ComeOn! bookmaker review: rules, support, sign up, free bets, site

ComeOn! began life in Stockholm, Sweden, in 2010. Initially a casino, it soon added a sportsbook – although it can sometimes feel that the gaming tables are the real heart of the site. Indeed, back home the ComeOn! company is part of the Cherry group, which operates several land-based casinos and hires out tables for one-off events. This informs much of the website’s style, with the emphasis placed firmly on fun rather than targeting the serious punter.

That said, there are good things for the shrewd bettor here. ComeOn! has an impressive loyalty scheme, plus a free bet club, so frequent users will get their rewards.

ComeOn! dropped out of the UK market in 2019 due to changes in British tax rules. However, the registration process on ComeOn! suggests that it is still accessible for users in Guernsey and the Isle of Man. In its motherland, meanwhile, ComeOn! remains a major force in the online gambling world. A high-profile connection with footballer Anders Svensson, whose 148 appearances for Sweden remain a national record, keeps it firmly in the spotlight back home. Svensson is often to be found offering tips and promoting enhanced odds for big games. And with a customer-first approach that picks up plaudits wherever ComeOn! operates, there are plenty of positives for punters who can access the site.

Layout

The colour scheme is a dark-screen friendly palette of greys with highlights in green. Navigation in ComeOn! is fairly intuitive, with the major events of the moment front and centre, and a straightforward system of sidebars to help bettors find the markets that excite them. The right-hand sidebar promotes specials, with particular reference to boosted accas of various flavours. On the left, navigation starts with the most popular events of the day – Euro 2020 and Copa America football jostling for position with the NHL’s Stanley Cup final and the start of the tennis from Wimbledon. In the middle, ComeOn! has a scrolling panel of headline items. This is usually a combination of high-profile markets, boosted accas and potential bonuses. Scrolling down, we’re quickly into the busiest in-play markets of the moment and ready to place our bets.

ComeOn! is not going to win any prizes for originality here, but the layout is easy to use and has a refreshing lack of clutter. It’s hard to imagine anyone will get confused finding their bets and putting them on while using this site.

Mobile users are well catered for. The ComeOn! web version of the site is adapted for use on handheld devices, and there are also apps available for iOS and Android. Most reviewers feel that ComeOn!’s apps offer a faster, smoother experience, especially in the casino, but web-based gambling is often more convenient, especially for occasional users.

Services

The ComeOn! Sportsbook is pretty comprehensive, offering a wide range of sports. Not surprisingly, football is the driver of the site and ice hockey is a big deal in a country where puck chasing is a major pastime in every town. But there’s some depth here – Swedish cricket isn’t exactly renowned, but ComeOn! still offers markets on the big international games. The only obvious omission of ComeOn! seems to be horse racing, a sport integral to gambling in Britain and Ireland but rather more marginal in Europe.

Market depth is significant – games at Euro 2020 have more than 170 pre-game markets to go for, and even fairly low-key events have plenty to explore. A pre-season friendly between two English non-league teams still carries 36 markets. The ComeOn! in-play offer is also well-developed and cash out is available across the board. Live streaming, though, is not a feature of ComeOn! Instead, it’s a diagram to show the pattern of play and stats to help punters interpret the action. It’s worth noting that these are not available for lower-level games, so ComeOn! may not be the best place to follow your bets, even though it’s a good place to make them. Odds tend to be competitive, but rarely market leading when compared with the top prices on the markets. Overall, the sports betting experience on ComeOn! is solid rather than spectacular.

One novel feature of ComeOn! is the Retro Bet option. Ever wished you could bet on a game that has already finished, and the results are known? Well, now you can. Sort of. In reality, ComeOn!’s Retro Bet is an update of the familiar virtual sports markets offered to fill those hours when there is little significant sporting action. However, instead of using computer-generated images to ‘play’ its simulated soccer, Retro Bet splices together highlights of English top-flight action of yesteryear. It doesn’t make winning any easier, sadly – even when you recognise the clips, you see a Frankenstein mishmash of highlights from different historic fixtures – but there’s fun to be had from glimpses of the stars of the past in action, or a review of the changing fashions in kits and hairstyles over the decades.

And it’s not just about the sportsbook. ComeOn! started life as a casino and delivers all the gaming action you’d expect. In addition to regular and live casino experiences, the site also offers WeSpin, a social slots experience where you can join dozens of other players to spin the reels and share in your wins and losses. To join ComeOn!, choose your stake and add the money to the pot. An expert player will spin the reels and you’ll claim a share of the wins (or losses) according to how much you invest – if you put in 50 euros and the pot is worth 1,000, you’ll come back with 5% of whatever remains in the kitty. It’s designed to be a social experience, with players encouraged to join in the live chat. However, true to its Scandinavian roots, ComeOn! seems to offer this primarily in the Nordic languages – good for students, less helpful for monoglot punters.

Bonuses

Depending on the country from which you log in ComeOn!, you might qualify for a 100% bonus on your first deposit. That’s up to a maximum of 25 euros free. However, there are wagering requirements and punters won’t be able to withdraw their funds until they have gambled 5x the combined total of the bonus and initial deposit at odds of 1.7 or better on the sportsbook. Alternatively, ComeOn! bettors can use 35x those funds in the casino. There’s a 30-day time limit on fulfilling the wagering requirements.

ComeOn! also has regular free bets on offer at the Free Bet Club. It’s a simple enough set-up: pick out five multiples (minimum odds 1.3 for each leg, with an overall minimum of 1.69, minimum stake 10 Euros) each week, and claim a free 10 Euro bet. It’s similar to Paddy Power’s free bet club, although the Irish bookie has less stringent qualifying requirements and allows punters to use singles to meet the requirements and has minimum odds of 1.5.

