100%
Up to $250
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Up to $1000
We’re here to help Americans through the sometimes-complicated process of finding and patronizing a Web-based sportsbook.
Thanks to the 2006 UIGEA bill, Americans have lost access to a number of gambling sites, sportsbooks among them. If you live in the USA and want details on American-facing books, you’ve come to the right place. All of our writers are all based in America and they have experience depositing to top rated US-friendly sports betting websites. We’ve reviewed all the major places you can wager on sporting events while living in America.
We’ve also got experience dealing with Canadian-friendly sportsbook sites, and we’ll help you find the ideal book for your needs.
Canadian sports bettors have seen some of their deposit and withdrawal methods limited in the past decade, thanks mostly to proximity to the USA. Though Canadians aren’t as restricted as Americans in terms of finding a legal place to bet, they face headaches in terms of account registration and financial transactions that can make it difficult to find a decent place to make a wager. Our reviews of Canada-friendly books go into details that are specific to the needs of bettors from the Commonwealth.
What do sports bettors look for? Information – you need to know banking details, promotions and bonus offers, and it’s not a bad idea to read a review of a book before you join. Access is a concern – some of the world’s biggest Web-based books aren’t available to bettors in North America. Security is also a big deal, after all, sports bettors are trusting websites with hard-earned money.
We cover all the information you need to know to make a smart decision about where to place your sports bets – from details on deposits and payouts to in-depth reviews of specific sportsbook operations.
Here’s a guide to each of the major sports on our site:
Don’t worry if you’re a sports fan who’s never placed a bet before – we’ll walk you through the process.
Our general betting guides over subjects like moneylines, point spreads, and game totals. We’ll also be posting other strategy content to help people step up from amateurs to seasoned veterans. These guides are here to offer information that we wish people would have offered us when we were just starting out.
Sportsbook reviews are a dime a dozen on the Internet. The trouble is finding one that’s up-to-date with valuable information that’s actually helpful.
We’ve all read reviews that failed to do anything but promote a book. That’s not what we’re about – since the goal of this site is to connect wannabe-bettors with services that fit their needs, we’ve included specifics on each book, both good and bad. Included in our reviews are details about payment methods, available markets, and other facts that will actually prepare you to place a bet. If you’re sick of thinly-veiled advertisements and want to read actual review content, you’ve found the right place.
Making a deposit to a Web-based bookmaker doesn’t have to be a nightmare.
The best way to learn the ins and outs of depositing and withdrawing cash from online betting sites like Bovada is to listen to the experiences of people who’ve done it before. We cover American- and Canadian-friendly deposit methods in detail, including information on pending times, time-in-transit, and any available bonuses you can claim by using a specific method. Yes, pulling off a financial transaction with a betting site can be a chore, but it’s nowhere near impossible – provided you have the right information.
Bonus-chasing is something of a national pastime for a certain set of online gamblers.
Our guides to sign-up bonuses and promos are written with the end-user in mind, rather than as advertisements for a specific book. We’ve got current details on promotions and other sign-up offers available at USA- and Canada-friendly sportsbooks. Though the North American market for gambling has locked up significantly in the decade since the passage of anti-gambling legislation in America, promotions are still a big part of the industry, used to entice customers to make deposits, refer customers, or reload their accounts.
At one point, the only place in North America where you could be a serious sports bettor was in Las Vegas. It was the only place that offered a full menu of betting options but most importantly it was the only place that provided a competitive marketplace of bookmakers. There were a variety of bookmakers large and small looking to attract the betting dollar. This also meant that there were different odds available at different books and the process of ‘shopping points’ is one of the most effective tools for a long term successful sports bettor.
Times have changed. Las Vegas is all but trying to get out of the gambling business favoring the ‘no downside risk’ of big shopping malls and EDM night clubs. This is particularly true of sports betting which unlike slot machines is a beatable discipline. The Nevada sports betting market has consolidated and the state’s regulatory and governmental oversight entities are more concerned about shielding the big casino companies from competition and not creating an environment in which the industry can grow.
