Archive for the ‘Sportsbook Reviews’ Category

With March Madness betting lines set to open in the next few weeks, the average sports handicappers may be scrambling to find a shop to pick your favorite teams with. If this scenario describes you, look no further then British Heavyweight Champion of the sportsbook industry, Bet365. One of the oldest shops in the online industry, Bet365 got its start in the middle of the 1970s, and seemingly hasn’t looked back since. For all your sports betting needs, Bet365 is the shop you need to join.

Bet365 is one of those unique sportsbooks, in that they do everything exceptionally well. Essentially, whether you are a casual or more frequent bettor, Bet365 is the spot for you. The good aspects of the shop include, an excellent and up to date website, over 1000 live betting and basic betting options to select from live streaming of games, and they are a public company, meaning you won’t ever have to worry about a slow payout. On the other hand, the MLB handicappers do not like Bet365, because they do not offer a low juice, and haven’t yet taken on American customers.

Nevertheless, we anticipate that final criticism to alter shortly, as many American sports handicappers, are scrambling to find new institutions to wager with, after the department of justice shut down a slew of the heavyweights in America. Also, with Bet365 rivals Victor Chandler and William Hill now accepting bettors from all over the world, it stands to reason, that Bet365 will make the change for their US customers. With that in mind, Bet365 still remains one of the top shops in the industry.

As we mentioned above, Bet365 is a publicly traded company, meaning you won’t have to worry about getting paid. It also means, that Bet365 is the parent company of various other businesses. For instance, Bet365 owns EPL franchise Stoke FC, which is constantly in the top 10 clubs in the nation. They also own Bowmans, which does serve American customers.

Super Bowl betting enthusiasts scrambling last minute for a sportsbook to place their money on the biggest game of the year with, need not worry any longer. Despite the recent shutdown of several major North American sportsbooks, handicappers can now place their price per head odds with UK sportsbooks such as Victor Chandler. A young sportsbook, Victor Chandler has quickly made a reputation for itself, as one of the strongest shops in the industry. With only 72 hours to go until game day, here is a review of Victor Chandler.

Similar to BetOnline, 5Dimes, and DSI, the main appeal to Victor Chandler, is its large array of betting lines and live betting options. We compare Victor Chandler specifically to BetOnline for two other reasons, the customer service is outstanding and year round accessible, while the shop caters directly to casual bettors. Now, that doesn’t mean they will ever turn anybody away, but the betting lines provide the impression, that the book is catering to new and casual bettors. For all intents and purposes, if you are just looking for a shop to wager with for the Super Bowl, and to predict the NFL scores, then Victor Chandler is for you.

Now, with every sportsbook there is plenty of bad to go along with the good. As bettors, new or more experienced, our goal is to find the sportsbooks that have more good then bad to them. At Victor Chandler, there isn’t much to complain about, as aside from lots of betting options, an excellent customer service department and quick payouts, Victor Chandler’s reputation speaks for itself. Nevertheless, if there was ever a flaw to point out with the shop, it would be, the small bonus’s offered and the low betting limits. The latter of which is why Victor Chandler is a casual betting sportsbook.

TopBet is the latest of a slew of sportsbooks giving the online sports betting industry a bad reputation. In the last few months, TopBet has gone from middle of the pack sportsbook to enemy number one for many handicappers, as the site has paid out rather slowly. In an industry where 90 percent of the sportsbooks offer the same NFL scores, paying out your customers as slowly as possible does you no favors. Here is a review of TopBet.

Whether you are new or experienced in the world of online gambling, if you are looking for a new sportsbook to join, the first ones you’ll avoid are the ones that can’t pay you. TopBet falls into this category, as they have had complaints ranging from slow payouts to in some cases no payouts. Meaning to say, if you can’t pay your clients, everything else you offer falls by the waste side. There have also been reports, that the old owners of TopBet are leaving, and the company is in a state of flux. With this being the case, many people are avoiding opening accounts with TopBet.

As well, the people who do have accounts with TopBet, are looking to close them and start fresh. Trouble with the latter approach is, that the bettors still want their money, so they are stuck waiting for TopBet to get their act together. However, after reading how poorly TopBet is dealing with customer complaints, you may be wondering why they haven’t shut down entirely. One reason describes why this hasn’t happened, marketing. Despite the aforementioned slow payouts, TopBet remains in business, because it attracts new bettors with their flashy website, 50 percent welcome bonus and VIP program. Anytime you can make someone feel special, it buys you time regardless of your payout structure.

Skybook is another in a long list of British bookie software sites that have emerged, after the recent shutdown of the US Online sportsbook industry. For those unfamiliar, the US Department of Justice has shutdown a plethora of online betting and poker sites since May of 2011, in an attempt to reduce the amount of online gambling. As a result, many former US shops have reopened their doors under European addresses. Meanwhile, new British shops are being introduced online, with a catch concept, such as Skybook. Here is a review of this new site.

