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Bet on the Sports You Follow
Every major sport and competition, with the betting sites licensed to take the action — and the bet types that matter for each. Pick a sport to see who covers it.
Soccer
Soccer (association football) is the most heavily bet sport in the world, with deep markets on hundreds of leagues and cup competitions year-round.
Premier LeagueChampions LeagueLa LigaMLSAmerican Football
American football betting is dominated by the NFL and major college football, built around the point spread and totals.
NFLCollege FootballBasketball
Basketball betting spans the NBA, college basketball and major European leagues, with fast-moving spreads, totals and player props.
NBAMarch MadnessEuroLeagueTeam Sports
16 sportsCombat Sports
3 sportsMotorsport
1 sportRacket, Cue & Darts
4 sportsGolf, Cycling & Winter
4 sportsMulti-Sport Events & Esports
3 sportsMore About Sports Betting
As an increasing number of countries choose to legalize and regulate online sports betting, wagering options for fans are greater now than ever before. Punters in many parts of the world can choose from dozens of sports betting sites that are legal, licensed and safe.
This section records which operators are licensed to take bets on each sport, and the main bet types for each. That includes the country-by-country record and the operators listed for each individual sport.
Sports Betting Sites by Market
This page indexes sports betting sites by the criteria a reader is choosing on. The categories are sport, mobile app, welcome bonus and so on. Use the table of contents above to jump straight to recommendations that suit your particular needs.
Sport Specific Betting Sites
Each sport has its own page listing the operators licensed to take bets on it, with the bet types that apply. The listings on each of the following pages take into account the average number of markets offered for that sport, types of wagers on the menu, live streaming video options, odds offered and sport-specific offers and bonuses.
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Online Sports Betting App Reviews
A reader choosing on something narrower — one sport, one payment method, one app — has a large collection of online bookmaker reviews that are unbiased and straightforward in nature.
Every review covers the same aspects, so two operators can be compared on the same terms. These include each site’s long-term reputation, its licensing status, its customer support options, the generosity of its betting odds, deposit methods, payout speeds, bonuses, and other wagering options.
Sports Betting Bonuses
Most sports betting sites advertise an introductory promotion. What it is worth depends entirely on the terms attached to it, which the bonuses section sets out.
Bonuses are not the only promotions you’ll see. Online bookmakers are always coming up with new promotions and betting offers to reward their customers. Some of the most common types of promotional offers you’re likely to see include:
First Deposit Match Bonuses: The first deposit match bonus is designed to entice new customers to make their first deposit. The amount of your deposit determines how much bonus money you get. For example, a 100% match bonus means you will receive £1 in bonus funds for every £1 you deposit.
Promotional stakes: a token that places a real-money wager under the operator's terms. If it wins, the winnings are the customer's; if it loses, nothing comes off the real-money balance.
If your bet loses, the bookmaker refunds an equal amount to your account. If your bet wins, the winnings are credited to your account normally.
Reduced Juice: Reduced juice rewards lower the amount of commission the bookmaker takes on all bets of a certain type. For example, the common 10/11 line that is applied to wagers with no clear favorite is reduced to 20/21 under a reduced juice program. The end result is you pay less commission on your wagers. This promotion is usually confusing for newbies and is, therefore very rare.
The bonuses section explains each type of promotion and the terms that apply to it:
Sports Betting Loyalty Rewards Programs
Regular sports bettors should definitely take advantage of any loyalty schemes or promotions offered by online sports betting sites. Rewards programs at online sportsbooks are designed to reward loyal customers for continuing to play.
Rewards can vary from free plays, bonus offers, or even tickets to major sporting events.
Generally speaking, the more you wager online, the more you benefit from sports betting rewards programs. The loyalty schemes differ in what they return and at what level of turnover, which is worth reading before choosing on that basis.
Daily Fantasy Sports Betting Sites
Fantasy sports platforms differ in traffic, prize pools and payout speed, and a handful of brands dominate the category. This site does not cover daily fantasy sports.
Sports Betting Exchanges
Betting exchange sites provide a unique and potentially lucrative twist on the traditional sports betting model. Exchanges act more like the stock market than a regular bookmaker in that exchanges match customers who want to back opposite sides of any particular wager. Rather than betting against the bookmaker, you bet against other customers who take the opposite view.
