It’s crucially important to stay safe when betting online. In fact, it should be priority number one when assessing a site to bet on.
We’ve done most of the hard work for you by searching the web, reviewing hundreds of potential betting sites, and separating the worthy sites from those you should avoid.
Check out the sites listed in the table above. All of these passed our security checks with flying colors.
Betting Site | Bonus | Bet Now | |
---|---|---|---|
1 | up to €30 Free Bet | Go to Site | |
2 | 22Bet | 100% up to €122 | Go to Site |
3 | 100% up to €200 | Go to Site | |
4 | 10Bet | 100% up to €50 | Go to Site |
5 | 100% up to €50 | Go to Site |
Of course, we don’t just expect you to take our word on it. That’s why we’ve outlined how we made the decision to include these below if you’re interested.
Sports News Websites Best List. Find information on Sports News, videos, analysis, statistics, rumors, match schedule, live scores, sports headlines and much more by following Sports News Websites.
The safest gambling sites are inevitably found in the countries where it is legal and regulated. These sites have to pass quality checks and comply with strict regulations to get a license from the authorities in these countries. This is one of the factors we consider when assessing a site.
There are literally tens of thousands of potential betting sites to choose from. We’ve visited, bet on, and reviewed thousands of them. Over time, we have developed criteria for assessing betting sites.
Each site listed in the table above passed the following tests:
If a site doesn’t have a license issued by a credible authority, that’s a warning sign that it might not be safe. It’s even worse if it once had one but lost it. That means it violated the issuing authority’s rules.
There are lots of gaming authorities in the world, but the following are the ones we rate highest.
This is widely considered the gold standard of casino gaming licenses. The UK is a highly regulated market and there’s a zero tolerance policy towards cheating and scheming. If a betting site has a UK license, it’s almost guaranteed to be safe.
Malta is a Mediterranean island nation and an iGaming mecca. Lots of online casinos and software firms operate out of Malta. The Gaming Authority, therefore, takes licensing issues incredibly seriously and is quick to clamp down on anything considered unfair.
Geographically, Gibraltar lies off the tip of Spain. It’s actually a British overseas territory, though. While it governs its own affairs, gambling regulations stem from the UK Gambling Act (2005), making a Gibraltar license just as worthy as a UK one.
This small island nation in the Caribbean is home to thousands of remote eGaming operations. A Curacao license is generally held in high regard, and although the regulations are a little more flexible than the UKGC’s, for example, a betting site with a Curacao license is still considered pretty safe.
So, that’s a quick look at some of the top gambling regulators. Our recommended sites always have a valid license. You can double check these directly on the websites listed above.
There’s more than one way for a site to be unsafe, but without a doubt, the most common sort of betting site scam is when you deposit and don’t get your money back.
Some sites also put up major obstacles to allowing you to withdraw, such as by asking for unreasonable verification documents or by putting in minimum withdrawal clauses which far exceed the deposits you have made.
We check the terms and conditions of each site we recommend and avoid recommending those with anything we think is ‘funny business.’
Ideally, we want to see same day payout for e-wallet withdrawals, and we want to see a maximum 3-5 business day wait for credit and debit card withdrawals.
Despite how some players feel, we actually like it when a casino asks you to verify your identity. As long as the process isn’t too complex or time-consuming, this means the site cares about fraud prevention and identity theft. When it comes to looking for safe betting sites, that’s a big plus.
Does the idea of advanced encryption make your head spin? Don’t worry, we feel you on that.
There’s no need to have a deep understanding of this issue to make use of it. That’s why they pay IT professionals the big bucks. All you need to know, as an online bettor, is that you want to bet at sites with https:// at the beginning of the web address.
That means the site runs on an SSL encrypted connection. Without getting into boring details, this makes it virtually impossible for hackers and criminals to steal financial and/or personal data on the connection.
If you take a look at any of the sites listed above, you’ll see that they run on secure connections. We don’t take risks with your data safety, and you should avoid any sites which aren’t encrypted.
On most browsers, a little notification will appear beside the address bar telling you if a site is not secure. Pay attention when this happens. It could be a costly mistake to ignore this.
