SouthernCrossBet Review [April 2024]

Southern Cross Bet is a family-owned bookmaker based in regional Australia. And while it’s certainly not the biggest betting site in the country and has various areas in which it could improve, for a smaller operation Southern Cross Bet certainly does plenty right. In this detailed Southern Cross Bet review, we’ll take a look at everything that you need to know about this bookmaker, including their website, their range of markets, their customer support platform and much, much more.   

Southern Cross Bet Australia have plenty of experience having been founded back in 2004, though in that time they have remained a relatively small bookmaker. This certainly has its benefits; a smaller bookmaker has the capacity to devote more time to its customers, and that’s certainly reflected in the Southern Cross Bet customer support platform, which includes live chat, phone, email and post. Invariably, however, smaller betting sites tend not to have the same variety of betting markets, and this is the case with Southern Cross Bet. 

For racing this is not so much of an issue; SouthernCrossBet offers a good range of racing markets. For sports, however, it’s noticeable. There aren’t a great deal of sports on offer – just 12 at the time of writing – and for those sports there are very few markets. I’ve just had a look at today’s NBA games, for example – a very popular betting league – and outside of moneyline, total points and line, there are just four markets. 

Still, if you only ever bet on the basic markets, then you’ll get that here, and the odds are competitive with bigger bookies. For line bets, for example, teams will be paying around $1.90, which is a margin similar to far more well known bookmakers than Southern Cross Bet Australia. 

The website is also a good one. It uses a pretty commonly used platform, but the blue and white colours are aesthetically pleasing and the site design uses every inch of space without making it look too cluttered. The screenshot below shows the home page, with the addition of upcoming sports on the right a little different to what you’ll get with many other sites. 

There is also a dedicated Southern Cross Bet app, and it’s a pretty good one. This makes it easy to use Southern Cross Bet on the go, and is basically every bit as functional as the website itself. 

Overall, while Southern Cross Bet is not the most comprehensive bookmaker in Australia, it does a few things right and will more than serve its purpose for many punters. The most notable area for improvement is in the range of markets offered, but that aside, Southern Cross Bet is a solid betting site.   

Betting Variety ⭐⭐
The betting variety at Southern Cross Bet Australia is pretty limited, and is probably the major flaw with this bookmaker. 

Odds ⭐⭐⭐⭐
For the markets that Southern Cross Bet does have, however, the odds are pretty competitive. 

Mobile experience ⭐⭐⭐⭐

The Southern Cross Bet app is a good, functional one that is as easy to use as the website. 

Website Experience ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
If you’re someone who prefers to use a desktop site, however, Southern Cross Bet has a pretty good one of those too. 

Customer Support ⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Southern Cross Bet customer support platform includes live chat, phone, email and post. 

Banking Options ⭐⭐⭐⭐

There aren’t a huge range of Southern Cross Bet payment options, but there are enough to keep most people happy. 

✔️SouthernCrossBet Strengths

• Functional Southern Cross Bet App – For a while there was no dedicated Southern Cross Bet app, but now that there is it’s become a reliable way to access Southern Cross Bet’s range of services.
• Competitive Odds – The Southern Cross Bet odds are pretty good for a smaller site – in fact they’re solid for any bookmaker, with the margins very similar to other, bigger competitors.
• Good All Around – There’s not a lot that Southern Cross Bet does which is significantly better than their competitors, but they do provide a solid platform without too many major drawbacks. 

❌SouthernCrossBet Weaknesses

• Small Range of Sports Markets – This is the biggest flaw with Southern Cross Bet. Their range of sports markets is pretty poor, with only a handful of sports on offer and less markets than most competitors for those leagues for which they do offer odds. 
• No Live Streaming – This is not uncommon for smaller bookmakers, but nonetheless with so many competitors offering streaming on their site and mobile app of at least something, Southern Cross Bet’s lack of streaming is notable.
• Lack of Growth – Many smaller bookmakers can point to having not been in the industry for long, but Southern Cross Bet has been around since 2004. That makes their lack of sports markets a little more concerning, as the scope for growth is probably less than what it would be had they been around for less time. 

