subject: How To Choose The Right Online Sportsbook [print this page] How To Choose The Right Online Sportsbook
The first and most important consideration in choosing a decent online sportsbook: avoid the bad sportsbooks, because they are plentiful. First, avoid sportsbooks that charge a fee for withdrawals. At least one withdrawal per month should be free.Charging a fee for express courier is understandable, but some sportsbooks charge fees for any & all withdrawals. BetUs.com charges a $40 fee for every withdrawal. This is not acceptable.
Choose asportsbook that pays, and pays quickly. This may sound obvious, butyou would be surprised. World Sports Exchange (wsex) takes two to three months for payment. Some other sportsbooks never pay at all. There are stories...at BetUs.com and Oddsmaker.com if you win too much, you will be labled a "professional" and your account will be frozen. Basically, these sportsbooks only cater to fools who bet small and lose often.
Choose a sportsbook with decent customer service. It can be aggravating talking to or emailing a person who barely understands English. Bookmaker.com and BetJamaica come to mind; their agentsare very difficult to deal with. Also, choose a book with a modern website. Bookmaker.com and 5dimes.com have archaic websites that were built in a third-world country many years ago and have never been upgraded. Try navigatinga website built in the 1990sand you will become frustrated.
Some sportsbooks offer very low maximum bets. This might be okay for some, but if you prefer higher max bets, look around. Bodog.com is famous, or infamous, for offering the lowest max bets in the industry. This brings up another point, choose a sportsbook that puts their pointspreads up early, as opposed to late. Bodog is alwaysthe last sportsbook to post lines on games. Sportsbook.com is usally the first.
Lastly, avoid online sportsbooks that promise you the world in signup bonuses. SBG Global and Bookmaker.comare perfect examples.SBG Golboalpromises a 295% bonus for new members. Read the fine print and you will see it's a complete farce. Oddsmaker.com is nearly as bad. Know this, the worse a sportsbook is, the more desperate a sportsbook is, the higher the bonus they will offer.
Also, don't believe online reviews with links to a particular sportsbook. For example, Covers.com and Sportsbookreviews.com are paid by sportsbooks to give positive sportsbooks reviews.
If it sounds like there aren't many good choices out there, now you begin to understand the industry.No recommendations, but now at least you know the pitfalls of the online sportsbook world.
