Guide to United States Sports Betting at Online Sportsbooks

While there are no federal law prohibiting sports betting there are laws that make operating a US sportsbook a crime. This means at the federal level no crime is committed if you log on to say www.5dimes.eu and place a sports bet. However the US Department of Justice (DOJ) considers 5Dimes an illegal gambling operation and therefore treats them (not their users) as criminal.

Also, banking restrictions included in the SAFE Port Act of 2006 makes it illegal for banks and credit card companies to process online gambling payments. What our competitors won’t tell you is if you use your credit or debit card at an online sportsbook your credit card company or bank might close your account. If they do, it will not be an isolated incident; sports betting forums are filled with posters reporting their bank account was closed for cited reason: online gambling / non-desirable customer. As I’ll explain shortly, this is the reason most of America’s 51.9 million sports bettors use Person to Person (P2P) for deposits (this is taking cash to the local super market to do a WU or MG transfer).

Now there are states online gambling is a crime. You can read our pages on Maryland Gambling Laws and Washington State Gambling Laws (coming soon) for more on that. If you live in either of those states you’ll have tough time finding a betting site to accept your action. Those living in most other states will have no issue and can bet at online sportsbooks such as www.bookmaker.eu and www.5dimes.com

Remember, in most all US states, online betting at the consumer level is NOT a crime. The sports betting sites themselves are mostly located in Costa Rica, Kahnawake, Antigua, and Panama which are all locations that are outside US jurisdiction and also locations where sport betting is fully legal. The only challenges bettors in most states have are are banking restrictions and finding reputable US betting sites.

In this article I’ll address online betting from the United States in great detail.

How to Deposit at Online Sportsbooks

The majority of sportsbook review portals are operated by affiliates whose only concern is making a commission when you click one of their links and make a deposit. Likewise, their goal is to advertise online betting sites that pay high commissions and have the best credit and debit card acceptance rates. The unfortunate truth is the more reputable a site is the less convenient it is to deposit. Also due to credit cards and banks being very sketchy over online gambling – P2P cash transfer is HIGHLY advised.

P2P Cash Transfer Explained

P2P Transfer Person to Person (P2P) Transfer is a deposit method that most often involves taking cash to your local supermarket or Wal-Mart to make a deposit. Two of the best known P2P companies in the world are Western Union and MoneyGram. Because these companies don’t like their names tossed around with online betting, and because there are a few competitors, in this article we’ll stick to the term P2P when referencing this method.

P2P is a great way to deposit money to online betting sites. This of course sounds odd and unnatural to most Americans as we usually associate P2P transfers with Nigerian 411s or other type of scams. In betting however, this is not the case. The most reputable online sportsbooks prefer P2P deposits, and will even pick up the transfer fee if you deposit over a certain amount (usually $300+ but in some cases $250+ or $500+). How this works is if you P2P transfer a $300 deposit and there is a $21.00 fee to do so, your starting balance will be $321.

A few P2P tips

To deposit with P2P you’ll need to contact the online sportsbook asking for details on who to send to. After sending you need to contact them again with the transaction ID # (often called a control number) and the amount sent. They’ll then add the transferred deposit to your account in a short time frame, usually less than 45 minutes.
www.bookmaker.eu and www.5dimes.eu both have live website chat, so this makes it easier to get details who to send the money to and to report P2P transfers, as you can do so online without picking up the phone at these sites.
Not all sportsbooks advertise the fact they cover the P2P fees, so it’s important to ask about this prior to sending your deposit.
Most P2Ps offer online accounts, which usually take a couple days to set up. Once you’re set up you can make P2P cash transfers online using your credit card, debit card, or even bank account.

The best reason to use P2P to deposit is when using this method most sites will also issue payouts back to you via this method as well. When you deposit with credit card, to then cash out you’ll have to go through all sorts of hassles of faxing in your ID, utility bill, copy of card etc. There’s also hold periods and also many sites will only pay credit card depositors via check – which is a pain as they take a while to arrive and then must be deposited. The deposited checks can take a while to clear because they’re usually from a Non-US bank. Therefore using P2P for deposits and P2P for payouts is most ideal.

Deposit at Sportbooks with Moneyorders

This is a method offered by www.5dimes.eu that sounds like a risky method but really it’s not. 5Dimes requires you send the moneyorder via courier and provide them the tracking number in advanced. This way both you and they can monitor it while in transit. If anything goes wrong you still have the stub which can be used to stop payment and claim a refund. Although it takes 2-3 days to deposit with this method, it’s still incredibly ideal.

All Other Methods

Understand credit card isn’t a horrible method to deposit. You can attempt to deposit with this method at most online sportsbooks including www.intertops.eu. There is however a risk that your bank (if it is a debit card) or credit card company (if it is a credit card) might close your account. It’s not hard for them to track down the card is being used for online gambling. With only a small number of transactions the risks might be low – however when making too many deposits via this method you’re better off using P2P.

