Free Sports Betting Win Real Money
Pickswise is the home of free sports picks, news and betting tips. Keeping you up to date with the latest sports news and breaking stories. Our experts give you their best bets and best free betting picks every day on all major US sports so you don’t have to spend hours researching into the statistics and data. For instance, most sports betting sites will offer a $10 risk-free bet promotion. However, you will first need to wager $10 of your money. Also, your bet needs to be on minimum odds of 2.00 or higher. Should you lose your $10 bet, you will receive $10 as a bonus back into your account only if you meet the wagering requirements. Remember, you’re not just trying to win real money by betting on sports; you’re risking your own money just to place that bet in the first place. Online Betting is Convenient. While safety leads the way when dealing with actual cash being exchanged, you’re also betting real money online because it’s. With the launch of BetFreeSports.com, sports bettors now have an outlet to bet sports, legally and with the opportunity to make a profit without risking a dime. BetFreeSports.com offers a free. If you want to win real money, then you need to bet real money. It is that simple. You bet on the outcome of a particular match or game and accept specific odds, and if you win, you win back your stake plus your winnings. Your stake can be whatever you choose it to be.
The world of sports betting can be inviting, fun and financially rewarding. The latter part is where real money sports betting comes in, as you can convert your sports betting knowledge into major profit by making the right bets with real money.
Betting Site | Bonus | Bet Now | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | up to €30 Free Bet | Go to Site | |
| 2 | 22Bet | 100% up to €122 | Go to Site |
| 3 | 100% up to €200 | Go to Site | |
| 4 | 10Bet | 100% up to €50 | Go to Site |
| 5 | 100% up to €50 | Go to Site |
Betting on sports is thrilling by itself, but with a slew of real money betting sites online, bettors can put their hard-earned cash on the line for a chance to make more money back.
Doing so should never come without a little hesitance, however, as not every real money sports betting website you’ll stumble across is worth putting your trust into.
That’s what this page exists for; to break down real money gambling and show bettors where they can safely wager real cash and potentially win big.
Brick and Mortar vs. Online Sportsbooks
The first thing to consider when you look at real money sports betting is where you plan on putting your cash.
No matter what you decide, safety and reputation should take precedence, as you never want to risk your cash with a site that has no intention of rewarding you when you win a wager.
Remember, you’re not just trying to win real money by betting on sports; you’re risking your own money just to place that bet in the first place.
Online Betting is Convenient
While safety leads the way when dealing with actual cash being exchanged, you’re also betting real money online because it’s quick and easy.
Going to the casino or a sportsbook to place a bet gives you a type of atmosphere you won’t find anywhere else, but it also requires you actually going to these places.
Leaving the comfort of your own home alone can be a buzzkill, while nobody really wants to venture out just for the sole purpose of risking cash.
Using real money betting sites allows you to place your bet, watch the sporting event you’re wagering on and get your winnings – all without ever leaving your house!
Shopping For Lines
Another huge benefit to real money betting sites is the ability to shop lines. Odds can be quite influential to how bettors wager their cash, as some sites offer more lucrative odds than others.
Shopping for these lines alone can be fun, as you can compare the top real money betting sites and locate the absolute best betting value.
For example, your main brick and mortar sportsbook may list the Patriots as -250 favorites. Your favorite sports betting site might have them at -225. Perhaps a third has them at -220 and so forth.
Maximizing betting value is quite key when it comes to sports betting and that isn’t something you can really do in person as a sportsbook. When placing wagers in person, you’re left with the odds and wagers on hand. Doing it online gives you numerous options to consider.
Real Money Betting Options Available
Speaking of options, the world of real money sports betting is wide open. There isn’t really a limit on what types of bets you can place or which sporting events you can wager on.
Before you actually place a bet, you should be sure to read up on what wagers are available to you. This goes back to having a rolodex of real money betting sites to lean on, as some sites offer superior odds, but may not always necessarily offer the best list of wagers.
Finding that perfect middle ground is ideal when searching for your main go-to betting site.
