Online sports bettors today have a wide selection of sportsbooks from which to choose. There are dozens of sportsbook operations actively accepting wagers from online bettors. Naturally, some are good, while others should be avoided.

With so many sportsbooks out there, a bettor should take some time and find the one that suits them, based on their preference of play.

When looking for your online sportsbook, there are five primary details customer should look for: financial status, wagering ease, the ease of actually making deposits and withdraws, betting options, and bonus programs offered.

Of these five, obviously the financial status of the book is the most important, as it doesn't matter how many bonuses a sportsbook will give you or how many betting options are available if they don't pay you when you win.

Financial Status:

A sportsbooks' ability to pay out to winners is by far the most important thing a customer should look for when picking a sportsbook. While it can be difficult to find out the bottom line of a sportsbooks' financial standing, there are a few things of which you should be aware.

The number of years in business is a good starting place. A sportsbook that doesn't pay off its losses will soon become known in the sports betting world and will have trouble adding customers.

Prospective customers can also look at independent sportsbook review sites in order to get additional insight on a particular sportsbook. Don't hesitate to check out some of the posting forums that are available to you. Many sports bettors love to post their experiences with good and bad sportsbooks. Ask your friends or other sports bettors where they play and if they are happy with their sportsbook.

Betting Options:

Betting options are probably the second most important aspect of choosing a sportsbook, Having an account with a sportsbook that doesn't offer lines on what you would like to bet is simply a waste of time and money.

Again, most sportsbooks will let you see odds on the games they are accepting wagers on, so check the web site before making a deposit.

Depending on how much you wager, the betting limits would also fall under the betting options category.

Wagering Ease:

Wagering ease isn't as important as it was a few years back. Developers have made sportsbooks a lot easier to navigate. The majority of sportsbooks have simple, easy to use software for you to make your wagers.

Most sportsbooks will let you "test drive" their site before you sign up for an account so spend a few minutes and make sure you're comfortable with the betting process.

Ease of Making Financial Transactions:

This one is primarily for residents of the United States who are more likely to run into deposit problems than residents of other countries.

Many sportsbooks use their own financial processors and can generally take credit card deposits, while others will often see credit card deposit attempts rejected by your bank. BoDog.com, for one, is known to have a high rate of credit card deposits go through, and many times bettors, who will have problems trying to make a straight credit card deposit, will have better luck using their debit card.

Many sportsbooks will mention their success rate somewhere on the web site. Remember, it's in the sportsbooks' best interest for your deposit to go through, especially since a bettor is likely to just use another sportsbook instead of going through the trouble of using some type of money transfer or money wire.

Bonus Programs:

This is one of the most important factors for a large number of new sports bettors. People like free money.

Nearly every sportsbook will offer some sort of incentive for new customers, which in many cases is 10 to 20 percent of your initial deposit, and the majority of places will add 10 percent to any additional deposits. Some restrictions usually apply so be sure to read the fine print with any sportsbook.

The process of selecting an online sportsbook isn't always an easy one, but by spending a few minutes before signing up a sports bettor can save a great deal of aggravation down the road.

Don't be afraid to ask others who they would recommend, and more importantly, spend some time looking into a sportsbook's payout history. If a sportsbook has a history of non-payment, it is unlikely to change in the future.

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