Top 8 Extremely Important Things To Look Out For in an Online Betting Site Before Betting

 

The process of selecting an online bookmaker is not an easy one. Guess you thought it was. Perhaps, but not without taking this few guides into consideration.  I’d advice before sending your money to any online bookmaker, it’s worth the effort spending a few minutes of your time to check them out. This little exercise could save you a great deal of frustration down the road.

Here are 8 of the top crucial factors to consider when picking  a reliable online betting company with which to invest your hard-earned money.

 

1) High Odds are Always Best

You may have heard this before “Always look out for bookmakers with very high odds”. In betting, this is way important since playing under-priced bets only increase profits for the bookies not for you.

 

Come to think of it, It’s funny how little emphasis most punters put on quality of odds when choosing where to have  bet. Instead of looking for who offers the best odds, an advert or nairaland post or something just irrelevant dictates where they place  a bet.

I’ll need state here clearly that one instrumental factor worth considering bone and tooth above the rest is who has the best odds. Many bookmakers might parade themselves as having the best odds, but this doesn’t imply they really do have good odds. It’s only a marketing ploy.

You’d need to compare the odds from various bookmakers to really know which is more profitable and which provides the better odds for your chosen betting market or leagues.

One of the easiest ways to check the available odds offered by a range of bookmakers is through an odds comparison site. I’d recommend oddportal.com. Their services is way useful if you deal with foreign bookmakers since most local bookmakers odds are not listed there.

If you deal on local bookmakers more, you might want to investigate their posted odds manually to check out the more profitable ones.

But no matter who you deal with –Always buy at the highest price possible (big odds). It’s very important not to overlook the odds in the long-term, the difference in your own profits can be very significant.

 

2) Withdrawals and Deposits

Here is one vital piece too.

There is a way this bookmaking stuff really works. Some bookmakers may have attractive odds but lag behind when it comes to paying out winnings, some apply a monthly/weekly limit on the number of withdrawals and some even charge  a fee once you exceed a specified monthly quota.

Not forgetting those ones that make payouts a tug of war and you wait and wait and wait for your money.

To pay off winners is by far the most important thing you should look out for. One way to guess if a bookmaker is worthy doing business with is to check out the number of years that bookmaker has been in the business.

The longer, the more reliable he is since it’s way likely he’d run out of business as his customer base shrinks if he falls behind on payouts.

On Deposits

Creating an easy  method of funding a betting account should be of primary concern to any bookmaker. But sadly enough the process is annoyingly difficult to carry out in some betting sites than others (thereby sending their customers away and making the competition richer).

For example, one of the easiest accounts to fund in Nigeria is 9japredict. The payment options they offer is superb -There are 11 different banks to choose from to make payments and they also have secure credit card funding available (In a country where the bulk of the population is not used to online banking that’s a great idea opening up multiple payment channels).

Others bet sites are great too. For instance, Bet9ja gives detailed articles on how to deposit using the various payment options. But the point is -Out of the bunch out there, Find the one that is simple and flexible enough for you.

This idea of funding accounts easily will come handy in the thick of gaming action when you’d need place that emergency bet or something. Just do your homework and check out for this feature mentioned now.

There is something else you need consider here too. The fee on credit card deposits and fee on withdrawals too. Most bookmakers charge a fee. Simply look out for cheap options since the fee charge varies from one bookie to the other.

This one is crucial too because transaction costs can eat away a sizeable chunk of your profits. And as you are aware already when it comes to the business of betting, we try to make more money and lose as few of our own while trying.

 

One habit you might want to learn to reduce the effect of extra charges is you not making a withdrawal until your balance is sufficiently high to make sure your withdrawal don’t trigger any sudden deposits on same bet account. It’s simple -Never withdraw money from an account where you might later need money.

 

3) Stake Limitations

Stake limitations is a problem for a lot of punters who find a great betting opportunity but can’t take  full advantage of it  because their bookmakers will not accept the kind of stake it requires.

It’s ideal before you sign up to check for the minimum and maximum stake the bookmaker allows.

