How to Choose a Sportsbook

We have in the preceding sections discussed in detail a number of techniques that would enable the bettor to form parlays that would maximize winnings. Unfortunately, everything we have been suggesting cannot be applied at all sportsbooks since the options available for the bettor vary significantly from sportsbook to sportsbook. Therefore the choice of your sportsbook plays a most vital role to apply the techniques.

There are several factors to consider when selecting a sportsbook. The most important ones are outlined below. Evidently some criteria are more important than others, therefore we have divided the criteria into two groups as primary and secondary selection criteria. In the primary criteria are enumerated the most important ones; if a sportsbook fails to satisfy these criteria you just ignore it and select another one - after all there are hundreds of them to choose from. Keep in mind that sports betting is a totally unregulated business. There is little you can do legally if you encounter irregularities in handling your bets or payouts except write a complaint to companies that oversee the activities of that sportsbook. This evidently should give you more security since the truly honest and well-established sportsbooks will do everything in their power to keep the customer satisfied. Again, since you are totally responsible for your own funds, do your homework to choose the right sportsbooks.

The secondary criteria, on the other hand, are useful if you want to get the maximum out of your sports betting experience. 

Primary Selection Criteria

1. Check the location of the sportsbook. Make sure the country the sportsbooks operates from has strong gaming commissions, and that the sportsbook/casino is licensed under that government.
2. A sportsbook must have a 24/7 customer service either by e-mail or by telephone, even more preferably both. Most sports take place during weekends and if a customer has to wait until Monday for his/her questions to be answered, then it won't be a place worth risking his money at.
3. Check how long it takes to withdraw winnings. One disgraceful online casino requires that the player not make any wagers for 6 days after requesting withdrawal. If he does, then he will have to make another request and wait other 6 days. Some need 48 to 72 hours before making transfers out of your sportsbook account. The good and the confident ones will process your request for withdrawal within minutes (if not seconds).
4. Check the methods of deposit and withdrawal of funds. Are they suitable for you? In fact, the most convenient way of money transfer is the use an intermediary monetary transfer agency such as FirePay™ and Neteller™. The flow of funds using these facilities is illustrated in the Betting Online section.
5. Check the maximum payout on a bet and also the maximum withdrawal allowed per day. Remember that you are betting to win and don't bet to win more than their maximum payout.
6. Bonus = Cheating. That's what many people think; ... well, some call it a marketing strategy. We will have to defer bonus handling for you. We have included some articles on bonuses in the Betting Articles section of this site.

Secondary Selection Criteria

Your betting experience would be more fun and exciting if you could manipulate the point spreads and the parlay the way you want it to be. If there is a lot of flexibility allowed by the sportsbook, then the bettor will have much lee way to suitably prepare the bets. The following features, if available at a sportsbook, would create an ideal situation for winner bets, especially parlays.

1. The possibility of forming your own parlays (not their ready-made parlays).
2. Unrestricted faculty of forming your own parlays from different sports and events. Evidently,  there will always be  dependence restrictions. For example, you cannot place 'USA to beat Mexico', and 'USA to beat Mexico by two or more goals' in the same parlay, since the two outcomes are interdependent.
3. The parlay-odds should be computed-odds (see what is a parlay? and parlay types ). If the sportsbook uses fixed-odds, make sure that the values are not significantly lower than computed-odds.
4. The possibility of point buying and selling should be available. Point selling in particular is essential to maximize your winnings when betting on your real feelings. Most recently, a die-hard Seminole fan betted on -2.5 Florida State Seminoles against the Miami Hurricanes. The line was -3 Hurricanes. So, he made nearly 3 times his wager, instead of less than 2 times he would have made without point selling. To learn more see the section on buying/selling points.
5. The possibility of forming sub-parlays is another very important factor to consider. You can win big with sub-parlays of a large parlay, but in small parlays they are mostly used to recover your wager (and then some) and also avoid disappointments that may be caused by a loss or two of your parlay selections. 
6. Check the minimum wager allowed; the lower the better. The sportsbook should accept at least 10 cents (a penny would be excellent).

The Conclusion

Whether you are looking for honesty, customer service, location, fast money transfer; or if your priorities are unrestricted parlay formation, point selling, playing sub-parlays, a 10 cents wager, then the only sportsbook that combines all these facilities is truly ideal.

However, remember also that joining more than one sportsbooks has several advantages such as choosing the best odds offered, and overcoming maximum wagering limits imposed by a sportsbook.