Some years ago I worked in a bar a very short train ride away from the town in which I currently live.The doorman was a long-retired old gentleman by the name of Fred. Fred was nearer ninety than eighty, and for longer than most people could remember there had been nothing he enjoyed more than placing his pound on a horse racing accumulator at his local bookmaker on his way to work.We would often joke with Fred about the fact that he never seemed to win any money, but one day the joke seemed to be on us. His acca comprising several horses at relatively big prices was a winner and off he trotted, excitedly, to collect his winnings.Alas his excitement was to be short lived. For buried somewhere deep within the terms of engagement published by his small, independent bookmaker was the stipulation that no payout would exceed a certain specified sum. I think it was 5,000; it was absurdly low in any event. After a bit of an argument Fred left the premises feeling dejected, and ab out 50,000 lighter than he ought to have been.It would never have happened at Corals or the Tote, nor indeed any of the big, established bookies that unfortunately were just a little too far down the road for Fred to walk to in his advancing years. In the unlikely event that he is still alive, I'd wager (pun intended) that he still regrets that fact to this day.Fast forward to the age of online sports betting, and this particular scenario is now if anything more evident than it was even in those days. There are now literally thousands of sports betting providers offering their services, and some are huge multi-million dollar enterprises whilst others give the impression of being operated by a kid from a laptop in his bedroom when he ought to be doing his homework.And yet, at the top end of the market, there is so much choice available. The punter does not have to concern himself, as Fred was compelled to, with the time and effort involved in doing business with one book rath er than another. They are all there on a computer screen, accessible at the tap of a digit.So what factors should you take into consideration when deciding which sportsbook, or sportsbooks, to open up an account with?Well, the first has got to be reliability. There really isn't much point in investing your funds with an operator who has no intention of paying you out irrespective of the outcome of your bet, no matter how attractive the prices he has on offer. And they are out there, in their scores if not their hundreds. In consideration of this I make no apology at all for giving a completely unremunerated plug to the excellent Sports Book Review, which is a wealth of information for the careful customer. Not that SBR is necessarily always right, of course, but it is certainly well worth spending a few minutes consulting before parting with all your hard-earned cash.Then for the high-rollers amongst us there is the question of capacity. If your thing is to wager a fiver onc e a year on the Grand National then it will not trouble you much how high the maximum stake happens to be. But for those who want to wager big to win big there is no point in wasting time and effort on certain of the European books (you know who you are!) who see fit to limit your wager to the price of a bag of sweets one you have backed a couple of winners.Some of the biggest operators in the high-volume department are the offshore books, the best of which in my view is Pinnacle Sports, which offers high limits in most of the larger sports as well as what are probably the most competitive odds on the market.A third factor that needs to be taken into account is the ease, or for that matter the difficulty, with which you can deposit and withdraw funds. Is there a conversion fee involved (which never falls in your favour) or will there be a "bank" charge when you come to withdraw your winnings? Do they accept a debit or credit card, or Moneybookers, and if so is there a deposi t fee charged?An obvious question to ask yourself is what kind of prices are they offering? The aforementioned Pinnacle manages a sportsbook that sometimes operates at -102, or 102%, which in layman's terms means an extremely small house edge. As such it is often able to push its prices that little bit higher than the majority of its competitors, although this isn't always the case and a good odds comparison site will be invaluable in helping you to make the right decision.
Finally, does the book offer a start-up bonus or a free bet? Free bets always can be taken advantage of by matched betting at a sports betting exchange, and as such if one is available and the bookmaker is reliable it is always worth you opening an account and dipping your toe.Whatever you decide, please just remember that however you choose to weigh the relative merits of convenience and profitability, the first priority is always safety. Old Fred will back me up on that one.
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