Bettors have a litany of options available to them, starting with the basic wager types that pretty much every real money betting site offers:
These are some of the most basic sports wagers you’ll come across and you can find these for virtually every sport that you can bet on.
In short, the point spread allows you to bet money on whether a team will win or lose by a given amount of points, the moneyline sets a price for you to pick a winner and the Total refers to the total amount of points scored in a given contest.
Totals can also be applied to player prop bets as well as other team futures (win totals, etc).
Another common wager type is live betting, which puts these common bets into play after a game has already started.
While most sports betting hinges to your knowledge about a game’s outcome prior to it starting, live betting is a totally different animal. Regardless, it can be highly profitable and is offered at basically every sports betting site you’ll encounter online.
Once you understand all of the different wager types and how to bet with them, you can use them freely in your sport of choice.
It’s suggested that you have a solid understanding of any sport you plan on betting on, while it can be easy to be coaxed into placing wagers on sports that you may know very little about.
Initially, it might not be the worst idea to restrict your real money sports betting to the more popular sports leagues like the following:Sports betting is always going to be somewhat subjective and that applies to this list of popular sports to bet on as well. Where you live and what sports you personally follow will understandably influence what sports you know about and want to actively wager on.
Still, the NBA MLB NFL and NHL are arguably the most popular sports to bet on inside and outside of the United States.
That may be true, but the good news is your betting options can stretch much further than that. There are even more betting genres for sports fans to consider wagering on, such as soccer, golf, tennis, horse racing, cricket, and many more.
Again, the options are endless, as there are much more sports to wager on and there are even seasonal betting opportunities that roll around, specifically with the Olympics and other major events.
It also depends on what you consider a sport. Does it take athleticism to win at darts and dominate in esports or fantasy sports? No, but those genres are still technically regarded as sports betting categories.
Whatever sports you plan on betting real money on, just be sure you’re well versed in their rules and strategy so you give yourself a solid chance at profiting each time out.
Real Money Sportsbook Promotions
Betting online really is all about options. It starts with where you bet based on a site’s reliability and trustworthiness, while odds, wagers, promotions and so much more can dictate where and when you want to bet on sports.
We tend to favor real money betting sites that are safe, reliable, competitive in terms of odds and wager options and give back to their users.
The easiest way to do that is to reward users with deposit bonuses, a variety of free bets, unique promotions and really anything else that gives the bettor incentive to stay at that site and/or keep coming back.
Here’s an example of a few real money betting promotions bettors can take advantage of:
- $1,000 Sign-Up Bonus
- 50% Welcome Bonus
- 200% Reload Bonus
- $10 Free Bet
- $20 Risk-Free Bet
- Referral Bonuses
- Member Reward Programs
The list goes on, as sites obviously operate differently than others.
Most sites tend to offer the staples, however, and those tend to be some type of sign-up bonus, a deposit bonus, reload bonus, free bet, a refer-a-friend program and a member loyalty program.
These are all fairly self-explanatory, but the sign-up bonus rewards you for joining a site, the welcome bonus rewards you for joining a site and depositing and the reload bonus gives you a percentage of cash back based on how much you redeposit.
Risk-free bets allow paying customers to take a “free” stab at a wager, while referral bonuses reward you for telling friends and family to sign up at a given site and member rewards are handed out based on how often you wager.
For the most part, if you sign up at new sites, deposit, play and share your experience, you’re going to be rewarded quite a bit.
Top Real Money Betting Tips
Now that you’ve submerged yourself into the world of real money sports betting, you’re just about ready to actually find a site you like and place a bet.
The first step toward doing that, of course, is finding the site that is right for you.
Everything we’ve touched on should prepare you so you can properly gauge what that is, as no matter what site you look at they should always offer some combination of the following:
- Safety & Reliability
- Wager Flexibility
- Variety of Sports Genres
- Competitive Odds
- Elite Bonuses & Promotions
- Top Shelf Customer Service
While all of this is important, the first thing to really consider is which sport you feel you’d be most successful in when it comes to real money betting. Try to choose your go-to site based on that and then sprinkle in these other important aspects the best you can.
