Author: sportsbookusplayers

NFL Odds: Preseason Week 1, August 8th 2014

The NFL action continues this week with the first round of 2014 Preseason football games and below you can see the latest odds and point spread on the NFL games on Friday, August 8th. There will be six games played on Friday, giving the bettors plenty of opportunity to finally start the long-awaited football action and put in some try-out bets before the start of the regular season. We have fetched the latest NFL odds below and have compared them among two of the most popular sportsbooks for US players. Here are the NFL Week 1 Preseason point spread:

As far as the odds, those will be available by the sportsbooks on the day the games are played, as it has been traditional with the preseason NFL games.

World Cup sportsbook promos

With the FIFA 2014 World Cup competition just days away, the online sportsbooks are ratcheting up the promos, contests and sign-up bonuses to attract more customers to their websites. And there is no reason why you shouldn’t take advantage of the World Cup promos, considering some lucky players will make out like bandits this summer. Maybe you can be one of them?

To help out with the many things going on for the World Cup tournament this month, we have listed the latest betting offers, promotions and other way the sportsbooks will be giving away money this summer. Simply select one of them or take part in all of them, whatever floats your boat. Here are the current World Cup promos by the best US sportsbooks:

Bookmaker – the sportsbook is running a $20,000 Guaranteed World Cup challenge available to both existing and new players. The objective of the Contest to to accumulate the most points by correctly selecting which two soccer teams will advance out of each of the groups in the World Cup, and then by selecting the winner of each of the knockout stage games in the World Cup including the Final.

The first place winner will snag a $5,000 cash award, the second $3,000 and so on. Note that these are guaranteed prizes, you can see the full list at the betting site, but know that there are 450 of them, so a good chance you can land yourself some of that free money. To enter the contest you can use your reward points or if you are new customer of the sportsbook, you can buy a $10 entry, if you don’t have the 2,000 points needed to enter the pool.

GTBets – this sportsbook has an array of betting offers for the 2014 World Cup, both for new and existing customers. We are going to look at each and then talk about World Cup offers available for all customers, new and current.

Starting with the existing customers – Existing players with bonus level 10% and up – will get a free $20 World Cup Future Bet on the Team To Win. There are also two re-up promos at the sportsbook for the USA games in the World Cup. For the USA – Portugal game and the USA – Germany game, existing players with bonus level of 10% and up can double their standard re-up bonus on one deposit.

New customers of GTBets can get a free $10 World Cup Bet after initial deposit of any amount has been completed. Must be claimed by the player through customer support with promo code: $20WORLDCUP. Once the tournament starts, the free $20 bet offer will change from a Future To Win, to a Free $10 3-way wager on any particular World Cup game that the player chooses. Once they make their initial deposit, they then need to contact support with the option (USA, Ghana, or Draw for example for the June 16th match) that they want the free $10 bet on, and then support will place the wager in their account for them.

Intertops – Promo: get a 20% World Cup match bonus at this US sportsbook. The offer is open to existing customers and in order to claim the World Cup 20% bonus you must send an e-mail to bet@intertops.eu with subject 20% World Cup Bonus after your deposit and the bonus offer will be credited to your account. Note that the maximum bonus you can claim with the World Cup offer is $100 free.

Sportsbooks that don’t call you on the phone

Let’s face it, a few things are more annoying than you getting ready to sit at at the table for dinner and the phone rings, just to hear about some sportsbook trying to give you bonuses or asking you to join them. Not unlike the telemarketers of the past, some offshore sportsbooks have taken it to the phones to try to either get deposits from current customers or trying to get you to switch to their new online sportsbook no one has ever heard of or have a proven track of paying the US players.

We personally believe that it may be acceptable in certain scenarios for a sportsbook to call you and let you know about a great bonus offer on an upcoming sporting event, like the Super Bowl, most of the time the calls are, to put it nicely, bothersome. That’s why if you are looking for a sportsbook that won’t call you on the pone at odd hours with annoying offers, check out some of the sportsbooks mentioned below, which accept US payers and don’t call you every week begging for deposits.

Bookmaker must be the best in this situation, since they usually never call their customers unsolicited. Some VIP bettors, as it’s expected, will receive special attention and their personal account manager will call them when really good deals are offered, but in general, you won’t be bothered with phone calls about the smallest little thing that’s happening with the sportsbook. It is also atop of our approved US sportsbooks, this being one of the many reasons it’s there.

5Dimes and Bovada are also pretty good about not cold calling people. Both sportsbooks give the impression that they are too proud to beg people, unlike many other second-tier offshore books. This is great for people who hate answering the phone just to hear some “sportsbook manager” asking them to switch to their unknown sportsbook. Don’t let yourself be bothered by this nuisance, patronize only sportsbooks that care about your time and don’t call you on the phone constantly.

Where to bet on the Kentucky Derby USA

In May each year thousands of US players are searching for the best sportsbook for horse racing wagers and are asking which is the best website to bet on the Kentucky Derby. The horse racing betting, especially the Kentucky Derby (or the whole Triple Crown for that matter), is a completely different animal as opposed to sports betting. A large number of people are betting on the Kentucky Derby simply because they got caught up in the hype and excitement of this famous event and in most cases – it’s the only time they would bet on a horse race.