More also, it’s inevitable if you get so successful with your betting your bookmaker will eventually limit/close your accounts. What they really need to move  their business is a recreational player or someone who bets for personal entertainment and not a business-model bettor -No, that’s bad business for them. You’ll definitely spoil their party.

There are a few ways to stay in the radar though. Watch out for a post on that sometime soon.

Here is something else you should consider too.

Not all betting markets are profitable for the bookmaker. Some markets has more liquidity than others. But you cannot know for sure how this affects each bookmaker since they wouldn’t tell you out-rightly.

 

This leaves us with one option -making an educated guess. First of all know this, size matters! You can compare the popularity of different online betting site to know how large their share of the bet market is.

Alexa.com could be of great use in giving you valuable statistics here. As of the time of writing, Bet365 is the most popular of all betting sites, Bet9ja is ranked 26th most popular site in Nigeria, Nairabet ranks 45th, merrybet ranks 127th, surebet247 ranks 324th, 9japredict ranks 1347th. Just visit alexa to check out that of your preferred bookmaker.

Comparing the alexa rank of different bookmakers will give you a rough estimate of their relative size, reputation and importance in the betting industry. It’s not the holy grail, but it’s useful information.

 

4) Customer Service and User Friendliness

Putting together an easy to follow with clear navigation tools is a big challenge for many websites. Not just bookmakers.

Once you log into a site or specifically an online betting site, is it easy to find what you came looking for? If it is, great. You may also need a bookmaker who has a mobile betting service that allows  you to place  bets directly from a smartphone.

If there is one thing customers love is an exceptional customer service. Have you ever had a little challenge with your bookmaker and it was difficult getting through and conveying your complaints? Oh what a pain!

Look out for  bookmakers that gives you options -Several options to pick from like emails, phone numbers to call, or even live chat support with a representative.

 

An online betting site might have all this platforms but its a question of are they responsive? Do they pick calls or reply to emails? Are the lines available? You may want to ask around to find out this, people you know might have dealt with them sometime too.

 

5) Useful Informative Contents

Personally speaking, here is where I get mad at local bookies.

Clearly, all local bookies don’t provide any form of useful educative articles or materials for their customers. They claim they want you to win millions but yet do not educate you on how best to go about it.  This alone lets you know straight away where they stand.

You see, over 90% of the betting population in Nigeria are ignorant of how the betting world really operates and that’s the major reason they lose like mad.

Your bookmaker knows this. For an uninformed customer base like the Nigerian betting market, this means lots of money in Naira for the operator.

Try visiting bookmakers like pinnacle sports , bet365, and even williamhill you’d find useful betting resources that are informative to help the bettor educate himself on the importance of odds, mathematics, probability and statistics in sports betting.

 

All am saying is –Any bookie willing to add more transparency to the whole process is worth taking notice of. And that’s it!

6) Free bets and Bonuses

The idea of free money is always appealing. Although bookies free bets and bonuses are not exactly what you can call free, but that’s the closest you’d get out of a multi-billion dollar industry that is doing everything within their reach to relieve you of your hard-earned cash.

Most of these bookmakers offer free bets at the opening of a new account or at sometime in your betting journey with them.

A good example is Bet365 that gives out a 100% bonus on new accounts once you have played through your deposit. Another example is Coralbet that sends you money into your bet account few days to your birthday. It’s a personal touch that no one else does but them. Isn’t it sweet how a bookmaker can use a little aspect of your personal details to create a connect with customers without them feeling exploited? providing this sort of unadvertised free bonus gifts can be a powerful strategy and help build healthier relationships with clients.

Some local bookies do give out something as well. Bet9ja offers a 100% welcome bonus, Surebet247 offers free bets up to 250k and I think you can make money from 9japredict if you refer a friend (10% of friend’s deposit).

But hey guys! Relax! This offers may sound tempting but do you think they’d give up there ill-gotten gains easily?

If this offers where to be straight forward, we all would have been rich by now.

Truth is – some of this offers are astute and a well designed art of effortlessly taking more money from you than you eventually get. Except perhaps you have a great plan that works well with the offer or you have some good matched betting skills.

