Win tickets to the Euro 2008 semi-final game in Vienna !

Now you can win 2 tickets to the Euro 2008 semi-final in Vienna, travel expenses, first class hotel for 2 nights, and a sweet VIP-package on top of that!

Do you like football and VIP treatment with lots of free beer?!!

All you have to do to have a chance to win this package is to place an accumulator bet at Betsson!

All customers that place a bet for at least 5 euro (or equivalent in their own currency) on a triple or higher during May will get a ticket in our big lottery that will take place on the 1st of June.

This means that the more coupons you place fulfilling these conditions the more tickets you get in the lottery and the bigger chance you have to go to Vienna in June!

From all these tickets we will draw five lucky winners and the customer with the highest winning odds on any of his (or her) winning tickets with a stake over 5 euro will get two tickets to the 2nd semi-final on Thursday, 26th June 2008 Vienna, Austria.

The four runner-ups will get 100 euro each on their account.

1st Prize:
2 tickets to the 2nd semi-final on Thursday 26th June 2008 in Vienna.
With travel expenses, and luxury hotel.

2nd - 5th Prizes :
100 euro on your account.

You've gotta be in to win - so make sure that you place at least one treble at Betsson Sportsbook this month - and win the best VIP football experience going.

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Win a chance to play at Old Trafford !

Attention ManYoo fans - ten lucky BetFred.com punters will win a spot for a dream day out at Old Trafford.

Betfred Bookmaker has teamed up with Manchester United to offer a fantastic prize to ten lucky BetFred.com punters. To enter this free competition you just need to click the link on the BetFred web site and answer an easy question (a "who scored this goal?" photo quiz - below).

If you’re one of BetFred’s 10 lucky winners, you and a friend will be invited to Old Trafford on Friday 9 May to take part in a dream event for any United fan!

Change in the player dressing rooms! Make your way down the tunnel and out onto the pitch. Show off your skills and learn some new ones with the coaches from Manchester United Soccer Schools.

You’ll also meet some United legends, go on a tour of the stadium and enjoy a post match meal before you head home.

All you need to do to win this fantastic prize is take a look at the picture above and answer the following question:

Who scored the winning goal for Manchester United in the Champions League final against Bayern Munich in 1999?

A. David Beckham
B. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer
C. Ronny Johnsen

click the link to go to the BetFred web site
Then click on the visit site link
And follow the link at the top of the BetFred page

Good luck!

My thanks to the guys at BookieLabrat.com for spotting this promo and for also remembering that I scored one of these a few years back for Arsenal at Highbury.



(that's me - 4th from the right in the back row)

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Paddy Power pays out on ManYoo winning title already

Top Irish Bookmaker Paddy Power has paid out on the Premier League winners already.

A post in the BookieLabrat.com blog on Thursday said that the Irish bookie has paid out early on Man United to lift the title.

As well as this, PaddyPower also paid out on Ronaldo to be top Premier League Goalscorer.

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Bookmaker Survey

Ladies and Gentlemen, we've found a site that lets us take a quick survey of opinions - and we want to know what you think about the bookmakers that we cover.

There are four short questions that establish some data for us :
- who your favourite bookmakers are.
- who else you might use
- who you've tried and dropped
- any bookmaker that we should add into our reviews / odds quoting system.

I estimate that this will take about 2 minutes of your time to do - and I'd appreciate any/all answers that we get. And it's completely anonymous - and you don't need to share any personal details like emails etc.

Click Here to take survey

I'll then go through the survey and look to make site changes accordingly.

(Next month we'll look at something else - like what leagues you follow and which bets styles that you prefer to take)

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VCBet will offer 10K action on any game

Tired of getting your limits reduced at smaller bookmakers? Perhaps UK bookmaker Victor Chandler is for you.

VCBet says that they'll take on a £10,000 liability from anyone.

VICTOR CHANDLER'S £10,000 GUARANTEE
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From 8am on the day of the game VCBet guarantee to lay any of their Premier League and live matches Win/Draw/Win (90 mins) prices to lose a minimum of £10,000 to each and every customer.

No restrictions - no matter how much you've won previously. Victor Chandler reckons that he can take you on.

So if you spot an edge on an English Premier League game and want to get a thick wedge on - you know that UK bookmaker Victor Chandler is your site.

Signup today and get a good joining bonus.

