Choosing a betting site

This article outlines the criteria that bettors should consider when choosing an online betting site. Each sportsbook yields different advantages and disadvantages that players should be aware of prior to making a deposit. This guide covers determining betting site availability, deposit methods, withdrawal time, and the type of lines.

Availability

Online gambling laws force betting sites to have restrictions on which countries or states they can accept customers from. Before a bettor can begin comparing betting sites it is recommended that they draft a list of all options available to their region. A list of accepted countries and states should be available in the sportsbook's terms of service.

Every online betting site has restrictions on which countries (or states) they accept customers from. Before comparing sportsbooks bettors should draft a list of all options available in their region.

When you are ready to pick a betting site first consider which ones are available in your country or state. Most sportsbooks restrict access to residents in certain parts of the world. Betting Wiki lists the available countries on each sportsbook's respective page. Once you have comprised a list of possible sites

Here is a concise list of steps to take when choosing your first betting site:

1. Create a list of every betting site available in your country or state.
2. Research each site's reputation to ensure they are legitimate.
3. Check which sportsbooks offer your preferred deposit and withdrawal methods.
4. Determine if the betting site offers sharp or square lines.

Availability

Many online sportsbooks only accept customers from certain countries (or states). The first step to choosing a betting site is to draft a list of eligible options available in your region.

Betting Wiki includes a table of available countries on each sportsbook's respective wiki page:

Example Sportsbook Availability by Country
	Albania		Australia		Austria
	Belarus		Belgium		Bosnia
	Bulgaria		Canada		China
	Croatia		Czechia		Denmark
	Estonia		Finland		France
	Germany		Greece		Hungary
	Iceland		Ireland		Italy
	Japan		Latvia		Lithuania
	Macedonia		Mexico		Moldova
	Montenegro		Netherlands		New Zealand
	Norway		Poland		Portugal
	Romania		Russia		Serbia
	Singapore		Slovakia		Slovenia
	Spain		Sweden		Switzerland
	Ukraine		United Kingdom		United States

Reputation

Only use betting sites that have a clean reputation. Researching the history of a sportsbook will reveal any past incidents that have occurred. Betting Wiki aims to list any concerning events in the history section of a sportsbook's respective wiki page.

Deposits

Each betting site offers customers different ways of funding their accounts. Most sportsbooks accept credit card deposits, while others offer convenient alternatives such as direct bank transfers and cryptocurrency. Before deciding on a betting site ensure that your desired deposit method is offered. Bettors should also make themselves aware of any limits or additional processing fees associated with that payment option.

Betting Wiki maintains an updated table on each sportsbook's wiki page displaying offered deposit methods, minimum and maximum limits, as well as processing fees.

Example Sportsbook Deposit Methods (USD)
Method		Min	Max	Fee
	VISA	$45	$2,500	None
	MasterCard	$45	$2,500	None
	MoneyGram	$100	$500	None
	eCheck	$100	$5,000	None
	e-Transfer	$250	$1,000	None
	Bitcoin	$45	No limit	None
	Bitcoin Cash	$45	No limit	None
	Litecoin	$45	No limit	None

Withdrawals

Before proceeding to make a deposit it is crucial that bettors are aware of a sportsbook's withdrawal policies. Verify that your preferred payout method is offered. Similar to the previous section it is also important to note the fees, processing time, and limits associated with each withdrawal option.

Detailed information on a sportsbook's withdrawal options will be made available on their wiki page:

Example Sportsbook Withdrawal Methods (USD)
Method		Min	Max	Fee	Process Time
	Bitcoin	$25	$5,000	None	2 hours
	Bank Wire	$500	$5,000	None	1 week
	eCheck	$50	$3,000	None	1 week

Sharp or Square

The last criteria to evaluate is whether a betting site offers square or sharp odds. It helps to first understand how oddsmakers set betting lines. Although simplified, a sportsbook desires to have an equal amount of money staked on both sides of a given market. This guarantees profit as a result of the bookmaker's commission (known as vig).

Let's look at an example match to illustrate this concept. A moneyline bet is a wager on which team will win the match. The Baltimore Ravens and New England Patriots both have the same odds of winning at -110. For those not familiar with American odds, this means a $110 risk would yield $100 profit for a total return of $210 if that team were to win.

Team		Spread	Total	Moneyline
	New England Patriots	PK (-110)	Over 49.5 (-110)	-110
	Baltimore Ravens	PK (-110)	Under 49.5 (-110)	-110

Imagine that a betting site's customers wagered a combined $22,000 on this game's moneyline market. The ideal scenario for a bookmaker would be to have a total of $11,000 bet on the Patriots and $11,000 on the Ravens. In this scenario regardless of which team wins they will pay $10,000 to the winners and collect $11,000 from the losers for a net return of $1,000.

With this in mind one can see how oddsmakers must anticipate how their customers will perceive the lines they set. It is often not optimal for a sportsbook to set a line based strictly on the expected outcome determined by statistics. Bettors often believe certain teams are stronger or weaker than they actually are. In the previous example match assume that the math indicated that on average the Ravens would beat the Patriots by 3.5 points. At the time of writing this guide the Patriots are a team many people frequently bet on. Releasing a spread of 3.5 based strictly on the expected outcome would likely result in a distinct imbalance in money staked. Instead the spread is adjusted to 0.0 (PK) and both teams are given equal betting odds on the moneyline in order to attract net action to the other side.

While this has been simplified it provides enough foundation to define the concepts of square and sharp. These terms can be used to describe individual lines or entire betting sites. It's important to note that different sportsbooks offer different lines for the same match, adjusted for their respective customer base.

A square line is one that has a large deviation from the expected outcome. Oddsmakers adjust the line to make the side they expect a majority of their customers' action to be placed on less favourable. This is done to attract more bets to the other side in an attempt to achieve a balance of action.

Consequently, a sharp line is one that has a smaller deviation from the expected outcome. Betting lines are close to what statistics would indicate is the average outcome of the game (if it were to be played many times over a large sample size).

It is common for betting sites to exclusively deal sharp or square lines. This is dependent on their respective customer bases' betting habits. Square sportsbooks cater to recreational and novice gamblers. Inexperienced sportsbettors are generally more inclined to bet on the square side of a given market. To take advantage of this oddsmakers shift the line to make it less favorable to bet on. This works to attract more bets to the other side in order to achieve a balance. And if it were to fail, and a majority of bets are still placed on the square side of the game, those bettors would be at an increased disadvantage for having a worse line relative to those available at competing sportsbooks. Those paying close attention might ask themselves why experienced bettors with large bankrolls don't take advantage of square adjustments by betting on the other side. These square sportsbooks generally prevent knowledgable bettors from doing this by restricting access, offering low betting limits, and issuing dual lines.

Sharp betting sites generally have a more diverse customer base. Novice, intermediate, and experienced sportsbettors allow the site to issue lines that are closer to the expected outcome. Even if a large portion of novice and intermediate bettors take the square side, experienced bettors would balance it out by placing larger wagers on the other side.