Safe Online Sports Betting – Don’t Get Scammed
A recent study suggested that almost 17% of winning sports wagers placed online go unpaid. One reason for this is just how easy it is to start a sports betting site. These days any guy off the off the street can lease an online sportsbook from a pay per head shop, that has tons of markets, live betting, a casino, live chat support, etc. Meanwhile there are elaborate scam sites that will pay webmasters huge commissions to promote their betting site. The good news is this can all be avoided. Just stick to wagering with any of the 29 betting sites rated B+ or higher on our sportsbook ratings guide. When wagering with these sites it’s 99% likely you’re not going to have any issues. If you want to make it 99.9%, stick to the eight sites that have achieved an A to A+ rating.
Sportsbook Ratings
A Rated Sportsbooks = The Elite, Not much risk involved.
B Rated Sportsbooks = Solid Option with minimum risk to players funds
C Rated Sportsbooks = Decent book with some potential risk to players funds involved.
D Rated Sportsbooks= Not a good option – moderately high chance of being cheated or stiffed.
F Rated Sportsbooks= Scam sites – deposit only, cheats, busto, etc. Avoid at All Costs.
| Click Any Column Header To Sort By | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Online Sportsbook | Restricted? | Rating | Website |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bookmaker / CRIS / DSI | None | A+ | www.bookmaker.eu |
| Pinnacle | No US & France | A+ | www.pinnaclesports.com |
| SBOBet | No US | A+ | www.sbobet.com |
| 188bet | No US | A | www.188bet.com |
| 5Dimes | None | A | www.5dimes.com |
| Bet365 | No US | A | www.bet365.com |
| Ladbrokes | No US & German | A | www.ladbrokes.com |
| William Hill | No US | A | www.williamhill.com |
| 888Sport | No US | A- | www.888sport.com |
| Betfair | No US | A- | www.betfair.com |
| Blue Square | No US | A- | www.bluesq.com |
| Coral | No US | A- | www.coral.co.uk |
| IASBet | No US | A- | www.iasbet.com |
| PaddyPower | No US | A- | www.paddypower.com |
| Sportsbet AU | No US | A- | www.sportsbet.com.au |
| Bodog88 | No US | B+ | www.bodog88.com |
| Fun88 | No US | B+ | www.fun88.com |
| Intertops | None | B+ | www.intertops.eu |
| JustBet | None | B+ | www.justbet.cx |
| Legends | None | B+ | www.legends.com |
| Stan James | No US | B+ | www.stanjames.com |
| BetVictor | No US | B+ | www.betvictor.com |
| BetFred | No US | B | www.betfred.com |
| BetIslands | None | B | www.betislands.com |
| BetInternet | No US | B | www.betinternet.com |
| Betsson | No US | B | www.betsson.com |
| BetSafe | No US | B | www.betsafe.com |
| BoyleSports | No US | B | www.boylesports.com |
| Expekt | No US | B | www.expekt.com |
| Rebate Wager | None | B | www.rebatewager.com |
| Skybet | No US | B | www.skybet.com |
| Tab Sportsbet | AU Only | B | www.tab.com.au |
| TheGreek | No US | B | www.thegreek.com |
| Unibet | No US | B | www.unibet.com |
| YouWager / BetPOP | None | B | www.youwager.eu |
| Bodog.ca | CA Only | ON HOLD | www.bodog.ca |
| Bodog.eu | CA Only | ON HOLD | www.bodog.eu |
| Bodog UK | No US & Canada | B- | www.bodog.co.uk |
| Bovada | US Only | ON HOLD | www.bovada.lv |
| Carib | No US | B- | www.caribsports.com |
| CentreBet | No US | B- | www.centrebet.com |
| DafaBet | No US | B- | www.dafabet.com |
| Gamebookers | No US | B- | www.gamebookers.com |
| Interwetten | No US | B- | www.interwetten.com |
| LuxBet | No US | B- | www.luxbet.com |
| PartyBets | No US | B- | www.partybets.com |
| SportingBet AU | AU Only | B- | www.sportingbet.com.au |
| ToteSport | UK Only | B- | www.totesport.com |
| 12bet | No US | C+ | www.12bet.com |
| BetMania | None | C+ | www.betmania.com |
| BetPhoenix | None | C+ | www.betphoenix.com |
| BetUSA | None | C+ | www.betusa.ag |
| GTBets | None | C+ | www.gtbets.com |
| Mansion88 (M88) | No US | C+ | www.mansion88.com |
| Skybook | None | C+ | www.skybook.com |
| Sports Interaction | No US | C+ | www.sportsinteraction.com |
| WagerChief | None | C+ | www.wagerchief.com |
| 1Bet | No US | C | www.1bet.com |
| 360BOL | No US | C | www.360bol.com |
| ACBet | No US | C | www.acbet.com |
| BetOnline | None | C | www.betonline.com |
| Canbet | No US | C | www.canbet.com |
| Matchbook | No US | C | www.matchbook.com |
| Readbet | No US | C | www.readbet.com.au |
| 10Bet | No US | C- | www.10bet.com |
| Americas Bookie | None | C- | www.americasbookie.com |
| Bet33 | None | C- | www.bet33.com |
