In addition to maintaining The Online Casino Gambling Directory, I also answer online gambling questions at AllExperts.com, the oldest and largest free Q&A service on the internet. I thought that I would share with you a recent question about sportsbooks, as well as my response.

Question:

What sites are good for online sports betting? Is there a catch to placing bets? I understand money line bets i think just wanna know if there was max or minumum bets?

Answer:

If you’re a casual bettor, you really need just one sportsbook account. If you’re a more serious bettor, you’ll want to have five or more accounts. The reason for this is so that you can compare lines (often called “shopping lines”) offered at the sportsbooks, and get the best odds on the bet you’d like to place. Moneyline odds, for example, can vary by as much as 15 cents (e.g. a team may be +105 at one book and +120 at another) and you’ll want to be able to take advantage of that by having accounts at different sportsbooks.

As for if there is a “catch” to placing bets, I’d say not really. The only thing you need to be aware of is when you accept a bonus on your deposit, the types of bets that you can place with the bonus money are often limited to -110 bets (or worse, e.g. -105, -100, +105, etc.), and usually no parlays or props are allowed with the bonus. Also after accepting a bonus, you must place a minimum number of wagers before you can make a withdraw. These restrictions vary by sportsbook, so you’ll want to make sure that you understand their bonus when you make a deposit.

The minimum bet varies by sportsbook as well. Most sportsbooks accept bets of as little as $5 if you place the bet online; higher minimums are required when placing a bet by phone (where phone betting is offered, which is pretty rare). Maximum bets depend on the type of wager and your relationship with the sportsbook; generally speaking, more exotic wagers have lower maximums, which may be increased as you develop a relationship with a sportsbook.

Now to the meat of your question — which are the best sportsbooks? I’ve been betting online for years, and use a 5-star rating scale to rate sportsbooks. As of this writing, there are only two sportsbooks that I rate as 5-star and that accept US players. You can find them at this link, which you may need to copy and paste into the address bar of your browser:
http://www.theonlinecasinogamblingdirectory.com/s.php?as_usa=2&as_rat=5&t=Sportsbook&SRC=AEJul2010Blog

If you want a few more options, here is a list of the 4- and 5-star sportsbooks that accept US players:
http://www.theonlinecasinogamblingdirectory.com/s.php?as_usa=2&as_rat=4&t=Sportsbook&SRC=AEJul2010Blog

Finally, here is a list of the 3-, 4-, and 5-star sportsbooks that accept US players:
http://www.theonlinecasinogamblingdirectory.com/s.php?as_usa=2&as_rat=3&t=Sportsbook&SRC=AEJul2010Blog

I hope you found my answer helpful; feel free to let me know if you have additional questions.