In addition, there is a bonus point system for frequent ComeOn! users. This is one of the best loyalty schemes in the industry as ComeOn! looks to differentiate itself from the competition. Starting with 25 points a day just for logging in, plus bonus points for every Euro staked on the sportsbook or casino. Verifying an email address and phone number, plus submitting an ID can generate extra points. During major tournaments, such as Euro 2020, ComeOn! punters can get double points on some bets, meaning those freebies stack up just that little bit quicker. Then, customers can take them to the ComeOn! shop and turn points into free bets, free spins and more.

Customer care

ComeOn! talks up its customer-focused approach, but when it comes to walking the walk, customer services are only average. The ‘Support’ button in the top right-hand corner of the page gives access to live chat – which is pretty good – and a solid FAQ archive. That’s the good news.

However, the ComeOn! live chat is not available 24/7 so if you have a problem after 10 pm it will have to wait until the morning. In addition, at present, there is no available telephone helpdesk. There’s also email support, but that is a slower process.

The ComeOn! FAQ works by searching for keywords, which can be frustrating if your chosen phrase isn’t recognised. It can also be a little coy about money – there’s no clear list of available currencies, for example.

The current set-up is adequate as far as it goes, but ComeOn! is not quite up with the very best for customer service on this showing.

Registration

Creating an account on ComeOn!, for a UK-based user, will involve setting up a VPN to gain access to the site. After that, there’s a nice big green button in the top right-hand corner of the ComeOn! homepage labelled ‘Open Account’. You’ll be asked for an email address and password (6-15 characters, including upper case, lower case, number and symbol). Then step two asks for your name, address, date of birth and contact details. In some cases, users might be asked to provide ‘face ID’ – a selfie of them holding up their passport, ID card or driving license, intended to enhance security and verify the identity of account holders. Similarly, sometimes ComeOn! will ask for further documents to verify the account in question.

However, if you are trying to sign up from an excluded country, it’s likely that you’ll be stopped before the registration process gets as far as asking for photos, with an error message in Swedish to advise that your address doesn’t fit. So where can you get involved? The key countries for ComeOn!’s market are the Nordic lands – Sweden, Finland, Norway, Denmark, Iceland and the Faroe Islands – but it is also widely available across Latin America, the Caribbean and Oceania. New Zealand and Canada are also open for business. While ComeOn! does not currently operate in the UK, Guernsey and the Isle of Man are among the available countries on the drop-down list during registration.

Financials

Getting money in and out of your ComeOn! account is fairly straightforward. The site is compatible with several different payment systems. Many users will find credit or debit cards to be the preferred option and ComeOn! supports Visa and Mastercard. Several other payment systems are supported, but these vary from country to country. Popular services like Skrill, Neteller, Paysafe and Trustly are available.

ComeOn! accounts can run in different currencies – Swedish Kronor, Euros and Canadian dollars are among those available – but Sterling is no longer supported because ComeOn! is no longer registered to offer betting services in Britain. If your local currency is not supported, the Swedish Kronor appears to be the default currency on registration.

There are some limits on deposits and withdrawals at ComeOn! Deposits are capped at around £2,500 (less with some payment systems) and there’s a minimum withdrawal of around £10. Since figures are given in different currencies, the precise limits will depend on the exchange rate at the time of the transaction. However, there’s also a small catch – if ComeOn! users want to withdraw funds more than twice in any 30-day period, there’s a commission charge. This starts at 5 euros and represents 3.2% of your withdrawal. It’s avoidable with a bit of planning, but it’s definitely something to be aware of.

There are some limits on betting. ComeOn! has a maximum payout of £100,000 and the official minimum stake is listed as 40 euro cents. Most markets are settled immediately, but the terms and conditions advise allowing an hour for all bets to be settled – possibly longer if there is confusion or controversy about the outcome.

Reliability, security

ComeOn! is now headquartered in Malta and since June 2019 the company has been licensed by the Malta Gaming Authority (license # MGA/CRP/178/2009). This suggests a reputable and reliable company, but it’s worth keeping in mind that UK-based users cannot rely on any protection from the local gambling regulators in their home country.

Oddly, the ComeOn! website has no information about its security standards or encryption arrangements. There’s no reason to assume that ComeOn! doesn’t meet the usual industry standards, but it would be reassuring to have some confirmation of this.

In terms of its media reputation, ComeOn! no longer has a big profile in the English-speaking world. After withdrawing from the British market in 2019, it has not featured much in media reports. While operating in the UK, though, it had fairly positive reviews as a relatively small player in the market with potential for growth.

What’s missing?

First and foremost, accessibility. British users will struggle to open an account with ComeOn! That’s frustrating, given that the loyalty point scheme makes this an attractive proposition. If you have a workaround to set a working account, there are still a couple of things you might hope to see added in the future.

First, how about some live streaming? As mentioned above, the current ComeOn! in-play markets do an adequate job with stats and graphics, but there’s nothing like watching the action unfold in real-time on ComeOn!. Streaming is becoming a standard feature on many gambling sites and it would be nice to see ComeOn! join that party.

Second, a bit more information might be nice. The ComeOn! customer support set-up is OK but could be more responsive, and the FAQs are not always the easiest to navigate and don’t readily yield simple information like the available currencies. Indeed, there seem to be some inconsistencies on the ComeOn! site about which currencies are supported. In addition, ComeOn! might think about adding details of its online security and encryption in the footer on its homepage – just for reassurance.