Even in Las Vegas, the ‘sharp’ players are well aware of the advantages of betting online. All of the major sportsbooks offer an online or mobile interface and that’s the preferred choice of most smart players. More significantly–the overwhelming majority of ‘sharp’ Las Vegas sports bettors also play at any number of the online sportsbooks.
More Convenient: You have access to a wide menu of betting options including bet types and sports that Las Vegas won’t touch. The entire betting board is available from your computer and in most cases your tablet or mobile phone. You don’t have to hang out inside a smoky, dingy casino to place and follow your bets. You can do it from anywhere.
Greater Variety of Bets: You’ll not only have access to features like live betting but the average sporting event will have significantly more types of bets available at online sportsbooks than at even the best Las Vegas sports book. You’ll be able to bet on individual periods, quarters and halfs. You’ll have multiple lines available at different prices for the same games. You’ll have a full menu of innovative proposition bets that you won’t find in Las Vegas. You’ll also have access to a wider menu of betting options including European basketball and hockey, a world of soccer betting and even sports that are unfamiliar to American bettors such as snooker and darts.
More Competitive Odds Environment: This is the most significant advantage of betting online. You have a much more competitive odds environment than any land based casino jurisdiction. More importantly, you can ‘shop points’ at the touch of a mouse to find the most advantageous price at which to place your bet. This may seem like a minor advantage but these types of incremental edges add up which is why professional bettors shop prices religiously.
The online betting marketplace is nothing like it was in the early days. There are industry leaders with a proven track record for solid customer service and prompt, accurate payouts. These are serious businesses that do their level best to provide the best sports betting experience anywhere.
In the early days of the online betting boom it was a never ending struggle trying to keep track of the many places to bet. New sites were coming online every week, many offering very attractive bonuses and other perks. Few, if any, of the sites that offered ‘too good to be true’ bonuses are still around.
Times have changed and the online betting sites that have endured since the early days have for the most part earned the trust and respect of the betting community. Stories of ‘scam books’ that pop up, take players’ money and disappear are few and far between. The majority of the top online betting sites available to players today are decent, with the top tier being as trustworthy as any bank or financial institution.
Here are a few tips for finding an online betting site that provides a great betting experience and that you can trust:
Get a recommendation from an experienced bettor: You can start by asking around. You’ll likely hear some of the same names come up over and over again. If you don’t know any experienced bettors you should take advantage of the expertise provided on this site. We’ve got in depth reviews of our most highly rated books so you should be able to get a good idea of which one is right for you.
Check out their website and bet offerings: A fancy, flashy website doesn’t mean much. You want to find a website that is functional and utilitarian with an easy to navigate betting menu and a quick and intuitive bet placement process. You should also check out the variety of sports offered. Most highly recommended books will have all of the major betting sports–football, basketball, baseball, hockey, etc. If you’re looking to bet on European sports like rugby or if you want an extensive selection of world soccer leagues make sure to check it out.
Look for competitive odds: In theory, you want to have ‘multiple outs’. This means you should have accounts at more than one sportsbook so that you can place your bets at the most advantageous price. You’ll always find some differences between sports books but it’s a good idea to compare the prices at any book you’re considering with what is found elsewhere. If you notice that the book you’re evaluating is *always* less advantageous than other books you might want to keep looking.
Check deposit and withdrawal options: For a US based player, you’ll have to accept the fact that you just won’t have as many banking options as other countries in the world. That being said, you want to make sure that a site has multiple options for making deposits and withdrawals. You’ll likely find a similar offering at every US facing sportsbook. One of the best options for banking now is Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. More and more sportsbooks are offering this option and that might also be a consideration.
Read reviews: First a word of warning–you can’t always trust review sources. There are some ‘review sites’ that are actually owned by sportsbooks. Others will give a positive review in exchange for ‘financial consideration’. Some even use boilerplate reviews actually provided by the sportsbook being reviewed. This site is a good place to start. Our reviews have been conducted by longtime sports betting veterans who have experienced on both sides of the counter. Not every book is the right fit for every player and we try to write our reviews so that you can make a solid decision of a sports betting provider for your betting style and bankroll.
