Online Bookmakers Rating

The first and most important step before choosing an online bookmaker is to do detailed research. Sure, odds and bonuses might seem good at first glance, but there are many other factors in play you can't afford to skip by. By reading our bookmaker reviews, you should be able to distinguish safe sites from scams. The best sportsbooks manage to combine high odds with proven reliability and achieve a high bookmakers rating. Our analysis on what separates a top betting website from a run-of-the-mill operator include the categories listed below. Make sure to switch among the tabs to find the best online bookmakers to your liking.

Βookmaker ratings: How we make the evaluations 

There are many aspects we examine when rating bookmakers to ensure that our online sportsbook reviews are in-depth. We always open a new account and carefully read the Terms and Conditions to make sure there are no hidden terms and pitfalls. Typically, we check five broad categories to gain an understanding of an online bookmaker.

General information

Among others, these include the year of establishment, related companies, and restricted countries. Experienced online bookies have, at least on paper, a better handle on what players need. However, the most crucial part we examine is the licensing authority. If a sportsbook holds a license from a strict regulator such as the UKGC or the MGA, it will receive a better rating due to reliability. On the contrary, betting sites with only a Curacao license will be treated with more caution until they gain our trust.

Bonuses and Promotions 

We inspect the types of Bonuses available, more importantly, the Welcome Offer. Transparent terms and fair conditions tied to the Sign Up Bonus are always a must. An extensive selection of promotions for existing players also leads to a higher bookmaker rating. We don’t just look at the number of promos at hand, but also evaluate each one individually to determine how easily bettors can use them. Finally, we award additional points for bookies that reward loyal players with regular Free Bets or Enhanced Odds.

Payment options 

A wide range of payment methods greatly contributes to the appeal of an online bookmaker. A top bookie will offer you a variety of deposit and withdrawal options to choose from. Extra points will be scored for accepting local payments, like Trustly and Qiwi, as well as many local currencies, besides euro and dollar. In addition, we check if there are any fees tied to any of the payment methods. For example, it is common for sportsbooks to charge a small fee for international bank transfers.

Betting info 

We assess the overall betting offering, both pre-match and live. Some sites will offer very high football odds but extremely low for the rest of the sports. This is why we explore multiple sports, besides football when we calculate the average payout. We do not use any comparison websites, but rather check the odds in live time. The markets available as well as the betting limits are two other points of interest. A Bookmakers ranking is affected a lot by how many options the players have, and how much they can win off a single wager.

Other important details 

We conclude our online sportsbook reviews by investigating any other category that does not fall into any of the ones above. The main one is customer support. We will send messages through all channels and at different times to see how fast it will respond. Keep in mind that the bigger the bookie, the more time it will take to reply. Mobile usability and user experience are some of the less vital aspects of the betting sites reviews.

Do our bookmaker reviews differ from other sites 

Yes, absolutely. You will find many websites that will set online sportsbook ratings based on personal relationships with it. On the contrary, we only evaluate a betting site through our experience wagering on it, combined with the player comments & score on our site. All the bookmaker reviews you will encounter are reliable because they have been written by a member of our team of experts. We have spent many years collaborating with online bookies to develop the knowledge required.

You might find that some bookmakers are missing from the list. The reason is that we do not recommend or reject any betting sites that we haven’t personally tested yet. We prefer to examine it and make regular updates every six months to make sure all the information is up-to-date. Of course, it is understandable that you may disagree with us about some bet sites. This is why we urge you to leave comments. This helps us improve as well, and by rating bookmakers, you can assist your fellow bettors.

Bookmaker ranking - Why might be positive 

Online betting started in the 1990s, and since then, it has expanded exponentially. Today, it is a multi-billion dollar industry, and players can wager on pretty much anything, from their favorite sports to politics, reality TV shows, and more. In the list above, you found several sportsbooks that have received a great bookmaker rating. Let’s see why that is the case.

Licensing authority 

The gaming authority that licenses the online bookies you are playing or are planning to sign up for is one of the primary reasons. A gaming commission license provides a guarantee to every player that a company is thoroughly and regularly checked and will always allow you to withdraw your money. A credible regulator is constantly there for every player by providing useful advice and resolving conflicts between sportsbooks and clients.

Year established & fame 

Pretty much like in any other business, experience and credibility always pay off when rating bookmakers. An online betting company operating in a highly competitive market for many years, like William Hill and 1xbet, will more easily enjoy the preference of a bettor. This is because, despite all the newcomers' good intentions, it does take a considerable amount of time before they can earn the gaming community's respect.

Secure transactions 

Transactions are a little trickier to evaluate because you will need to have an account. All deposits and withdrawals should be guaranteed and executed safely. Any personal details you provide will remain private (i.e., for promotion emails, post material, and phone calls). When you ask for a new password, the identification procedure must be straightforward and secure. When you request a withdrawal, the transaction has to be executed within the time limit (perhaps even earlier) than described on the website. This is why payments available and withdrawal times are significant during online bookmakers rating.

