Ensign_Lee's experiences with sportsbooks

[ensign_lee]

OK y'all.

I've been asked which sportsbooks I would recommend to people a few times now. I thought this topic would help y'all choose wisely between sportsbooks.

Here you go. It took me a long time to write these up, so if y'all wouldn't mind doing me a favor, I'd appreciate it. If you plan on signing up for one of these books, please let me know before you do so via PM. Most of them have referral bonuses that will help both of us. And we won't be taking anything away from FTR by doing so because they don't have affiliate links for them here at FTR.

***One exception: Bodog. If you sign up at Bodog, use FTR's affiliate link.***

Thanks a bunch, guys.

[ensign_lee]

Skybook is the self proclaimed ‘home of the free half point!’. They are a very useful out for those bettors who bet anywhere from $1 to $500 a game because of the free half point that they offer, constant reload bonuses, and top notch customer service.

Unique Attributes:
Skybook’s trademark is the fact that they offer a free half point on all NFL or NCAA sides during the football season. This is invaluable in getting on and off key numbers such as 4, 10, 6, 14, 13, almost any multiple of 7 (in that order).

Accounts are enabled to receive the free half point upon their first deposit. All you have to do is talk to customer service and request it, and boom: you can now get a free half point on all your football bets!

Unfortunately, because of the power to the bettor of getting a free half point on every game, Skybook has enacted a few restrictions. Bettors can’t get on or off the 3 or 7 in football, you can only use the free half point once per individual game, and your limits for the free half point are determined by your largest individual deposit amount according to the following chart:



Why is the half point so important? The difference between a successful handicapper’s percentage of winners (usually around 56-57%) and that of a person who throws darts at the wall to pick games (assumedly 50% exactly) is only around 6-7%. With a free half point, the winning percentage of most bettors goes up by around 1.9%. That means that by using the free half point at Skybook, you are 1/3 of your way to distancing yourself from the hordes of other bettors who can do no better than flipping a coin, or worse, pick nothing but losers.

Payouts:
Skybook is a trustworthy operation; in all their years of existence, there has never been a report of them not paying.

Skybook takes withdrawal requests between 11:00 AM and 4:00 PM PST (2:00PM if more than $1000). Withdrawal requests made after 4:00 are treated as the first ones the next day. Depending on the way you wanted to be paid, it will cost you $15 (neteller) or $10 (everything else) to withdraw any amount up to $2500 for most withdrawal methods. Unfortunately, Skybook does not offer a ‘once per month’ free withdrawal.

Most withdrawal requests are taken care of within two hours, so that you will have your money that day to go and deposit into another sportsbook, withdraw to your checking account, or look at and smile.

Customer Service:
Skybook could have the best customer service in the industry, period. Hands down, it blows the socks off of its competition.

Unlike other books where you may be talking to someone who has never spoken fluent English in their lives, Skybook’s customer support is staffed with fluent English speakers. This way, you won’t ever have to worry about the person on the other end not understanding what you’re telling him or her.

Skybook goes above and beyond the call of duty when it comes to taking care of its customers. If a customer service representative makes a mistake and quotes you something incorrectly (such as rollover requirements or the amount of a bonus), management will stand behind what was said rather than rigidly adhering to ‘the rules.’

Bonus:
Currently, Skybook is offering a 50% freeplay bonus to first time depositors up to $250, with a 5x rollover. So if you deposit $500, you take maximum advantage of the bonus and unlock the free half point up to its maximum value ($500) for the rest of your life! Two birds with one stone; sweet, huh?

But even better, Skybook offers reload bonuses constantly, whether it be another 50% freeplay, an occasional 100% freeplay, or a 25% cash bonus offer. They e-mail these bonus offers out once a week in their newsletter; this is not something to send to your junk folder.

Other than that, if there is currently no reload bonus promotion going on when you want to deposit, you can get a 10% freeplay or 10% cash bonus on your deposit with a 5x rollover, depending on the size of your deposit.