👨‍⚖️SouthernCrossBet Final Verdict

Southern Cross Bet has a number of strengths, and as outlined above they are probably things that will appeal to a lot of people. Their lack of sports markets, meanwhile, is comfortably their biggest flaw, while no live streaming is also not ideal. 

As you may have gleaned already in this Southern Cross Bet review, there will be a couple of criticisms in this section. But let’s start with a positive; the odds that Southern Cross Bet Australia offers on their sports markets are very good for a bookmaker of their size, with line odds coming in at around $1.90, as shown in the screenshot below – a number which is similar to many bigger betting sites. 

Unfortunately, there aren’t a great deal of markets available. During football season a few more do pop up for the AFL and other major leagues, but it’s still far from industry leading and for other major leagues there are not sufficient markets available to make them competitive with other sites. 

For example, I’ve just taken a look at the games today in the NBA – the biggest basketball league in the world and one which is very popular in Australia. There are only seven markets available for each game – moneyline, line and over/under markets, as well as a couple of quarter/half markets and not much else. 

There is also not a great deal of sports on offer. At the time of writing, just 12 different sports have markets for them, which is among the lowest of the betting sites I’ve reviewed. This does, of course, include the biggest sports and leagues like AFL, the aforementioned NBA and NRL, but there are plenty of others which are missing. 

Overall, the sports aspect of Southern Cross Bet could do with some work. The odds are good, so if you’re just betting on really major markets like a moneyline in the AFL, you’ll be looked after, but if you like player props, or less popular sports and leagues, Southern Cross Bet may not have what you’re looking for. 

The Southern Cross Bet racing experience is one about which I’ll be a little more positive than what I was in the above section of this Southern Cross Bet review. They have markets on all the race meets that you’d expect, both domestic and international, so you won’t have any trouble finding the races that you want to bet on. And like in the sports section, they also have pretty decent odds.  
 
Importantly, the racing section of the site or Southern Cross Bet app is also user friendly. It’s easy to navigate to the race you want, and then once there you’ll be able to flick through win/place markets and exotics. 
 
The Southern Cross Bet platform also easily lets you see the form information about each runner that you need. This should be a given, but unfortunately some bookmakers have platforms which mean you need to open a pop up window to take a look at past form, which is a little clunky and time-consuming. Southern Cross Bet is not like that, and makes it easy to find what you want to find. 
 
The racing platform on Southern Cross Bet is, overall, a good one. The website and mobile app make it easy to find the races that you want, the odds are good, and the information about runners that should be there is there, making for a comprehensive racing platform.  

Previously in this SouthernCrossBet review, we’ve talked about the different sports available, and touched on the markets (or lack thereof). Now, let’s take a look specifically at what you can bet on with SouthernCrossBet. 

SouthernCrossBet Betting Markets 

• Money line
• Point Spread
• Total Points
• Quarter/half Markets
• Margin Markets 

SouthernCrossBet Types of Bets Available 

• Single Bets
• Multi Bets
• Same Game Multi Bets 

We’ve already briefly covered the betting odds, but in this section of this SouthernCrossBet review, we’ll take a look in a little more detail at what odds you can expect to find with this bookmaker.  
 
The quickest way to get a gauge for the kind of odds you’ll find with a bookmaker is, in my experience, to take a look at the line for major sporting games. With just two teams or people playing and the odds typically around even, this is a quick way to get an idea of whether the odds are competitive or not. 
 
It’s immediately clear with SouthernCrossBet that their odds are pretty good. The lines for upcoming NBA games, for example, sit at around $1.90 – the highest you’ll get here is generally around $1.91, maybe $1.92 at a stretch, while some bookmakers are as low as $1.88 or even $1.87. This means that SouthernCrossBet is right around the middle and perhaps even towards the top end in terms of their odds. 
 
