Online sports betting site recommendations

Submitted by bdsisme on

Does anyone have any recommendations for online sportsbooks?  With the coming of the college football and NFL seasons, I'm looking to (hopefully) profit off of the vast amount of time that I spend following the sport.  Does one specific site have more betting opportunities (especially w/r/t college football), or less fees, or better sign-up bonuses?

 

I know that this topic has been addressed in the past, but the relatively recent restrictions the government has placed on sportsbooks (re: paperwork/payout/deposit) as well as the ever-changing sign-up bonuses and types of bets that can be placed (proposition bets, lines, moneyline, etc) may have changed the experienced users' recommendations since the last post.

 

And before anyone mentions it, mgoposter jamiemac has the Just Cover Blog, which can be helpful for bets.  Jamiemac -- what's your opinion?

 

EDIT: Just read that Bodog is leaving the U.S. betting market at the end of the year. Some googling results in a lot of people saying they prefer 5dimes.com

justingoblue

August 28th, 2011 at 2:46 PM ^

Just to throw my question in here as well: what do people mean about not being able to get money out except at certain times? Do you need to have a certain amount in your account, does it go by time of year or what? I'm also thinking of opening an account at an online sportsbook this season.

jtmc33

August 28th, 2011 at 3:13 PM ^

IMO- overall the process of betting sites isnt worth the hastle It's very easy to deposit money and bet on games. It is a gigantic pain in the behind to withdraw your money.

JHendo

August 28th, 2011 at 3:35 PM ^

like you're most likely about to hear from a few people; none of them. To get your money out is a hassle. Different places have different rules, but they all for the most part are in an effort to give you a run around. It mainly revolves around you can only cash out if you've earned a certain dollar amount and it can take a month or so before you actually get the money and on top of it all you notice a disgustly large "convenience" fee taken out. Not worth your time or money. There's a reason these places are walking the fine line of legality. If you're gonna gamble on sports, do it in person at a sportsbook/casino.

West Texas Blue

August 28th, 2011 at 3:36 PM ^

I used Sportsbook.com for the last 6 years, but I switched to Bodog.  Sportsbook recently had a change in management per watchdog groups and people were getting burned on payouts.  I know quite a few people that use Bodog and they have never had any problems with payouts, so I'm giving them a shot.  Site has good layout and decent mobile app. 

zachjand

August 28th, 2011 at 4:50 PM ^

The site will still exist, but under a different name.  It will still be accessible to people in the US.  At least that was how I understood it from the poker side of things, which is what I was concerned about.  I don't know why the sportsbook would be any different than poker.

bluewings

August 28th, 2011 at 3:49 PM ^

Alll you need to do is enter your credit card info and you can deposit.  I tried to withdraw my money and had to send in my Drivers license and a copy of my heating bill.  I did this and still was not able to withdraw my money.  In the meantime I was playing a little blackjack or poker and lost it.  I still am not able to take my money out after depositing.  I used sportsbook.com  If you are going to use it, I would make sure everything is sorted out and you can withdraw before you start.  I do blame myself a bit, but my money just sat there so I dont blame myself completely.  Of course, I did not just stop at one.  Good Luck!

bigtyme

August 28th, 2011 at 3:53 PM ^

I'd recommend taking a look at www.draftstreet.com.  It's daily or weekly "fantasy" sports site that handles all major sports (NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL, PGA, and NCAA football).  You deposit money into the site and "buy in" to different leagues for as little as $2 or as much as $215.  You can play head to head vs. someone else or play in a large pool of people (150+) for bigger payouts (and every size league in between).  You can either do a snake draft option or a salary cap option where you assemble a team for under $100,000 and players contain different values.  For example, for a MLB league Verlander may be worth $20,000 of your $100,000 budget but Austin Jackson may only be $4,500 (yes I'm a Tigers fan).  The great thing is the leagues can be daily so you can pick your team and get paid out in 24 hours.  I'm looking forward to college football once it starts.  They are also some other cool features on the site such as acquring street creds (frequent player points) to be redeemed in their store for a bunch of items or free vouchers into cash games.

If you do signup it'd be great if you used my referral code: 

441559b
 
 
eDIT:  WITHDRAWING MONEY IS EASY VIA PAYPAL OR PERSONAL CHECKS WITH TAKE A COUPLE DAYS TO GET TO YOUR HOUSE.  tHIS SITE IS DIFFERENT FROM THE POKER SITES IN THAT FANTASY SPORTS CITES ARE NOT DEEMED GAMBLING BY OUR LEGAL SYSTEM...

FreddieMercuryHayes

August 28th, 2011 at 4:18 PM ^

Rocks.  It's for those of us who don't really like gambling.  It's ad-driven (but don't worry, you can avoid most of it if you want), so it's completely free.  But you can get real money.  You start out with 10 cents, and once you reach $20, you can withdraw actual real money from your accout.  You also get bonuses (it starts at 100% when you just start out) on your bet if you do view a banner ad.  I love it.

MGoSteelers

August 29th, 2011 at 2:18 AM ^

I've been in the $20-25 range twice but I only cashed out one of those times.. it took a few months to get the check but they emailed me after a month letting me know that the summer is slow in revenue and high in cashouts and they'd send me the check as soon as they could.  Great site though for those weary of "real" online gambling

michfan6060

August 28th, 2011 at 5:05 PM ^

have said it is definitely best to avoid online betting they will all take your money, but they make it extremely difficult to get back

jmayhew

August 28th, 2011 at 5:56 PM ^

ive been using bodog for a few years now, simple set up. works good for me. It was some work to get all the paperwork done to get withdrawls but now im all good. direct deposits into my banking account takes around 5 days. it just takes some work to get it all set up

wresler120

August 28th, 2011 at 6:15 PM ^

Just looking out for you ... stay away from online betting. It's not worth the hassle.

First off, on the sites I am familiar with ... there is a verification process. The verification process requires a social security number, and then asks you to answer questions based off your social security number. I would recommend not providing your social secuirty number to a company outside of the US. Sure it may be safe now, but what happens if issues arise 5 .. 10 .. 15 years down the road from this. It will be stored forever in their database. There will be nothing you can do to a firm overseas who steals your identity

Secondly, the cost of getting your money out is extremely high ... it's a rip off.

Lastly, Good luck trying to fund it. It used to be easy when you could just fund using an international credit card that was bought from Speedway. Now, it's next to impossible to get international credit cards.

This is just my opinion, so take it for what it's worth.

 

 

bigike

August 28th, 2011 at 8:57 PM ^

Loved Betjam and the Greek but they have left the US market. I have withdrawn numerous times from Bodog and I have never had a problem. Bodog is very trustworthy but they put up their lines later in the week once a firm number has been established. I just was given a 25% bonus with Bodog with only a 3X roll over...that is very good! Heritage is a great online book as well but they are invitation only.  One last thing, Do NOT think if you know football you will do well sports betting because you will not. Sports betting is more about finding what teams are most motivated and in the right position in relation to their schedule.