Since the sportsbook industry first started out in the early 90s, the betting online has grown from a handful to hundreds of shops. For the fan new to online sportsbook betting, having hundreds of shops to choose from can be a rather difficult task. To help you, here are three tips we use when considering joining a new sports betting shop.
1. Reputation – Perhaps the most important factor you should consider when joining a new sportsbook is that of their reputation. Many of the top online poker digest sportsbooks have been around for years, providing the best payouts and betting lines.
Questions to consider when looking at a sportsbooks reputation include how financially stable they are, and do they have quick payouts. As a sports bettor, you want two things when betting online, wagering ease and quick payouts. If either of these desires is too much to ask for at the given sportsbook, you should look elsewhere.
2. Customer Service – As a new bettor, you are likely to have a ton of questions once signing up with your sportsbook of choice. What is important to consider is how each sportsbook operates its customer service section. For instance, in order to be in the top five of many sportsbook review polls the shops have to have stellar customer service. Yet one should keep in mind for every sportsbook that has a good customer service base, there are literally hundreds that are awful. The biggest complaint we see, is that if you send an email it may take weeks for the shop to reply. If you want excellent customer service from sportsbooks with good reputations go to BetOnline or Bodog as they are the two best.
3. Site Traffic – Many shops say they are the best, but that tends to be just for show. Google and a wide array of other search engines enlist programs which calculate the amount of traffic each sportsbook receives. The lower the ranking the higher amount of traffic. You want a shop in the top 100 of site traffic as they will be able to help you in getting set up.
