(5) User Friendliness
Putting together an easy to follow and highly efficient interface is a huge challenge for many website owners, not just bookmakers.
Write down as many cosmetic factors that you can think of. Is it always easy to find the bet you need; how quickly can you deposit money; how quickly can you place a bet; does the market accept in-play wagers; can you watch a live stream of the match, etc., etc.?
It is impossible to make a website universally liked by all who use it, so personal preference does play a part in deciding whether you wish to use a particular site or not.
(6) Third Party Comments
Beware! Some sites and forums are not what you think they are! Most are directly affiliated to the firms they are promoting and they are not going to talk negatively about their cash cows.
Look for real comments and user experiences – there should at least be a balance between good and bad reviews. If it sounds too good to be true then it probably is.
For a well-balanced perspective of any online gambling related form, it is always worth keying in to Sportsbookreview, which has the definitive and current word on the market. It even acts as an arbitrator in disputes between punters and bookies.
(7) Customer Service and Social Network
It’s a sign of the times but firms with social media presence tend to be more trusted than those who prefer to remain anonymous or incognito.
Social networking boards are an ideal place to capture a snapshot of the firm you are investigating. If there is one thing that consumers love to complain about its customer service, or the lack of it.
Can you have an immediate online chat with a bookmaker representative to iron out queries or to process the mundane such as a change of address? Or do you have to email the customer services department and wait until they get around to replying?
All of these administrative details are important to your overall user experience and will help form more of a rounded overview – something you don’t get from the purely mechanical process of placing, winning and losing bets.
(8) Stake Limitations
This is a real bugbear for a lot of people who find an edge and then discover they cannot take full advantage because their bookmaker will not accept the level of their stake.
It is true that punters get limited or banned from bookmakers for exhibiting specific betting patterns. There are many ways to disguise your success and certainly an unwritten code of conduct to follow if you want to retain any bookmaker facility in the long run.
Read all you can find about stake limitations with the online bookmaker you are researching before making the decision to join them. There are certainly many trigger happy bookmakers out there who don’t need successful punters to spoil their party.
You will need to humour them. Match bet winnings away from them using other bookies or exchanges. Make sure you are continually topping-up the account with fresh funds. Always bet whole numbers. These are just a few ways of staying under the radar.
(9) Withdrawals
Some of the best betting sites on odds fall down when it comes to delivering your winnings. Some apply a monthly limit on the number of withdrawals; some charge a withdrawal fee once your monthly quota is exceeded; some charge you for every withdrawal you make; some make you wait an eternity for the money to arrive in your account; a select few never pay…
Doing some homework on this issue will certainly save a lot of frustration in the future. This is one of the more important criteria in our list. Check blogs and forums for withdrawal difficulties and stay away from those firms who regularly attract criticism.
(10) Market Share
Size matters! Especially when comparing companies. But how to do this with Online Betting Sites?
Alexa rank is a publicly available metric allowing users to compare website popularity. Just visit Alexa and type in the domain name of any bookmaker and a whole host of statistics is made available to peruse. Alexa provides detailed information for all sites up to position 100,000 on their ranking list.
For example, according to Alexa’s criteria as of today’s date, Bet365 is the 269th most popular of all sites on the Net. Indeed, Bet365 is the largest bookmaker on the planet. Compare this with the largest betting exchange, Betfair, which is ranked around 1,800, or a bookmaker such as 12Bet, which is ranked around 93,000.
Comparing the Alexa rank of different bookmaker sites will give you a rough idea of their size, reputation and importance in the gambling industry.
Summary
Everyone is different. Some of our 10 points may not be important to you – you may have others of your own. The thing is to treat gambling as a business and do your homework before entrusting money to any gambling institute.
Many bookmakers are faceless entities. You will not find their shops in your local high street. Their only presence is online. Don’t get sucked in to their ‘bells and whistles’ gambling platforms until you are convinced it is okay do so and completely aware of their terms and conditions.
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Hi thanks for the post