Sports Betting Sites Bonus Offers.
We have noticed that many of our players like a flutter on the horses or the football. With that in mind, welcome to our sports betting section to help you find the best places to have a bet!
Many of the casinos that we feature here on the site have decent sportsbooks, such as Betway, Ladbrokes, Paddy Power and bet365. I guess many people who like a flutter on roulette also like to bet on sports. You´ll notice that sportsbooks increasingly offer roulette side games as well, so we´ll be having a look at some of those. Generally they offer mini European roulette games.
When you are looking for a bookmaker, the bonus is an important consideration, of course, but you should also use other criteria. Compare the odds you´ll get for an individual game if you like betting on the football, for example, or check how many places the site pays out on if you are a fan of each way bets on the horses. The obvious place to start, is to make sure that the bookie offers bets on the sport that you are interested in, particularly if you are looking at less mainstream markets (like betting on the Hong Kong Rugby Sevens). You might need to shop around for less popular sports- and you´ll probably end up at one of the big players like Paddy Power or bet365. If you want to bet on the football or the horse- well they all cover those sports, but check that they include your favourite team, competition or race.
Choosing a good online bookie is more complicated than choosing an online casino- there are just more variables to consider. If you are already signed up with an online casino, and they have a sportsbook, then it makes sense to try their sports service out if they operate a single wallet where you can transfer and access your funds acorss all of their services. Check their accumulator bet odds, and whether they offer in-play betting (you´ll need a company that offers mobile sports betting ideally), the deposit and withdrawal methods that they offer and make sure that they are as passionate about your sport as you are.
How do Sportsbook Odds Work
You´ll need to know how the odds work so that you can compare different bookies.
Fractional Odds
In most sportsbooks, you can choose whether to display the odds as a fraction or as a decimal. In both cases, the odds tell you the payout of the bet.
Fractional odds will look something like 4/1 (four to one) or 10/1 (ten to one etc). On a 9/1 bet, the bookies have made a call that the outcome has a 10% chance of occurring. Why 10%? Well, you percentage from the fractional bet as follows: 9/1 = 1/(1+9) = 1/10 = 10%.
It doesn´t really matter if you don´t follow that. The important thing to understand, is that if you bet £1 on a 9:1 bet, say a horse, and the horse wins, you will win £9, plus you will get your bet back. So, whereas you had £1 in your pocket, you´ll now have £10.
Decimal Odds
You are more likely to see decimal odds at betting exchanges like Betfair, but most bookies will let you customise the site so that the odds are shown in the format that you prefer.
If a bet has odds of 9.0, and you bet £1, you will get back £9 if you win, including your bet. That´s the difference. Some people think that they are easy to work out- they are probably easier to compare than fractional odds (say for example you are offered odds of 9/5- this then starts getting a bit more complicated.
Converting from Fractional to Decimal Odds
This is pretty easy- you have just got to remember that decimal odds include your bet, so are always higher.
So 2/1 in fractional = 3.0 in decimal. The formula is (fractional odds as a decimal + 1)
And 14/5 in fractional = 3.8 in decimal (14 divided by 5 is 2.8. Add one and you get to 3.8).
You can start to see the benefit of decimal odds when you are comparing, say, 14/5 to 17/7. Which is better?
Well, in decimal, they are 3.8 and 3.5. It´s clear immediately which one is better without having to do the calculation in your head or on a calculator.
American odds
The other way that you might see odds displayed is as American Odds. You can select this on bet365, for example.
American Odds don´t include your original bet. Odds of 5/1 are +500 in American odds. If the odds are less than 1 (in fractional), so say 9/20, then the American odds are negative. That would be -(20/9) or -222.
Don´t worry too much about American odds, we recommend you use decimal or fractional.
Handicap Betting
This is an area that is getting pretty popular for people betting on the football and rugby.
You might see this on Paddy Power, for example:
Handicap Betting Explained
Leicester City (-1.0) 4/6 v Manchester City (+1.0) 6/7
What does all that mean?
Well, in this case the bookie (Paddy Power) is giving Manchester City a
In this example, the bookmaker is giving Wolves a 1 goal ‘head start’.
The odds next to the handicap shows the payout. Under this handicap, a 1-0 win to Leicester is seen as the expected result (equivalent to a draw). If Leicester win by 2, you win at 4/6 (1.67 in decimal) and if Manchester City draw, you win are 6/7 (1.88 in decimal odds). If the score is 1-0 to Leicester as expected, you get a refund.
If that all seems too complicated, give it a wide berth and just stick to simple win or lose bets!
In-Play Betting
This is the Other Big Innovation in sports betting, particularly with the rise of mobile betting. You can bet In-Play at most bookmakers now, on the bigger events. Which means that they offer dynamic odds as the match or race is taking place. The best bookies for In-Play are probably bet365 and Paddy power.
