Before we can start making any money gambling on MMA, we have to find some bookmakers that are willing to take action on MMA. They are an integral middleman between all of the MMA gamblers around the world. Years ago, you could only bet on sports through a local bookie or at a legal casino. However, these days we have the opportunity to use the internet to place bets. This provides numerous advantages, from lower spreads, to making bets in your underwear at home. We are living in a sports gambling paradise in this day in age.
Nevertheless, choosing the proper bookmakers can be a daunting task. Especially since online betting is still illegal in most of the USA. This is where due diligence comes into play. We need to answer the following key questions, before we deposit any money with anyone. I suggest you open up a text document or pull out a sheet of paper and answer all of these questions for each potential bookmaker you are looking into. If you are unable to do so, don’t open an account at that site, it is as simple as that. So let’s begin.
1. How reliable are they?
I know it may be a shocker for people to hear this, but there are some unscrupulous individuals out there that would like very much to steal your money. It’s a fact. Some of those people may even try creating fake gambling sites. Which means, you have to be on the lookout, and only open accounts at reputable bookies.
Ultimately, you need to do a little background check on any bookmaker you are considering. Do a Google search and find out if there are any complaints about the company. You can even check the internet archives and make sure the site has been around for as long as they claim. You can also check out gambling forums and see what other gamblers have to say about it (These can be found at places like MMAjunkie.com, Sherdog.com, or BloodyElbow.com). You can also start by checking out our reviews of current sportsbooks in our Bookmaker Reviews.
If you don’t have the time to do that (which you should), look for some common red flags. First, that the lines are much better than at other sites. If a fighter is -200 at most sites and -130 at the bookie you are looking at, be very wary. They may be using extremely good lines to lure in gamblers and then disappear with the deposits. Second, look at the design of the website. If it is sloppy or buggy, take caution. Finally, look out for huge bonuses for initial deposits. No bookmaker in their right mind would offer to quadruple your money on an initial deposit without some stipulations. If you get a bad vibe in general, don’t open an account. The first rule of any type of investing is to not lose money. Don’t throw yours away on a scam.
2. How do I get my money there?
Some offshore bookmakers have the ability to accept credit cards, but it can be hit-or-miss since the credit card issuer can block the transaction. A common tool that is often utilized is a payment proxy. For example, numerous bookmakers use “prepaid phone minute” cards (This is a method that is commonly used by people in Africa where the local currency is unstable. They essentially use prepaid phone cards as a proxy for cash).
There are also several online payment proxy services that a typical bookmaker will have a relationship with. For example, Bodog uses eWalletXpress. These are just online payment options in the same vein as PayPal. But beware; they can carry some high fees. eWalletXpress charges a 10% fee for withdrawing your money, which is excessively hefty in our opinion. Therefore, you need to check out the individual payment proxy service and find out their fees before attempting to use them.
If you are unable to find a viable option on their website, call the sportsbook directly and explain your dilemma. Very often, they have several other options available that are not listed on their website. So don’t fret if you can’t immediately find a satisfactory option on the website. Get on the phone and see what you can work out.
3. How do I get my money back?
This is probably the most important question to ask. Every bookmaker should have a section in their FAQ or help center that lists out withdrawal methods and associated fees. If you get your money there via credit card, you will most likely need to fill out a credit card authorization form in order to make a withdrawal. This fact finding process can be extremely annoying for two reasons: the illegal status of online gambling in the US, and the fact that the bookmaker doesn’t want you take your winnings out (they like gamblers to leave their cash there and keep making wagers, just like casinos don’t like to see gamblers leave the casino floor). Before you choose a reputable site, make sure you have at least 2 theoretical ways to get your money back with little or no fee. This could be a wire transfer, a payment proxy service, or a physical cashiers check sent to your address.
An additional dimension to getting your winnings out is the amount of time it takes for it to arrive. Nobody wants to wait months for a check that is “still in the mail”. The only way to really know how good a sportsbook is at payment speed is to check out the forums, read reviews, and possibly test them with smaller amounts before making large deposits.
4. What country do all of these terms effect?
When looking at deposit and withdrawal information, be sure to look closely at what terms affect what countries. Many payment options are only available outside the US, so verify that what you are looking at coincides with your country of residence.
*Special Note* If you are an American, a way of getting international options without actually living abroad is to use a drop box for mail. This allows you to have a foreign address and any checks can be forwarded to your home address (or cashed if a full fledge office service is used). Do a little searching online and you will find a plethora of companies that offer such services (for example, Earth Mail). We won’t get into too much, since off-shore shell companies, mail drops, foreign bank accounts, answering services, etc. are a whole other ball game. However, if you are gambling large amounts of money, the small cost of a mail drop and foreign bank account may be very worth while, and that isn’t even taking into account the need to shelter your winnings from the tax man.
5. What bonuses are available and what are the terms they carry?
Pretty much every sportsbook will offer bonuses/incentives for opening up an account. Just a little hint, don’t look at it like it’s free money. Pretend it doesn’t even exist in your bankroll. These bonuses usually come with stipulations that they must be bet a set number of times (rollover), or the money must remain in the account for 6 months, etc. If you are planning on betting for an extended period of time (which you should), these limits will likely not affect you much. Otherwise, they can be a huge pain in the butt if you are trying to include them in your overall balance and try to withdrawal them before ticking off all of the requirements. Don’t include them into your bankroll until everything is said and done, and it ends up in your balance and not some quasi “bonus” or “free” money section. In fact, you should go ahead and find the list of those stipulations and copy them down so you won’t forget later. Then you can track how many you have completed before you attempt to withdrawal the funds.
6. How sharp are the lines?
There is very little reason to open up an account with a sportsbook that has crappy lines. We explain the reason for Line Shopping here. However, always check out www.bestfightodds.com and see how often they have the best, or close to the best, lines. If they are not on bestfightodds.com, watch their site for a few events and compare lines at given intervals to see how they stack up to other bookies. If their lines are overly expensive, they may not be worth opening an account with, especially for the smaller gamblers.
7. What are the betting limits?
This can affect a gambler in two different ways. If you are starting small, and let’s say your bankroll is only $100, it doesn’t really make sense to open an account at a bookie that has a $20 minimum for their bets. This bet size can be bad when it comes to your bankroll management. A general rule of thumb is that if the minimum bet size is higher than 2% of your bankroll, it may not be worth opening an account.
On the other end is betting limits. Due to the fact that MMA is such a young sport and still very small when it comes to the gambling community, some bookies have ridiculously low limits. If your bankroll is in the $100,000 range, and a bookie has a $100 limit on MMA events, it probably isn’t worth your time, unless you’re going to attempt to spread your bets out over numerous sportbooks.
8. How is their customer service?
After reading through their FAQ and help sections, determining all the limits/minimums, and figuring out which payment options you can use, you then need to call the bookmakers help desk. Talk to a live person and ask them to verify all the information you have collected. They may even tell you about several other options that are not listed on the website when it comes to deposits, withdrawals, etc.
However, what you are mainly calling for is to see how comfortable you are interacting with them. If you get pissed off and annoyed just during an initial phone call, it will be ten times worse when you have a legitimate problem and money is on the line. So do be smart and call before you deposit.
Conclusion
Offshore gambling is a bit like the wild west. There are criminals out there looking to steal, and poor sportsbooks that are willing to screw their customers for a quick buck. Much like any investment the name of the game is to do your Due Diligence and always remember: Buyer Beware!
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