Bookmakers

How to find a good bookmaker?” is probably the most commonly asked question among punters, and for good reason. Taking this first necessary step in your online betting career is probably the most important decision you will make in an activity that generally revolves around making smart choices.

So, where to begin? How do you even go about picking the best betting site, given how many options there are, with many more being added all the time?

Firstly, you need to be aware of the options you have. Researching and comparing the bookmakers is what being an educated customer is all about, but you need to know what exactly to research and compare before going any further. To make your life a little easier, we’ve made a list of online bookmakers on this page so you don’t have to go around digging on your own.

How To Chose a Bookmaker

The best thing about online sports betting is that you’re not lacking variety.

To help you make the right choice, we’ll go on with a step-by-step guide to finding the best online bookie for yourself.

Step 1: Check the Boomaker’s Licencing

The first thing you need to do in order to narrow your down the options is to check out the licences the bookmaker possesses.

These are important for a lot of reasons. Firstly, if you want to use a certain betting site, you must make sure that it’s allowed to do business in your country of residence. Even if the bookie has an amazing offer and is just what you’re looking for – none of it matters if they cannot accept you as a customer. That’s why this is step number one.

Beyond that, licences also ensure your safety as a customer. Online sports betting was an attractive industry for scammers and shady business practices back when it first started out, because of the real money involved. That’s why various regulative bodies were empowered to supervise these websites, and any reliable bookmaker is subject to their rules and regulations.

For UK betting sites, the most important such supervisor is the United Kingdom Gambling Commission or the UKGC. Seeing how the UK is currently at the forefront of the online betting industry, most top betting sites possess a UKGC licence and follow a strict set of compliance rules.

Additionally, licences issued by the Gibraltar Gambling Commissioner are widely accepted and respected. Other popular licences include those granted by Malta and, more recently, Curacao.

If you want to get into wagering online, we strongly recommend trusting your money exclusively to licenced bookmakers who operate legally in whichever country you’re currently a resident of. Not making sure if a bookie is properly licensed is just asking to be scammed.

As such, all websites presented and reviewed on BetInfo are 100% legal and safe, so you don’t have to worry about this aspect too much for now. Still, you should get into the habit of checking such things.

Step 2: Ensure a Bookie is Reliable and Trustworthy

While holding a proper license goes a long way to display that a bookie is legitimate, it still does not guarantee anything. And if you’re to trust a website with your hard-earned cash, you need to be 100% sure about such things.

There are multiple ways you can do check a bookmaker. For starters, BetInfo’s bookmaker ratings and reviews can give you a good idea. Besides that, you can do your own research. Here are a few questions you should be asking yourself.

What do other punters have to say about the bookie? Are their payouts reliable and quick?

A dissatisfied customer base is the first sign that something is wrong. A good bookmaker’s customers are content and will probably be prepared to state this. These factors go hand-in-hand with the quality of a betting company’s customer service. On a special note, make sure that the bookie is not known for withholding or being late with withdrawals, and that they don’t enforce any hidden fees.

How strong is their security?

A strong SSL encryption is par for the course when real money business is involved, but it can’t hurt to make sure. Remember that even some top bookmakers in the industry have had slip-ups when it comes to cybersecurity. Just like with general reliability, make sure that the bookie has as clean of a track record as possible.

Step 3: Check the Sportsbook Offer

The first two steps might seem a bit rudimentary, but their importance cannot be stressed enough. Now, though, we get into the real meat of this game.

First of all, make sure you have your priorities straight. Which betting site is the best comes down to personal preference a lot of the time. So before moving forward, figure out your own.

Which sports would you like to bet on? More specifically, which leagues and matches? What markets are you looking to bet on?

Not all bookmakers cover absolutely everything in the world of sports. Depending on your country of origin, interests, and possibly even betting strategy, you could end up with an otherwise great bootmaker that simply happens to not cover what you’re looking for. Simply look ahead if you want this to not happen to you.

In-play betting is another feature you should consider with this step. Live betting is so popular these days that all the best bookies have it, but it’s simply a bigger priority for some than for others.

Step 4: Compare the Odds, Bonuses, and Promotions

All of these can be summed up with a question: how much can I profit with this bookmaker?

Many experienced punters consider odds to be the bread and butter of winning in the long run, and they’re not wrong. Make sure that the odds a bookie provides are in line with your interests as well: some betting sites, for example, focus more on football betting and thus have better odds for this sport.

Still, decent bonuses are not to be dismissed. An attractive welcome bonus can often tip the balance between two otherwise equal bookmakers. The best betting offers are often supplemented by betting promotions and sportsbook bonuses.

Step 5: Consider any Special Features or Other Factors

By now, you should have at least narrowed down your list of betting sites to just a few of the best options.  Now you’re just dealing with details.

As the online betting industry grew and expanded, many special features were added to betting sites to further improve service.

These may include cash-out options, live streaming, bet builders, and so on. These are not as important as having a great base offer at first glance, but can really serve to turn a good bookmaker into an amazing one.

Otherwise, signing up for a bookie can transfer some nice bonuses to other forms of online gambling that the often offer, such as online casinos. Again, not essential, but can serve to spice things up.