Limits:
Official limits for Skybook’s players are $2000 on any one bet. However, because you can only use the free half point up to $500, in essence, limits are $500. $500 isn’t small change by any amount, so Skybook’s limits shouldn’t be a problem for most bettors.

User Interface:
Skybook uses the same software that you will find at some other books, such as BetJamaica: very simple, very clean, very user friendly.

Simply click the little button next to your intended bet and you will be taken to a screen to input your wager amount. After that, the next screen will incorporate your free half point, and after that, your bet is in!


Cons:
The fact that you have to pay a fee in order to withdraw from Skybook is disheartening in this offshore environment, to say the least, and is what drives many bettors away from Skybook.

Also, many of the reload bonus offers are contingent upon deposits being ‘new money’, which means that any recent withdrawals must first be replenished. So in order for you to take advantage of these bonus offers you either A) have to have your Skybook balance growing perpetually or B) have to lose money to Skybook.

I know; that sounds horrible. But there’s a neat little way around that; rather than withdrawing via traditional means (through your original deposit method), ‘withdraw’ by scalping out Skybook’s positions against another books (the best book to do this with is Pinnacle). This is made extremely easy with Skybook’s free half point, as more scalpable positions can be found this way. For a detailed explanation on how to do just that (and even make a slight profit while doing so), click here.

(todo: the next part needs to be on a separate page that will be hyperlinked above)

Let’s say you have a balance of $330 at Skybook that you want to ‘withdraw’ by scalping it out. You see a Team A at a given line of -10 at Skybook and use your free half point to get it to -9.5 (-110). Then, at Pinnacle, you sell a point off the line of Team B +10 (+104) for the same game and get +9.5 (+113) for $295. This situation happens a lot more often than you’d think.

At this point, if Team B covers +9.5 spread, then you will have effectively ‘withdrawn’ your funds from Skybook by losing there, but winning at Pinnacle. Even better, because you took (+113) and (-110) on opposing sides of the same game, you will have made a slight profit by doing so!

If Team A covers, you still will have made a slight profit with the scalp, and hey: you can always try again. Eventually, the Pinnacle side will win out vs. the Skybook side and you will have ‘withdrawn’ your money from Skybook to Pinnacle. Now, you have your money out of Skybook, but are still eligible for future reload bonuses at Skybook because you are ‘down’ at Skybook. Voila! Problem solved!

(end special ‘how to scalp’ section back to original page)

Another, more traditional complaint about Skybook is their general tardiness in putting up lines; they’re getting better, often putting up NFL lines on Tuesday and allowing you to use the free half point on them and putting up NBA and MLB overnight lines earlier and earlier. You can tell they are making a concerted effort to listen to their customers and make lines available for betting earlier, but their lines still come out hours after other books have made theirs available for action.

Customer Service Info:
Phone: 1-888-759-2665, 1-800-809-3246, 1-800-809-0834
E-mail: [email protected]

[ensign_lee]

TheGreek (aka Olympic) serves as one of the pillars of the offshore betting industry; it easily makes the top five list of any serious sportsbettor with its early opening lines, large limits, and nearly limitless betting options.

Unique Attributes:
For second half bettors, theGreek is an essential out to have. While other books may sit on their hands until a few minutes after halftime starts to finally release their lines, TheGreek releases second half lines before halftime even starts!

An earlier release of the second half lines allows bettors to pounce on soft second half lines, resulting in better lines, better juice, and ultimately a better winning percentage. It also allows bettors to have more time to think about a second half line and do all the necessary research before the narrow betting window for second half lines disappears.

Moreover, theGreek is one of the line originators in the offshore sportsbetting industry. They consistently have the lines for the next week of NCAA or NFL football before the Sunday Night Football game has even finished! Just as consistently, they have the lines for the next day’s slate of games up and available for wagering for NBA and MLB (as well as other sports) before the current day’s games are over!

