Online sports betting has become one of the world’s favorite hobbies in the last few years. Betting on sports has always been part of enjoying them, but it hasn’t always been legal everywhere. In fact, through most of the 1990s up until 2018, sports betting was illegal in almost all of the United States. People never stopped betting but it was a lot more difficult and riskier to do so outside of betting on horse races or betting in Las Vegas.
Sports betting fans in most of the rest of the world have faced similar challenges when it comes to placing bets. Online sports betting and changing cultural attitudes towards betting on sports have transformed that for the better. More people than ever before can now safely and legally bet on sports
Online sportsbooks are more convenient and more accessible than old-fashioned betting shops or retail sportsbooks inside land-based casinos. They are also much easier and less expensive to run. With more people betting and lower operating costs, lots of new sportsbooks have appeared on the market. However, not all of these betting sites are equally good, fair or honest.
Alongside these new betting sites, a side industry of sportsbook review sites has also developed. Most of these sites provide a valuable service for bettors. There are also some that are essentially just advertising firms for sportsbooks.
It isn’t always obvious which sportsbooks review sites are legit and which ones aren’t. Below are some of the first things bettors should look out for when deciding which review sites to trust and where to place their next bets:
Established brands
The online sports betting world is a bit like the Wild West. There’s so much freedom resulting from the market suddenly opening up that tons of new companies have sprung up almost overnight to meet customer needs. Many of these new sportsbooks and review sites are fantastic. Others, unfortunately, are just using the market to their advantage and exploiting customers.
If you’re new to sports betting and unfamiliar with the industry, it’s a good idea to rely on established brands. This is true for both sportsbooks and sportsbook review sites. This means that when you find a new social sportsbook like Thrillzz Social Sportsbook, on review sites such as WSN.com, which has grown with the industry you can verify its reputation with a review site you trust. Thrillzz is a unique social sportsbook gaming site, offering players an opportunity to explore sports betting for free.
Compare reviews
If every sportsbook review site gives a betting site the same mediocre review but one review site says it’s amazing, it’s likely not very trustworthy. Comparing reviews of the same sportsbook is the easiest way to evaluate how accurate and legit a review site is – especially if there are consistent differences in how they review a sportsbook compared with their competitors.
Check the team
Knowing the team behind the sportsbook review site can help you determine if it’s a legitimate site. The best sportsbook review sites will be staffed by experts in the field of sports betting. This includes researchers who know about sports, betting, the tech behind the betting platforms, online security and digital payment methods. Not every site may have a full roster of experts but they should feature at least some specialists.
Bios that include pictures and links to the individual’s LinkedIn account are the most trustworthy forms of proof that the person is both a real expert and an actual employee of the sportsbook review site.
Space for argument
Legit sportsbook review sites aren’t afraid of bettors sharing their experiences because they know that their reviews are fair and honest. They will have some space available for bettors to share their experiences, either positive or negative, about the sportsbooks they review.
These can take a few different forms. It could be an open comment section on each review – this is very common with online casino reviews but still a popular option. Another option is a forum page on the review site. This gives bettors a space to share their opinion and experiences without it overwhelming the review page. Also fairly common is a curated collection of bettor testimonials. While this does limit the number of voices included, there is still space for argument and debate.
Revised and up to date
Legit sportsbook review sites will continually update their reviews to ensure that they are accurate and up to date. They will also be transparent when a review has been edited. This is important because it shows the players if a sportsbook has improved (or gone downhill) over time. It also shows that the review site cares enough about their readers to track any major changes at a sportsbook.
Varied ratings
If everyone won gold in the Olympics, it wouldn’t be very interesting to watch and we’d all assume that there was something funny going on with the rating system. The same is true with sportsbook review sites. Not every sportsbook deserves a 4.5/5-star rating – it’s simply not possible.
A legit sportsbook review site will give ratings that match reality. A variety of ratings shows that the reviewer has looked into a lot of factors and accurately evaluated the sportsbook.
