HAPPISTAR REVIEW

 

TRUSTWORTHINESS

HappiStar has at least in the past held a PAGCOR license from the Philippines and there is no reason to assume that they had the license revoked. Now, however, they only point towards their Curacao license on their homepage.
 

As you will know, that is not our favourite license as it doesn’t protect consumers the way we would like it to, and the way especially European gambling jurisdictions do. Therefore, we generally judge betting sites with this kind of license on their own merit.
 

HappiStar has received favourable reviews by many other sites such as ours, though they mostly refer to the online casino, which is why we believe it has been around longer than the sportsbook.
 

But we also couldn’t find any reviews that worried us, and customers seem to be happy enough with HappiStar, though there are always some who complain about not winning anything. Unfortunately, that’s the nature of gambling.
 

We deem HappiStar to be as trustworthy as most other betting sites that are licensed through Curacao. Whilst they are not outstanding in this regard, there is also no particular reason to worry.
 

CRICKET BETTING AND OTHER SPORTS

As a betting site primarily focussed on Asian customers, cricket is one of the top sports at HappiStar. It features right below football and the events that are covered a solid. At the time of our review, we found betting options for the following cricket competitions:
 

• Test Matches
• International Twenty20 Matches
• ICC World Cup
• ICC T20 World Cup
• Bangladesh Premier League
• Pakistan Super League
• CSA T20 Challenge
•  

Competitions further into the future were not available to bet on yet, which also included smaller tournaments. Whilst this is a solid offering, there are bookmakers that cover far more competitions than this.
 

We also found that HappiStar doesn’t offer quite as many markets as a lot of other bookmakers we know, though pre-match betting is generally somewhat less well covered. Once a match goes live, more betting options are added.
 

The good news is that there are many other sports to bet on as well. This includes not just football, tennis, basketball, volleyball, darts, the Olympic games, golf and many others, but also kabaddi and a wide variety of eSports. Indeed, the latter even has a separate section, so you don’t have to scroll through the list of sports.
 

Additionally, virtual sports are also available at HappiStar, which rounds off a decent sportsbook offering here.
 

Unfortunately, live streaming is not available at this betting site in India, which is not surprising, but should still be pointed out. We also didn’t see much in terms of live animations.
 

Finally, betting and winning limits are on the lower side and margins for some sports are a bit higher than what we would like to see. HappiStar does offer a “Boosted Bet” section, which may well be worth checking out, though.
 

GAMES AND MORE

HappiStar started out as a casino a few years ago and their offering here is worthwhile if you like to play slots or table games beyond casting the occasional bet.
 

The casino hosts games from providers such as NetEnt, Play’n GO, Red Tiger, Pragmatic Play, Habanero, Thunderkick and a few more. The library is not as vast as others we have seen, but we do like the selection of providers, which give us some excellent games.
 

The casino is sorted into useful categories, which makes it easier to find the type of game you might like or simply play only games from your favourite provider. The main menu also allows you to visit separate sections for slots, live games or other games, which appear to be arcade-type games.
 

Progressive jackpot slots don’t seem to be available, which is not surprising but still somewhat disappointing.
 

The live casino is still marked as ‘new’, though it’s difficult to say how long it has been available at this point. In any case, here you will find games from Evolution Gaming, Ezugi, Pragmatic Play and others. This means you get a great range of live dealer games from some of the best providers. And customers from India will be able to enjoy Andar Bahar and Teen Patti as well.
 

PROMOTIONS AND BONUSES

The main menu also offers a link to the ‘Promotions’ available at HappiStar, where you will find more than just a sports or casino welcome bonus.
 

Let’s take a look at the sports welcome bonus first:

• 1^st deposit = 120% and up to INR 10,000 plus 70 free spins – wagering requirement of deposit and bonus of 15x
• 2^nd deposit = 75% and up to INR 10,000 – wagering requirement of deposit and bonus of 12x
• 3^rd deposit = 50% and up to INR 10,000 – wagering requirement of deposit and bonus of 10x
•  

To complete wagering, bets must be placed on sport or virtual sport events and odds of 1.5 or higher. The free spins are available within 24 to 48 hours of your deposit and can be used on a specified game. Winnings from the free spins must be wagered 40x on the same slot before a withdrawal is possible.
 

The bonus conditions don’t specify how long the bonus is valid, but it does say that only one bonus can be active at a time.
 

Casino players can claim a similar bonus for the casino, which gives you up to INR 80,000 for your first three deposits, though only 30 free spins. Wagering requirements are also quite similar and in this case not unreasonable. The wagering requirements for the sports bonus are somewhat strict, however, but we appreciate that it can be used for virtual sports as well.
 

Those two welcome offers aside, HappiStar does have many more promotions going on. At the time of our review this included a Valentine’s Day deposit bonus, a Winter Olympics cashback offer, free bets, a slot tournament with cash prizes, a reload bonus and a friend-referral bonus as well.
 

We appreciate that there is plenty for everybody, regardless of your gambling or betting preferences.
 

BANKING OPTIONS

HappiStar doesn’t exactly have a comprehensive page for all things related to payments at their betting site. There is a quick link at the bottom of the homepage, which takes you to the FAQ section about deposits and withdrawals.
 

That’s somewhat helpful, but for other information you might need to go digging deeper.
 

The homepage does list the most important payment methods, however:

• Net Banking
• PayTM
• UPI
• Credit cards
• EcoPayz
• Bank Transfer
• iWallet
• Various Cryptocurrencies
•  

We’ve seen withdrawal fees mentioned but can’t give you further details as they are not available in the FAQs. Withdrawal limits are only listed for Net Banking, where INR 100,000 are listed, but nothing else.
 

It is also important to note that a deposit has to be played through once before a withdrawal request can be requested.
 

And once cumulative requests of USD500 (or the currency equivalent) have been made, a KYC check is required, which means you need to have your ID verified. Important information about the process are available on the homepage. We usually do recommend that you get this done sooner rather than later to avoid any delays.
 

SUPPORT

The customer support at HappiStar is available via live chat, email or Telegram. Click on the little speech bubble at the bottom of the homepage and you can choose which of the three options you would like to use. That’s quite handy and we hare happy to hear that the support team is available 24/7.
 

Of course, there is a FAQ section for you to browse, where the most important topics are covered, though we found quite a few details missing. The deposit/withdrawal section is quite limited, and we would just like to see more information here.
 

There are a lot of other links for further information at the bottom of the homepage, though, so there is much for you to read up on. Of course, contacting the customer service team directly may just prove the quickest way to an answer.
 

SOFTWARE

The HappiStar homepage comes with a dark blue and purple background that almost looks black. Highlights cover a range of shades from lighter blue and pink to purple as well. It’s somewhat unusual, but also lively and friendly and not at all boring.
 

The main menu is classic, and navigation is mostly intuitive and therefore quite easy.
 

We appreciate in particular the customisation options for the sportsbook. You can choose classic, Asian or modern views, which is great in addition to choosing how to display odds.
 

The website is available in English, Vietnamese, Japanese, Thai and Indonesian, though not in Hindi.
 

The site is built on the BetConstruct platform, by the way, which is why it might feel familiar to some of you.
 

Of course, mobile players will find a fully compatible mobile page via their mobile browsers as well. You can enjoy betting and gambling there just as easy as if you used the desktop version without missing out on functionality.
 

Separate apps for Android or iOS are not available at this time, however.