(that rotating script up to address the sport ‘in season’ above would be nice)

Why is this valuable to bettors? The early release of these lines allows for bettors to take advantage of soft early lines before the other bettors mold them into unfavorable lines. There’s nothing quite like the feeling of knowing you ‘beat the line move’ and got the best of a line, and theGreek allows you to do just that.

Parlay bettors love theGreek, as it is one of the only sportsbooks that allows its customers to buy points on parlays. This way, you can get on or over key numbers, increasing your chances of cashing a parlay.

Furthermore, theGreek often puts up on odds on things that other sportsbooks are afraid to. You will often find prop bets at theGreek offered nowhere else or the best line on lower-profile bets, like second quarter spreads on an NFL game. Bettors can often find themselves with a significant edge over the book because they have more information regarding an obscure bet than the book does. And every edge that you can find results in, you guessed it, more profit!

Payouts:
“Sweat the game, not the payout” is the hallmark slogan of theGreek. They have never stiffed a player and there are no indications that this will change in the future.

At theGreek, you basically get one free withdrawal every 2 weeks, assuming that you are withdrawing the same way that you deposited and that you made a few bets while your money was there.

The limits on withdrawals are $10,000 per day, which should be well in excess of the needs of most punters. However, should you feel the need to withdraw more than this in one day, you may contact customer service to make arrangements.

Withdrawals are available any time of any day, and are usually credited within an hour or two of your request, so that you have access to your money that same day (assuming you withdrew electronically to a virtual wallet). This way, you can easily move your money around in cyberspace, taking advantage of new bonuses or taking a unique line at another book.

Customer Service:
You’ll find few complaints about the customer service at theGreek. E-mail support often gets back to you within minutes, and telephone support is very quick to solve problems.

Some people complain that theGreek often uses non-native English speakers as their customer service representatives, but their representatives rarely have trouble understanding you or responding to your questions.

Bonus:
TheGreek offers new customers a one time 21% cash bonus, with a 4x rollover of deposit only, compared with other books that calculate rollover based on deposit and bonus amounts. TheGreek also offers a 10% cash reload bonus on any further deposits, with the same 4x rollover of deposit only.

Limits:
At theGreek, betting limits will not be a problem for any gamblers. Minimum wagers are small enough to serve the smallest bettor, while maximum wagers go into the hundreds of thousands of dollars, more than enough for even the largest bettors.

You won’t have to worry about your limits getting reduced at theGreek for winning; they operate on the traditional model of even action on both sides, so all action is more than welcome.

User Interface:

TheGreek uses a unique user interface that you will not find at any other books. It is tailored exclusively to help bettors sort through all the betting options available at theGreek at any one time on any one game.

It works in two parts, the first allowing the user to select which types of bets he or she would like to view.




The second part displays the bets available fitting the criteria selected in the first part. It allows bettors to pick multiple games at once and makes it simple to find the bets they are looking for.



Cons:
You won’t find very many complains regarding theGreek. The main one that you will find among offshore bettors is that theGreek operates using a 20 cent line and so usually hangs (-110) on both sides of a game.

However, sharp bettors argue that theGreek more than makes up for this in their wide range of betting options, allowing them to exploit soft lines in low-profile bets. They also argue that the fact that theGreek allows them to bet soft opening lines also more than makes up for the higher juice because when the dust settles and the lines have calmed down, the sharp bettors often still hold the best number and the lowest juice possible.

Customer Service Info:
Phone: 1-800-641-6026, 1-800-310-8755
E-mail: [email protected]

[ensign_lee]

Bodog is often the book of choice for players new to sportsbetting. They go out of their way with good customer service and tons of advertising in order to appeal to new players and attract their business.

This is especially true for those that were previously poker players. In addition to their top notch sportsbook, bodog also has a poker room often inhabited by players who have no business being at the poker table. It’s nice to keep your funds for sportsbetting and poker at the same place.

Unique Attributes:
You will find that many bettors refer to Bodog as a ‘square book’. Because their clientele consists mainly of recreational bettors who are betting ‘for the heck of it’, they often take heavy action on public favorites and so shade their lines to encourage action on underdogs.

