Every good sports betting experience starts with the right sportsbook/racebook. This is the website you will visit to place your bet on the Kentucky Derby. Because horse racing enjoys a special niche in the gaming world, with its own language and betting practices, you’ll definitely want to go with a sportsbook that has its own dedicated horse racing site. Take a few minutes to navigate the site. Is it easy to find your way around? Is the “help” section actually helpful? Do the definitions in the glossary make sense?
The Best Online Racebooks
You can also use the Internet to look up the site in question and see what kind of reviews it gets. Depending on where you live in the world, some forms of betting are legal and some aren’t; the reviews will give you the specifics about which sites you’re allowed to use. For example, Bovada is available to customers in the United States, while Bodog is not. Both these books come highly recommended by most reviewers.
Since betting is a financial transaction, you need to be just as satisfied with a racebook’s bona fides as you would be with a bank or an investment broker. Does the sportsbook in question have enough money on hand to pay out bettors quickly and easily? Have its customers ever lodged any complaints? Word gets around quickly on the Internet, so any book that has managed to bungle its payouts will lose its credibility and its business.
Reliable customer service goes hand-in-hand with a reliable product. Many sportsbooks have their headquarters in the Caribbean or elsewhere in the world, which can be a challenge for customers looking for 24/7 service in English. However that is a challenge that any worthwhile sportsbook must meet to your satisfaction by hiring the right people and providing the right services. Again, you can read the online reviews to find out more about any site’s customer service record.
Once you’ve picked a site, you’ll have to open an account. Follow the instructions the site provides you; this will be a simple enough process if you’re already Web-savvy enough to read this, but the site in question should still give you easy-to-follow instructions and guidance. We’ll tell you more as we go along about Bovada and Bodog as possible destinations for your Kentucky Derby betting experience.
Only a small handful of sportsbooks are good enough to receive top marks from credible online reviewers. Bodog and Bovada are in that elite group; both have received an A from Sportsbook Review for their overall performance and an A+ for their betting software.
Bodog was one of the very first sportsbooks to make a splash on the Internet. Founded in 1994 by Calvin Ayre, Bodog has built its profile exponentially over the years, drawing rave reviews for financial stability and immaculate customer service. Anytime you read a story in the sports news about the odds for a specific event, those odds are probably from Bodog.
For players inside the United States, they can access Bovada and get the same quality experience. Both sites offer 24/7 customer service every day of the year, and both sites offer horse-specific racebooks where you can access insightful information on horse tracks and events, across North American and around the world.
Naturally, any good sportsbook will offer special bonuses to its first-time players. Bodog is currently offering a 100% Sign Up Bet Bonus up to $100, and up to $100 for each friend referral. Bovada is offering a free bet of 50% of your initial deposit up to $250. Bovada also offers special weekly cash rebates just for betting on horses at the Bovada Racebook. Check their websites for the latest information on bonuses and promotions.
We’ll go into even greater detail about Bodog and Bovada elsewhere on this site. Make sure to read up on whichever sportsbook covers your jurisdiction before opening an account; once you do, then you’ll have become an official horse player. The next step is to become an informed horse player. Stay with us as we guide you along the Triple Crown trail toward Lexington, Ky. and this year’s running of the Kentucky Derby. We’ll give you all the information you need to make a sharp bet on a sharp horse.