Once you get going and you have a good feel for the site(s) you like and the wagers you’re conducting, make sure you track your results. The only thing worse than betting without knowledge or wagering on sites you shouldn’t is failing to keep tabs on your success.
The bottom line in real money betting will always be coming away with profit and working to ensure it’s also sustainable. Tracking how you bet, what you bet on, why you win or lose and how you fare over time can go a long way in assisting you in becoming a more successful bettor.
Lastly, don’t be afraid to look outside of yourself for help to strategize, find ideal real money betting websites, place wagers and ultimately win at a consistent rate. As much as you may know about a given sport, there is always more to learn and that’s especially going to be true when you tackle sports genres or wager types you’re not accustomed to.
Lean on a plethora of available resources and tools, many of which can be found right here on this site or via a variety of links we provide. Whatever you do, always work to be prepared so that you’re making educated wagers and maximizing value. If you can do that you should be well on your way to profiting on a regular basis.
We’ve published multiple pages about “real money” gambling.
Most of these pages distinguish between real money versions of
various casino games and the corresponding free versions of
those games. But when discussing “real money sports betting”,
we don’t really have a “free sports betting” activity with which to
contrast the activity.
Instead, when people talk about real money sports betting,
they’re talking about betting for meaningful amounts of cash.
A lot of times, they’re interested in how to bet on sports online,
but some of them are interested in getting some money into action with a bookmaker. In the United States,
betting on sports presents some interesting legal questions, too.
This page presents a broad overview of how the business works, which sports are most commonly wagered
on, and how the various bets work. The links from within the page go to more detailed pages on specific
subjects.
Our List of the Top Real Money Sports Betting Sites for 2021
Free Sports Betting Win Real Money
| Rank | Gambling Site | Deposit Bonus | Get Started | |
| #1 | Up To €150 | Visit Site | ||
| #2 | 22Bet Sports | 100% Up To €122 | Visit Site | |
| #3 | 100% Up To €200 | Visit Site | ||
| #4 | 10Bet Sports | 100% Up To €50 | Visit Site | |
| #5 | 100% Up To €50 | Visit Site | ||
Sportsbooks and Bookmaking
Many people just make bets on the outcome of a game with their buddies. If your buddy at work wants to bet
you $20 that the Cowboys are going to win Monday night’s game, then that’s a so-called “simple wager”.
That’s not really the kind of sports betting we’re interested in on this page.
When you start putting real (significant amounts of) money into action, you have to find someone who’s
willing to take the other side of that bet. Luckily, some people are in the business of taking this action.
businesses they run are called “books” or “sportsbooks”.
In the United States, placing such a wager over the phone is illegal because of the Wire Act. As a result, the
only legal businesses taking this kind of action operate out of Las Vegas, Nevada. And they don’t accept
action over the phone or the Internet. You have to show up there to place bets.
But anyone who’s spent any length of time in a neighborhood bar knows that plenty of entrepreneurs are
willing to skirt the law in order to take your bets. These are the neighborhood bookies that you see in the
movies. Unless and until their businesses get incredibly large, these neighborhood sports books generally
operate unimpeded by law enforcement.
In other, more enlightened, countries – like the United Kingdo – sports betting as a business is legal and
regulated. We’re fans of this approach. The libertarian in us feels like citizens should be allowed to spend
their money on whatever they want to, even if that includes wagers on sporting events.
Also, when you’re dealing with a licensed and regulated business in the industry, you have certain
protections that aren’t available when you’re dealing with a neighborhood bookie. If you’re reminded of the
dangers of “bathtub gin” and “moonshine” during Prohibition, then you know what we mean.
No one is suggesting that betting on sports or drinking alcohol are the best uses of your time and/or money.
But people are going to bet on sports and/or drink alcohol regardless of the legality. So why not put the
government to work protecting the safety of its citizens?
Regulated distilleries and breweries provide a healthy, safe product for consumers to imbibe. We contend
that the sports betting industry would be safer for individual sports bettors if it were entirely legal and
regulated throughout the United States. At the same time, we don’t think that legalizing and regulating
sports betting is going to be high on any legislators’ agendas any time in the near future.