What does this mean? While other books may be hanging a line on a heavy public game such as Team A -3.5 (-110), Bodog can often be found hanging a Team A -3.5 (-120) or even Team A -4 (-110). Of course, by doing this, the odds on taking the underdog are often much better than at other books. In this example, Bodog would also be hanging Team B +3.5 (+100) or Team B +4 (-110), while other books would still be hanging a Team B +3.5 (-110).

Thus, Bodog is the place to go when you are betting underdogs, as you will often get a free half point in your favor, reduced juice on the side you want, or even both!

Payouts:
Bodog is more solid than the majority of sportsbooks that you will find in the offshore world. As a general rule, your money will be safe at Bodog.

Bodog gives you unlimited free withdrawals for neteller and other electronic e-wallet withdrawal methods (including e-check). Withdrawals usually take around 1 to 2 days, during which withdrawal requests are reviewed. However, if you need a quicker payout and contact customer service, they will usually work with you to get you the money within the hour.

Customer Service:
Bodog has some of the best customer service that you will find in the offshore industry. It is a prime reason why they are able to cater to their clientele based mostly on recreational players.

E-mail support responds quickly (usually within minutes), and their phone support is phenomenal in solving problems. Best yet, their customer support is available anytime on any day.
Bonus:
Bodog offers new customers a bonus of 10% of their initial deposit, with a 1x rollover (of deposit and bonus) if you deposit via e-check and a 3x rollover via other means. This is a great deposit offer if you deposit via e-check, as it basically negates the juice your first wager if you put your entire balance on it, turning a (-110) bet into a +100 bet.

Reload bonuses are also available at Bodog on every deposit. For each deposit, customers are automatically credited with a 10% bonus, available for withdrawal after a 5x rollover (of deposit and bonus).

Limits:
Bodog has official limits of $1000 for bets made on NFL spreads and totals, and $500 for parlays, teasers, and moneylines. It is possible to make a bet higher than the stated amounts by calling the wagering department, but they will change the odds on you if you do so and give you a worse price for doing so. For bets over $1000, you will probably be better served by going to books that welcome large action, such as Pinnacle.

User Interface:
Bodog’s user interface is a unique to Bodog. It’s very busy and a little clumsy, but it gets the job done. Simply find the sport that you want to bet, and then hit the bets that you would like to make.

The main drawback to Bodog’s user interface is that the lines and odds you see are what you get. There is no way to buy points to get a better number with higher juice, period.



Cons:
The biggest drawback to using Bodog as a normal out is the fact that Bodog deals dual lines. If they find you betting too much on underdogs and winning, they will give special lines just for you! You will have a special ‘sharp’ line where the underdog will be (-115) for you instead of (-110) for everyone else. Otherwise, you will be receiving something like Team B +3.5 instead of the Team B +4 that everyone else is getting.

However, despite this, Bodog still often gives you the best line on underdogs compared to other books even when they deal you the sharp line, so heavy underdog bettors should still consider Bodog a reliable out.

Customer Service Info:
Phone: 1-888-263-0000
E-mail: [email protected]

[ensign_lee]

BetJamaica is the sister book to theGreek, and as such offers the same rock solid dependability for your funds as theGreek does. It also features early lines and large limits, as well as offering many more bonuses than theGreek does. Think of BetJamaica as theGreek lite, with bonuses.

Unique Attributes:
BetJamaica offers a rewards program to rewards it customers for their loyalty. Once you make 100 wagers (a lot easier to do than it sounds), you are eligible for a freeplay in the amount of your average wager. No rollover; no strings attached. Just ask for the freeplay and it will be in your account!

In addition to that, BetJamaica offers reduced juice on Fridays, bringing their lines to (-105) instead of (-110). Oftentimes on Fridays, their lines on certain sides are even better than those of Pinnacle!

There is one thing that you can only find at BetJamaica: Rolling Wagers. Ever wanted to bet a game that was on later in the day, but couldn’t because your money was tied up in a wager that currently in progress? BetJamaica devised a solution to solve just that problem!