And while there is a sizable wagering industry built around the track betting in the USA, the overall level is far from, let’s say, the one we see in the UK. That’s why we have approached the recommendations for where to bet on the Kentucky Derby a bit different than the US sportsbook list you can see on our home page. The main ranking features here are based on the ranking factors of frequency of horse racing betting, size of wagers and best odds on the Kentucky Derby. Keep in mind that just because a sportsbook is great for general sports betting, it doesn’t make it the top option for betting on the Kentucky Derby or the other races in the Triple Crown chase. With that in mind, here are the best sites to bet on the Kentucky Derby online in the USA:

Bovada Horse Racing – the Bovada horse racing platform is by far the leader in Kentucky Derby betting. Overall, this is the best sportsbook for horse racing, period, not just for the Run for the Roses. Unlike many other sportsbooks, this betting iste has a dedicated horse racing section with daily betting options from tracks around the US and UK, as well. But when it comes to betting on the Kentucky Derby, this website takes the crown. It is one of the first sportsbooks to post the odds on the Kentucky Derby contenders, offers some of the top odds you can find online on the ponies and it also posts quite a sizable number of prop bets and head-to-head wagers on the Kentucky Derby. In addition, customers can take advantage of the many other features Bovada offers on horse racing events, such as analysis, videos, articles, etc. And if you are new to horse racing betting, the site has plenty of guides to teach you the ropes of betting on horses and give you enough knowledge to place your first wager on the Kentucky Derby. As an added bonus, Bovada Horse Racing is very friendly to the occasional bettor, which is indeed the average Kentucky Derby bettor. The sportsbook takes small deposits and offers plenty of processing options, including credit cards. If you are wondering where to be ton the Kentucky Derby, Bovada is your best choice.

Bookmaker – if you need another option to bet online on the Kentucky Derby, Bookmaker is a great “out”. While it doesn’t offer as many side bets on the Triple Crown as Bovada, it holds one advantage – it accepts very large bets. If you are looking for a safe and reputable betting site for the Kentucky Derby to place a wager in the thousands, you will find no better website than Bookmaker, period. Geared more towards the pro bettor, this book offers good odds on the Derby, along with a reputation untainted over the many years it has been in operation. It has the bankroll to pay out big wins on the Triple Crown races and as a bonus, it is ranked as the best sportsbook for US players, as well. The perfect choice for large bets on the Kentucky Derby.

A side note on legal horse racing betting in the United States: The online betting on horse racing is one of the few forms of legal online gambling in the US, although there are still a few states where betting online on horse racing is either restricted or not allowed. As such, there is a number of betting websites focused on horse racing only and they are perfectly legal to use by US citizen. Unfortunately, they have take advantage of the legal status by offering some of the worst odds you can imagine an in no way can they compete with the Kentucky Derby odds offered by the offshore sportsbooks, nor can they match the large bets people can place on the Kentucky Derby at those sportsbooks. If you plan on betting on horse racing, make sure you check your local laws to see if this form of online gambling is legal in your jurisdiction first!

Avoiding transaction fees at the USA sportsbooks

Anyone who has bet at most of the sportsbooks accepting USA players will tell you that the transaction fees could get a bit ridiculous at times. Unfortunately, the reality is that this is the cost of doing business with players in the US. Due to the legal standing of the offshore sportsbooks, transactions to and from the sportsbooks incur an enormous cost, compared to anything else on the Internet. However, not all is lost and there are a few “tricks” that could not only reduce the transaction fees with the sportsbooks, but in some cases – eliminate them completely.

The USA online sportsbooks understand that, while to cost of processing payments and deposits is quite high, players hate paying their share and have done a few things to make it easier, and more importantly cheaper, for the bettors to send and receive money. Depending on your preferred sportsbook, there are a few ways to avoid paying the transaction fees. Here are a couple of sportsbooks that offer ways for US players to avoid paying those pesky fees.

Bookmaker – while there is no free withdrawal, per se, this popular US sportsbook has an option that can literally make every one of your payouts free – the Rewards Points. The betting site has a rewards program which gives every player points for wagering and in turn the points can be used towards your transaction fees. Points accumulate quite fast, especially if you are in  higher rewards tier, thus you can request a free payout at any time and as many times as long as you have enough points. In addition, the sportsbook also refunds your P2P deposit fees you pay to send money to your player’s account, making the deal even sweeter.

5Dimes – this sportsbook has made it very easy for players to withdraw some of their winnings (or all of them, depending on your bankroll) by instituting a simple policy – every customer can request one free withdrawal per month. It doesn’t get any easier or simpler than that. This policy is aimed toward helping the bettor with smaller bankroll, people who bet small units and their monthly winnings can easily be covered by a single withdrawal. Customers of 5Dimes can request their free withdrawal every Monday and as long as this is their first payout for the month – it’s free. Keep in mind, however, that if depositing using Western Union or Money Gram – the sender’s fee will not be refunded, unlike Bookmaker.

As you can see, if you play it smart you can avoid paying the transaction fees or if you do pay them, in some cases they would be refunded back to you. Make sure you select a sportsbook that would work with you on those points, since in some cases the transaction fees for deposits and payouts could be quite high.