How Odds Work in Sports Betting
When you’re betting with a bookmaker, they need to make sure that they have an opportunity to break even
and make a bit of profit while they’re at it. They can’t do that by just taking action willy-nilly. For example, if
the Dallas Cowboys are playing the Cleveland Browns, all of the bookmaker’s customers are going to bet on
the Cowboys. And most of the time they’re going to win.
In order to get action on both sides of a wager, the bookmakers use odds to make both bets attractive. This
is often in the form of bets which pay off at a higher amount the less likely they are to win. We provide an
overview of the different odds formats below, or you can read in more detail on the following page.
American Odds (Moneyline Odds)
In most sports in the United States, “American odds” or “moneyline odds” are used to make wagers attractive.
You can usually bet any amount (with certain minimums) in these situations, but the odds are represented
with the amount of money compared to $100.
- If the odds start with a minus sign, then that’s how much you have to bet in order to win $100
- If the odds start with a plus sign, then that’s how much you win if you bet $100
Here’s an example. If the Cowboys are favorites against the Browns, you might see the odds listed as follows:
So you’d have to risk $120 to win $100 if you bet on the Dallas Cowboys.
You’d only wager $100 on the Browns, but if you won, you’d win $115.
This makes both wagers attractive. On one hand, you have a better chance of winning if you bet on the
Cowboys, but you don’t win as much for your money. On the other hand, you might win fewer bets on the
underdog (Cleveland), but when you do, it’s going to pay off better.
In these situations, a point spread isn’t used.
Decimal Odds and Fractional Odds
Not all countries (nor all bookmakers for all bets) use this format to represent the odds. Books in other
countries often use decimal odds and/or fractional odds. These have the same effect, but they’re a different
way of representing how much you stand to win or lose.
We think decimal odds are more intuitive and easier to understand, and we’re not sure why moneyline odds
became so popular in the United States. With decimal odds, you’re just looking at a multiple of how much
you bet. This indicates how much you’ll win.
Here’s an example.
These are the same odds that we used in our first example, they’re just represented differently. If you bet
$100 on the Dallas Cowboys, you’ll get $183 back — the $100 you bet plus an $83 profit. If you bet $100 on
the Cleveland Browns, you’ll get $215, the original $100 you bet plus $115 in profit.
Sports Betting Odds: An Important Consideration
The betting odds never represent the true odds of one team or another winning. All of these bets pay off at
less than the true odds that the handicapper expects. That’s how a bookmaker generates a profit.
If a bookie offered bets at the true odds of winning, he’d break even. In that case, he would have spent all the
time and effort running his business only to make no money. Few people love sports betting enough to do
that.
Most books are looking to make between 10% and 20% profit. Their goal with these kinds of odds is to get
even money on each side. That way they can pay off the winners with the losers’ money, keeping the
difference as their profit. You can read more about bookmakers and their methods for making money on the
following page.
Sports Betting Sharps
“Sharps” are sports bettors who are good enough at handicapping that they can recognize when the
professional handicappers or books have errors in their odds, presenting a profitable situation.
Handicapping sports at such a level is hard, especially considering how sophisticated professional
bookmakers have become.
But knowing how to achieve a positive return when betting real money on sports is the most profitable
advantage gambling opportunity we know of. It’s heads and shoulders above the other possibilities, which
include blackjack (counting cards), poker (expert play), and video poker (again, expert play).
Is It Legal to Bet on Sports?
It’s illegal in the United States to run a sports betting business, but some states are exceptions. These include
Delaware, Montana, Nevada, and Oregon. And even in the case of those states, you’re not allowed to place
wagers on sporting events using any kind of telephone or Internet line. That’s what the Federal Wire Act is all
about.
Polls seem to indicate that legalization of sports betting in the United States has limited support. Professional
sports organizations, especially the NFL, contend that legal wagering would corrupt the integrity of the game.
How they come to that conclusion is anybody’s guess, as plenty of illegal wagering seems to have left the
integrity of the games intact.
