Comprehensive Guide to Sports Betting Sites
| Best Betting Sites | Sign-up Bonus | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bookmaker.eu |
15% Free Play |
| 2 | Bet365.com | 100% to $200 Cash |
| 3 | Intertops.eu |
25% to $100 Cash |
Sports Betting Sites is an international guide US Sportsbooks, UK bookmakers and Asian bookies. The difference between this website and others you’ll come across is SBS is not managed by marketers, but rather by professional sports bettors.
True with any niche, the majority of recommendations found on the internet are paid advertisements or affiliate deals. The method our competitors use for selecting recommended sports betting sites is generally “how much are you willing to pay”. As you can read about on our news wire, there are many less than reputable online bookies touted as best. Take the case of Bovada.lv – this company is heavily marketed, but read our Bovada payouts warning to discover it often takes a month to cash out. Another popular affiliate promoted sportsbook is BetOnline, before playing here you probably want to read this. Don’t get me wrong, these sites are simply “okay” (not scams), but the reason they get so much exposure elsewhere is because they pay webmasters well.
Where the real concern comes is many betting websites promote scam bookies such as WagerWeb, SBG Global and Oddsmaker.ag – click any of those links to view the reasons you shouldn’t trust recommendations made by affiliate driven portals. While at SBS we’re affiliates as well, we’re first and foremost professional sports bettors. And with that, you have our old school gambler’s guarantee all sports betting websites linked to on this website are ones we personally use and have no problem storing our own bankroll with.
Where to Bet Online
Where to bet online is such a loaded question. The correct answer depends where you live, what sports you prefer, how much you’re betting, whether you’re betting mostly points spread (Asian handicaps), moneylines (home/away), totals (over/under) or other bets such as props or futures. Our website has detailed information on specific sports such as F1 betting, and specific currencies such as betting online in Polski Złoty. It’s best you spend some time navigating our website in order to familiarizing yourself with various sports betting sites. I will however provide advice for residents of certain countries here on home page.
Best US Betting Sites
www.bookmaker.eu is the website we most often recommend which is a US friendly version of BetCRIS. The reason I like this brand is because they’re truly the company who started it all. Back in 1985 their founder Ron Sacco, better known as Cigar, moved from the US to the Dominican Republic and began running a toll free phone in betting shop. As the first to do this his business grew massive in a hurry, and in time CRIS was so large they were able to start setting lines well before Las Vegas opened them. When their betting website launched in 2000, it branded with the words “Where the Line Originates” and this slogan has proved to be far more than marketing hype. Pretty much all the other online bookies and Las Vegas sportsbooks watch for the lines to open at Bookmaker, and then merely copies them, and goes from there; seriously, that’s how it works.
Bookmaker is where the large bettors wager, but they’re also friendly to small timers as well, with a $1.00 min bet and a $40,000 max bet for major sports. Speaking of high limits while many sportsbooks limit teaser bettors to a measly $500 max, at Bookmaker up to $20,000 can be bet on even a Wong teaser. The best part about Bookmaker is they have a policy – NO LIMIT COLLARS! No matter how much you manage to win your action is still welcomed. Seriously, serving the US market from offshore headquarters for 26 years now, CRIS has never missed a payout. When other sites were having trouble with UIGEA, or Black Friday / Blue Monday, CRIS didn’t miss a beat. Bookmaker also offers unlimited 20% reload bonuses every Tuesday and Wednesday and you can use your credit card to deposit and still get the bonus. To learn more read my bookmaker.eu review.
Enjoy Poker and Casino or Getting the Best Odds?
If the answers is yes to any of those questions you for sure want to check out www.5dimes.com. These guys are well known for offering better odds on American sports than all other sports betting sites. This includes great teaser odds, futures with the highest payouts, a plethora of low margin props, and of course reduced juice (-103 to -105) base on sides. In business since 1998 they’ve never missed a payout and currently pay withdrawals faster than any of the other US gambling sites. No matter if you enjoy sports, casino or poker this is likely the site for you. Their casino uses DGS software with modified payouts that cut the house edge down from the usual (2.5% to 5.5%) advantage to under 1% on almost every bet they offer. In short this means you’re paid more for every winning bet no matter what the game, and this statement is true for both sports and casino. They also rank #1 on our list of Best US Poker Sites for 2012. Their poker room operates on the Winning Poker Network (former Yatahay) sharing players with True Poker, Americas Cardroom and others.
History Buff?
On January 17, 1996 Jukka Honkavaara of Finland placed a $50 wager on Tottenham Hotspur at Intertops.com. This was the first ever sports bet placed on the internet. Read our detailed Intertops.eu review to see why the oldest sports betting site is still a great choice in 2012 for both American and European punters.