E-checks are scams – Please understand no reputable betting sites accept e-check. You might be able to find sites such as Oddsmaker.ag, WagerWeb or SBG Glolbal to accept them, but click any of those links to read my write ups so you can better understand these are well known scam sites that routinely stiff winners.

Best US Sportsbooks

There are some 700 online betting sites on the market and most all are NOT reputable. The typical betting review portals markets the problematic ones as these pay the most. For example Bovada.lv is very popular with affiliates, but see our Bovada Payouts warning to see it often takes a month or more to cash out. Next read our article on BetOnline Poker and ask yourself is this a sportsbook you want to use?

The good news is there are reputable online sportsbooks servicing the United States. I’ll cover each of these in this section.

#1 is 5Dimes.eu

www.5dimes.eu is extremely popular even outside the US for the reason they offer the best odds in the industry. At other US sportsbooks point spreads and totals are priced at -110 (risk $1.10 to win $1.00) at 5Dimes (on game day only) you can find a tab called “Reduced” where you’ll find these at -105 (risk $1.05 to win $1.00). Novice bettors are often fooled because 5Dimes isn’t flashy at all, and to get this reduced juice you don’t get a sign up bonus. The reality is illustrated in my article on sports betting bonuses, where I show 5Dimes reduce juice is worth far more than bonus offers.

It’s also worth noting 5Dimes accepts players from all 50 states, issues same day payouts via P2P and has been in business since 1999 with no payout complaints. This is the site serious bettor’s trust. Again nothing flashy, 5Dimes offers just a simple fully functional interface with the best odds and most reliable payouts. This is the site the serious low to mid-stakes bettors can’t do without, and is also the most suited online sportsbook for recreational players as well.

Note: 5Dimes also tops our list of recommended US Poker Sites.

#2 is Bookmaker.eu

The history of www.bookmaker.eu dates back to the Ron Sacco betting operation started in 1970’s. In 1985 this was the largest betting operation in the world. Sacco was arrested and jailed twice over bookmaking, so when parole ended, this was the year he moved his business to the Dominican Republic and started marketing a toll free 1-800# sportsbooks to the United States. He was first to do this, and countless others followed in his footsteps.

The call center company became BetCRIS. Later, its US version became Bookmaker.com, then Bookmaker.eu. During this time Sacco was arrested 2 more times, died, and the .com domain was seized by the DOJ. Through all of this, Bookmaker has remained the world’s leader in betting on American sports.

Bookmaker has the highest betting limits, doesn’t give winners personal limit collars, and always pays. Simply put, www.bookmaker.eu is the most trusted sportsbook servicing the US market and goes to great lengths to pay winners timely. As far the legal stuff, Ron Sacco was jailed 4 times, fought those charges, appealed them, never hid and always paid his US taxes. This company has been a great service to the industry and your money with them is as safe if not safer than having it in any US bank.

Note: Bookmaker.eu does not accept players from Maryland or Washington State.

#3 is Interops

The first online sports bet ever made took place January 17, 1996 at the Intertops website. While others attempt to claim they were first, it’s a well-known fact that Intertops was the first ever online sportsbook. Their website is a bit a slower than most but this is about the only complaint. Intertops offers a TON of betting options (props on every single NFL game of the season) and in their seventeenth year of operation has never missed a payout. How can you not trust a betting site that is the oldest, has stood of the test of test of time, and is still going strong? Their current website address is www.intertops.eu in case you want to check them out.

Note: Intertops accepts players from 43 states. Residents of Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Kentucky, Washington State, Louisiana and Missouri are restricted from opening accounts.

Mobile Betting and Live Betting

The best US betting site for betting via a mobile and for live-in play betting is no doubt www.bookmaker.eu. At Bookmaker you can make prop bets such as the result of the next pitch, dive or series depending what sport we’re talking, while watching the game on TV. They also have high betting limits on in-play point spreads, totals and moneylines. When it comes to betting on iPhone, Android, Nokia, iPad or other mobile device the mobile version of their site is second to none.

What’s up with the .eu Domain Names

As I mentioned, it is NOT illegal to bet sports online in most states. It is however illegal to operate a US Sportsbook. Considering all the online sportsbooks servicing the US are located outside US jurisdiction they’re not a risk. However .com domains are issued by a US company incorporated in California. It’s rather easy for US law enforcements to seize .com domains. In fact, be very careful depositing at any betting site that uses a .com domain as chances are great that betting site is a scam. Reputable US sportsbooks all use .eu domains as these are issued in the European Union (EU) where sports betting is entirely legal.