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Finding the best online sportsbook in your state can be a laborious process. There are so many aspects of a site to look for and research.
Here at Ballislife, we’ll dive deep into what makes the best sportsbooks, review a few sites, check out the betting markets, look into some mobile betting apps, and more.
The virtual gates of online sports betting were opened in May 2018. Since then, more than half of the states in the United States have legalized online sports betting, whether it’s actively live or pending launch.
Over that time, many of the best online sportsbooks have launched, and other sportsbooks have closed up shop for good.
However, for the bookies that have stayed afloat, they have a lot of things in common. They offer a wide array of online betting options, great promotions, and bonuses for new and existing players, functioning desktop and mobile app user design, and top-tier customer support.
The online sports betting industry has become aggressive, and new players in states that offer legal sports betting see some once-in-a-lifetime promotions from the top online sportsbooks.
For example, when mobile sports betting launched in New York, online sports betting sites were giving out thousands of dollars in bonus bets. They’re no longer offered, but for that moment in time, this allowed these sportsbooks to attract new players to their sportsbooks.
Here, we’ll look at everything that goes into the top sportsbooks online and provide insight into our top-five best sportsbooks to play at right now through sportsbook reviews.
It’s a relatively simple tool, but BetMGM’s Easy Parlay tool allows a concise way to view all bets for specific sports on one page.
It’s a bit more niche, but for players that enjoy bettering international sports such as tennis, soccer, basketball, or baseball, BetMGM supplies players with a live streaming service so you can watch the games you bet on. This lets players discover new sports to wager on, including live bets.
At SI Sportsbook, new players will find an environment with free-to-play games, an easy user interface, links to articles from Sports Illustrated to help inform bets, and bonuses/promotions that are low stakes.
The free-to-play game, Perfect 10 allows players to pick games each week of the NFL season. If you get at least six games right, you’ll win prizes. If you get all ten correct, you have a chance at the $10k top prize.
The promotions page at SI Sportsbook did something minor, but it’s great for new players—offering filtering options for bonuses and promotions.
There are many promos/bonuses at SI Sportsbook, and you’ll be able to click on which type of bonus/promotion you’re looking for and check them out.
On top of a $1,000 no sweat first bet for new players, FanDuel Sportsbook players will find numerous bonuses and promotions to use while playing including bet & get offers, and more.
Funding your account and withdrawing funds is fundamental to playing at online sportsbooks. After all, if you can’t deposit money or withdraw, you can’t play.
FanDuel Sportsbook offers so many ways to deposit and withdraw for sports bettors, but now provides Venmo, which is an e-wallet commonly used, similar to PayPal.
While opinions may differ regarding what makes great user interface design, in our view, WynnBET exceeds—it’s simple and easy to navigate. A big part of that does involve having fewer sports than competitors, but scanning the site is easy to do and makes the experience of playing stress-free. This is good for both new and veteran players.
When examining online sportsbooks, we look for how much you need to scroll up, down, left, and right through the page to find everything you need. At WynnBet, you don’t need to at all.
Whether you’re a new or veteran player, chances are you’ll run into a situation where you need to have a question answered. Sure, contacting support is always available, but if a site can develop an FAQ section that answers that question, this streamlines the entire process and makes it easier for everyone.
The concept is simple—do you not see a certain bet offered? No worries. You can contact PointsBet, pitch your bet idea and wait for approval or denial
PointsBetting amplifies players' bets through massive winnings or absorbing big losses. As the saying goes—without risk, there’s no reward.
This works in the other direction, too, however. If you lose, you can lose big.
Whether it’s through our recommendations above or independent research, decide where you want to play. If you’re in a state with more than one sportsbook, maybe you have a few options.
When choosing your online sportsbook, one of the components that should factor into that is the welcome bonus. Sometimes, you’ll automatically get the offer just for creating an account, but you may need to submit a promo code during the registration process—be on the lookout for that.
With pretty much all online sportsbooks, you’ll find yourself taking advantage of a welcome bonus. Think of these as a way for the sportsbook to give you an excellent first impression.
These include risk-free bets, deposit bonuses, free bets, bet & get offers, bonus bets, no sweat first bets, no deposit bonuses, and more.
An example is FanDuel’s $1,000 “No Sweat First Bet.” The language might be slightly different, but this similar to a risk-free bet.
This means that your first bet can be made without running the risk of losing all of your money on the first go. So, if you wager $10 - $1,000 and lose, you’ll receive your bet back in the form of a bonus bets or site credit that you can then turn around and wager again.
With these offers, it’s important to keep in mind what your budget is. While an offer is for up to $1,000, you don’t necessarily need to do the full $1,000, but that’s the value available to you.
We’ve highlighted many things we look for when it comes to online sportsbook mobile apps, but to recap, we look for an app that doesn’t lag or buffer and makes it easy to find the platform’s key components.
This includes easy access to customer support, finding sports, leagues, and teams, and promotions page.
Below, we’ll look at some of the best online betting sites and their mobile apps.
Kicking off the app, you’ll see an account icon in the upper left that provides links to withdraw funds, the rewards program, customer support, and more.
Below, you’ll see a menu of advertisements for the available bonuses and promotions that allow easy access to them.
Then, you’ll find the available sports with links you can click to bring you directly to that page.
Along the bottom of the app, there’s a menu to return to the homepage, live betting options, a list of sports, best odds, and a promos/rewards program.
The app is streamlined, easy-to-use and the access to those key components is easy to find.
On the FanDuel app, you’ll see a menu of the available sports along the top, with the available promotions just under that.