Here is the kicker

Most bookmakers offer something free. But always look out for a clause in their offer -A small condition that every free bet and bonus comes with. Simply check it out and weigh the conditions if it works with your bet plan, then make a decision.

For example 9japredict gives you free bets and bonuses but mandates you play an accumulator of least 5-fold with your bonus. Believe me, that’s a great idea for an accumulator bet punter, but for a single punter, that’s a little challenge.

When going through the clauses attached to this offers, you might find big words  like qualifying bet, Rollover, stake returned bonus, stake not returned bonus.

Don’t get fazed and don’t get carried away by their sweet language now….here is what they mean. A qualifying bet is a bet you need to place in order to unlock the free bet. It’s generally only your first bet placed. Rollover is a T&C many don’t bother looking out for. It tells you how much you must bet before being able to withdraw from a free bet. Stake returned bonus is the best type of free bet where you receive your winnings, bonus and original stake. Stake not returned -be careful of this one, here if your bet wins, you will only have your winnings returned but not your original stake. An

‘Stake not returned’ as you’ve already figured out, is not attractive enough for business, so some bookmakers call it a more fancy name this days “promo cash”. They are all same. You can only use your promo cash as a stake and the chances that this promo cash ever gets into your pockets is freaking low.

The thing is, to attract customers most bookmakers offer incentives by way of free bets and bonuses. If yours doesn’t, oops!

If yours does, you should take this message home with you “when there is no clarity it leaves room for assumption.” So the more detailed a bookmaker terms and conditions as regards his free bets and sign up bonuses, the more you know about him. This may go a long way to mold your bet strategy with the bookmaker.

 

7) Terms and Conditions

Many bookmakers are faceless. Some may be reliable offline but don’t  give a damn about you online. Don’t give into their hype and giggles until you are convinced it is okay to do business  and completely aware of their terms and conditions.

In fact, the terms and condition should even be the very first thing to look out for. Super important!

Some bookmakers terms may not align with your your kind of bet plan, some are strict, some are winners friendly, some are just not comprehensive and detailed enough (quite tricky and unclear) and very Few don’t even have (fear this ones).

That reminds me. How do you know a trustworthy bookie? Most of you reading this article will have none to very little experience of bookmakers. You just want to make a few bucks and off you go.

Here is a small tip. Always look out for license information. You’ll normally find this info in the footer of all sports betting sites. You may not see it on a mobile, try using a laptop or an ipad to view( scroll down to the bottom you’d see a black background with a few information and menu buttons) and you’ll then see where the betting license comes from.

Most local bookies are licensed and regulated by the Lagos State Lotteries Board. Without a license, no bookmaker can operate.

 

8) Adjudication Service

Often times, bettors run into problems with bookmakers. There has to be a channel of appeal for a bettor who has lost money and feels cheated.

One of the most instrumental adjudication service providers is IBAS (Independent Betting Adjudication Services) which acts as an unbiased adjudicator on disputes that arise between gambling operators and and their customers after they have been through the operator’s own internal dispute procedures.

What the IBAS panel of experts does is to apply their specialist knowledge to the facts and adjudicate mainly by reference to the bookmaker’s own terms and conditions.

You see another importance of terms and condition?

Not all bookmakers are registered with IBAS. In Nigeria just a handful is duly registered.

I think 9japredict takes matters to IBAS. The others I have an idea of how this works are:

Surebet247 – the bookmaker (surebet247) makes the final decisions on any dispute.

1960bet  – The local state lotteries board rules binds on any issues.

Bet9ja, Nairabet, Merrybet and  few others are not really clear about this one. Maybe you can contact a representative to know more on this. Check the T&C properly you might find something there.

In conclusion

Everyone is different with different betting strategy. Some of the 8 points may not be important to you, you may have others of your own. The thing is to take betting as a business and do your homework before entrusting money to any gambling agency.

Forget about what they tell you that betting is for the recreational player and all that. Nah! Don’t think that way.

Hope you found this article helpful. If you’ve got a great idea to add or a question please feel free to use the comment box below.

Have fun as usual. Don’t bet more than you can afford to lose and thanks for looking.