Whether it’s a sports betting site, a casino site, a poker site, or a combination of things, we want to see software from established, reliable firms.
When it comes to online casino betting sites, for example, we really like to see games from NetEnt, Microgaming, IGT, and Playtech. These companies have a long history and are guaranteed fair.
If we see betting software we don’t recognize, that’s not an automatic write-off. We know this industry is highly innovative and are always willing to give upstarts a chance. However, we need to dig deeper and find out if these companies are reputable, and ideally want to see third-party verification of payouts.
Safe betting sites will have no problem publishing payout rates and explaining how the software works. If they aren’t willing to be transparent, we aren’t willing to recommend them.
The longer a betting site has been around the better, in our view. If a site has been servicing thousands of players since 1998, it’s highly unlikely to be unsafe. If it has survived for decades, it’s a safe bet (pun fully intended).
We’re also aware, of course, that there are lots of new betting sites coming online on a daily basis, and plenty of them are safe. In those cases, we look at the management team and company running them. If they are experienced and run multiple safe betting sites, we are happy to recommend them.
If a site is totally new, run by a startup with no industry reputation or experience, it’s highly unlikely you’ll find that site on our recommended list. They will only make it if they’ve done something exceptional to win our trust.
There are some new betting sites which make the cut, but it’s rare, and as you’ll see from the table above, most of our preferred betting sites have been around for a while.
Part of the key to staying safe when betting online is education. We don’t mean to be patronizing, but if you’re new to this, you’re more likely to fall into the hands of predatory sites and scammers.
We want to prevent that, if possible. Other than sticking to the sites which have already been reviewed in-depth by our team of experts, it helps to know what some of the common safety concerns are.
Here’s a quick rundown of some of the risks associated with betting sites:
It’s always worth it to take the time to research before deciding on a betting site. You can start by reading some of our in-depth reviews.
We cover each of the points listed above in detail and leave no stone unturned. We’re not saying every site we review will turn out to be right for you, but we are saying you’ll be in a much better position to make a decision after reading one.
You can find our safest betting sites and their full reviews on the table at the top of this page. We wish you the best of luck!
This is the most definitive list of good gambling sites on the internet.
The best thing about this page?
The list is organized by which activities you want to bet on.
If you want to find a place to gamble in 2020, you’ll love this guide.
Here’s what you’ll find:
My name is Randy Ray.
I’ve been involved in the online gambling industry as a writer and webmaster for over 15 years.
I’ve played at and written about just about any gambling activity you can think of, including casino games, poker, and sports betting.
I don’t claim to be the biggest expert in the industry. Plenty of smarter folks than I am also write about and review these kinds of sites.
Here’s what I suggest you do with everything they’ve written and everything I’ve written too:
Take it with a grain of salt. Do some of your own research. Think for yourself.
This list is just a starting point, but I hope it’s a good one.
The first thing I’d like to write about are the basics of good gambling sites. What makes a company or website in this industry better than another one?
1. Read some reviews of these gambling sites before depositing money at one.
Start by reading some reviews.
You’ll find varying levels of review quality, but you can hit the back button anytime.
When you do find a website which offers legitimate-seeming reviews, you’ve struck gold. Bookmark it.
I’m proud of the gambling site reviews on my site, by the way. I hope you’ll find them legitimate and useful, too.
2. Read some forum threads about the sites you’re thinking about gambling at.
Forums for gamblers (like this one) are a great place to get ideas about where to gamble online.
You can find hundreds or thousands of sites purporting to offer gambling site reviews, but many of them are nothing more than portals built solely for the purpose of advertising these businesses.
That’s why I suggest getting multiple opinions before setting up a real money account with any gambling site:
Opinions vary, but you’ll find a good selection of reputable casinos that accept US players here on my site. My team of writers and researchers has played online games for many years and is experienced and knowledgeable in the online gambling industry.
You’ll also find that I can provide you with more information about online casinos that accept USA players than most other websites. That’s because I care enough to do the research. In fact, you might be surprised at just how many online casinos want to do business with US players.
Here on Good Gambling Sites, I’ve divided my list of USA friendly casinos into 4 groups:
To be honest, you’ll see some overlap between these lists; I like to recommend full-service casinos whenever possible.
