Like everything else today, the internet is revolutionising sport and racing betting with the emerging trend of online bookmakers. Although online sports betting is not a new development, it is quickly replacing the bookmaker's office as people would rather sit at home and bet compared to travelling to and sitting in a bookmaker's office. There are currently thousands of online bookmakers and with so many, it can often be difficult for novice bettors to pick the best and most reliable bookmaker. Reliable bookmakers are easy to pick if you follow a checklist of things that are essential for all online bookmakers.
The bookmaker's popularity is a good starting point. If you know lots of people are using a particular bookmaker then start with these ones. You can find this out by accessing online chat forums such as yahoo where there are heaps of people willing to answer any questions you may have. Ask them how long they have been betting for and using the online bookmaker they have suggested. Otherwise, there are plenty of online bookmaker review websites, which criticise the dominant online bookmakers. However keep in mind that some of these "review" pages are set up by bookmakers themselves. A good example of this is with BetUS.com which has received plenty of complaints from customers yet there are plenty of review sites which recommend this online bookmaker. Several bookmakers are quite successful at ripping customers off by accusing them of cheating or being a professional player. This means that the company can refuse to pay the customer even though the apparent rule they broke may not be listed in their terms and conditions. For novices this can be confusing so stay away from sites like this.
Reputable online bookmakers should offer plenty of payments methods including credit card, direct deposit and money/cheque orders. Always remember to use a separate credit card for betting from the one used for daily expenses. Just in case your credit card details are stolen, you won't lose all of your earnings. Bookmakers should not charge customers excess fees for using credit cards or for withdrawing their earnings. Ultimately, most good bookmakers will wear the cost of credit cards charges and will not expect customers to pay bank fees or taxes on their payouts.
Be careful of bookmakers who are in financial trouble. This may be hard to find out with private companies however with publicly held companies, their financial records must be made available to the public so it is a good idea to look through these details if possible. The only way bookmakers in financial trouble can make back the money they lost is to attract more bettors to sign up and lose money so that the bookmaker can pay the existing customers their overdue payouts. So if you find yourself waiting several weeks for a single payout, chances are you are being scammed.
Something that all punters need to be aware of is that online bookmakers are a business, they need customers and therefore many of them will say anything to get people to sign up and bet with them. Particularly when a bookmaker is in financial trouble, they will try and offer ludicrous deals and over 20% bonuses that seem too good to be true, which they normally are. If you do sign up with an online bookmaker and do not receive the bonuses you were promised, it's a good warning sign to get out now.
Bookmakers must offer customer service, including email, live chat and telephone assistance which is available to customers at any time of the day. Their employees should be polite and knowledgeable on everything found on the website. Remember that the customer service operators will probably be the nicest when trying to sign people up so if their attitude is already unwelcoming the first time you speak with them, it is most likely not going to improve. The website's contact details should be clearly displayed on the homepage of the site.
Furthermore, singles should be offered by all bookmakers and bettors should not be required to deposit large amounts of money for each bet. Throughout the year, bookmakers should be offering odds on not just the major sports games and leagues. Bookmakers offering odds on more local sports and racing tend to be more customer focused rather than just wanting the high rollers. However all good bookmakers will normally have a maximum winnings limit yet this should not be a low amount and the easiest way to find what is a normal amount is to compare the websites.
Lastly, there are a few specific features that a bookmaker should have to show that they are reputable. The website needs to be easy to use and should display that it is a secure site. Betting terminology or something similar must be displayed on the website to help punters understand the various bets. Also, fairly obvious but check that they actually possess a gambling license.