One thing that you will notice–no matter which method you choose for evaluating an online sportsbooks you’ll hear the same names come up over and over again. You’ll also see that many of those names are the sportsbooks that we have highly rated. There are good new sportsbooks that come online now and then but there’s just not a good reason to go anywhere other than a highly recommended, well established online betting site.
Now that so many mobile-oriented betting options are available, we thought it would be nice to offer a set of mobile-specific articles for those customers interested in sports bets on-the-go.
The mobile revolution is upon us – actually, it happened a couple of years ago. Now, it’s difficult to find a betting website that doesn’t offer some form of mobile interaction. Technology has improved a lot, so now there is little difference between the traditional desktop display and the display for mobile customers, except for the size of the screen. If you’re interested in mobile betting, be sure to spend some time with these articles.
Opening a sportsbook account means more than just making bets and making deposits. It’s difficult to find detailed information on every aspect of Web-based betting – but not anymore. Our goal is to help you learn everything you can about this fast-growing hobby before you open your account, so you feel more confident at every step along the way.
Online sports betting has opened up a wealth of betting opportunities that were previously only available in select destinations like Las Vegas. Because of this, you can now place bets from anywhere in the world through your PC or mobile device.
If you have any questions about online betting, then you can review the following Q&A section, which covers many common betting inquiries.
The answer depends upon where you live. In Canada, the UK, and some other countries, sports betting is legal.
In the United States, online sports betting is a murky and complicated matter, with individual states making it a prosecutable offense to wager on sports. These states include: Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Montana, Oregon, South Dakota, and Washington.
Many offshore sportsbooks avoid offering services to one or more of these states, but they still serve the vast majority of the US. As long as you live outside of the aforementioned states, you should have no trouble wagering on sports.
The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) was attached to the SAFE Port Act in 2006. The UIGEA deems fantasy sports as a legal betting activity that falls under the skill-games category.
But with regard to sports betting, the UIGEA "prohibits gambling businesses from knowingly accepting payments in connection with the participation of another person in a bet or wager that involves the use of the Internet and that is unlawful under any federal or state law."
Most offshore sportsbooks have found ways around the law, though, to continue serving Americans.
The Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) of 1992 bans land-based sports betting in every state except for Delaware, Montana, Nevada, and Oregon.
New Jersey has fought to have the opportunity to offer land-based and online sports betting in their state, but these efforts have been fruitless so far. If this fight keeps up, though, it seems that more US states will eventually have regulated online betting.
You first need to visit an online sportsbook through your PC, Mac, smartphone, or tablet. From here, you’ll be prompted to create an account and make a deposit using one of the available banking options.
Once you’ve made a deposit, you can place any wager within the given betting limits of the site/sport.
Typically, the only time that you can use PayPal at online sportsbooks is in major regulated markets. UK-licensed online sportsbooks are the most-common places that accept PayPal.
You’ll never see PayPal work with an unregulated, offshore sportsbook because this e-wallet seeks to avoid any and all legal risks.
Yes, this is one of the primary ways that online sportsbooks accept wagers from people.
You can use Visa and MasterCard to deposit at the vast majority of online betting sites. Some sportsbooks also take American Express, Diner’s Club International, and/or prepaid cards.
Before launching SportsBettingExperts, we reviewed and chose the best sportsbooks for US and Canadian players that we could find.
These include: BetOnline, Bodog, Bovada, CarbonSports, GTBets, Sports Interaction, and TopBet.
Yes, you can win over the long term with online sports betting.
Due to the 10% vigorish that’s taken out from the losing side’s bets, you must win more than 52.4% of your wagers to be a long-term winner.
How do you overcome the house vigorish and outdo your fellow bettors?
Experience, research, and shopping for good lines are some of the most-critical elements to becoming a successful sports bettor. You also need to exercise good bankroll management and limit your wagers each week/day so that you can really focus.
Many online sportsbooks offer welcome bonuses to new players as a way of encouraging signups.
Sometimes these bonuses take the form of a free bet, while other times they are a match bonus on your deposit amount. For example, you might get a 100% match bonus up to $50.
Once you get past the welcome bonus, you may be eligible for more free bets and other rewards.