For horse racing it’s similar. Their favourites, which are clearly marked on both the website and the Southern Cross app, is generally around the market average, and the same can be said for the rest of the runners. 
 
For a smaller bookmaker, Southern Cross Bet odds are pretty good. This is particularly the case given the relative lack of markets they have – that is often something which would correlate with poor odds, but that’s not the case here, and Southern Cross Bet Australia find themselves competitive with bigger bookies in terms of odds. 

Typically in this section of a review, we’d take a look at some of the standout features which a bookmaker has. This can be a range of different things, but will always be something that few if any competitors have as well.  
 
As unusual as it may sound, SouthernCrossBet Australia doesn’t really have anything that fits into this category. That doesn’t necessarily mean they aren’t worth checking out; many of the major components of the site are as good as other major bookmakers. But in terms of standout features, there isn’t really anything of note. This is a betting site that does what it needs to do, but if you’re looking for a couple of added frills you won’t find it at SouthernCrossBet. 

Like most bookmakers, the SouthernCrossBet website doesn’t stand out in any meaningful way, but it doesn’t need to. A website needs to load fast, be easy to navigate around, and hey, if it looks nice that’s a bonus. The SouthernCrossBet Australia website ticks all of these boxes.  
 
You’ll be greeted by a homepage with all of the sports and racing markets available to be clicked into down the left side, upcoming races in the middle, and upcoming sports events on the right. They also really play into the ‘Australian-owned’ shtick, as the screenshot below shows,  with kangaroo signs and a call to action suggesting you ‘Say g’day to our app’ adorning the top of our page.  
 
Importantly, it’s super simple to find what you need to here. All of the prompts are along the left-hand side of the page as mentioned, while the upcoming races in the middle are pretty standard fare for bookies these days. The addition of upcoming sports on the right is a bonus; many sites don’t have this, but it does make it quick to navigate without cluttering the page. 
 
What’s more, the page loads quickly, so you won’t have any issues getting where you want to go. Overall, this is a really nice website, one which does everything it needs to do and looks stylish while doing it. 

For quite a while, there was no SouthernCrossBet app for customers to enjoy. This definitely put this bookmaker behind the eight ball; many punters these days choose to use betting apps rather than desktop site, and with the abundance of bookmakers out there, if one of those punters comes across a betting site without a mobile app they’ll simply look elsewhere. 
 
Those days, however, are now over, and a SouthernCrossBet app is now available for both iOS and Android devices. And importantly, it’s a pretty good one – all that time they seem to have spent working on it was obviously not for nothing! 
 
The app lays out all the features of the desktop site in a smaller package, enabling you to easily scroll through the SouthernCrossBet app and find what you’re looking for.  
 
It also loads fast, which is key. That might sound obvious, but it’s a recurring grievance of mine that many bookmaker apps seem to have so many issues loading and seem to be so prone to glitches. The SouthernCrossBet app, in my experience, doesn’t have these problems. 
 
Overall, this is a good, solid app. In many ways it’s reflective of SouthernCrossBet itself – there are no bells and whistles, but it does what it needs to do. 

The Southern Cross Bet banking platform is very much reflective of the bookmaker on the whole – it does what it needs to do, without standing out from the pack in any way. The list of payment methods is one which is pretty common among smaller bookmakers; your options include credit/debit card,  POLi for deposits, and bank transfer. 
 
The first of these will always be my preference, primarily because it’s available on virtually every betting site. Southern Cross Bet is no exception, and to use this form of payment all you need to do is verify your card, which is a relatively straightforward process on the Southern Cross Bet app or desktop site. This will see deposits made immediately, while for withdrawals you will have to wait upwards of 24 hours for it to arrive in your bank account. 
 
Alternatively, you can also use POLi or bank transfer for deposits. POLi is an easy way to take money straight from your bank account, and will see funds deposited virtually immediately into your betting account. This method, however, is not available for withdrawals. 
 
