use various animated “takedowns” provided by the app on a friend in a chat setting.
Users familiar with mobile bookmaker apps won’t find anything particularly revolutionary about the app’s design or its layout. In fact, the look of the app should be familiar, with muted blue and silver colors against a mostly-white background. If anything, the app is a bit too similar to existing mobile applications. The design is intuitive – the landing page includes links to the five available sports leagues for easy access to available wagers. The “bets” section is further divided into three tabs – “Available Games,” “General Bets,” and “My Bets.”
