All bettors regardless of the level of experience or expertise they have, the country where they live in, the sports they like to wager on, the degree to which they bet for recreational, entertaining purposes or for making money, need to feel and actually be safe when they are betting. Whether wagering through online betting in Malaysia or via other sportsbooks all across the globe, safety should be the number one priority for everyone that is taking a journey in the exciting world of betting.
And while safety is regarded as a basic feature of any betting site, bettors will often find themselves trapped in betting sites that don’t have the optimal safety standards, procedures and above all sites that don’t fulfill certain criteria and thus put punters into risk.
There are some key aspects which you need to search for before you register with an online bookmaker and start placing your bets, whether these bets are focused on Euroeapn football, NBA basketball or UFC fights. These aspects are more like a list of things that you need to check before subscribing in order to make sure that you have taken all the measures to safeguard your bankroll.
Let’s see those criteria and explain them.
1. Betting sites should have a legal permit, a valid license to operate online
Well, this may sound like a very basic thing, but the explosion of the internet has opened up many avenues to frauds.
There can be sites which have no license but nonetheless, operate quite normally in the market. Beware of these sites. You should always check for an explicit online gambling license of the site you are interested in and you should read about its permits and license numbers.
If a site operates legally, you will be able to find its license right in its front page – you won’t need to search for it!
2. Betting sites should have a good customer service
If you can’t reach a customer service representative or a customer care employee then this should ring a bell. A good, trusted and reliable betting site will always invest in building a good customer service department and will ensure accessibility and reachability by users. Whether via email, phone, instant chat or any other mediums, communication between the customers and the online betting site should be easy, effortless and seamless.
When bumping into a betting site that does not offer acceptable customer service features then it is better to keep on searching till you find a good sportsbook.
3. Betting sites should have good reviews and/or be popular
The stronger the popularity of a betting site, the more likely it is that this site is a safe and trusted online bookmaker. Likewise, the more the good reviews a betting site has, the more the credibility of the sportsbook.
Fortunately in the online world both reputation and reviews are easily investigated. You should look for reviews, assessments and posts of other users or you should check out what other bettors say in online communities and social media. It is a very good place to start if you want to collect as much information as possible for evaluation.
4. Betting sites should feature many (or all) of the popular methods of payments
Payment methods constitute a criterion of their own. As bettors you need to be comfortable with the methods of payments, the methods of transactions and generally the means by which you will both deposit and withdraw your money.
The big, reliable and credible online betting sites generally feature a long list of all the payment methods so as to make sure that their customers will choose what suits them best.
5. Betting sites should have a good product to offer
Although this does not pertain directly to safety, it is important to understand that if bettors are to be safe when they place bets and put on their money, they need to be sure that what is offered to them is good.
Betting sites offer betting markets, odds and prices as well as services. If there is a short list of betting markets (which means that it limits the opportunities for betting), inefficient odds or uncompetitive prices and generally if the services provided are poor, then bettors are not safe. And they are not safe because they run the risk of losing money.
These are the basic criteria for finding a good sports betting site. One that you will optimize your safety and one that you can trust. It is important to check on these before you choose a site to register with.