NFL Sportsbooks or Where to bet on football?

There is no doubt that NFL betting is the most popular activity at the USA-facing sportsbooks. And general, football betting is by far outweighing all other sports at the sportsbooks. With so much interest from players in the United States ever year, no wonder so many online sportsbooks try to win over their business and, unfortunately, like everything else in life, where there is plenty of money, there is plenty of rogue entities just looking to make a quick buck. So if you plan to bet on football this season, today we’ll recommend the best NFL sportsbooks.

Believe it or not, the state of the industry in such shape these days, especially for the online sportsbooks welcoming players from the US, that even experienced online bettors are wondering every year where to bet on football. A bettor may know his (or her) NFL teams, bets, etc. quite well, but that doesn’t mean that they keep up with what;s going on with the offshore sports betting industry. Some have played at a sportsbook for a couple of years and all of a sudden – the book is gone and they are left searching for another out for the NFL season. Things are much worse for people who are betting online on football for the first time – having absolutely no idea where to start. This is the reason we have selected the top NFL sportsbooks here. This is a definitive list of the best online sportsbooks for NFL, betting websites which have been in operation for over a decade and have built a reputation envied by the rest. Now, there are other sportsbooks that take US players, but be warned – the NFL sportsbooks listed here are as good as it gets and if you decide to go with a different betting site, know what you getting yourself into. After all, the NFL season is a long one.


Best online sportsbooks for NFL season


#1 Bookmaker (Bookmaker Review or Website) – We have ranked this sportsbooks, which welcomes players from USA, best not only for NFL wagers, but overall, as well. This is truly a solid offshore sportsbook with an enormous bankroll. As we know, NFL season is a long one, most people will place bets all season long, thus the liquidity of the sportsbook is very important. Bookmaker is well-known for being the “sportsbook with the most money”. Bettors get paid and they get paid fast, without any fuss, unlike many other “popular” online sportsbooks. Sure, if you plan on placing a few small bets on a couple of NFL games you can pick any of the hundred offshore sportsbooks and if you don’t get paid – you didn’t lose much. But if you want to build a bankroll betting the football games this season, including Super Bowl, you better pick a sportsbook that is financially stable.

But liquidity is not the only factor that makes Bookmaker the best sportsbooks for NFL betting. The football odds here are competitive (not only on NFL but college football, too). Plenty of betting options are available, besides the standard odds – money line, point spread and totals. There are a lot of NFL prop bets, too. Another big plus for Bookmaker is that it allows for some of the largest NFL bets among the online sportsbooks. Players make 5-digit bets on the NFL games regularly and the best part is – you not going to be limited just because you win your football bets. For beginners this may not mean squat, but many bettors know the sad feeling of seeing your bet limits plummet after you won a few good size football bets. To summarize, we believe Bookmaker is the best online sportsbook for NFL because they are financially sound, offer plenty of football betting options, good NFL odds, large bets and won’t limit your bet size for being a winner. In a word – perfect, if you want to know where to bet on football this season.


#2 5Dimes (5Dimes Review or Website) – this is another offshore sportsbook that has been around since the early age of the Internet. The 5Dimes sportsbook is also a very financially sound betting website and it holds an edge over Bookmaker when it comes to the NFL odds – reduced juice. The NFL lines at 5Dimes are much better, since the book chooses to reduce the vig they take, giving more in terms of payout to the football bettor. Unfortunately, 5Dimes tends to limit smart bettors, mainly those who wager big money and get into a winning streak. This is why we have placed 5Dimes lower on our list of recommended sportsbook for NFL betting. Recreational bettors or those who are not on a winning streak shouldn’t worry, and even though limits are not exactly a sure thing, but we should warn you that limiting your football bets is a possibility with this offshore sportsbook. But other than that, the book is top notch, pays fast and charges less for payouts than Bookmaker. Which of the two you prefer is up to you, although opening an account at both is also a good idea.


We could add a couple more online sportsbooks to recommend for NFL betting, but we feel that the best are noted above. There should be no reason for anyone to look for any other sportsbooks this NFL season – both Bookmaker and 5Dimes offer easy depositing options, fast and certain withdrawals and good football betting odds. If you are wondering where to bet on football, the two sportsbooks we talked about are the best choice.

Legit Sportsbooks for USA

Some may think that the question of legit online sportsbooks for USA would come from bettors new to the online sports betting world (or beginner bettors overall), unfortunately this question is being asked most often by players who had bad experiences with rogue sportsbooks. As many of you looking for legit sportsbook online for USA players know, there is a large number of bad (even rogue) betting sites. And the legit sportsbooks could be counted on one hand, we are sad to report.

If you visit our home page where we list the top sportsbooks for US players you can easily see that the options are not many. We can honestly call very few sportsbooks for USA “legit” and you will find this small list on the home page. What is a legit sportsbook? For the majority of bettors a legit online sportsbook is simply one that would pay, pay on time and pay without giving you hard time. You would think that all online sportsbooks should adhere to this basic principle, alas not many do. Since the sports betting websites are not regulated by any US authority, it’s hard to pursue any legal action against them, should problems arise. That’s why we always give reputation a top priority, when we consider sportsbooks for US players to be added to our recommended list. As you can see for yourself from the tiny list we’ve got, not many USA-friendly sportsbooks enjoy stellar reputation.

But don’t let regulations alone be the focal point, in Europe, where online gambling is licensed and regulated, there are just as many rogue sportsbooks, if not more than those welcoming USA customers. Regulation alone doesn’t help and doesn’t automatically mean that the sportsbook is legit. What you need is reputation among the internet betting community and that reputation is built over many years, not overnight. Unfortunately for many countless USA players, the list of legit sportsbooks was created with their help, when they have used rogue online sportsbooks and have shared their awful experiences.

