Bookmaker

Click here for audio version of this review ("The Sports Investor" podcast, episode #3)

 

QUICK FACTS

Established in 2000

Located in Costa Rica

cs@bookmaker.eu

They are a skin of BetDSI. They share the same cashier, the same customer representatives and their odds are often the same (but not always). The bonus offers are not the same (I prefer Bookmaker’s at the time of this review). You are allowed to have an account at both sites if you wish. You won’t get into trouble if you bet the maximum amount on the same team at both bookies.

pros

Great reputation: In my humble opinion, one of the most important criteria when selecting a sportsbook is its reliability and trustworthiness. What’s the point of opening an account with a bookie you fear might not pay you back? Bookmaker.eu has a very solid reputation in the sports betting industry; in my book, they are certainly in the top 5 among all online bookies in this regard. I have had an account with them for over 10 years and I have never experienced a problem when requesting a payout.

Displaying betting trends: Bookmaker has a nice feature that I find very handy on its website: they are showing the proportion of gamblers that have placed a wager on each betting option. The image below shows you an example; you can see that 20.8% of the money line bettors have backed the Cincinnati Reds, while the remaining 79.2% took the Washington Nationals.

Good odds: The vigorish is below-average, which is good news for the players because it means Bookmaker is taking a smaller commission on each bet. You get -105 lines on Major League Baseball (MLB) money lines and -110 lines on run lines or totals. You are getting -115 lines on Japan-Korean-Mexican baseball leagues, which is pretty standard. The most important soccer leagues like English Premier Division, USA Major League Soccer or Brazil Serie A have -110 lines, as opposed to -115 lines on smaller leagues like Kazakhstan Premier League, China Superleague or Sweden Superettan. As far as the CFL (Canadian Football League) and the WNBA are concerned, we are getting 20-cent lines which is fine. In summary, the competitiveness of their lines is above-average (though not as great as Pinnacle or 5Dimes).

Attractive bonuses: The welcome bonuses are really worth it. At the time of this review, you could pick one of the following three options:

          • A 15% free play up to $2500 that has to be rolled over 4 times (4x). That’s one of the best offers in the sports betting world because of the very low rollover requirement coupled with the high $2500 limit. That’s the best of the three alternatives in my point of view;
          • A 50% free play up to $300 that comes with a decent 10x rollover. You are also entitled a 50% casino bonus up to $300, which is optional. If you accept the bonus, you must meet a 40x rollover. That’s a pretty harsh prerequisite;
          • If you deposit bitcoins, you are eligible for a 50% CASH bonus up to $1000 associated with a 15 times (15x) rollover requirement. I love the fact that this is a cash bonus instead of a free play, but the conditions are harder to meet.

Rewards program: Bookmaker has a nice rewards program that determines the reload bonus you are entitled to. You also accumulate points when placing wagers, which can be converted into cash or prizes. Let me brief you on the program:

          • You start at the Gold level. You move up to the Platinum level once you have accumulated at least 30,000 BetPoints over the past 12 months, and you reach the Diamond level if you managed to get over 300,000 BetPoints.
          • How do you accumulate BetPoints?
            • 0 point: Money lines or live wagering;
            • 0.5 point: Props, futures, soccer, 3-way hockey lines, tennis, golf and other sports;
            • 1 point: Spreads or totals on major sports;
            • 1.5 point: Teasers, if bets, reverse bets;
            • 2 points: Parlays (accumulators).
          • They are taking the smaller of the “risk” and “win” amounts. For instance, if you bet 50$ to win 30$ on a NFL spread bet, you will receive 30 BetPoints.
          • The reload bonus is a 10% free play up to $2500 with a 3x rollover for Gold and Platinum members. Diamond members receive a 15% free play up to $2500, but this time with a 4 times rollover requirement.
          • Platinum members accumulate an extra 10% on BetPoints compared to people having the Gold status, while Diamond members receive an additional 10% on BetPoints versus the Platinum level.
          • You can redeem your BetPoints in exchange for cash, gift cards, airline miles or merchandise. The wisest move is to get cash back. The following chart shows how much you earn based on your level and the number of BetPoints in your account: https://www.bookmaker.eu/loyalty-program-cashback. For example, 5000 BetPoints can be exchanged for $25-$31 USD depending on your level.

24/7 player support: Wagering center and customer service offices are always open. I have never had to deal with their wagering center since I always place my bets online, but I was satisfied by their customer representatives. Very professional.

High limits: Their betting limits are known to be among the largest, especially for US-friendly sportsbooks.

cons

Unfriendly payout rules: The standard in the industry is to offer a free payout every 30 days. That’s not the case with Bookmaker whose withdrawals over $300 incur a $50 fee, unless your preferred method is ecoPayz or Bitcoin. And if you look at my list of deposit/withdrawal methods below, you will notice that the Bitcoin option is only offered to USD accounts. So if your account is either in CAD, EUR or GBP you are left with a single option if you are hoping to receive payouts free of charge: ecoPayz (which is not necessarily the most favorite transaction method among sports bettors). In summary, rules pertaining to withdrawals are not the friendliest in the business.

Tough to beat: You will be hard-pressed to beat their lines because they are widely known to be very sharp. Considering their high betting limits, did they really have a choice but to post accurate odds? If it wasn’t the case, sharps would eat them alive and they would go bankrupt in a hurry. Yet, they have been in business for a long time and their financials are doing well, which indicates flawless odds.

