When looking for a brand new betting site there are a number of things to take into account. You want to make sure that you’re getting fair and honest service of course but other factors such as bonuses, ease of customer service and choices in terms of banking will all help to influence your decision. This is where a honest bookmaker review comes in handy.
When reviewing a bookie, here are the things we analyse in order to separate the best from the rest.
Bookmaker Reviews: General Overview
Trust has to be built up over a period of time so it’s useful to know how long your intended operator has been in existence. Naturally it’s easier for the ‘big boys’ such as William Hill and Ladbrokes to score heavily in this area as they were established some decades ago in the pre-internet days but that doesn’t mean you should rule out other firms.
Betway, for example, have been with us since 2007 and in the digital era that’s a relatively long time in which to build a respected reputation. That’s not to say that new bookmakers should be overlooked; trust built up over time is important but they can compete in other areas.
List of Our Reviews
Opening Bonus and Ongoing Promotions
We’re all tempted in by a nice welcome offer and some of these can give serious value for money. Matched deposits up to £100 and beyond are definitely worth looking at and all of these are assessed within each bookmaker review.
Naturally you’ll need to look at terms such as minimum odds for opening stakes and how many times you have to rollover before you can claim any profits. Smaller figures may not look quite so tempting in comparison but in general they may be easier to get hold of.
But once you’ve claimed that opening deal what else does your bookie have to offer? If they don’t reward your loyalty then is there any point in hanging around? Ongoing promotions are also looked at to see who gives you value for money throughout the life of your account.
Sports Markets and Odds Value
While football and horse racing are the two most popular sports for the betting fraternity, others like to stake in all sorts of markets from tennis to chess, golf to bowls and much more. Then, there are punters who like to get involved with politics and entertainment and maybe even join the growing craze in eSports.
A list of brand new betting sites is shown in full so you can see whether your own favourites are covered. But it’s also good to know if you are getting value for money with good prices within those markets. These can be checked on the main odds comparison sites – if the bookie is listed there – and an overall view of value is given within each of the sportsbook reviews.
Banking
Most, if not all bookmakers will accept bank transfers alongside all the major debit cards as that’s the way that many customers like to handle their transactions. But most of us like to use eWallet providers at times so can we fund and withdraw from our accounts using companies such as Skrill, Paypal and Neteller?
Full lists of facilities are provided together with a note of transaction times as well as details of charges if applicable. If you need lots of flexibility here then it pays to be with the operator that gives you as many options as possible.
Customer Service
How do you like to get answers to your bookmaker queries? These days, in the fast-paced world of the internet, we don’t have a lot of time on our hands and we may well be looking for a live chat operator who could give us a solution in less than a minute.
Not all bookmakers have live chat and if they do, it isn’t necessarily manned for 24 hours a day. Our bookmaker reviews give you all of this info along with lists of other options such as email, telephone and whether there are any Frequently Asked Questions Available.
Conclusions
If you just want to cut to the main bits of information, you can find a quick check of pros and cons at the bottom of each sportsbook review. These list the biggest advantages and disadvantages so please feel free to check these or otherwise read through each bookmaker review in full to get a comprehensive overview.
