What makes a good online bookmaker?
Some rules that apply to traditional land based bookies apply also to their online successors. The reliability and credibility of bookie are most important ones. While it's not so hard to recognize these in traditional bookies for online based ones it a bit more complex. Thanks to internet anyone can start a company and make a good presence but what's under the skin is important. Here is a list of some things you should check before choosing a bookie. Also you have to ask yourself what are your preferences and then choose bookie accordingly. What sports you like to bet on, what do you prefer big stakes or smaller stakes, huge offer or lower odds, or higher odds in limited offer, single bets or accumulators, .... because sometimes these thing don't go together.
A good bookie check list:
- Is bookmaker reliable and credible? How long is the company present in business, how long tradition it has, where is head office situated, where is company registered, what betting licenses and what certificates has it acquired? (longer story...)
- Offer, number of sports offered, number of events covered, odds (higher or lower, fluctuating), bookie margin. Types of bets allowed (fixed odds, asian handicap, singles/accumulators, spread betting, live betting...) ? (longer story...)
- Web site design, navigation, speed, reliability, accessibility, languages interfaces, security (SSL encryption, certificates)? (longer story...)
- Payments, deposits/withdrawals methods, how many, how secure, how accesible, how fast, is commission charged or not? (longer story... )
- Customer support, availability, response time, means of communication (live support chat, email, telephone, snail mail), languages spoken? (longer story...)
- Special services (WAP mobile phone betting, results on mobile phone, phone betting, person to person betting, stats, news) and unique specific services offered from bookie, how many, how interesting, like competitions and prizes, loyalty program, sign up bonuses, special offers and more (longer story...)
- Limitations. Stake limits, winning limits, deposit/withdrawal limits... (longer story...)
More detailed tips on choosing bookie...
1. Reliability and credibility. The rule is the older the company the less risk you take. Well it's logical, if you know someone for years you are more likely to entrust him with your money than someone you met yesterday, or a bookie you have dug from depths of internet. Usually older bookies have longer tradition, they have a good image they have to take care of. If your bookie is situated in Europe or USA that's a little plus in trustworthiness, but what's important also is what betting licence bookmaker has acquired. UK laws that regulate betting are among the oldest and the best ones, so if bookie owns a UK betting licence that's another plus. Gibraltar is the same, also USA and Austria are fine. Many betting companies are registered overseas so they can provide tax free betting. That's normal now and you should not be afraid if you bookie is located in Antigua for example. Actually Antigua has a very good internet infrastructure and is a popular destination. Here is the list of recommended countries with good regulations and good internet infrastructure:
Dutch Antilles - Curacao
Antigua/Barbuda
Isle of Man
United Kingdom
Australia
Belize
Jamaica
Mauritius
Gibraltar
Austria
Instead you should avoid these countries:
Dominica
Margarita Island (Venezuela)
Nicaragua
Bahamas
Panama
Honduras
Costa Rica
Dominican Republic
St. Kitts
Grenada
Madagascar
Haiti
Aruba
St. Marten
St. Vincent
Before registering/depositing your money at bookmaker account you should check how many customers (registered users) bookie has and check the comments about bookie on newsgroups, forums and sites like BookmakerWatch.com. Bookmakers that BookmakerWatch.com recommends are about top 1% bookies present on the net. You may want to register with few bookies, while their odds can vary from one to another.
2. Offer covering of sports and events. The bigger the offer the better, more sports and more events to bet on. Some bookies offer 20 sports to bet on and many bet types summing up to as much as 1,500 available bets daily! That's a good number. Some are focused on soccer, offering lots of soccer leagues and soccer specialties, some are focused od north american sports like football, baseball, some are offering horse racing specialties. And now we come to odds. The higher the odds the better for you. Duh! :) Check odds, some bookies have larger margins and thus lower odds, some have higher odds but tend to lower them as match approaches. Some are offering higher odds on some sports or some leagues. Also check offered bet types. Fixed odds, spread betting ,asian handicap, singles/accumulators, live betting, double chance, correct score, first half, second half, number of fouls, for soccer number od cards, corners, fouls, goal scorer, goal difference, half time/full time, and more. You can bet almost on anything, check your preferences and then check what bookie offers.