Public Money Sports Betting
In other countries, especially in Europe, sports betting businesses are legal and regulated. As we mentioned
earlier, that kind of situation provides a certain amount of protection for the consumer. It’s a lot less likely
for a licensed, regulated corporation to disappear with their winnings after the Super Bowl than it is for
Charlie the local bookie you met through your buddy at the bar in Anytown, USA.
Enforcement activities in the United States are generally restricted to people operating illegal sports betting
businesses, but even in those cases, enforcement is pretty lax. It’s impossible to find accurate statistics
regarding the size of the illegal sports betting industry in the United States, but we’ve seen estimates as high
as $400 billion a year. An estimated $95 billion is wagered on the Super Bowl alone every year.
Sports That Are Commonly Bet On
Any sport with an uncertain outcome is a sport that someone can place wagers on. The types of wagers vary
from sport to sport, and some sports generate more action than others.
We’ve included an overview of the sports which generate the most action throughout the world below, along
with a brief explanation of each and how betting on it works.
Baseball
Baseball is, of course, the national pastime in the United States. Most baseball bets are made on the
moneyline, total, runline, and/or future. We explain how those bets work in the next section.
Basketball
Basketball is hugely popular, both professionally with the NBA and college with the NCAA. The easiest way to
place a bet on basketball is to place a point spread bet, which we explain in the next section. Totals bets and
moneyline bets are also common.
Boxing
Boxing has waned in popularity since its glory days. MMA and the UFC are rising in popularity, but boxing isn’t
dead yet. The most common bet on a boxing match is a moneyline bet on who will win, but prop bets on
which round the fight will end in are also common.
Cricket
Since we serve a large number of Americans, we’ll explain that cricket is similar to baseball with no intention
of offending our international readers who know what the sport is. The same kinds of bets that are popular for
baseball are also popular when betting on cricket. Most Americans don’t bet on cricket, but Australians (as
well as UK and Canadian bettors) love to bet on this sport.
Cycling
Betting on cycling includes betting on such events as the Tour de France. Simple bets on the winner, using
fractional or moneyline odds, are the most common.
Darts
In the United States, darts is often considered a “bar game” in the same way that billiards and shuffleboard
are. Wagers among the participants, especially tournaments, are common. But most Americans aren’t placing
bets on darts via a sports book, though. Punters in other countries, do, however. These bets focus on
2 professional organizations devoted to the sport:
- The British Darts Organisation (BDO)
- The Professional Darts Corporation (PDC)
Esports
This is a relatively new category of sports betting. E-Sports are competitive events held between players in
various video games. A wide variety of video games are popular in this category, and many of them are played
in a tournament format. The E-Sports available to bet on vary widely depending on which online bookmaker
you’re using.
Football
In the United States, football is probably the #1 sport to bet on, especially during the Super Bowl. The NFL
(National Football League) is the professional arm of the sport, while college football (NCAA) is also popular to
bet on. A bewildering variety of bets are available in football, but moneyline bets are as common as any other.
Golf
Golf, like baseball, seems to be a game that anyone can play, but at the professional level — not so much.
Betting on golf is mostly focused on the professional version of the sport, the PGA. The most common golf
bet is the “odds to win” wager, but head to head bets are also common. Futures and group matchups are also
common.
Handball
Handball has its fans in the United States and in other countries, but it’s most popular in Germany and Spain.
Match betting, handicap betting, total goal betting, and futures are the most common wagers.
Hockey
Hockey, especially the NHL, has been steadily growing in popularity. And since it’s not quite as popular as
football or basketball, you can often find lower betting limits and better lines when betting on hockey. The
moneyline is the most common bet, but puck line bets and totals are also popular.
Horse Racing
Horse racing is so different from most other types of sports betting that it’s almost considered an entirely
different sport. A bewildering number of bets are available, but win, place, and/or show are probably the most
common.Entire sites, books, and magazines are devoted to getting an edge at horse betting.
Motor Sports
Betting on motor sports includes betting on any kind of car racing, but the most popular are NASCAR and
Formula 1. These bets are similar to most other bets on races or sports with individual participants, like golf.
