Best Sports Betting Sites for US / United States

As it stands sports betting in the US isn’t as straightforward as it possibly once was. Legislation brought in by the UIGEA have prevented the transactions of banks authorizing payments to gambling sites. But we must stress that betting as a US citizen is not illegal, something which we will talk more about later in this article.

There are in fact many great US friendly sportsbook out there all desperate to get you into their site and using their betting service. It’s agreed that the state of play isn’t as decorated as it once was, but the emergence of new US sportsbooks has seen a massive increase in the amount of bookmakers available for US bettors.

Being the best sportsbook for the USA is a tough challenge. United States sports fans balance an intense fascination with American sports with some awareness of European and worldwide sporting events such as Olympics. In the USA sports world, a top quality sportsbook is going to focus on basketball (both NBA and College), plus baseball, football and perhaps soccer. NCAA college basketball March Madness is one common fever in late winter around the United States and takes top priority among hardcore USA sports fans as well as USA sports bettors. The best sportsbooks for USA bettors offer concentrated promotions during particular sports’ seasons plus enough diverse events to keep bettors interested all year.

 

Legality of Betting  Online in the US

Let’s clear one thing up straight away; it is not illegal to bet as a US citizen. This means you can go freely about your gambling business placing bets or any other kind of wagers at US friendly sportsbook, casinos and poker rooms. Where many people get confused is that it is illegal for a US bookmaker to operate out of certain states in the US and accept payments from US based players. But again, this does not apply to all US states, with many of them not really passing a law either way, making it grey area in the industry.

The only thing that has been made illegal is for US banks to process payments into US based bookmakers. It has nothing to do with the legitimacy of the sportsbook, merely the banks and the government. Conspiracy theories suggest it’s just a way that the government are trying to stop online gambling due to them being unable to control it and therefore properly tax it; but that’s for another article.

As a sports bettor you may be aware that any site that once left the US market have since come back under a new name or have re-branded and re-located to places outside the US that can accommodate players from around the world. SportsBetting.com is now SportsBetting.ag and Bodog are now known as Bovada, to name but a few.

How to choose the right betting site / Sportsbook  for you

As new sportsbooks continue to pop up that accept US based players, it’s starting to become more of a punters market again. What we mean by that is that with more bookmakers come more options and bookmakers are going to have to work harder to get customers through their doors as a result. In turn, this is a win-win situation for the punter.

Promotions at USA Betting Sites

Promotions are usually going to be the number one thing to look out for when picking a bookmaker. Whilst many may just simply shoot with ‘the larger the better’, this may not always be the best strategy to adopt, especially for smaller stakes bettors. You need to check the qualifying terms with each promotion and the clearance terms. Many bookmakers only offer promotions for certain payment methods and if yours isn’t listed, then what’s the point? Check the terms and conditions of each promotion before signing up.

Market Coverage at US Betting Sites

The next thing you need to look at is which sports and markets are on offer. If you are a football fan and want to exclusively bet on that sport then choosing a site that has limited markets for football on offer seems pretty pointless. But then again that same site could have some of the biggest markets for basketball bettors meaning that the site would be ideal for them.

Reputation and Safety of United States Betting Sites

Choosing a bookmaker based on their reputation is never going to put you in any jeopardy. A large, well known, big branded company is likely going to be a lot safer than some shady smaller site which doesn’t even incorporate any encryption into their software. If in doubt do your research as there will always be information from third party sources somewhere online.

Best US Sportsbooks

After years of research and testing we have managed to pull together the three Us based sportsbooks.

#1 BetOnline – You can get up to $900 in bonuses at BetOnline from your first deposit. It’s a 25% match but it’s worth noting that this bonus is actually available on every deposit you make at the site. BetOnline has one of the largest ranges of sports with the likes of football, soccer, basketball, hockey, golf, darts, tennis and rugby all on offer. BetOnline has a real international feel too it’s sportsbook and offers something for everyone.

#2 Bovada – Bovada were once known as sporting powerhouses Bodog and have re-branded them into a massive sportsbook for US bettors. You can get a bonus of up to $250 on your first deposit which is essentially a 50% match. The site is another which has a wide range of sports on offer but also provides their punters with live betting features as well. On top of that a fully functional mobile betting app is on offer from Bovada.

#3 SportingBet.ag – SportingBet.ag has the same bonus as BetOnline – which is no surprise as BetOnline bought the company – where users can get up to $900 in bonus month with a 25% match on their first deposit. The downsides to the site are that some deposit methods do incur fees and also deposits made by credit card can only take up to 15% of the welcome bonus whilst other can claim up to 25%.

All three of these US accepted betting sites have features that stand out among sportsbooks. With live game betting at Sportsbetting, more than 15 different possible bets for NBA and NCAA games on Bovada or betting resources that make wiser sports bettors at BetOnline, any USA bettor can trust these names as the best betting sites for US in 2018.