Skybook is the home of the free half point system, which means, that the bettor can receive a lot more value for their money, then what they normally would. The free half point, allows for you to move the point spread line on NFL and NBA games just enough, that you don’t get cheated by the juice price set down by the line makers. In other words, the free half point gives you better value, then if you were to join a site such as matchbook, which requires that you pay juice for them to match you with a sportsbook of your choice.

Aside from the free half point, Skybook also provides its clientele with the option of a good initial deposit, and is one of the safest and most secure sportsbooks, that also provides a good payout. These latter two points can’t be stressed enough, as far too many times a shop will advertise that it provides safe and secure depositing methods, but then makes it difficult for the client to collect the winnings from their account. On the other hand, the bad part of Skybook is that because it spends so much time offering point value and quick payouts, it hasn’t really spent much attention on things such as the site layout.

One of the UK’s biggest sports betting firms, SportingBet has suspended trading on the London Stock Exchange. The move comes after a few months of speculation, in which SportingBet appears to be transferring to a new ownership group out of Turkey. While the US DOJ shuts down sportsbooks online, the European Union is allowing sportsbooks to trade on their local stock exchanges. Here is what the SportingBet fishing games ownership change means.

SportingBet has been around the online gambling industry for quite some time. For North American bettors unfamiliar with SportingBet, the best comparison is call it the Bodog of UK online gambling. That is to say, through an excellent marketing and customer service campaign, SportingBet has stayed amongst the heavyweights in the British online betting industry.

The suspension of stock trading for SportingBet has left both customers and betting writers alike in a state of confusion. Essentially, prior to the stock exchange issue, SportingBet was believed to have been discussing a merger with rival site Gaming VC. In this latter deal, Gaming VC would give SportingBet the rights to their Greek online gaming branches. However, the news of the halt in activity on the LSX has bettors concerned with the state of the company.

If SportingBet suddenly does collapse, the company that stands to benefit the most is archrival Ladbrokes. Ladbrokes has been slowly building up its British Empire over the last few years, and has enough money to buy out SportingBet in a similar manner that Bet365 did with Bowman’s a few years ago. Meaning to say, if they use the same approach as Bet365 did with Bowman’s, this would simply allow Ladbrokes to use the SportingBet brand name, while employing their own staff.

Over the last couple of months, the sports betting world has been turned upside down, as several big name sportsbooks have closed their operations in the North American market. However, while plenty of shops are closing, there are also several, that are afloat and flourishing. One such online casino site that is having success is Merge Gaming, which is a company that combines poker and sportsbooks together. Here is the latest news for Merge Gaming.

Despite being associated with the Jazette family of sportsbooks, Sportsbook.com has been able to stay afloat and grow into one of the top sportsbooks in the United States. While their colleagues struggle, with US policy indictments, Sportsbook and Merge Poker, have formed a collaboration to take over the US market. Earlier this summer, Sportsbook opened its doors to American customers, which allowed the company to go from a middle of the pack, money grabbing shop, to atop the leader board of sportsbook rankings.

Merge poker on the other hand, has risen from the basement of the poker industry all the way to the top. Essentially, Merge’s big competition, Full Tilt, and Poker Stars, each were struck hard with sanctions from the Department of Justice. As a result, the two biggest winners of the 2004 – 2005 NHL lockout, have seen not only their advertising campaigns pulled from the television, but also a huge withdrawal of players.

What’s more, Merge Gaming has rebounded, after a short layoff due to the aforementioned Department of Justice sanctions. Recall, Merge along with Full Tilt and Poker Stars, were all hit with sanctions from the government, preventing the use of playing poker for money online. In April, Merge claimed it would be closing down for a limited time, but now in August, the site is back and full of US customers.

After making marketing synonymous with sports betting for the last 20 years, Bodog sportsbook, will be leaving the US market in December of 2011. Known by many casual gamblers as one of the best sportsbooks on the planet, the Bodog has been entrenched in a legal battle with the US government for the past few years, after falling victim to the Anti-Internet Gambling act. Meaning to say, Bodog is set to be replaced by the MMGG Company. Here is what Bodog’s departure means for NFL betting lines enthusiasts.

Over the last few years, Bodog has had an agreement in the US with Morris Mohawk Gaming. This agreement, has allowed Bodog to stay afloat, since falling victim to the US’s crackdown on online sports betting. However, the numbers apparently aren’t up to par with what Morris Mohawk gaming was promised. As a result, end of the year, as we mentioned earlier, MMG is going in a different direction.