| LowVig.com | None | C- | www.lowvig.com |
| Sportsbetting.ag | None | C- | www.sportsbetting.ag |
| TitanBet | No US | C- | www.titanbet.com |
| VIPSports.eu | None | C- | www.vipsports.eu |
| Belmont | None | D+ | www.belmont.ag |
| Bet770 | No US | D+ | www.bet770.com |
| BetTrojan | None | D+ | www.bettrojan.com |
| BWIN | No US | D+ (Theft) | www.bwin.com |
| EasyStreet Sports | None | D+ | www.ezstreetsports.com |
| Global.Sportsbook | No US | D+ | global.sportsbook.com |
| Tower Gaming | No US | D+ | www.towergaming.com |
| YouWin.com | No US | D+ | www.youwin.com |
| Wager.dm | No US | D+ | www.wager.dm |
| 7RedSports | None | D | www.7redsports.com |
| ABC Islands | None | D | www.abcislands.com |
| AllStar | None | D | www.allstar.com |
| BetUS | None | D | www.betus.com.pa |
| Dimeline Sports | None | D | www.dimeline.eu |
| EZBets | None | D | www.ezbets.com |
| Hollywood | None | D | www.hollywoodsportsbook.com |
| Jazz Bet | None | D | www.jazzbet.com |
| Linesmaker | None | D | www.betlm.eu |
| Loose Lines | None | D | www.looselines.com |
| PlayersOnly | None | D | www.playersonly.com |
| SBG Global | None | D | www.sbgglobal.com |
| Sportsbetting.com | No US | D | www.sportsbetting.com |
| Sportsbook.com | None | D | www.sportsbook.ag |
| SuperBook | None | D | www.superbook.com |
| TopBet | None | D- | www.topbet.com |
| WagerWeb | None | D- | www.wagerweb.com |
| WSEX | None | D- | www.wsex.com |
| BetonUSA | None | F | www.betonusa.ag |
| Oddsmaker | None | F | www.oddsmaker.ag |
Site Not Listed? If a site is not listed here, chances are they are a very small betting site; perhaps a startup, invite only, or a skin from a pay per head shop, or just a bookmaker no one uses anymore. I encourage you to side with caution as all sites I’d rate B- or higher that I’m aware of their existence are in fact covered here. The one exception is playBAS.com, chinesebookie.com, islandcasino.com, sportbet.com and vietbet.com. These are legitimate websites but are part of the 5Dimes group. www.5dimes.com is the best betting site period for anyone betting $500.00 or less per wager on American sports. Considering players can have only one betting account with the 5Dimes group it would be foolish to open an account at anywhere else but the best site of the group which is 5Dimes.com.
Feedback Requests – If you have an experience with a betting site (positive or negative) you’d like to share, please email me at jim @ this website address.
Online Poker Sites – Our ratings guide does not include the online poker products offered by sportsbooks. However as service to Americans we have added a new page to our website on the best US poker sites. If you’re from the United States and play poker online we suggest reading that page.
Online Casinos – Recently Sports Betting Sites covered news on a rigged craps game, and then later a rigged video poker game. Each were found to be the fault of separate software providers, each based in Panama and completely independent of one another. There were dozens of sportsbooks using the software of each provider. We wish to make 100% clear online casinos are not part of our rating guide. If you play casinos online do so at your own risk.
How Betting Sites are Rated
Please understand the Sports Betting Sites Rating Guide grades online sportsbooks largely on how safe player account balances are. From here adjustments are made based on user experience, betting odds, customer service etc. For example 888Sport.com is owned by one of the largest publicly traded online gambling company in the world. There is little to no risk involved depositing with 888Sport and they’re certainly worthy of an A+ rating on risk factor alone. However, our rating guide also needs to distinguish some between bookies that will accept any bet and never give punters personal limit collars, and those who service mostly recreational players.
This brings forth the need to explain that A+ rated sportsbooks are those with BOTH a long term proven track records of timely payments AND extremely high risk tolerance. Currently the only three bookies receiving an A+ rating are Bookmaker.eu (US Friendly), Pinnacle Sports and SBOBet. This for reasons it is possible to bet tens of thousands per game at these sites without worrying about being cut off for winning too much. With this said, the majority of sports bettors will be fine using any website rated B+ or higher. In fact in many cases it is wiser to use sportsbooks rated A, A- and B+.