You can create a rolling wager at BetJamaica so that if your current wager in progress wins, you can put the money from that wager onto another wager later in the day. This is an extremely useful tool for bettors that have a lot of money in action on any one day or for bettors that don’t keep a lot of money in any one sportsbook at one time. Why miss out on a good line at BetJamaica just because your balance at BetJamaica may currently be low due to pending wagers?

Payouts:
Getting paid will be the least of your worries at BetJamaica. They have never been known to stiff a customer.

At BetJamaica, customers get 1 free withdrawal per customer. Withdrawals are available any time of any day, and are usually credited within an hour or two of your request, so that you have access to your money that same day (assuming you withdrew electronically to a virtual wallet). This way, you can easily move your money around in cyberspace, taking advantage of new bonuses or taking a unique line at another book.

Customer Service:
BetJamaica prides itself on its customer service; in fact, it tries to distinguish itself from its sister book theGreek (as well as other sportsbooks) with superior customer service.

If you take a look around the offshore gambling community, you will find many examples of BetJamaica correcting a mistake or working with its customers in order to resolve problems. BetJamaica is easily in the Top 3 offshore sportsbooks for customer service.

Their phone support is available anytime between 8:00 AM and 12:00 PM EST, and their e-mail support often responds to inquiries within minutes, so that problems can be solved quickly and efficiently. Rest assured, you will be treated well at BetJamaica.

Bonus:
New customers to BetJamaica have two different bonus offers:
A) 20% cash bonus up to $300, plus a $50 freeplay if you deposit $300 or more
B) A 100% freeplay bonus up to $100
The two best ways to maximize these bonuses are $300 with the first one and $100 with the second one.

BetJamaica also rewards its repeat customers, awarding a 10% cash bonus on all further deposits, something that many other books fail to do. In addition, they run free “Pick 2” and “Pick 12” football contests that give out over $300,000 weekly to their customers.

All of these bonuses have a 4x rollover of deposit and bonus, which is lower than the rollover requirements of many other books. For those bettors who love bonuses, BetJamaica is an essential book to have.

Limits:
The limits at BetJamaica are tailored for the majority of punters, with $3000 maximum betting limits on NFL bets and $1000 maximum betting limits for all other sports. Even the smallest of punters are catered to at BetJamaica, with a mere $2 minimum bet.

User Interface:

[ensign_lee]

Pinnacle is in the top 3 books for almost every bettor out there: big or small, sharp or square, line originator or line follower. Pinnacle welcomes all action and nearly everyone has an account here.

In fact, many people refer to Pinnacle as the “cream of the crop” when it comes to choosing an online sportsbook. If Pinnacle is #1, #2 is so far off in the distance that it is a speck on the horizon.

Unique Attributes:
Pinnacle is the only sportsbook in the offshore world that deals an 8 cent line in football, often having both sides of a game available at (-104) while every other book is holding both sides at (-110). This is huge!.

(Is it possible to put a script in here that replaces the ‘8 cent line in football’ with ’10 cent line in baseball, basketball, every sport during the football offseason’?)

A $100 bettor that goes 100-90 in a string of 190 plays would be up merely $100 paying the traditional (-110) juice at another book, whereas that bettor would be up $640 paying (-104) at Pinnacle. As you can see, by taking advantage of the reduced juice at Pinnacle, this bettor is up an extra $540! Bottom line? Reduced juice = more profits. Sounds good, huh?

Another unique feature that only Pinnacle offers is the ability to ‘sell’ points. Only at Pinnacle can you trade points back to the house in exchange for getting bettor odds! Let’s say that you think team A is going to win a game by 10 points, but the line is currently -3 (-104). Instead of taking Team A -3 (-104), you could instead ‘sell’ a point or even two and take Team A -4 (+138) and ensure yourself a higher payout when Team A covers not only the real spread but your own personal spread as well! Take advantage of when you have a strong feeling on a game and get the most out of your bet!