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Best Bookmakers for 2008

With the start of 2008 it seemed a good time to do the full review of our ratings and rankings of the bookmakers out there - and let you know the best places to play.

Here are the four major award winners of our MEGA start of year review.

MOST POPULAR BOOKMAKER - SUITABLE FOR MOST PLAYERS
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Bet365 retains the #1 overall best bookmaker ranking for the 15th straight month.

With good bonuses, special offers, reasonable odds, and a hell of a lot of users from the site (with very few issues) - it all means that this UK bookmaker remains our recommended place to play.

TOP US BOOKMAKER - SUITABLE FOR US CITIZENS
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Bookmaker.com keeps #1 US resident sportsbook ranking for 3rd month in a row. (Sportsbooks that accept US players)

This site has plenty of action on ALL US sports plus a reasonable amount of World Football mean that this bookmaker is competitive in the international market. Being challenged by Bodog - but still has the edge IMO.

Non-US players can also play there of course.

BEST HIGH STAKES BOOKMAKER
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Centrebet rates #1 for high betting limits on major sports and events - saying that they'll take at least $5,000 US of anyones money on any event - and usually a lot more on popular games.

I've got a contact at Centrebet who has told me that if one of our players gets knocked back on a bet they want then I should get in touch with him - and they'll sort it out so it will not happen again.

BEST ASIAN HANDICAP BOOKMAKER
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And the big news was that Canbet moves to #1 ranking for Asian handicap betting style - knocking PinnacleSports off the top.

Canbet have made a major effort to squeeze their margins to match Pinnacle, and with a better website, better football coverage, and three different bonus offers this UK/Aussie company has moved into the #1 spot.

Visit the Full Bookmaker Review for an overview and links to all the sports betting ratings.

Or see our Bookmaker Shootout for more details of the four best sportsbook category winners.

RELATED LINKS :
Bet365 website
Bookmaker.com website
Centrebet website
Canbet website

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FourPlay costs BetFred as punters get cashback.

It's always good to see a bookmaker cashback promotion payout - and that's what has happened over at Betfred this weekend.

Betfred were offering correct score refunds of up to GBP £100 if a side scored four goals or more on the weekend.

Man Utd 4-0 win means a refund for all correct score punters in this game at Betfred - and there must have been a few trying their luck at another 1-0 scoreline.

(see BookieLabrat.com for more info )

Mind you - Fred was lucky. It could have been a very expensive weekend with Arsenal, Manchester City, and Newcastle Utd all bagging three goals and coming close to a 4th on several occasions.

It's worth keeping and eye on the bookmakers for these special deals.

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Centrebet offering new punters a FREE shirt

A heads-up for UK and European football punters - you do NOT need to fork out 30 quid on the latest club shirt - if you're prepared to try out a new bookmaker.


GET A FREE TEAM SHIRT BY PLACING AN ANTE POST BET

We've knocked up a page on the main site if you want to know a bit more :
CentreBet Free Shirt Offer

and you can check the detailed bookmaker review here :
CentreBet Bookmaker review

Or you can check them out now bt using the special :
CentreBet Free shirt Beer link

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bet365 offer a GBP 200 free bet until Saturday!

A GLORIOUS £200 FREE BET - PLUS BEST ODDS GUARANTEED ON EVERY RACE!

If you haven't already got a bet365 account, there's no excuse not to register this week as the bet365 team is running their most generous free bet offering to date.

Open a bet365 account before midnight, Saturday 4th August and place a qualifying bet on the same day. You will then be entitled to a free bet to the same stake (up to £200) on a sporting market of your choice.

Click here to register for your £200 Free Bet.

If that wasn't enough, bet365 are also committed to offering Best Odds Guaranteed on every horse race. Take a board price or an early price and, if the SP is bigger, they'll pay you out at the bigger odds instead!

Click here to enjoy Best Odds Guaranteed and a fantastic £200 free bet.

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Prepare to win when betting on Sports

It's that time of the year again when football talk is starting to get a bit more serious - major transfer moves are made - and the smart punter starts looking around for a couple of reliable internet bookmakers to join up to.

We've reviewed literally hundreds of bookmakers over the last seven years - and after a lot of playtesting, punting and betting experience we've narrowed our list of acceptable bookmakers and sportsbooks down to about 20 or so.

You can get a list of all our recommended bookmakers on the main site at our bookmaker reviews list and you can see the current list of all the latest free sports bet offers as well.

