More than half of US states now offer sports betting and among those, most allow online sports betting, either through a state lottery, through a mobile sportsbook or via an online casino. How do you find a good online Vegas casino sportsbook?
What Should You Look For When Shopping for an Online Sportsbook?
Sporting events are, once again, in full swing and increasingly, sports bettors are finding that they can bet online from the comfort of their own homes. Almost half of American states have legalized sports betting with more than half of those offering mobile betting of some type or another.
There are close to a dozen online sportsbooks operating in the states that have legalized online sports betting but not all online sportsbooks are created equal. Some offer bettors more opportunities than others to bet on different types of sporting events – including, increasingly, on esports.
There are also different features available, different odds and lines offered and different types of support for the bettors. Check out the available options before you sign up for a mobile sportsbook to place online bets.
Some things to watch for include:
Licensing
The advice to check for a license may seem overly cautious but it needs to be said. If you have financial dealings with casinos, sportsbooks or bookies that aren’t licensed, you will almost certainly have problems somewhere along the line.
Check the online sportsbook’s footer – the area at the bottom of the website’s homepage. That’s where the license is typically displayed. You’re more likely to encounter this issue with a sportsbook that’s based overseas but by checking, you can save yourself time, effort and money.
Variety
Not all bookies offer odds on all sports. If you intend to bet only on one or two sporting events, it will probably be easier to find a sportsbook that specializes on that sport – especially popular sports like football and basketball. If, however you like to vary your bets and wager on different types of sports, especially the increasingly-popular esports, you’ll have to check the sportsbook carefully to make sure that you can wager on whichever types of sports that you want.
If you plan to vary bet types, you need to look at the possibilities to make sure that you can place the kinds of bets that you want.
And if you think that you might also want to play some other types of betting games, look over the sportsbook’s entire site to see if there are also options for playing real money games like slots and casino table games.
Payment Options
The days of standing in line in front of a sportsbook cashier to make your bet and place your money in crisp bills on the counter are over. All sportsbooks now take credit card payments. However, while you’re on your mobile, you might as well enjoy all the benefits of mobile play including mobile payment options.
Review the casino’s payment options to make sure that the casino supports the ebanking strategies that suit your financial needs and expectations. All online bookmakers accept digital payments but the question is WHICH digital payment method works for you? If you’re relying on a specific ewallet or evoucher ebanking institution, make sure that the sportsbook supports that method.
Also, while increasing numbers of sportsbooks today are accepting cybercurrency payments, not all do. So if your preference is to make your bets and collect your winnings in crypto, check the sportsbook’s ebanking page to ensure that the bookmaker can facilitate cryptocurrency transactions.
Payouts
It may seem obvious to you that, as soon as a sporting event is finished, payouts should be made to those who placed winning bets on the event. That, however, is not always the case. Some sportsbooks hold onto the winnings for days. They do this for a couple of different reasons but the main one is that they hope that you’ll use the money to place another bet on another sporting event.
You can counter that sneaky way of doing business by reading the fine print on your agreement with the sportsbook before creating an account and placing any bets. You should be able to expect to have your payout transferred to your ebanking account within 24 hours of the end of the sporting event.
It's also a good idea to check and see whether you need to have a minimum amount of money in your account before you can withdraw anything. For budget-bettors especially, this can be disappointing because to them, it’s just the fun of winning a few dollars that makes betting on sports enjoyable. If they can’t even access those few dollars though……what a disappointment!
Support
Mobile betting sites are generally pretty straight-forward but it’s still a good idea to check on the site’s support line. This is where reviews can be of help…….if you look at what other users say about a site’s help line, you can get straight information about whether a site provided proper support to its customers.
In addition, some sites have running commentaries that can help you decide how to place your bets while others offer video tutorials that will guide a new bettor as s/he begins placing wagers on sports.
In short, the more user-friendly an online sportsbook is, the easier it will be to interact with the site and enjoy sports betting entertainment.