Player reviews/comments 

We like to think that we offer thorough, unbiased, and honest online sportsbook reviews about all sites. However, through your initiative, we can improve ourselves and motivate bookmakers to offer a better and more profitable gaming experience. We always encourage our readers to participate in the BM community, not only by reading our reviews and articles but by letting their voices be heard. Feel free to offer any helpful advice on our website and share any positive or negative experience from any bookmaker.

Bonuses & Offers

Any bonus or offer must be credited to your account immediately after you have claimed it or when you have fulfilled the conditions. No fine printed or non specified rules should exist whatsoever. It is also key for betting offers to have fair and realistic wagering requirements that can be achieved even if you are not wagering on a daily basis.

Odds & markets 

Online bookies with the highest scores will provide an extensive variety of sports and markets to the players, and the average payout will be similar for all sports. When trying to find an event to bet on, the odds will rarely have any significant changes. Opinionated lines are here to prove that there’s a compiling service behind all odds. These are not merely copied from another bookie or by following the activity of the market. You can visit the Bookmakers.bet Odds Page to check and compare the margins of the sportsbooks on our site.

Customer support 

A fast and efficient customer service team will always improve the bookmaker ranking. Present live chats must exist. Alternatively, any email sent must be answered within a few hours, even during the weekends. It goes without saying that if you are gambling online with real money, you must receive a quick response to any question. It is also critical for the customer support to be knowledgeable and have a good grasp of the online betting environment.

User-friendly website

Last but not least, a website has to be easy to navigate both on desktop and mobile. Especially placing a bet must be easily executed and taken as fast as possible. Waiting for 5-6” to confirm a wager is just not going to cut it. You must also be able to see your total balance, betting, and transaction history, as well as payment methods and customer support channels.

Why are some online bookies rated poorly 

Both experienced and new bettors can fall victims to a scam. This is the reality of online betting; many companies want to entice players into joining them and then take their money and go. There have been countless of these incidents in the past. You won’t find any scam sites in Bookmakers.bet, but it is still worth knowing why we hand out poor online sportsbook ratings.

Untrustworthy licenses

Some betting sites are licensed by an offshore jurisdiction, like in Curacao or Costa Rica that have had their share of controversy in the past. The online bookmakers ratings of some sites with a Curacao license, like 22bet and 1xbet, have not been affected a lot, because they have been operating for a long time and are now established online bookies. Nonetheless, you should always be cautious when opening an account on a new bookmaker with a not-so-reliable betting license.

Very low odds 

Most sports betting sites will offer players an average payout between 92-95%. We are always on the lookout for big discrepancies between sports. Of course, providing high odds on football is sweet, but we don’t want all the other betting options to be limited. We also examine the differences between pre-match and live betting. Any site that is not consistent across all sports and markets will not secure a very high bookmaker rating.

Poor Bonuses & Offers 

You should always be aware of any very tempting first deposit bonuses. Some online bookies offer those frequently to lure customers into depositing money and then demand unrealistic wagering requirements. Remember, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Others will sometimes provide highly profitable bonuses only during August when the most popular football leagues begin. Although every bookie has his own promotion policy, promotions should be available to players for the entire season. Due to the importance for bettors, offers are one of the most important factors of bookmaker reviews.

Users’ reviews & comments 

Player ratings influence the bookmaker rankings to a great extent. Unfortunately, it so happens that many bettors will leave negative comments regarding a betting site just out of spite, without a proper cause. Being able to distinguish the real from the fake comments is key. Trust more those that are sufficient in length, and include specific examples. Whoever wrote it had a legitimate complaint against a bookmaker and took the time to alert the rest of the betting community.

Limited payment options

Bookmakers should offer a variety of payment methods. Suppose a bookmaker has limited transaction options or shows reluctance when you try to withdraw money (i.e., accepting credit cards for deposits but will only allow withdrawals to bank accounts). In that case, they are probably masking an expected unwillingness to pay. The time required for your money to be withdrawn is also crucial. Almost all online sites will advertise that payments are processed within 48 hours, but that’s rarely the truth. If it takes weeks or if the bookie returns the money to your account balance due to a “technical problem”, it will receive a worse bookmaker rating.

How to choose a site based on online bookmakers rating

With so many sportsbooks emerging every year, it is almost impossible to keep track. This is where we step in. Our bookmaker rating breaks down into five categories: the bookmaker’s general information, bonuses, payment options, betting environment, and everything else relevant. Depending on what is essential for you, you can select a bookie by checking the individual and specific ratings. Make sure to read all the online sportsbook ratings carefully to strongly understand what it has to offer and how it suits your needs.

The odds and markets, the betting promotions, and the payment methods available are some of the first things you will consider. However, these are just the tip of the iceberg. You should look deeper into what the complete sportsbook offering is. You should also be willing to switch betting sites. A different one might be closer to what you are looking for. Finally, we have given you advice on distinguishing a legit from a scam bookmaker, but rest assured; all the bookies on our site are being thoroughly checked by the Bookmakers.bet team every six months.