When we discuss the biggest and best sportsbooks for our readers, we take plenty of different factors into account. For the strategists, it is all about the odds and, in fairness, the bigger names tend to perform well in this regard, although the differences are often minimal. The likes of Paddy Power, Bet365 and Coral know that improving the odds can make all the difference to appealing to players, and they generally want a punter to place their bet with them rather than elsewhere. However, while the best odds can be crucial, players should not overlook the free bets on offer to them.
Much of what can be said about these big names has already been said, and the chances are that many of our readers will have exhausted the welcome offers from the very biggest names. The presence on highstreets around the country of most of these brands means that even casual bettors know all about them, and when advertising and marketing enters the equation, betting companies are among the best-known business around, even outside a betting context.
What we have looked to achieve in this feature is to spotlight some potential alternatives that are not quite as popular here as they are elsewhere to give players more options with regards to not just odds, but welcome offers, loyalty bonuses and more.
It will not have escaped the attention of any experienced punter that the popularity of high street names in the UK is not necessarily reflected elsewhere in Europe. Perhaps the most comparable country in this regard is Italy, where many of the major betting sites are also familiar names from their numerous betting shops. However, the nature of Italian gambling means that most of these sites are only for Italian players and nobody else due to legislation. That led us to looking further afield and, based on the almost universal popularity of Jurgen Klopp at the moment, we decided to take a look at Germany.
There are regulatory issues over there too, to the point that the biggest sportsbooks and casinos are based anywhere but there – the majority are physically located in Malta. That works in our favour, as many of the brands that operate under licence from the Malta Gaming Authority also hold a licence with the Gambling Commission, making them more than suitable for UK punters.
With no strong focus on online sports betting in the country, we changed tack and sought out the best online casinos as the chances were good that they would also boast the best sportsbooks. Our search led us to Online Casino Deutschland, which essentially does what we do for UK bookmakers but for German casino players. We picked out a few of their highly rated names, such as Guts, Casumo and 888 to see if there were any welcome offers worth seeking out. Of the three, both 888 and Guts offer sports betting, while Casumo’s is a work in progress at the current time. Plans for sports betting are well under way after the brand partnered with Kambi in 2018, but the service has not yet materialised.
Some of our punters will have encountered these names before as both Guts and 888 boast decent levels of popularity over here, although they simply do not come close to the high street names overall. 888 Sport actually uses the same Kambi platform that will be rolled out by Casumo, and it is worth considering LeoVegas too in that regard. While UK bookmakers have their own teams of odds compilers, Kambi takes care of setting the odds throughout the network, and so the odds on a certain event are going to be the same at LeoVegas as at 888 Sport for the most part. However, what can make them worthwhile, even if only for a couple of bets each, is the welcome offer. These offers are handled directly by the casinos, and there is nothing to prevent players from making use of all of them, even if the ultimate betting experience will be identical.
At 888 Sport, for example, a bet of £10 will see players being rewarded with £30 in free bets. At LeoVegas Sport, players will receive a 100% profit boost of up to £100 on their first bet of up to £10.
What we are getting at overall is that, when it comes to obtaining value in sports betting, some players look no further than the best odds. That is an important part of the strategy, but with so many different brands – many of which became known as online casinos prior to adding a sportsbook – offering free bets, welcome offers and ongoing promotions, there has never been a better time to look into holding as many betting accounts as possible. They may well end up with the best odds too, but even if players are simply looking to get something for nothing, it can be a fantastic means of improving returns regardless of the stakes. In emulating the casino-style bonus hunting to make the most of these welcome offers, players need to look beyond the biggest names and take advantage of the fact that so many sportsbooks want your business – with handsome rewards always up for grabs. If you have not done the rounds on creating new accounts in a while, there has never been a better time to do so with so many new players entering the scene.