Limited prop bets: Their homepage claims they have a big selection of proposition bets. I don’t agree. On Major League Baseball, you have the option to bet the full game, the first 5 innings, second halves or the series. I couldn’t find anything about player performances like the number of strikeouts by a starting pitcher or total bases matchups between two hitters. Nor did I find lines on which team will score first, or will a run be scored in the first inning. These types of bets are pretty common in the sports betting industry. I did not find a single prop bet on soccer games. WNBA? None. Tennis? None.

METHODS OF WITHDRAWAL
  • Bank draft / Cashier's check (only available for USD accounts)
  • Bitcoin (only available for USD accounts)
  • ecoPayz
  • Person to Person (Western Union and MoneyGram)
METHODS OF DEPOSIT
  • Bitcoin (only available for USD accounts)
  • Visa, Mastercard and American Express (only available for accounts in USD, EUR and GBP)
  • Bank wire
  • Neteller
  • ecoPayz
  • Person to Person (Western Union and MoneyGram)
PLAYER EXPERIENCES

 

 

STORY 1

A forum poster called RussVentimiglia got asked by Bookmaker for his ID documents and a utility bill before his withdrawal could be processed. He wanted to know if he could get around this procedure. Here are a few answers that came up:

  • “Are you actually asking for something illegal? I dont know of any online gambling site that doesn't ask for proof of ID and/or residence before processing the first withdrawal, and sometimes even before or after the first deposit.”
  • “Also, bookmaker.eu is, to my knowledge and in my opinion a reliable and trustworthy site. So yeah, no reason not to abide.”
  • “I've been using them for 4 years. Always get my money never had any issues at all.”

SOURCE: http://www.covers.com/postingforum/post01/showmessage.aspx?spt=27&sub=102470957

ANALYSIS: If you are an inexperienced sports gambler, you need to be aware of the fact that almost all sportsbooks ask for ID documents and a utility bill (and sometimes even more proof of identity) before they process any withdrawals. They might even ask you to go through their KYC (Know Your Customer) procedure earlier.

 

STORY 2

I found two short reviews about Bookmaker at the link below. Here they are:

  • “A very nice bookmaker with good service and fast and secure payouts. They have been around quite some time and they look reliable and steady in their business. An easy and friendly website without all the fancy stuff. Bookmaker is the place to be, where you can place high bets and win big money. Top!”
  • “I opened an account with Bookmaker and I like it. I play arbitrage and they don't mind my action. The offer 1 free payout per month which I like and have taken advantage of already. These guys won't limit you or kick you out if you win too much with them. I recommend.”

SOURCE: http://www.top100bookmakers.com/comments/bookmaker-com.php

ANALYSIS: I like hearing about sportsbooks not limiting winning players. I don’t know why the second guy talks about free payouts: I spoke to a customer clerk in the live chat and he confirmed what I read on their website, which is that there are no free payouts unless you are using bitcoins. The post was made in 2015, so maybe they had free payouts back then? Not sure… All of the comments are positive, which is nice to read!

 

STORY 3

A guy wanted to open a new account with an online sportsbook, so he sought help and suggestions from fellow discussion board members. One guy responds: “Got a quick payout from 5dimes, but then my cards got compromised. Same thing happened with Bookmaker.eu.” Later on, another poster says “Bookmaker is the best imo”, followed up by “Yup they are the best, and honest as I can personally vouch for them!!"

    SOURCE: http://www.covers.com/postingforum/post01/showmessage.aspx?spt=9&sub=102462810

    ANALYSIS: The credit card story does not worry me too much because that’s the only time I have ever read of a guy getting his credit card compromised after depositing with Bookmaker. If you have read my review about 5Dimes, you will see that MANY similar stories involve them which concerned me quite a bit. But this seems like an isolated case for Bookmaker. The latter two comments are praising Bookmaker which is reassuring.

     

     

    STORY 4

    A player started a thread entitled “Bookmaker.eu not paying”. He did not provide many details, but he got paid only one day after posting his story. His thread still drew some attention but the original poster did not get much support; the vast majority of players had nice things to say about the sportsbook:

    • “Never had problem with Bookmaker and I have been with them since the day Pinnacle pulled out of the US.”
    • “Bookmaker will pay you out in 1-2 days. I request a check from them for $3K max all the time and they Fedex it to me with in 3 days of the request of course with a $50 fee. To the OP, your issue may be with your bank/credit card not clearing the funds you initially deposited with BM. In order for BM to credit back your account as a withdraw it has to clear first.”
    • “Relax newbie.. bookmaker.eu is the best you can find. You will get paid. Guarantee. My last withdraw was on 10/2 for $25,000.”
    • “This is wild to read, I cash out from bookmaker weekly with no problem.”

    SOURCE: http://www.covers.com/postingforum/post01/showmessage.aspx?spt=33&sub=102183342&page=1

    ANALYSIS: When you see forum posters siding massively with the sportsbook, you know it’s a good one.

     

     

     

    BOTTOM LINE

    Bookmaker.eu is one of the top sportsbooks in my mind. Nobody’s perfect, so there are a few negative elements like the sharpness of their lines which are therefore harder to beat, along with high payout fees and their limited prop bet selection. However, their reputation is impeccable; if you have read my other reviews, you are fully aware that I couldn’t say the same thing about many other bookies.

    Bookmaker’s promotions are plentiful and come with very reasonable conditions, whether we’re talking about welcome bonuses, reload bonuses or their rewards program. Add the competitiveness of their lines, the large betting limits and the well above-average customer service, and you’ve got plenty of reasons to join Bookmaker.eu. It is without a doubt one of the top choices for US players (who have more limited options), and still one of the best for any online sports gambler.