According to my friend “prop,” if you’re from the United States, the best sports betting site for players wanting to deposit with a Visa or MasterCard is Bovada. He also suggest using Western Union if your credit card or debit card won’t go through.
His other big recommendation is Bookmaker.eu. If you want a 2nd choice, consider that site. No one knows more about good sports betting sites than prop.
One of your biggest concerns when shopping for a place to bet online is the honesty and reputation of the site where you’re placing bets. Dishonest bookies are easy to find on the internet, but honest ones–less so.
I try to only recommend the honest ones, of course.
The problem some bettors run into at online sports betting sites is cashing out their winnings. In fact, trouble cashing out is the #1 source of disputes in this business.
For most sports bettors in the United States, Bovada is your best option. I’ve already discussed their relatively high acceptance rate for credit cards.
But they also have the best live betting platform in the business. You can bet on almost anything someone in the United States would be interested in betting on, too–including and especially NFL and college football games. I’ve bet on several boxing and UFC or MMA events there, too.
If you’re one of the rare Americans who likes to bet on soccer, that’s available there, too. You can also bet on horse races there.
I love their selection of casino games.
But there’s another area where they stand out:
They have online poker for real money, and the competition at Bovada is softer than anywhere else on the internet.
They’ve been serving U.S. players for 10+ years and have a solid track record for fast payouts and resolving bettor disputes quickly and professionally.
This is the U.S. facing site for BetCRIS. They have a longer history with online betting than almost any other company. Their history with players in the United States dates back to 1985, when they were taking bets via a toll-free phone number.
They launched their website in 2000 with the taglin “Where the Line Originates.” They’re still known for offering some of the earliest and most accurate lines in the business.
They serve customers on both ends of the spectrum–low rollers and high rollers. Their minimum bet is $1 for most events, but they also have a massive $40,000 maximum bet. Their maximum bet on live betting is $2500.
Also, they’re one of the only bookmakers on the internet who don’t have a habit of barring players.
If you’re married to the idea of using a credit card or debit card for deposit purposes, try Bovada first.
Otherwise, you can try a credit card with Bookmaker.eu. You might have better luck with Western Union or Moneygram, though.
Some of this holds true for all gambling sites, but it seems like it’s worse with sports betting sites:
Since the industry is so lucrative, it’s common for sports betting sites to pay big money for promotion on information sites like this one. Of course, we get advertising money, too, but we’re not willing to promote scammers for any amount of money. There’s plenty of money to be made dealing with honest sports betting sites.
For one thing, I value my reputation and the reputation of this website.
Not all of the visitors to this site are from the United States. If you’re from another country, you have many more options for sports betting sites. You need to consider multiple factors when deciding among them:
My intention is, as the site grows, to offer specific recommendations for specific customers in specific countries. Look for future pages to cover (in detail) recommendations for people living in the following areas:
I touched on this earlier, but there’s a certain amount of financial incentive in the industry as it pertains to recommending sportsbooks. If you’re not interested in the recommendation I make here, please do visit the ratings page on my friend prop’s website. He’s the most trustworthy webmaster I know of in the sports betting niche.
What makes a “good gambling site”?
I look for several factors to measure the quality of a gambling website:
The short answer to this question is “it depends on how you look at it”.
A bad gambling site may be one that offers the lowest possible return to players on its games without actually cheating them. “Return to Player” is one of those fuzzy concepts you run into in the gambling world where everyone talks about it and no one really knows what it is. When used as a measure of game quality, return to player is an estimate of the percentage of bets placed by players (over a period of months or years) that will be paid back to those players as they play the games.
But each player will probably realize a different personal return. Some players will lose all their money, thus experiencing a 0% return, while other players might win many multiples of their gambling stakes before cashing out.
Still, if a casino offers a lot of games with high return to player estimates, players feel better about playing those games. In 2018 and beyond, the better gambling websites feature at least a few games that offer better than a 96% theoretical return to player.
