Sports betting is bigger than ever, and there haven’t been more options to decide on an online sportsbook. With dependable sportsbooks occupying exactly the identical market share as fraudulent ones, it’s getting harder and harder to differentiate ones that function with integrity out of their scammy counterparts.
We created this guide to help you navigate the selection process. Scammers might be getting more sophisticated, but there are still plenty of important indicators for secure, legitimate sportsbooks.
The Significance of Picking of A Safe Sportsbook
If it comes to sports betting, it is all for naught unless your sportsbook honors your winnings and deposits.
Say, hypothetically, that you end up registering with an illegitimate sportsbook, and subsequently make a deposit. While it’s by no means guaranteed that this sportsbook will completely rip you off, there is a good chance that one of the following issues might occur:
Delayed payouts in your winnings (believe 45+ days)
Absent customer service Canceling/not crediting winning wagers (either partially or in their entirety)
Stealing your money Viruses infecting your computer or Cell Phone Of course, signing up at safe sportsbook means you’ll prevent any of the above consequences. To prevent any of these headaches, it is your responsibility to hold your sportsbook liable — do not settle for anything less than the most exacting criteria for your gambling experience!
If you perform these checks before sending your cash over to a sportsbook, then you’ll understand that your money (and gambling experience) are in the hands of a quality book.
1. Scrutinize Your Sportsbooks’ License Any safe online sportsbook will prominently display their working license that ensures their lawful right to operate. Sportsbooks licenses ensure that their books are open to lawful, third-party audits, and consistently pass examinations to ensure they are not defrauding their customers.
When a sportsbook has a license in the well-respected region, you can rest easy that it’s wholly legit. This, alone, is a sufficient condition of a valid sportsbook.
The most common regions that sportsbooks search licensure in are:
Western Europe
Various islands within the Caribbean Archipelago
Select Native American bookings within North America
That said, just because you can’t identify a sportsbook license straight away doesn’t indicate that it isn’t safe. You will be able to find their lawful operations license somewhere on their website.
Conversely, if you land on a sportsbook and you’ll be able to tell it isn’t licensed, reconsider sending your cash to them. Accreditation ensures security, and as such, we recommend you adhere to sportsbooks who have bothered to jump through the correct legal permissions hoops.
2. They Verify Your Identity
In our guide to banking at your sportsbook, we talk about how to successfully browse the withdrawal procedure, which always includes verifying your identity.
Legitimate sportsbooks, such as such sites for internet sports betting, are licensed and controlled businesses. As such, they are required to obey the regulations and rules in the region that they sought licensure within.
These principles consistently include checking the identity of the customers before sending payouts, which is necessary for sportsbooks to stay in accordance with global KYC (Know Your Customer) and AML (Anti-Money Laundering) regulations.
If sportsbooks don’t verify their client’s individuality, they could find themselves complicit in criminal activity, cater to individuals that aren’t legally authorized (or old enough) to gamble within their specific state or country, damage relationships with their repayment providers, and also send payments into the wrong person/persons. None of these are good for a sportsbook that wants to stay legal, and who would like to provide their customers with the highest standards of support.
Unsafe, illegitimate sportsbooks have a tendency to skirt this security feature, and they do not often need customers to confirm their identity. When a sportsbook is only looking to fatten their own pockets by ripping customers off, they aren’t likely to be quite worried about being legally compliant or constructing their own reputation within the marketplace. They are only looking to make off with your cash and disappear!
3. They’ve Got SSL Protection
SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) protection is standard security technology which guarantees an encrypted link between a web server and a browser.
That’s a good deal of web-specific jargon, but this encryption ensures that all data passed between you and the web site remains confidential. SSL technology is used by millions of sites across the globe to safeguard financial transactions with paying customers. When websites utilize this, it is nearly impossible for poor actors to steal sensitive financial or personal information.
Obviously, the process of depositing and withdrawing in your sportsbook involves the transport of sensitive financial information. As such, your sportsbooks ought to be operating an SSL-encrypted link (for your own protection and theirs). Any sportsbook that isn’t running SSL either is expressly hoping to steal your data, or they don’t have any comprehension of the most rudimentary aspects of internet security. Both are reasons to steer clear, and some other sportsbook that isn’t equipped with SSL protection isn’t worth your time.
How can you determine a site that’s SSL protected? Easy! Just search for sites with https:// in the beginning of the web address along with also a locked icon. That is all it takes!
4. Your Sportsbook Has An Excellent Online Reputation
If your sportsbook has a solid reputation, you’ve probably landed on a safe sportsbook. The more a sportsbook has been around, the more powerful it is handling your cash. A sportsbooks’ continued presence is proof of the security. If they were ripping bettors away, there’s no way they can stay in business.
Each of the sportsbooks we examine have proven track record of legitimacy, but if you would like to expand your search, there’s many different channels you’ll be able to go through also. The subreddit r/sportsbooks is a great place to inquire into the strengths and weaknesses of certain books inside the betting community.
5. They’ve Got A Responsive Customer Service Department
If you call, email, or send a message to your sportsbook and find a near-instantaneous reply, you are working with a safe sportsbook.
Customer service departments that are real, responsive, and educated do not emerge out of thin air. A well-furnished, fully-functional customer service department is expensive to staff, train, and operate, and therefore, it is just safe sportsbooks that may feasibly run them.
6. They Are Not Promoting Anything Outrageous
A secure sportsbook is not likely to be supplying bettors outrageous perks which look too good to be true. Any sportsbook which masquerades as a charitable operation is likely trying to engineer creative techniques to distinguish you from your cash.
What exactly do we mean when we say outrageous? Well, if you see the Pats in +1000 about the moneyline — or a 500% bonus deal — steer clear. Make sure that the odds, lines, bonuses, and limits align with business standards.
7. Well-Developed Interface & Modern UX and UI
Should you come across a sportsbook that’s got a fully operational interface, live gaming choices, a well developed mobile platform, and thoughtful, modern UX and UI, you have definitely found a secure sportsbook. These features are the hallmarks of the maximum quality novels, and no book that’s spent so much time on supplying bettors with a top-quality experience will be looking rip you off.
Scammy sportsbooks just don’t stay in business for very long. Developing an optimal user experience not only requires a massive financial investment, but a substantial amount of time too. Evidently, this would preclude them from developing a quality platform for bettors.
Found A Safe Sportsbook? Start Building Your Bankroll!
Finding a trustworthy sportsbook is undoubtedly the most crucial component of sport betting. Now that you understand how to find a person, you are able to brush up on the fundamentals with our betting 101 guides, where we walk you through the basics while demystifying the vital fundamentals of sports betting which might seem complicated at first blush.
Want to learn more about the company of sports betting and why online sportsbooks operate how they do? Check out our guide to online sportsbooks’ complex (but lawful ) status in the United States.
Read more: sharednewspaper.com