Below this, you’ll see another menu for the available sports with the most upcoming games for each sport under that.
There’s a menu along the bottom with links to the homepage, a list of sports, your bet slip, online casino (in legal sports betting states), and your account.
The account icon opens a menu for customer support, deposits, withdrawals, and more.
When the BetMGM app launches, you’ll pick the state you wish to play in (this will be geo-confirmed).
At the top of the app, you’ll see a search bar for particular sports, teams, or leagues with a menu next to it for a list of the sports.
Like DraftKings and FanDuel, you’ll see each sport’s promotions and upcoming sporting events.
At the bottom of the app, you’ll have links to the sportsbook's homepage, the online casino, the promotions page, the bet slip, and your account page, which, like FanDuel, has links to customer support and more.
The online sportsbook landscape is constantly evolving. In its infancy, online sports betting had your basic bet types and some bonuses and promotions. As time has gone on since May 2018, the best new sports betting sites have created mobile apps for iOS and Android and allowed Same Game Parlays.
Many new online sports betting sites are popping up that introduce new elements you won’t really find anywhere else in the sports betting world.
These ranges form something as minor as BetRivers’ live winner’s menu feed or PointsBet's PointsBetting bet type.
The best sports betting sites are innovating on what it means to be a “sportsbook.”
Places like Prophet Exchange are creating “betting exchanges” where players now bet against other players instead of the house. This is a hybrid between sports betting and daily fantasy sports somewhat.
As online sports betting advances, it’ll be intriguing to see what the best sports betting sites do to further stand out from the pack.
At online sportsbooks, you’ll always find the top US major sports leagues—NBA, NFL, NHL, and MLB—but there are other sports out there that may appeal to other players. These may not be available at all sites, so this is something to look for both in major and minor sports leagues.
Some of the bet types you’ll find include the following:
Your favorite sportsbooks will differ in terms of what’s offered in terms of best odds and when. You’ll sometimes find prop bets or game lines available at the best online betting site before others.
In the NHL, you’ll have all of the available bet types above, with one minor difference—the puck line. The puck line is the hockey version of the point spread. This is always 1.5 goals and the odds will differ between the favored and underdog team.
As for prop bets, you’ll look to be on the Stanley Cup, and award, division, and conference winners.
The MLB betting market is similar to hockey in that the point spread also has a different name—the run line. Like hockey, this is also 1.5, but instead of goals, it’s runs, of course.
There are plenty of individual player awards to bet on in the MLB, but you’ll also have the World Series, pennant winner, division winners, and more.
The NFL is the most popular sport to bet on at a US sports betting site. The Super Bowl is the most wagered-on sporting event across all major sports, drawing in potential bettors from all walks of life. This could even be some players’ first bet online.
Leading up to this, you have the weekly games to bet on and the playoffs. The Buffalo Bills, Kansas City Chiefs, Philadelphia Eagles, and San Francisco 49ers are among the best teams in the NFL.
With the big scores of the NBA, all 80+ games (including the regular season and playoffs) provide not only a bunch of entertainment but plenty of opportunities in the betting markets. The playoffs are far more expansive than the NFL and the NBA Finals is always a popular time to bet because it can go up to seven games.
Like the NFL, you’ll have other sports markets such as the division, conference, and individual awards to bet online in terms of sporting events.
The top teams to win the NBA Finals are the Boston Celtics, Milwaukee Bucks, Golden State Warriors, and Los Angeles Clippers.
College sports betting, whether basketball or football, isn’t available in all legal sports betting states. The best sports betting states that allow betting on in-state college teams without any exceptions are Pennsylvania, Michigan, Maryland, Kansas, and more.
For college basketball, players will have the top online sportsbook's grand finale: March Madness, also known as the NCAAB Tournament, to bet on. This happens shortly after the Super Bowl, which features 64 teams in a single-elimination tournament.
Like college basketball, you’ll want to make sure that you as a sports bettor can bet on your in-state college teams. For college football, you’ll have the four-team College Football Playoff which headline the postseason, but there are also more than 40 bowl games that are perfect for online betting.
We can discuss sports betting websites promotions, user interface design, betting markets, sporting events, customer support, and the other components that make top online sportsbooks great. However, in the United States, one thing players will receive that shouldn’t be taken for granted is a safe and secure site when betting online.
Before May 2018 came, and legislation changed, players had to resort to some sketchy offshore betting sites where you had to cross your fingers to get a check in the mail from a different country.
In the United States, top online sportsbooks need a license to operate in each state it wants to launch in.
So, when you leave here, regardless of whether or not you take our recommendation, as long as you play at licensed online sports betting sites in the United States, you can have peace of mind knowing you’ll receive your winnings and whatever bonus you sign up for.
DraftKings fares well here, offering 60+ sports and a strong range of betting types. You can also expect in-play betting. BetMGM is another top choice for US players, as it has excellent welcome offers and competitive odds across all sports.
At ballislife.com, we've collected an updated list of US sportsbooks that accepts new players. Use our comparison tables above to search for yourself. This means you’ll get the most accurate information for sites you can sign up to.
Barstool and 888 are among the US sportsbooks that use Kambi, provider of the sportsbook platform players can use to make wagers on their favorite sports. Coverage depends on which US state you’re in.
Your best bet is to look for a list of available and legal sportsbook providers in your state. You can then look for the banking or cashier page on each site. This should list all the available payment methods you can use. Some sites also provide logos for accepted payment methods. If not, we can recommend BetMGM, Tipico & BetRivers Sportsbook that all accept PayPal as a payment method.
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