The global sports betting market keeps expanding as the legal frameworks and the services that these sites offer are evolving. Numerous countries around the world have legalised these platforms, but of course, each sports betting platform needs to adhere to certain standards.
Unregulated websites are often blocked, but the systems that authorities have in place aren’t always effective. Sports betting sites that aren’t safe can slip through the cracks and try to lure sports bettors onto their platforms. Here’s how you can ensure that you don’t end up on a website that is likely fraudulent.
Player Retention and Reviews
Reputation plays a huge role with every online bookmaker. If the player satisfaction rate is high, then the sportsbook is a platform that puts its customers first. That’s why it’s important to check the Internet for experiences from other players.
You should pay attention to two features. The first and obvious one is the fact that the online sportsbook needs to have a good rating online. Online reviews from punters are important as they tell you real-life experiences from people who’ve previously registered on a certain platform. Platforms such as NetBet are known for their focus on customer service, which is why they rarely receive any player complaints.
Secondly, browse the bad reviews, if there are any. Check what the most common issue is that players face and determine whether it will affect you in any way. If it does, check how the bookmaker handles those complaints.
Reputable and safe bookmakers will reply to inquiries from punters and make sure that the issues are resolved promptly.
Customer Support Availability and Responsiveness
Having responsive customer support is essential not just for attracting punters, but for creating customer loyalty as well. A safe sportsbook should have multi-channel support, meaning that you should be able to contact them by filling out a form, via email, and live chat. The more responsive and effective they are, the more legitimate and safe the sportsbook is.
Online Sports Betting Licence
If a sports betting site wants to offer legal services in certain jurisdictions, it must obtain a licence from the local authorities. For example, UK sports betting sites can only operate in Great Britain if they hold an active licence from the UKGC. In the US, sports betting is regulated at the state level. As such, operators need a state licence to offer their services legally.
Here’s how you can check whether a certain sports betting platform is licensed. Open the website and scroll to the footer of the website. Each operator is required to display its licence information in this section. Take note of the regulator that issued the licence, the licence number, and the company that owns and/or operates the bookmaker.
Then, visit the official website of the regulator and access its register. Search for the bookmaker domain, the company that operates it, or the licence number. If the status of the licence is active, then it’s legitimate. If there isn’t any information in the database, then the licence is either fake or expired.
Are The Bonuses Too Good To Be True?
Through bonuses and promotions, sports betting sites are able to attract more punters to their websites. They offer welcome packages, free bets, early cashouts, boosted odds, reload bonuses, cashback offers, etc.
Each bonus comes with a set of terms and conditions that you need to meet. If you don’t, the bookmaker will forfeit the bonus and the winnings that you make with it. The correlation between the terms of the bonus and the reward is often equal, meaning that you might get a good reward, but the terms might also be a bit hard to meet.
Unsafe sportsbooks always try to attract punters and make them deposit money by offering bonuses that are too good to be true. If a certain promo seems like this, then you should give it an extra thought before you decide to register.
Our top tip here would be to pay attention to the wagering requirements of a certain promo. They tell you how much real money you need to stake before you can withdraw winnings with the bonus. The standard sports betting wagering requirements are around 10x, so if they are too low, then this might be an indicator that the bonus isn’t real.
Additional Security Features of a Safe Sports Betting Website
Every online sportsbook must implement SSL encryption to protect the data that’s being transferred between the punters and the website itself. Having responsible gambling tools and policies is also a great indicator. Some of these tools are:
- Session timers
- Deposit limits
- Wager limits
- Loss limits
- Self-exclusion programs
Many regulators that issue licenses to online sportsbooks even require these platforms to enforce responsible gambling policies as a way to protect registered punters. Having extra features such as MFA is a great benefit as well.