Finally, to bank transfer. This is a bit of a clunkier way to deposit and withdraw, though it essentially does the same thing as the aforementioned methods, taking money straight from or to your bank account from your betting account. Like most bookmakers though, the Southern Cross Bet withdrawal time is upwards of 24 hours, while deposits can also take a bit of time. 

In my experience, the SouthernCrossBet withdrawals usually arrive in your bank account within 48 hours. This is similar to most other betting agencies, though the exact period of time the withdrawal takes will depend on what day you make the withdrawal, as well as which bank you use and a variety of other factors.
 
The Southern Cross Bet banking platform does just enough, offering the basic payment methods to customers. There is nothing here to separate Southern Cross Bet from the pack, but that’s not the type of bookmaker they are anyway; they simply offer what is required, without deviating too far from the norm. 

Now to customer support, an area in which Southern Cross Bet once again is competitive enough without excelling. Southern Cross Bet offers four different ways to get into contact with them; live chat, phone, email and post, though the latter is going to be irrelevant in most cases given we don’t live in the 1950s. 
 
The inclusion of all three of live chat, phone and email is a plus. Those are the three major options that most bookies are choosing from, and though quite a lot do offer all three, many others only offer a couple of those options. Live chat is one contact method in particular which is often missing from some betting sites, and in my view it’s the easiest way to get an answer to your query, so a big tick to Southern Cross Bet for having it available. 
 
What would make this platform even better would be if they offered live chat 24/7. This is something that a handful of bookmakers have taken to doing, something which demonstrates a strong commitment to their customers and also makes it easy for people to get in contact with a bookie if they’re working regular business hours. 
 
As it is, Southern Cross Bet’s live chat is available from 8am to 6pm. This isn’t bad and is certainly longer hours than many competitors, but if you’re working 9-5 and have a bit of a commute each morning and afternoon, it makes it a little tricky. 
 
Still, 10 hours of live chat is better than nothing, and along with the option to give them a ring or send an email, makes for a pretty comprehensive customer support platform. 

Yep, it sure is. Southern Cross Bet is licensed by the NSW Government, and regulated by the NSW Office of Liquor, Gaming and Racing. The website is also secured using a 128-bit SSL encryption, meaning that your details will be safe here. 

In this section of this Southern Cross Bet review, we’ll take a step by step look at how to both open an account and deposit funds with Southern Cross Bet. 

How to open an account with Southern Cross Bet 

As with most bookies, it’s very simple to open an account with Southern Cross Bet. This is how you do it.  

• Head to www.southerncrossbet.com.au and click on the red ‘Join’ button in the top right hand corner of your page.
• You’ll then be prompted to enter personal information, as in the screenshot below – fill in this form, which includes your name, email and address.  
• Click ‘Go to Step 2’.
• The next step is to fill in some account info. This includes the password you wish to use, a deposit limit if you want to include one, and how you heard about the site.
• Click ‘Go to Step 3’.
• Step 3 simply confirms reviewing the information that you’ve provided in the previous two sections. Once you confirm this, your account will be created just a couple of minutes after you started the process. 

How to place a bet with Southern Cross Bet 

Once you’ve signed up and deposited money into your account, you’re able to place a bet with Southern Cross Bet. This is how you do it. 

• Head to the Southern Cross Bet website and click on either racing or sport on the left-hand side of the page, or click straight into an event page if it’s an upcoming race or sporting event which is advertised on the home page.
• Assuming you’ve done the first of these, locate the race meet or the sporting league on which you wish to bet.
• Find the specific race or game that you want to bet on, and scour the markets for what you’re looking for.
• You’ll see odds alongside each outcome, as with every bookie; click on the market you wish to bet on.
• This will bring up a red betslip on the right hand side of the page with your bet, and a box in which you can enter your stake.
• Enter your stake, review the bet, and click Confirm to place a bet. 

These are some of the most common questions that we get about Southern Cross Bet.