For example, you can back a selection to lose and then be matched with another customer who is backing that selection to win. Customers are able to set their own betting odds and lay a bet that other users can decide to take or not.
The end result is a free market solution for online sports betting. In certain cases, online betting exchanges offer better value for sports bets than traditional bookmakers.
In-Play Betting Sites
In-play betting offers yet another twist on traditional sports betting. In this case, you are able to place bets after an event has already started. As a football match progresses, for example, you can place additional wagers on the outcome of the event at updated betting odds. Or, you can even bet on short-term events such as who will score the next goal or what the outcome of the next penalty kick will be.
Thus, you can watch a match in real-time and place bets as events unfold before your eyes. The oddsmakers in the background follow the match as well and offer a constantly-updated list of bets based on what’s happening right now.
Is Online Sports Betting Legal?
The legal status of sports betting sites depends on where you live and how you interpret the law.
Legislation around the world lags behind technology.
In many countries, sports betting laws are open to interpretation and largely unenforced. Each year, more countries license and regulate online sports betting websites and mobile sportsbook apps.
Our country-by-country discussion of gambling laws around the world offers in-depth analyses of legal sports betting options and regulations in most countries.
Is It Safe to Bet on Sports Online?
It is safe to bet on sports online as long as you limit your wagers to reputable and safe bookies.
Whether an operator is safe to use comes first. Beyond the licence and the reputation discussed above, the things worth checking are customer support, withdrawal speed, and the complaints recorded against the operator by regulators and in public forums.
Gaming licenses are useful but don't always tell the whole story. Licenses from major gambling jurisdictions such as the UK hold a great deal of weight because they are backed by functional governments that are serious about regulating the industry.
We also look at online bookmakers financial stability. This information isn't generally released to the public, but you can get a good idea of how a sportsbooks finances are doing by monitoring social media accounts for complaints and unresolved issues.
Consistency of payouts is just as important.
If a once-reliable operator suddenly has a batch of slow payouts, it can be a sign of payment processing problems, liquidity issues, or just a temporary hiccup.
The single most useful check is whether a regulator licenses the operator for the market the customer is in. Each operator review on this site records the licences a regulator has on file for it.
Basic Sports Betting Tips
There is much to learn before you can become a successful sports gambler. The most profitable handicappers spend a lot of time researching picks, looking for trends, and searching for value.
Identifying value is imperative to making money over the long term. Sometimes there is no "correct" bet to make on a particular sporting event and a savvy sports bettor knows when to keep out of the action.
By putting some effort into learning about the industry, it becomes much easier to get a decent return on your money. It pays to be diverse – consistently backing odds on favorites is unlikely to pay in the long run, as it might only take one or two upset losses to wipe out your profits.
Mixing up your bets with a combination of favorites and over-priced underdogs, and placing these options at the right time is a better approach.
Visit the following pages for a more in-depth discussion of some of the most important concepts in online sports betting.
To be serious about winning, you need to manage your bankroll properly.
It can be frustrating losing several sports bets in a row, but increasing your stakes to chase your losses is not the way forward.
Stick to your stakes and size your plays according to the confidence you have in a pick – not based on previous results. As you do well and your bankroll grows, then you can consider increasing the size of your units.
The general rule of thumb for sports betting is to risk no more than 5% of your bankroll on any single bet. This is a pretty safe way to go because it helps minimize the damage done by bad streaks.
No matter how confident you are in any single bet, the 5% rule should be in effect.
If you think about it, the 5% rule makes perfect sense. Even the best handicappers are happy to achieve a 55% to 60% win rate. That means you can expect to lose 40% to 45% of your wagers even if you are really good at what you do.
At those win rates, anything can happen in the short term.
Over the long term, skilled handicappers can expect to see a general winning trend. But over the short term, everyone sees swings in both directions. By sizing your bets properly, you minimize the chances of going broke due to variance.
Even the best sports bettor in the world will lose their bankroll if routinely risking 20% or more of a bankroll on every wager. Smart bankroll management is one of the absolute fundamental keys to successful sports betting.