At Sportslens, we aim to track down and present the best sports betting sites in the United States and worldwide. Our team of experts has developed a meticulous and impartial system for evaluating and ranking the top sportsbooks. This is to help our readers in their quest for a flawless gambling experience.
If you want to know more about how we sift through the myriad sportsbook options and identify the best, read on. In the following sections, we’ll discuss our review and selection process in detail and explain the criteria considered when ranking our top betting sites.
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Our Review Criteria
Our expert team analyzes and examines hundreds of sports betting sites before making the top picks. We carefully assess several aspects of each sportsbook and rate them based on our evaluation.
Transparency is key at Sportslens. Therefore, we’ll reveal our review criteria below, as well as the factors we consider when ranking and rating the best top betting sites.
Competitive Odds
Every bettor hopes to make winnings from time to time. And getting competitive odds goes a long way in boosting your profit margin. For this reason, we only select sportsbooks that offer attractive odds so you can maximize your potential winnings and minimize risks.
Also, we ensure great odds across a wide range of sports and betting markets, especially in popular leagues like the NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, and MLS. While at it, we pay attention to each bookmaker’s margins, as this directly affects your potential returns.
Additionally, we ensure that the sites adjust their odds often to reflect the latest market changes. Finally, we advise our readers to line shop for odds at multiple betting sites to get the most bang for your buck.
Range of Markets
All our recommended sportsbooks offer comprehensive coverage of a wide range of sports and competitions. These include football, basketball, baseball, soccer, hockey, tennis, cricket, and so much more. Niche and less-known sports, like esports, snooker, volleyball, and darts, are also covered.
Furthermore, these sites feature several betting options, such as traditional bet types like moneyline, spread betting, totals, and draw-no-bets. More specialty bets like player props, futures, handicaps, parlays, and teasers are not left out. In fact, you’ll find odds for politics betting, TV show wagering, and the like.
Live Betting
Live betting, also known as in-play betting, adds an extra layer of excitement and engagement to the wagering experience. Before recommending any sportsbook, we evaluate the live betting interface. An intuitive and user-friendly platform will allow you to place timely wagers in the heat of the action.
We prioritize sportsbooks that provide real-time updates and prompt odds changes so you can capitalize on opportunities as they arise.
Live Streaming
Our experts try to recommend betting sites with live streaming services of major sporting events across the NBA, NFL, MLB, MLS, and NHL when possible. These HD streams offer valuable insights and information for making informed bet selections.
Apart from live streaming, we consider the availability of alternate viewing options like live scores, live commentary, and match trackers. When combined with live betting markets, these features can take your betting experience to the next best level.
Free Bets & Bonuses
Everyone loves freebies and giveaways. That’s why we scoured the internet for betting sites that offer the biggest bonuses to boost your bankroll. We also ensured that these platforms provide a variety of promotions, including welcome offers, free bets, reload bonuses, cashback, and more.
Furthermore, we read through the bonus terms and conditions, ensuring the rollover, minimum odds, and eligibility criteria are all reasonable. We consider it a plus if the sportsbook features a VIP program to reward loyal customers with exclusive offers.
Security and Trust
A 2022 survey confirmed that 42% of people in the United States were concerned about their private data. This shows US residents’ high level of skepticism regarding the safety of their personal information on the internet.
It is pivotal to our process, therefore, that Sportslens understands the importance of safeguarding bettors’ private details. Hence, we handpick betting sites with a track record and reputation for providing quality services to bettors in the US. Also, we check that respected authorities like Curacao eGaming and the Malta Gaming Authority license them.
In addition, we ensure solid security measures like SSL encryption, 2 factor authentication, and responsible gambling tools are present. Finally, we research customer feedback and industry reviews. These are to ensure that our rated sites provide a safe and secure betting environment.
Payment Options
Before recommending a sportsbook to residents of a state or country, we check that the platform supports the most popular payment options in that region. For instance, as PayPal is the most used online payment brand in the United States, all our rated US bookmakers accept it as a banking method.