Pinnacle is a scalper’s best friend. Their reduced juice and the ability to sell points not only allow bettors to better place their bets, but allow bettors to scalp out Pinnacle’s lines against other sportsbooks. With a little line shopping, you’ll often find ways to take Team B +8 (-110) at another sportsbook and Team A -8 (+114) at Pinnacle, guaranteeing you a profit no matter who wins the game!

This is also a great way to satisfy rollover requirements for bonuses at other books: either A) you lose at the other book and the money that was originally at the other sportsbook is now at Pinnacle, thereby negating the need for further rollover or B) you win at the other book and lose at Pinnacle, but you are now one step closer to fulfilling your wagering requirements at the other book. Either way, you win!

Payouts:
Ask any offshore bettor which books are most trustworthy when it comes to paying out their customers when they win and Pinnacle will undoubtedly be one of the first books mentioned.

Not only has Pinnacle never had a problem paying out any of its thousands of customers, but Pinnacle pays out lightning fast. Oftentimes, you will have the money in your neteller (or other virtual wallet) account within 15 (if not 5) minutes. Not days; not hours; minutes. With such fast withdrawals, you can move your money into other books nearly instantaneously and take advantage of favorable bonuses or a good line.

At Pinnacle, you have one free withdrawal per month, up to any amount that you desire. You can request it at any time of the day or night and it will be on its way to your hands within the hour. If you are skilled enough to be able to need multiple withdrawals per month, the cost is only $15, again with no withdrawal limits and again processed within the hour.

Customer Service:
Pinnacle’s customer service is top notch by any industry standard. Their e-mail support staff will routinely answers inquiries within minutes of receiving them. Their support staff is trained very well and knows how to handle problems.

The one blemish on Pinnacle’s customer service record is their phone support: there have been accounts of rude behavior on the part of some customer service representatives which is unbecoming of such a great establishment.

Also, Pinnacle intentionally hides their number for phone support because they think that their e-mail support is better trained to handle problems; but sometimes you just want to talk to a real live person without using text.

Bonus:
By opening an account at Pinnacle, you are eligible for their 10% welcome bonus up to $500. Rollover is 3x the deposit + bonus, which is a rare find in the offshore world these days (not to mention that you still get the reduced juice). At Pinnacle, you only ever get one bonus: don’t waste it.

Limits:
Pinnacle is an ‘all action welcome’ type of book. To date, they have never been known to put limits on a bettor for winning too much from them. In fact, if you win too much from them, they may hire you to make their lines!

Their limits are some of the highest in the industry, allowing bettors to put up to $50,000 in action on most of their football bets (and for select games, $100,000!) and $30,000 for most other sports.


User Interface:
Pinnacle’s user interface is unique; you won’t find their software in use at other books. Simply put, it is phenomenal.

It is very clean and loads extremely quickly, so you won’t have to worry about it breaking your browser while it’s loading. Pinnacle’s drop down menus allow you to buy or sell up to a full point in either direction of the spread.

Perhaps the best part of the Pinnacle user interface is that each point is sold for a separate price. Whereas at other books, you will pay 10 cents to move a line a half point in your favor, at Pinnacle, you could pay only a few cents. For example, you can usually buy a half point from Team A -6.5 (-104) to Team A -6 (-109). Rather than pay the 10 cents at another, more traditional book to get to -6 instead of -6.5, you only have to pay five cents, saving you the juice and freeing up more funds to let you make more wagers!





(Can we use the same script above to rotate this picture to another sport whenever football is in the offseason?)


Cons:
The one complaint that some people have about Pinnacle is that they never seem to be able to withdraw! Pinnacle is a sharp book. No bones about it.

But what it really comes down to is whether or not you think you can handicap well enough to overcome Pinnacle’s house edge. If so, there’s no reason that Pinnacle being a sharp book should deter you from having an account there.

Customer Service Info:
Phone: 1.800.599.0440
E-mail: [email protected]