Best Asian Bookies
The Asian bookie we most recommend is 188bet.com. These guys are industry leaders for live in-play betting as well as Asian Handicap (hang cheng betting). No matter if you’re interested in betting English Premier League, Spanish La Liga, Italian Serie A, UEFA Champions League, Liga Super Indonesia, India I League, Liga Super Malaysia or any other football league they have you well covered. They of course offer wagering on all other sports and have awesome live dealer casinos with multiple versions of baccarat. Great news for those living in Indonesia and Malaysia 188Bet offers IDR Indonesia Rupiah and MYR Malaysian Ringgit they also have special banking methods that allow you to deposit easily and get paid winnings for free to your local bank account without it showing it came from them. Other currencies offered at 188bet include RMB, SGD, VND, EUR and GBP. This is our #1 one pick for anyone living in Asia.
European and UK Bookmakers
Let me be brutally honest here, the odds, as well as policies for most UK bookmakers make betting with them so much less ideal. For example the two largest UK bookmakers Ladbrokes and William Hill offer odds or even bets for decimals odds 1.91/1.91 (10/11 fractional). Popular Asian bookie 188bet offers the same for 1.94/1.94. This mean you get paid more for each winning bet. They also have a large presence in the UK due to being the principal sponsor of Bolton Wanderers and official betting partner of Chelsea, Liverpool, Everton, and London Wasps. This is a safe and secure online bookmaker and all the usual banking methods such as Moneybookers (Skrill), Neteller, Ukash, credit card and direct bank transfer are offered. To learn more read my 188Bet Review or to get started click the banner to the left for a £25 risk free bet.
Two additional alternatives to UK bookmakers you’ll certainly want to know about are Pinnacle Sports and Betfair. Pinnacle is by far the largest and most trusted betting website in terms of volume. They offer the highest betting limits, best odds and fastest payouts. You can learn all about them in my Pinnacle Sports review. Betfair is a gambling website that offers the world’s largest peer to peer betting exchange. I’ve written a comprehensive article on How Betfair Works that is near certainly a must read.
Now finally if you do want to stick to UK bookmakers at least choose the one offering the best bonuses and promotions. That bookmaker in my strong opinion is Bet365 who can learn about in my Bet365 review. Another good option is Irish bookmaker PaddyPower.
Sports Gambling Sites by Region
Australian Bookmakers – These days it’s getting harder and harder to find an Aussie bookmaker offering value. With so many international sites having left the Australian market, and the odds offered by Tab, Centrebet, Sportsbet and the like not all that appealing, I strongly suggest turning to exchange betting with betfair.com.au.
Canadian Sportsbooks – You guys in Canada have it made. You can select any of the US, Euro or Asian sportsbook listed on this home page and find yourself in great hands.
India Betting – If you live in India refer to our guide on Indian Rupee Bookmakers to learn where you can bet cricket, football and other sports online.
Future Plans
Our website is still rather new. Our founder Jim, known in the industry as prop, has been a professional sports bettor since since he was 20-years old; he’s now age 32. Over the past 12-years he’s accumulated vast knowledge on all sorts of sports including football, basketball, soccer, Formula 1, cricket, golf, tennis and more. In time he’ll be sharing many helpful handicapping tips here at SportsBettingSites.org. While it will take a while for this site to grow, check back here often and you’ll continue to find more and more valuable sports betting content. A final word of advice, before doing any online betting refer to our Sportsbook Ratings.
A final heads up by Prop – Don’t Trust Sports Betting Portals
Even the most honest review portals are tempted. I was once a broke teenager when a site I wasn’t too confident about offered me $30,000 for a one year featured advertisement on my home page. I’ve seen other MAJOR betting websites corrupted as well, honest guys who had $200,000 offers to let a less than reputable betting site take over their forum. This is big money business and the temptation to sell out is great. If you want sincere honest advice about sports betting websites don’t look to websites which are filled with paid advertisements or affiliate links. You’re far better off inquiring with your peers, one place to do this is 2+2 via their Sports Betting Forum.
Full Disclosure: I have an affiliate relationship with some, not all, of the websites recommended here. I however also have a policy of not linking to gambling sites I wouldn’t store a portion of my own bankroll with. If you do your own research and ask others about the sports gambling sites recommended here at SBS, I believe you’ll soon discover this website is an honest guide to sports betting sites. Although, I won’t get it right 100% of the time, I do have ton of knowledge about sportsbooks and bookmakers and will do my best to only recommend reputable betting sites.