If you're serious about make money on sports - then WISE UP - and learn to bet with the best places while spreading your bets around to take the BEST ODDS.

But - just to set you right - here are FIVE UK bookmakers and international sportsbooks that you should have on your list. Not only will you get good joining offers - but between them you'll get access to 10-15% better odds - meaning more money in your pockets after each winning bet.

#1 £100 - Bet365 ---------- Visit Sportsbook or See Bookmaker Review
#2 £100 - SportingOdds - Visit Sportsbook or See Bookmaker Review
#3 10 % -- Bodog ---------- Visit Sportsbook or See Bookmaker Review
#4 £200 - Canbet --------- Visit Sportsbook or See Bookmaker Review
#5 $500 - PinnacleSports Visit Sportsbook or See Bookmaker Review

Good luck with your sports betting - although you will need less luck - because the odds always favours the prepared punter !

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REMEMBER : All of these sites are 100% safe and secure, all of these sites have a very solid reputation, and we back all of these site with our 1000 Euro guarantee.

What is the Gooners Guide Guarantee? If you join up from OUR site - and ever have a problem getting paid out from ANY of the bookmakers we list then I will personally go into "bat" for you and help you to get things sorted out.

And if it cannot be put right - and we think that you have a fair case - then I will pay you out of my pocket (up to €1000 - £700) and the the GoonersGuide.com site will cancel all further advertising with that organisation.

We take this stuff seriously and only recommend the best sportsbooks ...
YOU WILL BE PAID WHEN YOU WIN.

----

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Gamebookers Announce EUR 50 Join Bonus

GET €50 FREE when joining Gamebookers SportsBook

Gamebookers have raised their joining bonus gives all new punters up to €50 free as a 25% first deposit match.

This sounds pretty good to me ... especially if you're looking to add to your bookie options to maximise your chances of getting best odds ... as Gamebookers do have a reputation for offering odds on nearly every professional football match on the planet.

Gamebookers overall web site and systems are just about the best in the industy. We especially like their easy to use "one-click" betting process and handy payout calculator.

It's obvious these guys are specialist Internet bookies - try them - you'll like them.

RELATED LINKS :
Check out the full Gamebookers sportsbook review on our main site ...
Or Join Gamebookers NOW

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Bodog Sportbook added to our list of approved bookmakers

BoDog Sportsbook make the grade and get the Thumbs up from The Gooner

Having analysed Bodog Sportsbook extensively over the last few months we'd like to welcome them into the stable of online sportsbooks and bookmakers used & recommended by the team at GoonersGuide.com.

With its Headquarters in Antigua, and gambling licences in the UK, Antigua and Kahnawake, Canada, Bodog offers a safe and potentially rewarding online entertainment solution.

Bodog has a great reputation for innovation, professionalism - and paying out - which is probably the most important thing on the internet these days.

Bodog offers a single, easy access account to play poker, casino games, and for sports betting and we recommend Bodog Sportsbook for recreational European bettors who want a hip place to play- and also for all US bettors who do not have access to our other sites.

With 10+ years of online experience you know that Bodog.com will payout all winnings - and all US players should definately have this outfit as one of their primary places to play.



Check out our review of Bodog Sportsbook on the main site or visit Bodog.com directly

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JustBet.com offer High Rollers US$250

Top Costa Rican bookie - JustBet.com - has just launched a new limited time joining bonus to entice new customers.

The deposit promotion is being Spring Bling and it is a pretty good deal.

This is a 50% match offer where new bettors who deposit $500 get an extra $250 in bonus cash.

A few Terms and Conditions apply:
(1) New customers only

(2) It's a one-time deal and capped at $500

(3) Your Deposit and Bonus funds are held for 90 days (you can bet and win - but can't withdraw)

(4) You must bet through (roll over) the deposit and bonus cash 7 times before withdrawing it and any winnings can be withdraw after rolling deposit and cash 3 times.

As you can see - this is no easy to clear bonus for "bonus whores" to snatch up - it's specifically designed to boost the bankroll of players intending to have a few bets.

Visit JustBet.com now to check it out - but you'll have to hurry the offer expires June 1, 2007

----------------------------------
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION :

IF you want more info on this online bookie then here's a link to our main site review on JustBet.com.

Oh - and JustBet.com do take ALL players from ALL jurisdictions. I'm sure you North American punters know exactly what I mean by that.

