Not every online sportsbooks is created equally, there are some bad sportbooks and dodgy online betting sites that we want you to avoid. While they all offer the same convenience of being able to place a bet on your favourite sport or team from the comfort of your own home, they don’t all offer the safety and peace of mind that you and your hard earned money deserve.
With so much choice you don’t want a not-so-great site, we currently recommend around 10 sites depending on where you are based and of these two betting sites above the others – Bodog is one of the biggest sportsbooks and 888sports is one of the best UK betting sites online.
Betting Site Qualities to Look For
To further put this into perspective and educate you all on how to find the best room to sign up to, we have created a small list of things to consider before you make the leap and make your first deposit at your newly found bookies.
Here are a few things that should be considered prior to downloading any old sportsbook.
Trustworthy Honest Reviews & Customer Testimonials
Often the sportsbook reviews found on many sites are biased and don’t really go in depth in terms of all the positives much less the negative aspect that each sportsbook might posses.
It’s important to look for honest and trustworthy review sites – like gambalista.com that put the players best interests first.
On the face of it even better are customer reviews as customer really has no reason to be biased and will be more than happy to post their experiences, good or bad, that they may have had at a specific site. While one complaint may not be enough to keep you from visiting said site, tons of complaints should definitely be a warning flag; especially if it’s about a similar issue and if any of the complaints went unresolved. However it’s worth noting there is nothing worse than a paranoid poker player who is convinced the Random card generator is rigged and simply cannot face the fact they suck at poker.
Deposit/Withdrawal Options
There should be plenty of safe options for bettors to use to get their money on the site and most importantly, get their money back from the site.
In fact, one of the types of testimonials that bettors should be looking for when scouting for a sportsbook site to sign up to is if there are anything positive or negative mentioned about the deposit or withdrawing experiences. One complaint is probably not a warning but several complaints about withdraws taking too long or the money never reaching the customer is. These sites are the ones that you should avoid at all costs since it is no different than throwing your money down the drain.
Something to also consider when looking at deposit/withdrawal methods is what company the site is a part of. If they are a part of a company that is well known and has been around for a while, then you should feel at ease when it comes to making a deposit since in the case that the site goes under or if there is a different kind of financial fiasco with the company/site, you are more likely to get the money that is owed to you.
Customer Service
Before downloading and signing up to a room, be sure to give their customer support options a try. You should be able to get a good feel for how the room operates and how they feel about their patrons by how their customer service treats you. Additionally, the best sites will offer several ways to get a hold of them whether it’s by live chat, phone or email. Many sites will also have support staff that is available 24/7.
Bet Odds/Bet Tools
Of course when you’re signing up to a sportsbook, you should be concerned with the most important aspect; the betting.
One thing to be on the look out for is sites that tend to offer the best lines or in other words, the best odds that pay out the most money for your bets. This will generally vary from book to book and can even vary from game to game. But like anything else, you are sure to find that there are some books that consistently offer better bets than others.
Something else to consider are the available tools offered by the sportsbook to help bettors make the most educated and profitable bets possible. These tools can range from articles to video betting tips from the experts. The better sites out there will do what they can to offer that extra value to you; be sure to look for it as it will prove to be profitable in the long run.
Choosing the Right Sportsbook
What this all really boils down to is finding a safe sportsbook that you feel confident depositing and making bets at. The best sites will make it easy to get your money on and off the site, assist you in how to make bets including profitable ones and will be there in the event that you need support. In short, these sites will provide an enjoyable experience overall. And at the end of the day, is there anything more important than having an enjoyable experience?