Rugby
You won’t find many people placing real money bets on rugby in the United States, but it’s a hugely popular
sport in Europe. The common bets for this game have interesting names, like “supremacy”. Futures, season
points, first try scorer, outright winner, and match bets are also big.
Snooker
Snooker is another sport (like darts) which most Americans wouldn’t think to bet on, but it’s popular in other
countries in Europe. The easiest bets are on who’s going to win a match, but there’s also handicap betting
and market betting.
Soccer
Soccer is as popular in Europe as football is in the United States. In fact, we should ask our European readers
to forgive us for not using the word “football” in its more common international meaning — Americans, soccer
is called football in most parts of the world. Moneylines, goal lines, and totals are all popular bets for soccer.
Tennis
Prop bets and moneyline bets are the most popular wagering forms for this sport.
UFC/MMA
The UFC has almost completely overtaken boxing as the most popular sport involving fighting throughout
the world, although other MMA organizations do exist. Betting on UFC and MMA events is similar to betting
on boxing.
Common Types of Sports Bets
2nd Half Bets
A 2nd half bet is a bet on the outcome of the 2nd half of the game. This bet is commonly made my punters
who aren’t doing as well during the first half as they had hoped they would.
Future Wagers
Futures are similar to investments in the stock market. They’re wagers on events that are going to happen at
some point in the future. One common futures bet is a bet at the beginning of the season on who the
champions will be at the end of the season — you can bet on who’s going to win the Super Bowl or the World
Series way in advance, and the payoff if you win is great.
Goal Line, Puck Line and Run Line Bets
These are bets where the number of goals, pucks, or runs is taken into account when determining the
winner. They’re similar to point spread bets.
Head-to-head Bets
A head to head bet is a straightforward bet on who’s going to win a particular match, but in some sports
with multiple participants, you can single out two participants and bet on which one will do better.
If Bets
“If bets” resemble parlays. They’re great for players with small bankrolls. You place multiple bets, but the
bets depend on the outcomes of your preceding bets.
In-Play Betting
This refers to bets that are being made while the event is actually happening. This is also commonly called
“live betting”. Almost any kind of bet can be made “in-play” as well as before the match, but not all of them.
(For example, you obviously can’t place a futures bet during the Super Bowl.)
Moneyline Bets
These are the most common types of wagers punters make. They’re just wagers on a particular team to win,
and the amount of money won is based on how likely the bookmaker thinks it is that one team is going to
beat another team.
Parlays
A parlay is a bet on multiple events. For example, a bet on the winners of 6 different games would require
you to win all 6, but the payoff would be great.
Point Spread Bets
These are the most common bets you’ll see in football. The favorite has to win by a minimum number of
points to be considered the winner for purposes of winning this bet. A bet on the loser wins if the favorite
doesn’t beat the spread.
Progressive Parlays
These are parlay bets on between 4 and 12 outcomes that offer especially large payoffs if you get all your
picks correct.
Positions Bets
Proposition bets are also called prop bets. It’s a bet on something that happens during an event that doesn’t
necessarily have a direct effect on the outcome. For example, a bet on how many touchdowns a particular
quarterback will throw during a game is a prop bet.
Simple Wagers
This is the phrase we use to describe a small bet you might make with one of your buddies, but it’s also
often used to describe some of the more straightforward wagers you can make with a book. Moneyline bets,
for example, are simple wagers.
Spread Betting
Spread betting is another phrase used to describe point spread bets, but it’s also commonly used in financial
markets.
Teasers
Teasers are similar to prop bets, but you get to adjust the point spreads or totals in your favor. In exchange,
the book offers you a lower payout on your bets.
Online Sports Betting for Real Money
If you’re in the United States, you’re limited to dealing with neighborhood books or online sports betting
companies if you want to place a wager on an event without traveling to Las Vegas. Each option has its pros
and cons.
Betting with a neighborhood bookie can be fun, especially if it’s someone you get to know personally. Chances
are some of your buddies also do business with this person. You can usually get your winnings faster when
dealing with someone local, too. You can also avoid a lot of the money transfer fees and hassles associated
with online sports books.