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Interwetten (82%) - The global bookmaker

Interwetten - Betting Since 1990

I know that Interwetten is a big name for online betting. They were my first online bookmaker in 1999 - and the first bookmaker that we ever reviewed and put on the site as a recommended place to bet.

Check out the latest interwetten review on the main site.

Anyway, I was going through my reporting from Interwetten last night looking at all the different countires that we have visitors who signed up there.

Punters from United Kingdom, Singapore, Turkey, Greece, France, Brazil, Slovenia, Australia have all joined up in the last month ... and I was thinking - wow it's pretty global.

Then I saw Iran (Islamic Republic of) ...

Uh-oh ... don't they chop your hands off if they find you gambling over there?! I don't know who you are mate - but keep your head down, and your hands in your pockets and keep safe !!

So - if he thinks it's worth the trouble - why aren't you playing at Interwetten - you'd be crazy to stay away!!
Join Interwetten Now

Sports - get 30% first Deposit bonus up to EUR 30
Casino, Poker and Games offered too.

Interwetten are rated as #7 in our bookmaker top 20 list - and recommended for short odds favourites.

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Who's the best bookmaker for ... correct score bets?

Which bookmaker is best for correct score betting

Now we will get into specific markets and deal with the question of

Which bookie is best for correct score bets?

WHAT IS CORRECT SCORE BETTING?
First let's start with an overview of correct score betting.

This style of betting is as simple as it sounds (in principal). You put down some cash on predicting an exact score in a football game - and if you win you get paid out at large prices ranging from 6.00 (5/1) to as much as 101.00 (100-1).

It attracts the young punter, and the desperate bettor because of the illusion of being easy money but the reality is that the bookmakers are trimming plenty of fat from their odds and these markets typically have an over-round of 130% to 150% meaning that the bookie will make a 30-50% profit no matter what result.

So - usually I'd say avoid correct score betting - and no bookie prices are really fair .... but there are three exceptions and we will go through each of them now.

(1) BACKING A STRONG DEFENSIVE SIDE TO WIN 1-0
We know the sort of team that I'm talking about - strong squad, with a great defensive back five and continental manager, that will be likely to take the lead and then sit on that lead until the end of the game.

Chelsea, Juventus, Liverpool are all sides to consider and the best place to play these bets are the mainstream bookmakers who make so much margin on this market overall that they are reluctant to change their prices quickly.

BEST BOOKMAKERS FOR THIS PLAN : Bet365 BetFred CanBet EuroBet Gamebookers and Ladbrokes as they'll all usually offer at least 6.00 for the 1-0 win.

(2) BETTING ON AN UNEXPECTED AWAY WIN
We've all seen games when the price on the home side is far too short - yes they should be favoured to win but not to the lengths that the odds say.

The price on the away win is at 3.50 or so which doesn't appeal, but the price on a 1-0 away win will usually be up around 9.00 to 10.00. Those prices are almost at fair value because when the underdog wins away from home then my stats show that about 40-45% of those wins are by a 1-0 scoreline.

The general betting public love their favourites - and they just don't believe that 12% of home bankers to end up as a loss - with the most likely upset scoreline a 1-0 win to the away underdogs.

However what's even better is that you can get onto the betting exchanges and put a lazy tenner on that scoreline and you'll get offered prices as high as 12.00 or 13.00 (12-1) for the bet.

So when you're betting against public opinion the best place to get a correct score bet on is the two main betting exchanges.

BEST BOOKMAKERS FOR THIS PLAN : Betfair and Betsson

(3) TAKING ADVANTAGE OF A SPEICAL PROMOTION.
The final way to make correct score betting pay is to take advantage of those bookmaker promotions that will pay out bonus money if you get a high scoring result.

Right now PremierBet are offering to payout a 100% bonus up to £250 if you take a bet that's at high enough odds as your first bet. (read the PremierBet bonus details here)

Now this strategy is not a banker bet (obviously) and you only get one shot at it (it must be your first bet remember) but it does mean that you get the odds on your side.

For correct score betting the relevant details are :
- odds of 5.50 to 9.00 mean a 40% bonus
- odds of 9.50 to 17.00 mean a 60% bonus
- bigger odds mean a 100% bonus.

So you can join up at PremierBet and place a wager of a £10 (€15) or more on your first bet and get a huge potential boost to your payout.