So if you want to find legit online sportsbook for USA, the few left are listed on our main page. We can assure you right now, if a sportsbook is not listed there, don’t consider it legit. Chances are very good that that particular sportsbook has mistreated players in the past (or may be doing it currently) and we don’t care what your friend, who has an account with them, says. Yeah, some people will be surprised that a bad sportsbook didn’t pay them, since their friend was recommending them and never had a problem…Or they read it on some forum, without realizing that it’s common for rogue sportsbooks to hire fake posters, who in turn will both troll against legit sportsbooks and praise the rogue ones with fake “great experience” threads. So, if you frequent any sports betting forums, keep your eye open for those shills. Bottom line is that we have listed only the legit sportsbooks online which welcome USA customers and you will not be able to find anything better than those few. And if you chose to go with one that is not listed there, for one reason or another, it will be your fault and you can’t blame anyone for not being warned.

July Sportsbook Promo Codes

If you are an adamant sportsbook player in the USA, you already know well the advantage the sportsbook bonus codes and promo codes offer to the sports bettor. Today we will take a look at the latest promo codes posted by the online sportsbooks for US players for the month of July 2013. We will update this every month, so check back our sportsbook news page to get the latest bonus codes information.

July 2013 Sportsbook Promo Codes

Starting with Bookmaker, where new customers can take advantage of their latest sign-up bonus, featuring 15% bonus on your first deposit, up to $2,500 in free sportsbook money, making it one of the largest bonuses currently offered by the sportsbooks. The promo code to use is “JOIN15” and you should enter it when making your first deposit with this sportsbook. Many other ongoing bonuses are available here that do not require promo codes.

Bovada Sports, on the other side, is sweetening the MLB action at their sportsbook this month by offering $5 every day you make a 3-team MLB parlay with a wager of $20 or more, regardless of the outcome of your bet. The $5 free are casino chips and unfortunately cannot be used at the sportsbook. No promo code is necessary for this bonus, but conditions apply, check with the sportsbook for more details.

 

Are there American sportsbooks online?

This is yet another frequently asked question we like to tackle, if there are sportsbooks online which are based in the US. The short answer is that at this time there are no real American sportsbooks online. The keyword here is “real” since a recent development in Nevada has seen some of the traditional Las Vegas sportsbooks offering sports betting, but the options are very limited – only residents of Nevada can place bets at those sportsbooks on the internet. While Nevada residents can easily place bets online, residents of other US states are prohibited from opening an account and betting with those sportsbooks.

In addition to the online versions of the Vegas sportsbooks, there is another form of American online sportsbooks (or should we say betting websites) and those are the racebooks. There are a few major players in the American online racebook scene, most notable being TwinSpires, the Louisville Kentucky based racetrack famous for the first leg of the Triple Crown, the Kentucky Derby. Those American online sportsbooks take only wagers on horse races and while they are legal in the USA to operate, they don’t allow all Americans to bet on horse racing. Depending on the racebook, residents of some states are not allowed to open betting accounts.

Ironically, some of the most popular offshore sportsbooks, while not based in the U.S., are owned by Americans, as far as we know. Bookmaker and 5Dimes are both claimed to be owned by expats, but those sportsbooks are not based in USA, but their entire operations are located in Central America, hence the offshore part.

Will there ever be American online sportsbooks? Sure, as we have already seen, there re the Las Vegas sportsbooks which are moving online. At this time limited to just Nevada, which doesn’t really qualify them to be considered US online sportsbooks, but the direction is one for opening their doors to all Americans, or at least for those states which allow some form of gambling, besides the state-sponsored lotteries. Time will only tell how long until we see licensed and regulated Vegas sportsbooks allowing players form other states.

Is parlay good bet?

This is a question a lot of beginner bettors ask when they first face the options the sportsbooks offer them in terms of types of bets – is parlay a good bet to make? We are going to answer this, but first, let’s review again what is parlay and how parlay bets work.

Unlike straight bet, where the player bets on the outcome of a single game, the parlay gives the players the chance to accumulate multiple bets into one. By doing so the player increases the risk of the bet, but also the reward. Keep in mind that in order for your parlay to be a winner, you must predict all games on your parlay, losing even one, of let’s say 10-game parlay will result in a loss.

Let’s say you log into your favorite sportsbook and see three football games are left available for betting and you think you can predict the outcome of all three games. Now you have a choice to make – should I bet on each game individually (straight bets) or should I go for a parlay instead? Assuming you have $100 to bet on each game and each will pay even money if correct, then when you do 3 straight bets, you will win $300. But if you choose a parlay betting all $300 on it, instead of $100 on 3 games, and you get them all correct – your payout will be $2,400! As you can clearly see, parlay does seem to be a darn good bet in this case.The downside to parlay is that you’ve just tripled the risk of losing the bet. If just one of those games were a loser – you lose all $300 wagered on the parlay bet, while with the straight bets option you would have $100 profit in the end, vs. $300 loss with the parlay.

Still, parlay is a good bet, especially when you don’t have a large bankroll. Some people have parlayed $10 into thousands, but those cases are indeed rare. With such long parlays, it’s not sports betting but gambling and we strongly advise against confusing betting with gambling. if you want to give the parlays a shot and try to win some really big amounts, try to keep your parlay withing three, maximum four games. And don’t be discouraged to throw in a Hail Marry if you have 50 cents left in your sportsbook account – put them all on a parlay with a bunch of games and let it ride. Sometimes gambling is fun.