For US bettors, you can still wager with MMGG a new website by MMG or you can switch to the BetCris family of sportsbooks, such as Bookmaker or DSI.  Bodog on the other hand, will be still available in Canada, as well as Europe and parts of Asia. What’s more, Bodog CEO Calvin Ayre just revealed that Bodog had agreed upon a contract with the United Kingdom for Bodog’s online betting services. Meaning to say, despite losing the US market for now, Bodog is still very much alive and well.

Ayre has become a bit of a legend in the online gambling industry, as he helped resurrect Bodog in the beginning of the decade, after the original owners nearly went bankrupt. Since taking over Bodog, Ayre has maintained the shops reputation of being amazing at marketing and customer service.

Owned by the Jazette family of sportsbooks, sports betting enthusiasts looking for a new site to place their wagers with, should avoid Superbook like the plague. For those unfamiliar with Jazette, let us forewarn you, that withdrawing money from one of their sportsbooks will cause you to get upset, as they are slow at the best of times. On the other hand, Superbook like brother site Sportsbook has continuously gained popularity in the industry, if for no other reason than their MLB betting domain name. Here is a review of Superbook.

Comparable to brother site Sportsbook, Superbook is a haven for casual betting enthusiasts, just looking for a place to quickly deposit their money and place a bet on their favorite team’s last minute. Superbook doesn’t offer low juice or the earliest lines, but the site has a decent line variety and their loyalty program is one of the best in the industry.

However, having said all of this, as we mentioned earlier, the payout problems associated with their Superbook’s parent company Jazette, has really rubbed former clients the wrong way. In an industry where it is guilty until proven innocent, Superbook doesn’t stand a chance at attracting big spending clients.

In terms of customer service, Superbook has one of the nicest and knowledgeable staffs in the industry. The customer service agents can speak plenty of different languages, and explain to you how to create an account and then deposit your money and place a bet. Yet, when it comes to payouts, the customer service agents at Superbook are exact replicas of the agents at other Jazette run sportsbooks. What this means, is that it will be incredibly difficult to get someone on the line to answer your questions about why your payment went from “pending” to “withheld”.

Logans is a European style sports betting website in a North American setting. The shop is associated with Sportsbook.com which on behalf of the Jazette family of online betting shops has become synonymous with payout options. Aside from a regular delay in payouts, Logans provides its customers with one of the more refreshing gambling experiences you will ever experience. Here is a review of youthful sportsbook, Logans.

Logans has a great mix of new and more experienced bettors frequenting its sportsbook. On the one hand, the newbie bettors enjoy Logans because the lines are quite soft. Conversely, the sharps bet at Logans because unlike parent site Sportsbook, Logans offers some of the highest limits in the industry.

What’s more, as we mentioned earlier, Logans is a European style sportsbook trapped in a North American website. Essentially, this means that bettors have the option of requesting better odds on the games they are gambling on. For the reason that Logans provides its customers with countless options, you can expect a lot of bettors to come to the site, just to test it out.

Customer service is one of the more interesting experiences at Logans and not in a good way. In one scenario, Logans customer service agents act like your best friend when it comes to explaining how to create an account and deposit your money. However, when you’ve had enough and want to withdraw your winnings, Logans acts like that same best friend, only after they’ve taken your wife from you.

Meaning to say, the latter approach is a direct result of being associated with Jazette, which over the last five years has had more payout problems then Bernie Maydoff. In an industry, where receiving your winnings is primary to a successful sportsbook, Logans would be better served if they could somehow cut ties with Jazette.

Online sports betting have risen in popularity since the internet was first open to the public in 1990. However, for every amazing online betting site, there are 10 bad ones waiting to rip you off. Meet Sportsbook, a site that profits off its domain name, but otherwise doesn’t really stand out for anything good. Here is a review of the most popular gambling website in the industry.

For the reason that many hardcore sports betting enthusiasts have been burned by this book in the past, Sportsbook has been black listed by many of our colleagues review sites. Essentially, as we previously noted, Sportsbook receives the majority of its traffic because its domain name.

After you sign up for an account with Sportsbook, you can expect to wager on the four major North American sports, as well as certain niche sports such as MMA and NASCAR. For the most part, the live betting section at Sportsbook is pretty good as customers can place money on their favorite athletes and teams up until the games finish.

In an industry where you need to stand out to attract more clients, Sportsbook is not very unique at all. The customer service agents and kind and courteous when it comes to helping you create your account and explain the site rules. However, when your payment process goes from pending to being held, it is nearly impossible to deal with a customer service agent, as you are waiting on the phone for a long time.

What’s more, if you are new to the sports gambling online industry, any sportsbook being run by the Jazette Company, is a shop you should stay away from. In essence, Jazette and slow payouts are synonymous with one another, as many new bettors and more experienced ones, have grown agitated with the company.