BookmakerWatch.com
- Review Policy -
We have established this Review Policy to support us in our pursuit to deliver most objective, detailed, up-to-date and to the point reviews of online bookmakers. The experience we accumulated over years of online betting with dozens of bookmakers has helped us to identify attributes that mostly influence ultimate player experience. Our reviews are divided into relevant categories comprising those attributes. Every category is individually reviewed and rated according guidelines set bellow. Each category carries different amount of points according it's importance for bookmaker operation. Total rating for one bookmaker is sum of it's categories.
So finally let's get to work, as our philosophy is also not to make reviews for the sake of reviews only, as many sites we checked fall in this trap, but to remain as strait forward as possible and make sure we are actually reviewing what's really important to the players, like i.e. value of odds, so players can quickly start enjoying the exciting world of online betting. Bellow are listed categories as in our reviews, together with some guidelines we use while reviewing.
Reviews Categories:
- History
- Company Info
- Regulation
- Odds
- Soccer
- USA Sports
- Offer
- Soccer
- USA Sports
- Live Betting
- Casino, Poker & Games
- Web Site
- Security
- Betting Procedure
- Deposits & Withdrawals
- Collars
- Customer Support
- Incentives & Promotions
History
A short history of bookmaker company, when it was founded, who was the founder, has there been a change of ownership, takeovers, etc...
Company Info
Location of headquarters and company's registered postal address. Is valid contact info listed on site? Does company own other offices abroad, where?
Current owner / management of the company, experience and reputation, size of bookmaking operation, other brands owned, number of earth bet shops, employees? Is company listed on stock exchange, where? Financial's of the company, liquidity, profit, bookmaker operation details - bets taken, turnover, payout's, number of members.
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Sub-category: Regulation
Acquired betting licence's, which commission and jurisdiction, country restrictions (players not accepted)
Odds
General value of odds, time of releasing odds (early / late), frequency of updating odds / lowering odds as event is approaching? Fear of favorites? Identifying the category / sport bookie offers highest odds.
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Sub-category: Soccer
As in main category.
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Sub-category: USA Sports
As in main category.
Offer
Quantity of offered categories (sports, specials, politics, business, etc.), events and supported bet types. Identifying the category / sport this bookie is specialized for (has best offer of both events and bet types).
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Sub-category: Soccer
As in main category.
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Sub-category: USA Sports
As in main category.
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Sub-category: Live betting
Assessment of quantity of sports, events and bet types offered for live betting. Identifying the category with best offer for live betting. Additionally we review the quality and usability of live betting solution.
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Sub-category: Casino, Poker & Games
A short assessment of other gambling possibilities Casino, Poker and Games. The quality and quantity of games, graphics, game play, player base. Integration with sports betting account (preferable is to have all share funds from one unique user account).
Web site
Two main aspects of bookmaker web site will be reviewed, they are usability and reliability. Usability covers in general the ease of use, which can be influenced by design, navigation and functions of site, including some of the following: supported odds formats, languages and currencies, availability of history with each transaction and each bet and it's status, additional features like sport news, sport statistics, live score, mobile betting, SMS results, email results and all other additional / advanced web site features, not mentioned here. Reliability considers 24/7 accessibility, speed, validated HTML code that displays correctly on different browsers and operating systems without errors.
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Sub-category: Security
Encryption of exchanged data over internet, what type and strength is used (128bit SSL is standard at the moment).
All additional certificates acquired from independent authorities like THAWTE, TRUSTe, etc..., confirming confidential data and privacy protection are a good addition to trustworthiness of site.
Betting Procedure
A very important micro aspect. Dealing with navigation and listing of offer, events and bet types. Adding selections to bet slip, editing bet slip, usability of bet slip, making system bets, simplicity, speed and reliability of procedure.
Deposits & Withdrawals
Supported methods of money transactions between player and bookmaker. Listing supported methods, their reputation and reliability, minimum / maximum limits and cost (commissions). Speed of bookie processing deposit / withdrawal requests. Identifying instant / fastest method. Withdrawal of player funds should be available 24/7, correct information about each transaction required process time and cost should be available on site. Our rating gives more advantage to reliability and speed of transfer for each bookie, rather than to pure quantity of supported methods.
Collars
Limits, minimum and maximum stake per single bet / slip, winning limits, maximum per bet, daily, weekly, monthly, successful players limits, does bookie put restrictions on successful players and how low? Can player set his own deposit limits in accordance with responsible gambling guidelines? Which category / sports and events offer highest limits?
Customer Support
Methods of contact, more methods the better, standard ones are e-mail, live chat, telephone / toll free telephone, fax. Availability, accessibility (local languages support), speed, knowledgeably, professionalism and politeness of employees. Acceptable HELP and FAQ sections on site, additional help like "How to start" tutorials, etc.?
Incentives & Promotions
Sign up bonus? Frequency and quality of promotional offers, membership loyalty program (awards for frequent players, high rollers, etc...)?
Pro's & Con's
Finally from our perspective of players with lot's of experience with many bookmakers we list most obvious and valuable goods and bad's.
Final Notes
Bookmakers that are BW's recommended must also adhere to a lot of other good betting business guidelines, that do not effect as obvious on user experience, so we do not reference them in our reviews. However these are carefully considered as they are the foundation of any good bookmaker operation, and you can be sure that if any BW's recommended bookmaker neglects any of those guidelines, this bookmaker would INSTANTLY be removed from recommended list. Some of these guidelines include: strict abiding of the laws and regulation in the jurisdiction where bookmaker operations are licensed, terms and conditions and betting rules must be clearly stated on the web site as well as privacy statement to guarantee protection to each player confidentiality, adequate checks and procedures must be maintained to stop minors gambling and money laundering, willingness to assist customers, acceptability of mediation on any disputes that arise between player and bookmaker, zero usage of spam techniques or misleading advertising.