On the other hand, most neighborhood bookies don’t offer anywhere close to the variety of options when it
comes to which wagers you can place. They don’t always offer the same selection of sports to bet on, either.
And they often have lower betting limits than online books.
Another big perk to using an online book is the signup bonus that’s available. Almost all Internet bookmakers
offer matching bonuses on your first deposit as a customer. It’s an incentive to get you to sign up there.
Some books even offer free bets with no deposit required. Good luck finding that kind of perk with someone
in your neighborhood.
Whether or not your online bookmaker is as shady as your neighborhood bookie is a question you’ll have to
determine. Some Internet books are more reputable than others, but so are some neighborhood books.
We always suggest caution and an “eyes wide open” approach when doing any kind of betting.
You can find detailed reviews of several recommended online sports books on our site by clicking on the
links below. These sites are all reputable and take good care of their customers.
Bet365
Bet365 is one of the biggest names in the business, but sadly, they don’t accept players from the United
States. If you’re placing bets from the United Kingdom or elsewhere in Europe, bet365 should be high on your
list of sites to consider, though.
BetOnline
BetOnline is an all-in-one betting site that offers casino games, poker, and sports betting — all for real money.
They have a large number of deposit options available, which is a great perk. Unless you’ve experienced it
first hand, you would be amazed at how hard it can be to transfer money to and from a betting site.
Bodog
Bodog is one of the glitzier and better known names in the industry, largely because of the antics of its former
owner, Calvin Ayre. For such a famous name, they provide only average betting lines, and they no longer
accept players from the United States. We like Bodog, but not as much as we like bet365 or William Hill.
Bovada
Bovada is probably the best-known and most popular site which accepts real money sports betting from
gamblers in the United States. It’s a full-service site, too, which means you can also play casino games and
poker there.
SportsBetting.ag
SportsBetting offers one of the largest initial signup bonuses in the business — it’s a 25% match of up to
$1000. If you’re serious about betting some big money, then this is a site worth investigating.
TopBet
TopBet is a relatively new player in the online sports betting for real money space, but they have a good
reputation already. They offer one of the best new player signup bonuses in the business, and they are U.S.
player friendly.
William Hill
William Hill is a well-known bookmaker operation in Europe that operated as a brick and mortar business
long before launching an online presence. Their reputation is sterling, but they don’t accept punters from
the United States.
You should look for the scuttlebutt on any online sports betting company you do business with before making
your first deposit, especially if you’re giving action from the United States. Because of the iffy legal situation in
this country, the companies who are willing to do business with US customers are never public companies
and are sometimes on the shady side.
Read through player forums to get an idea of what kinds of problems other bettors have reported about
certain sites. And be skeptical of sports book reviews on the Internet that are too “glowing”. People running
sports betting information sites earn big advertising money from these corporations, and that can influence
their ratings and reviews.
A good rule of thumb is to ignore reviews from information portals that lack easily-found “about us” and
“contact us” pages. You should also look for balanced reviews that evaluate the pros and the cons of a site.
No website is perfect for every customer. A well-written review takes that into account.
Also, if you’re from the United States, you do need to be aware that betting on sports for real money online
isn’t exactly legal. In fact, it’s clearly illegal. You have to make your own decisions about such things, but our
official advice is to obey the laws in the jurisdiction where you live.
That being said, when’s the last time you heard about someone getting arrested for placing a bet on the
Super Bowl over the Internet?
Or with your neighborhood bookie, for that matter?
SummaryReal money sports betting refers to placing wagers of a respectable size on various sporting
events. The number of wagers available is staggering, but most of them are simply
moneyline bets expressed in one of two different odds formats. If you live in the United States,
the legality of betting sports for real money online is questionable at best, but readers in
Europe have lots of legal, regulated options to choose from.
Be sure to educate yourself before deciding on a sports book at which to play. Err on the side
of caution, and start off small.
Once you’re comfortable with a company, you can start raising the amounts of money you
want to wager with them.