Return to player is only one factor to pay attention to, though. Some games have what is called “high volatility”. This means they can pay big prizes to their players, but to afford to do so, they have to not pay any prizes (or only sub-par prizes) to a lot of players. That’s the only way to cover those big payoffs. It’s possible–but unlikely–that a high volatility game will pay 2 jackpots close together.
But the games are designed to make this happen less often.
A good gambling site offers a mix of high volatility (pays large prizes infrequently) and low volatility (pays lower prizes more often) games. Good gambling sites also cater to both conservative budget players who prefer to make small wagers and aggressive high roller players who prefer to make large wagers.
How do you know you’re playing a high roller game?
You may get a feeling of anxiety when making your first bet. High roller games may have minimum wagers of $50 to $100, and they might accept wagers as large as $1000. In games of skill–like poker–the wagers can run into the hundreds of thousands of dollars if people bring enough money to the game.
There’s a difference between an online casino that gives you a $25 no deposit bonus and a casino that offers $4000 in welcome deposit bonuses. That $25 no deposit bonus represents a real risk on the casino’s part. They know you might roll that money up by playing conservatively, even though there’s no style of play that guarantees you will win at a gambling game. The larger welcome bonus usually comes with more stringent demands from the casino.
Players expect a fair chance to win money when they gamble–even though many realize they are paying for excitement. A great gambling experience entails some risk, some reward, and a few hours of pleasant interaction with people at the casino. In the online gambling industry, it’s harder to interact with people. Online casinos have begun to compensate for this social isolation by launching live dealer rooms and allowing players to chat (such as in bingo and poker rooms).
The gambling site you choose to play with may not have all these perks, but if you enjoy playing there, that should be good enough.
If you enjoy gambling but don’t have much money, you’re taking a greater risk than someone who does have money. Everyone loses eventually. That’s just the way casino games work. So you need to practice responsible gambling and be prepared to step back from time to time. Give yourself a chance to cover your losses with a more reliable income.
Don’t expect to always win.
That doesn’t help.
And it certainly doesn’t work.
You can enjoy playing the free casino games on websites that offer them, but if that doesn’t provide enough excitement for you, consider practicing on gambling websites that offer no deposit bonuses. These sites literally give you free money to play with, albeit not much. If you apply patience and practice conservative gambling (low bets on low volatility games), you should be able to extend your play.
You also increase your chances of winning money you can take elsewhere.
By avoiding expensive high roller games, moderating your betting style, and working with the bonus promotions that casinos offer, you can make a reasonable effort to stay in the game much longer.
The best reason to play the free casino games is to learn how they work and what their limitations are. You’ll find as you go along that good casinos allow you to play free games so you can get an honest feel for how much you enjoy playing those games.
The casino wants you to keep playing its games.
It also wants you to lose a little bit of your money.
But casinos are happy when players win money when they gamble–those winnings inspire other people to gamble.
Here are some of the most common questions about gambling sites, along with answers to each of them:
Online gambling is illegal in some jurisdictions.
But it’s legal in a lot of other jurisdictions, too.
Most of the traffic to this site is from the United States, so I’ll include some brief commentary on the legality of online gambling sites in the USA:
No specific federal law outlaws online gambling per se. No one in the United States has even been arrested for gambling on the internet. There is a 2006 law–UIGEA–which made it illegal to process money transfers for the purpose of illegal online gambling, but that didn’t outlaw betting on the web.
Sports betting online is illegal because of The Wire Act, but not for the bettor–it’s illegal for the site taking the bets. In other words, if you want to bet on a football game on the internet, you’re not breaking a federal law. The company taking your wager is, but that’s for them to worry about.
All of that being said, the United States is made up of multiple smaller jurisdictions–the states. Different states have different laws related to gambling. Some of these explicitly make gambling online illegal, while others can be interpreted as such, and others have no laws that apply at all.
I’ll probably write an entire page with more specific answers to this question for people in the United States, but for now, this short answer ought to cover it (we hope).
Most online gambling sites are operated on foreign soil, but that doesn’t mean they’re not regulated by government entities.
Some jurisdictions offer more oversight than others.
But for the most part, online gambling sites don’t cheat because they don’t need to.
Regardless of the kind of wagering activity you prefer, the house has a way of making money from it.