A couple of examples where it makes sense www.justbet.cx has excellent bonus offers, accepts US players and pays relatively fast. Meanwhile outside the United States, players can often find great value at Asian bookies. Take for instance our #1 choice www.188bet.com the guys are obviously a great choice for players from Indonesia and Malaysia because they’re one of the few reputable bookies that accept Indonesian Rupiah (IDR) and Malaysian Ringgit (MYR). They’re also a great option in the UK because they offer better odds than can be found with UK Bookmakers. Rather than the 1.91/1.91 decimal odds most offer on odds or even bets, 188Bet offers 1.94/1.94. This means more money for each winning bet. 188Bet also has a spotless reputation and offers the usual banking methods Moneybookers (Skrill), Neteller, Ukash, credit card and direct bank transfer. Consider they also offer betting odds on the same sports and offer a £25 risk free bet to UK residents they’re certainly worth giving a try despite only being rated A and not A+.
Also, no matter where you live in the world, if you’re betting $500 US or less per game you’ll be extremely hard pressed to find a site with better odds and betting options on American sports than www.5dimes.com which is perhaps the best site overall for American sports bettors. Not to mention Asian bookies are great for all forms of football (soccer) and live betting, and www.bet365.com (no US) offers the most generous bonus of any legitimate betting site which is a 100% initial deposit match (paid as cash not free play) which requires only a 3-time rollover.
Currently there are 23 sites on our Sportsbook Rating Guide listed B+ or higher. All of them offer plenty of value and all come highly recommended by Sports Betting Sites.
An Important Message
Those in the sports betting and gambling affiliate industry know me as prop. I think anyone that has known me long enough can attest – I’ve spent a decade practicing integrity in marketing and have invested a great deal of time exposing scam operators. Several years ago I was earning a couple grand per month from sportsbook.com and cancelled their advertisements once they started cheating players. I once turned down a $30,000 offer to sell SIA a top rating. When the Absolute Poker and Ultimate cheating scandals broke, I removed them from my sites and spent 100% of the revenue share payments I continued to receive on advertisements that warned players about their past. Full Tilt Poker closed on June 29, 2011, however 27 days previous to that I posted a Full Tilt Bankruptcy Warning on the Poker Site Warnings page of OPS. I am a long time player advocate, and ALWAYS with absolutely no exception have put players best interests well of ahead of my own, and well ahead of my advertisers. With all this said – I am an affiliate and do get paid by many of the sportsbooks listed here. The ratings have nothing to do with that; these ratings are my entirely sincere opinion, but for full disclosure purposes I decided to tell you this make sure that fact is known.
Why Do My Sportsbook Ratings Differ?
This simple answer to this is my ratings are not influenced by advertising cash. Most all betting review portals are outright scams that are designed with only one person’s interest in mind; the webmaster’s best interest. Of course, there are exceptions to this, two of my competitors I’ll mention later and popular free sports picks site The Sports Geek are a few that come to mind. However, most sites especially those reviewing sportsbooks or selling picks (rare exceptions just mentioned), will sell advertisements to any sportsbook regardless of their track record.
I actually purchased this domain with a partner for via snapnames.com, with the internet to sell it for a profit. However a year later faced with a large offer on Sedo – I realized if I sell this it’s going to be just one more shady portal out there ranking for betting sites, sportsbook and bookmaker terms that are going to lure players to join up with shady operators. Faced with that, I paid my partner based on the received offer to buy his share and got to work developing this site. That was my true, honest and sincere motivation for starting this site.
Now again, not all review portals are dishonest. The two industry leaders I respect most are Sportsbook Review and Bookmakers Review. For the most part I share similar opinions as them on the majority of betting sites. However, I can also see where SBR might be selling a site I’d rate D+ a B- rating, or a site I’d rate B- an A rating. I’m not inside in their head so maybe our opinions just differ, but many operators have in fact accused SBR of selling ratings.
Bookmakers Review, these guys have a major UK biased. US sportsbooks such as Bovada are going to run into occasional issues with loss of processors and DOJ issues. Bovada had instant payments (as in 5 minutes) from the time of their launch in 2000 (then named Bodog) up until UIGEA in late 2006. For much of 2007 and 2008 their only payout option was paper checks which took 60 days +. From late to 2008 until just recently Bovada was been one of the most consistent and fastest paying US betting sites. Bookmakers Review still harped on a past issue that wasn’t an issue and didn’t rank Bodog (now Bovada) nearly as well as they deserved to be rated. They do similar for some other US betting site as well.
In conclusion, I trust SBR and Bookmaker Review as a rough guide. Other portals such as Covers, OSGA, TheRX, EOG, DocSports, etc, I trust these guys only as about as far as I can throw their founders. These particular betting sites will market just about any sportsbook willing to pay. I might not cover as many sportsbooks as SBR and Bookmakers Review, but I do have vast knowledge and stay closely turned to all sites you’ll find here on my sportsbook ratings guide. Of course I’m biased because all humans are. I however honestly believe using my sportsbook rankings as a guide is by far the best choice for all punters regardless of location.