Best sportsbooks
The best online sportsbook is the one that pays you, on time, at a fair price, for the kind of betting you do. That last part is why no single book suits everyone. Here is how I'd judge one, in the order I'd judge it.
It pays
Everything else is decoration if the money doesn't come back. A book that deals a great line and slow-pays a winner has not given you a great line, it has given you a promise.
So the first thing I want to know about any book is its record on payouts: how long a withdrawal takes from request to arrival, whether that matches what the cashier page says, and how it behaves when a player wins a large amount. Our payouts section and review methodology say how we look at that. And whether a given book may take your bets at all depends on where you live, so settle that first.
The price
After paying, price is what decides whether a bettor wins or loses over a season. Most books deal -110 on a standard spread or total. Some deal reduced juice, -105 or better on the same bets.
The difference looks small and isn't. Say you make 100 bets to win $100 each and win exactly half. At -110 you lose 50 bets at $110 and win 50 at $100, so you are down $500. At -105 you are down $250. Same picks, half the loss. At -110 you need to win 52.38 percent of the time to break even, and at -105, 51.22 percent. The vig is the one cost every bettor pays on every bet, and I'd rather pay less of it than chase any bonus.
Price also means the number itself. Two books can deal the same game at different spreads, which is why I'd keep accounts at more than one and shop the price before every bet.
Limits and how winners are treated
A book's limits tell you who it wants. Some take large bets and move the line when a sharp player bets into it. Others take small bets from everyone and cut a winning player's limits quickly. If you bet for fun this hardly matters. If you are trying to win over a season, a book that will take your action is worth more than a fair price you can only bet $50 at.
Markets
Check that the book offers what you actually bet: the sports, the leagues, the props, live betting, futures. A book with a thin board is no use to a soccer bettor however good its NFL lines are.
Banking and support
Look at the deposit and withdrawal methods, the fees and the limits on each, before you deposit. The book that makes it easy to put money in and hard to take it out has told you something. Then ask support a question you already know the answer to, and see whether you get a straight reply.
History
How long a book has been taking bets, and what it has done when things went wrong, is the best guide to what it will do next. I'd give more weight to a book that has paid players through a bad stretch than to one with a new site and a big bonus.
Best for whom
A recreational bettor who puts $20 on a few games a week wants a book that pays, an app that works and a fair price. Limits mean little to him. A serious bettor wants low juice, high limits and a book that won't close his account for winning, and he will put up with a plain website to get them. Read the reviews with that in mind, because the book that suits you depends on which of those two players you are.
Whichever you pick, set your bankroll before you deposit and keep any single bet to a small part of it. The best book in the world can't do that for you.