If you’re playing casino games, for example, the payouts for your bets pay off at lower odds than the odds of winning.
If you’re playing poker, the house takes a small percentage of each pot (the rake).
If you’re betting on sports, the book makes you risk $120 or $110 to win $100; the difference is the vig.
That’s not cheating. That’s just how the companies stay in business.
You will sometimes see reports of sites that are slow to pay off your winnings. You’re more likely to have trouble getting your money back out of a site than you are to see that site cheat. There’s just no reason for them to rig their games.
I do screen the sites recommended here for reputation, but I can’t make any guarantees or take any responsibility for their business practices. My best advice is to do some research on your own about a site’s reputation before risking money there.
Legitimate gambling sites should be able to get you your funds within a week or two.
Some are even faster than that.
If it takes longer to get your money than that, you should consider complaining on one of the gambler advocate sites. Potential bad press can act as an effective motivator for an online casino that’s procrastinating on your cashout.
Before complaining in public, though, try to work it out directly with the site’s customer service team.
Most internet casinos, poker sites, and sports books require documentation either when you create the account or when you try to make your first cashout.
This is to confirm your identity and to confirm that you’re legally old enough to play games for money on the web.
Yes, you should be comfortable with a site you’re doing business with.
But, for the most part, your information is probably reasonably safe with a reputable site. I’ve seen no stories about players who have had their identity stolen just because they played a few hands of online blackjack.
Bitcoin has become a popular way to deposit and withdraw funds from online casinos, but it’s a volatile financial instrument at best. Not only are you gambling at the website in question, but you’re also gambling that Bitcoin will be worth at least what it was worth when you made your deposit at the website.
Yes, it’s worth trying, especially if you’re having trouble getting a gambling transaction to go through on your credit card.
But it’s not without unique risks.
I’ll do some more research and publish detailed coverage of the topic soon.
The best way to win money gambling online is to play poker at a high level of skill.
Casino games have an unassailable mathematical edge.
Most sports betting sites charge a high enough vig that it’s almost impossible to profit.
But I don’t recommend trying to make a living as an online gambler. There are easier and more profitable ways to spend your time. If you really love online poker, then maybe it’s worth trying on a lark.
But please don’t rely on internet gambling to make a living.
One of the fun parts of designing and managing a website like this is categorizing the pages and listings. When it comes to any of these kinds of websites, you can start off with 2 broad categories:
I haven’t launched a page with a list of places to watch out for yet, but that’s in the works.
And that’s not the only way to divide things up into categories, either.
Another useful means for categorizing sites is by which activities are available. In the lists of recommendations earlier on this page, you saw that I had listings for bingo halls, casinos, poker rooms, and sports books.
Another helpful way to categorize these businesses is by which countries they serve. I’m working on detailed pages where I’ll recommend good United States gambling sites, good United Kingdom gambling sites, and good Canadian gambling sites, for example.
Finally, you can also broadly categorize sites that simply offer information (portals) with sites that actually offer the chance to wager. This is obviously an informational site, but I recommend multiple sites which take wagers.
You’ve probably noticed that this website is still new. I’m still in the process of deciding where I’m going next with the content here, but I have some specific plans that I think will be useful to my readers.
Here’s some of what you can look forward to:
I’m obviously in favor of gambling, both as a business and as a hobby. Like drinking alcohol, I think it should be legal but regulated. That being said, some people (alcoholics) shouldn’t drink, and some people (gambling addicts) shouldn’t gamble.
Online gambling is meant to be a form of recreation.
The surest sign that you’re beginning to have a problem is when you’re not having fun anymore.
I’ll probably include a lengthy guide to responsible gambling on a future page of this site.
But for now, let me just advise you that when you’re not having fun anymore, it’s time to quit. It’s not much more complicated than that.
Some common sense doesn’t hurt, either.
Don’t play with money you can’t afford to lose.
This means if you’re behind on the rent, the utilities, or your child support, you shouldn’t be playing casino games on the internet (or in brick and mortar casinos, either.)
Most of the better gambling websites have safeguards in place to encourage responsible gambling. At the end of the day, though, your behavior is your choice. Please make responsible decisions about your choice of entertainment.