3. Since web site interface has replaced a land based office, web site quality is also a major factor in choosing bookie. We all like to see a good design, and navigation. Can you find all what you are looking for? Can you find your way in offer and make bets easily and fast? Web site should load fast. Sometimes on weekends when many people are online, sites can get a little slow. Some of them may even not respond or crash. Does web site has interface on your preferred language? Some web sites are translated to as more as 14 languages. Is web site reliable, do they encrypt confidential data like credit card numbers, what strength of encryption they use, what certificates they have? Bookies that BookmakerWatch.com recommends all have quality protection, most widely used 128 bit SSL protection. Some may employ even stronger encryption. Our recommended bookies are also usually THAWTE, TRUSTe or VeriSign certified and may also be members of IBAS (Independent Betting Arbitration Service) which all together is a big plus. Bookies that we recommend here ALL have a VERY GOOD web sites which is a minimum requirement for an online bookie really.
4. Payments, deposits and withdrawals. After you register with bookie, you usually select your currency in which you wish to operate your bookie account. Check with bookie first if they have your preferred currency offered. Now it comes to depositing some money on your account with bookmaker. Usually minimum deposit is around 5 or 10 Euros. There are many methods to deposit. Some bookies offer as much as 15 methods, some only a few. Elementary ones that every bookie should support are credit cards and bank transfers. Western Union service maybe. Also some of the internet money transfer service like widely known PayPal, MoneyBookers, NetTeller, WebMoney, FirePay and others. With some bookies you can deposit with UK debit cards (Delta, Switch, Solo). The fastest and elegant way to deposit money is with credit cards. As for withdrawals because of credit card companies policies that don't allow withdrawals back on credit cards, the best method is bank transfer. Check the minimum deposit and withdrawal amounts, and the commission charged, if any. Better bookies don't charge commission and don't have minimum withdrawal amounts. But however some commissions (around 1.5% up to 4%) can be charged from credit card companies, banks or money transfer services.
5. Customer support is another important detail. If you got stuck they are the ones that help. The more methods for communication the better. Usual methods are email, chat, phone and snail mail. Response time is also important and supported number of languages. Better bookies have live chat support, reply on emails in matter of a few hours and offer support on many languages, some more than 10 languages. Also you can reach them 24/7 (24 hours, 7 days a week).
6. Special services and bookie unique services. Check these out! With some bookies you can bet with WAP enabled mobile phone, also you can receive results of your bets outcome on your phone. Some offer also person to person betting, this functions similar to bet exchanges, that means you bet against other punters with odds they have offered for a specific event, or you can offer your own odds. With some bookies you can also bet over telephone by calling a call center (this is a little bit old stylish). On some bookies sites you can find extra content like sport news or stats center where you can look team stats you bet on with head to head comparison. Bookies can offer cash back for certain bet types, they can allow you to sell your ticket back, they offer different sign up bonuses and incentives, they organize competitions for punters with prizes. Many have loyalty programs, so the more you bet you reach different levels and activate some advantages. Also almost all have referral programs that allow you to refer a new customer and get some bonus.
7. Limitations. Every bookie has some limitations. Some set them more rigid, some are very loose. Typical limitations are minimum stake (usually around 0.1 Euro), minimum deposit (usually around 5 Euros), minimum withdrawal amount (this should be as low as possible), some bookies will allow daily withdrawals but not under some amount of money earned (example 30 Euros), some will provide few withdrawals monthly and withdrawals over some amount free of bank charge. Some limit maximum win per ticket (example 10.000 Euros) and limit maximum winning per user in one week (example 100.000 Euros). Unlike from financial limitations bookies can also limit bet types. They may not allow single bets, or allow them dependant of league you play. Also they may have some limitations when playing accumulators. Not all limitations have been mentioned here, only some more frequent ones for exemplary purposes.