BEST BOOKMAKERS FOR THIS PLAN : PremierBet

SUMMARY :
Correct score betting is not a great long term strategy, but there are occassions when it can pay to have a look at these big priced bets.

Just remmber to :
- Use the biggest mainstream bookmakers for the 1-0 home wins
- Use the betting exchanges for the upset 1-0 away wins
- And risk a tenner on taking PremierBet's bonus challenge on.

Good luck.
;-)

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Who's the best bookmaker for signup bonuses?

Who is the best bookmaker for FREE Bets ?

Now we move onto one of the most common questions I'm asked by punters via email and on the forum ...

Who is the best bookmaker for FREE Bets ?

Ahhh ... free money.

It's true that money that is won by sports betting seems to be twice as sweet as money that is earned through hard graft - and nothing seems as sweet as that initial deposit bonus that online bookmakers offer.

BEWARE OF THE ROGUE BOOKMAKER
However it's also true that there is never a free lunch - and many of the rogue bookmakers out there will advertise huge bonus offers in order to entice unsuspecting punters to deposit their money ... knowing that they'll never actually payout.

So how do you avoid this trap? By being smart of course - and only using the bookmakers that we're prepared to endorse on the main site.

We offer a EURO €1000 guarantee for all accounts that are opened using the links on the main GoonersGuide.com betting site (as well as this blog). We stand behind punters who use and support this site.

Why bet online if you're not going to be paid out - don't take risks - play smart and use only the bookmakers that we've selected.

OK - with that out of the way lets get on with the awards.

OUR METHODS - SAFETY - SECURITY - GOOD ODDS
Over the course of the last five years we've checked out over 200 bookmakers and betting exchanges and from that we've selected the best twenty (or so) sites to be recommended on our site.

The most important criteria are things like safety, security, good customer support, and good betting odds. Having a good signup bonus is NOT a criteria is itself (as we've discussed above some of the biggest bonuses are offered by the worst type of bookies).

So after finding the best 20 sites - we now are prepared to answer the question about best bonuses - for these twenty sites. As we KNOW that you will not be ripped off.

GBP £20 to GBP £30 OFFERS
The first thing that we did was eliminate all bookies who are offering between GBP 20-30 to join up.

While that's a reasonable deal for small depositors, especially as most are 100% deposit match deals, it's small potatoes and not worth of the award.

Bookmakers in this group included : Betfred, Betfair, Globet, Gamebookers, Interwetten, Paddypower and SportingOdds.

So if you're betting with a small bankroll then you won't go wrong using these sites, and you can see that if you opened one account each weekend you could quickly get access to around £120 to £150 over a couple of months.

Nice! But you want more don't you? We thought so !!
;-)

GBP £50 to GBP £100 OFFERS
Then we move into the mid-tier bookmakers who are more serious about taking on action from punters. They'll offer a little bit more to you in the form of a free bet - but will often have some wagering restrictions to handle.

CenterBet will offer you a matched stake bet of up to £50 as long as your first bet is at odds of 1.90 or more. You'll also have to turnover the winnings 1x before withdrawal.

VCBet will also offer a matched £50 bet but your first bet must be at even money (2.00) or more and there is no turnover restriction.

Again we think that these are useful bonuses to collect - but they were not good enough to win the award - we wanted more !!
;-)

WINNER - BEST BOOKMAKER FOR SIGNUP BONUSES
(1) Canbet (Australian Bookmaker)

Canbet stood out and won the award for having not one but THREE offers to choose from on their sports betting side plus a further two more in Casino and Poker.

Sports Betting HIGHROLLER Offer
Register and make your first deposit at Canbet of £600 (€1050) or more and receive a 10% deposit bonus of up to £200 (€350). To redeem this bonus, simply enter the Promotional Bonus Code: HIGHROLLER, when registering an account.

There is a 4 x deposit + bonus turnover requirement, so if you Deposit £2000 you get an extra £200, and must play 2200 x 4 = £8800 before withdrawing it.

Sports Betting PLAYER Offer
Register and make your first deposit at Canbet of £60 more and receive a 20% deposit bonus of up to £60. To redeem this bonus, simply enter the Promotional Bonus Code: PLAYER, when registering an account.

This has a 3 x deposit + bonus turnover requirement, So £300 deposit earns a £60 bonus which must be turned over 3x (£1080) before withdrawing.