Additionally, we ensure our ranked sites feature various payment options, including debit/credit cards, bank transfers, Google Pay, Apple Pay, and major cryptocurrencies. We also verify that the site guarantees fast payouts, low or no transaction fees, low minimum deposit limits, and high maximum withdrawal limits.
Mobile Compatibility
The use of smartphones has increased significantly in recent years. As of 2021, a staggering 276.17 million people were using smartphones in the United States. Moreover, according to data from Statista, phone users worldwide spent an incredible 16 million hours using mobile apps in 2023.
Understanding the impact of mobile technology on our daily lives, we source offshore sportsbooks with downloadable apps or mobile-optimized sites. We ensure these apps/sites feature an intuitive and user-friendly interface for easy navigation when betting. With these mobile sites, you can bet on sports anytime, anywhere.
Customer Support
Further, we check for the availability of various communication channels, such as live chat, telephone assistance, and email. We favor sportsbooks that offer round-the-clock support, regardless of the time or time zone.
Also, we prioritize betting sites with support agents that respond timely and actually offer helpful responses to queries. Apart from traditional support channels, we look for platforms with self-help resources, like a comprehensive FAQ section.
Responsible Gambling Tools
Sports betting is an exciting activity that offers winning opportunities at times. However, the fun ends if we develop a gambling addiction. SportsLens encourages responsible gambling, ensuring our rated sportsbooks provide tools to control our readers’ gambling urges. These include deposit limits, loss limits, time-out sessions, and self-exclusion.
Extra Features
Sportslens encourages innovation in the sports betting industry. That’s why we select sportsbooks that go the extra mile to excite their customers with extra advanced and creative features. For instance, we prioritize sites that offer a Telegram sportsbook, allowing you to wager via the social media app.
We also considered betting platforms with additional perks like bet builders, bet calculators, a cash-out option, a stats zone, and more.
What Do The Numbers Mean?
For each sportsbook review, we assign an overall rating based on our overall assessment. This rating is an average of the betting site’s score across each review criteria mentioned above, such as odds, betting markets, live betting, and the like.
Let’s discuss what these numbers/scores/ratings tell us about a sportsbook.
Rating Description 1-3 Low performance: Offers poor security, no valid licenses, bonuses with unrealistic terms and conditions, poor range of betting markets, and bad reputation. 4-6 Moderate performance: May hold a license from a questionable regulatory body. Has a decent selection of betting markets. An okay overall performance that needs considerable improvements. 7-8 Good performance: Offers good security, a wide range of betting markets, decent odds, and an overall good service. While it possesses some standout features, certain areas for improvement prevent it from being one of the best. 9-10 Excellent performance: Solid and robust security, valid license from a reputed authority, impeccable reputation, widest selection of betting markets, competitive odds. They provide the best betting experience. Our Partners
SportsLens partners with the online sportsbooks listed below, and they may offer us a commission whenever you click on an affiliate link, sign up to the site, and make a deposit.
That said, our recommendations and evaluations remain unbiased, as we remain committed to prioritizing your best interests as bettors.
- BetOnline
- Bovada
- BetWhale
- TG Casino
- Everygame
- MyBookie
- BetUS
- BetNow
- Sportsbetting.ag
- XBet
- BUSR
- Jazz Sports
- Lucky Block
- WSM Casino
- Mega Dice
Up to Date Reviews
At Sportslens, we have produced over 100 reviews on the best online sportsbooks worldwide and update them regularly.
We understand the online sports betting industry is constantly evolving, with new sportsbooks emerging and existing ones rolling out updates. So, we strive to keep our readers up-to-date with the latest, most accurate information, including bonus offerings, betting markets, and new features.
At times, we receive updates directly from operators. This allows us to serve you exclusive content.
- Check out our top-rated online sportsbooks.
Resources
Victor Arum
Victor Arum