Sports Betting FREEBET Offer
The usual recreation bonus. Register and make your first deposit at Canbet of £20 or more and receive a £30 free bet. To redeem this bonus, simply enter the Promotional Bonus Code: FREEBET, when registering an account.

We felt that CANBET had tailored three pretty good offers to different segments of the market - and that the turnover requirements were not onerous at all

(Some US / Costa Rica bookamkers have 10x turnover restrictions)

HIGHLY COMMENDED BOOKMAKER FOR SIGNUPS
(2) PinnacleSports (Netherlands Antilles Bookmaker)

PinnacleSports actually offer a higher bonus of up to $500 if you deposit $5,000 (10%) and only a 3 x turnover restriction ...

But they also have a little clause that states that you can't withdraw your deposit or bonus for 30 days and you must depsoit a minimum of $250 to claim any bonus at all.

Still giving away $500 FREE is good enough to earn PinnacleSports the #2 spot.

HIGHLY COMMENDED BOOKMAKER FOR SIGNUPS
(3) Bet365 (UK bookmaker)

Bet365 offer non-UK customers a 15% first dpeoist bonus up to $500 with a 3x deposit + bonus turnover requirement

(see how quickly you get used to all the terms and conditions)

However, current UK restrictions mean that they cannot do the same for UK customers and instead provide their Bet Basket which offers up to four £25 FREE Bets after you've made several qualifying bets.

This geographic split and the complicated terms of the Bet Basket meant that Bet365 finished in the #3 spot.

SUMMARY
So there we have it - all the free bet signup bonuses explained in one easy place (webmasters feel free to link to the blog post) - and the top three bookmakers for signup bonuses are spelt out.

(1) Canbet (Australian Bookmaker)
(2) PinnacleSports (Netherlands Antilles Bookmaker)
(3) Bet365 (UK bookmaker)

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Who is the best bookmaker for Fixed Odds ?

Continuing on in our search for the best place to bet online ... and today we will handle the second most frequent question.

"Who is the best bookmaker for European football fixed odds betting?"

The most popular form of Sports Betting is simply betting on a team to win a match.

This is usually called fixed odds betting, or 1X2 betting (after the old football pools style) or Home-Draw-Away betting.

And it's just because it's so popular that makes this question so hard to answer - because the market is hugely competitive and finding the best bookmaker really does depend on exactly what you are betting on.

WE FOUND THE BEST BOOKMAKER ... BUT ...
At the end of last season (2005-06) we did a comprehensive analysis of all the bookmakers out there - taking odds from over 1000 matches spread over 6 different European football league in order to find the best odds.

The answer was clear - it was PinnacleSports who were the best price for 42% of favourites in European leagues and 45% of outsiders in English games.

Question solved !! Except that during the 2006 World Cup they took a beating and in July 2006 the PinnacleSports management team took a look at their books and found that they were being beaten by the UK and European football punters and promptly withdrew from those markets !!

That's right - they do not offer 1x2 betting on football anymore - except on the highest profile games - so they're no use to most football punters.

So now in order to answer this question of "Who is the best bookmaker for European football fixed odds betting?" we now need to give you a two part answer.

WINNER - BEST BOOKMAKER FOR FIXED ODDS - FAVOURITES
(1) Interwetten (Maltese Bookmaker)

That's right, European Bookmaker Interwetten are the #1 ranked bookmaker to try if you are looking for the best odds on a heavy favourite.

They do not seem to change their odds often after initially posting them - a fact which perhaps reflects that they usually have cheaper prices for outsiders - and this means that if you are cruising around looking to get a late bet on Chelsea, or Man Utd, or Barcelona or Inter Milan then a trip to the Interwetten site is usually in order.

We will retest at the end of this season - but right now we estimate that if a team is price at 1.50 or less then Interwetten are the best price a staggering 50% of the time.

Other highly commended sites were Paddy Power with 17% of English favourites, and Globet with 16% of European favourites.

If you bet on favourites then you need these bookmakers on your list of betting places.

WINNER - BEST BOOKMAKER FOR FIXED ODDS - LONGSHOTS
(1) Bet365 (UK Bookmaker)

This was a much more competitive field but the winner was Bet365 who were best priced for outsiders (teams at odds of 4.00 or more) 22% of the time.

Of course longshots are a tricky bet to land - and prices can change quickly if a team suddenly becomes a popular bet - but from what we monitored over the course of the 2005-06 season this UK bookamker stood out.

Other highly commended sites were Eurobet (13%), Paddy Power (13%), and Globet (10%).

SUMMARY
So there we have it - there is no single bookmaker that can guarantee the best odds - and depending on your style of betting you will need to choose 2 or 3 good reliable bookmakers to ensure that you are getting a good price.

But if you are just getting started then you need :
#1 FOR FAVOURITES Interwetten
#1 FOR LONGSHOTS Bet365

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Who is the best bookmaker for Asian Handicaps?

Let's start with an easy one first up ...

"Who is the best bookmaker for Asian Handicap betting on European Football?"


We have a big Asian readership on the site, particularly from Singapore and Malaysia, and Asian handicap betting in also gaining acceptance in Europe as well as punters see the potential value that can be had.

But this is an easy question for me to answer because there is one of my recommended bookmakers that stand out head and shoulders above the rest for AH betting.

WINNER - BEST BOOKMAKER FOR ASIAN HANDICAPS
(1) PinnacleSports (Netherlands Antilles Bookmaker)

PinnacleSports have the sharpest asian handicap odds on the internet, a good deposit scheme, and also allow free banking transactions every month - which all adds up to Curacao based bookmaker coming out as my top bookmaker for Asian handicap betting.

PinnacleSports regularly prices this market to an over-round of just 104% - meaning odds of 1.96 / 1.96 compared to most UK bookies who go to 108% to 110% which translates to a 1.90 / 1.90 price.

Pinnacle also have a generous 10% first deposit bonus up to $500 (if you deposit $5,000) which is attractive to bigger players, as well as having all the major banking options covered in respect to credit cards and e-wallets.

Throw in the fact that Pinnacle also allows one FREE deposit and one FREE withdrawal every month and it's relatively easy to see why I think that PinnacleSports are #1 in this market.

HIGHLY COMMENDED - BEST BOOKMAKER FOR ASIAN HANDICAPS
(2) Betfair (UK Betting Exchange)

Betfair are a quality betting destination, and their aggressive commission pricing on the asian handicap market of just 1% commission means that they should also be checked out by Asian handicap punters.

Being based in the UK means that they take all the usual options that UK and European punters expect, debit cards, credit cards, Moneybookers, Neteller, bank transfers and various money payment methods, and they're offering a £25 bonus as well.

However, on the downside market volumes on handicaps are still small outside the main games, and real liquidity only seems to kick in a couple of hours before the game starts, so the prices are still not as sharp as the PinnacleSports prices for many games - and available volumes can be quite small.

HIGHLY COMMENDED - BEST BOOKMAKER FOR ASIAN HANDICAPS
(3) Bet365 (UK bookmaker)

Coming in at #3 was Bet365, who have an aggressively priced set of odds that usually beats the rest of the market, but they cannot quite manage to match the first two sites on a regular basis.

Bet365 cover a wider range of games than either Pinnacle or Betfair though, and their handicap system is very flexible - allowing you to modify the handicap to choose the advantage that you'd like - although that will affect the price that you get - but it's still a nice touch.

With good bonus offers and a 100% rock solid base with plenty of bricks n mortar shops you know that your cash is safe with Bet365 and you can also use their one wallet system to find your poker and blackjack habit too.

SUMMARY
So there we have it - three quality sites for asian handicap players - and any one of these three will serve you well for the asian handicap markets.

UK punters may prefer to stay close to home, as there is more flexibility in the money management of the two UK sites, but (#1) PinnacleSports really are the best handicaps site out there and win the top recommendation.

Stumble It!

Who is the best bookmaker for ... ?

I get plenty of emails and PM's asking for help - and at least half of it is about one particular question ...

... "Gooner - who's the best bookie for me?"

And of course it's not an easy question to answer.


The short answer is ... "it depends".

The medium answer is ... "it depends on what you're betting on and how you bet. There are many styles of betting and many different markets - and so your personal best bookie will depend on exactly how you bet.".

And the long answer that actually tells you who is best suited is so involved that it would take many blog posts to write about - and that's exactly what I'm going to try do through a series of posts on this blog.

Hopefully I'll be able to get through one per day - so if you've got a betting style, situation, specialty sport, or some other factor that I haven't covered then feel free to raise it with me either here or on the forum.

So let's get on with it then ...

Stumble It!