Both old and new online bookmakers have their respective pros and cons. Read this article to find out which type of the platform suits you best!
When selecting a reliable online bookmaker, you can choose between new and established platforms. Sites like BetFair can attract you with their design, the selection of sports disciplines and payment methods, the professionalism of the support crew and the user-friendliness of their mobile versions. Both new and established bookies have their respective pros and cons. This article should help you to understand which of the two options suits you best. By the way, the same criteria can be applied to online casinos.
Established Bookmakers Had Enough Time to Build a Reputation for Themselves
Online sports betting is a regulated industry. If a platform has been around for a few years, it means it complies with all the necessary standards and requirements. The older the platform, the more trustworthy it is.
We don’t mean to say that new bookmakers are unreliable. If a bookie received a license, it means they have provided sufficient financial guarantees and were approved by the licensing body. But you can never know whether the team behind the project is honest and professional enough. There are much more credible bookmakers around than scams — but you should stay vigilant nevertheless.
How Can I Understand Whether a Bookie Is Reputable or Not?
Before signing up for a bookmaker, it would be wise to check the following types of texts:
- Expert reviews
- Independent ratings
- Customer comments
If the same bookmaker has high positions in several independent ratings, that’s a good sign. When reading expert reviews, you should pay attention both to the positive and negative aspects of the platform. Impartial experts always point out a few drawbacks of even the most renowned bookies, just to remain objective.
Customer comments should serve as an auxiliary tool for assessing the bookie’s credibility but not the primary one. Customers tend to be too biased.
New Bookies Have More Advanced Sites and Apps
It’s cheaper and easier to build a new site or app from scratch than to revamp an already existing one. That’s why new online bookmakers can boast better designs and more user-friendly interfaces. Of course, top bookies that make a lot of money can afford to upgrade their sites and apps. But they avoid doing so because they don’t want to lose their loyal audiences.
Some clients might be relying on the services of the same bookmaker for decades. They get used to all the elements of the interfaces, from fonts to the location of the bet slip. If the bookie decides to change its layout one day, such customers might leave the platform and never come back. Bookies might stick to their old designs to avoid losing a part of their income.
New Bookies Have More Lucrative Promotional Offers
Bookmakers that have just entered the market need to differentiate themselves from their more established counterparts. The selection of promotional offers can become a meaningful competitive edge for an industry newcomer. New bookies might offer their clients more generous welcome packages, organize lotteries and distribute free bets more actively than established platforms. But that’s not always the case. The selection of bonuses should comply with the bookie’s business model. Some platforms might try to attract clients with other perks, such as the selection of payment options and the conditions of carrying out financial transactions.
Can I Sign Up for Several Bookies?
Of course, you can register on several bookmaking sites or apps. But you should avoid placing arbitrage bets because they’re considered fraudulent activity. The term “arbitrage” means that you place bets on different platforms on different outcomes of the same event. Regardless of the result, you’ll win at some of the platforms — and your prizes will compensate for your losses on other sites. Bookmakers detect fraudsters and exchange information among themselves. You might be banned forever from all the platforms where you placed arbitrage bets.
Besides, there is at least one more drawback of using the services of various bookmakers. You might get too emotional or need to act in a haste — and you might forget the rules of the platforms. For instance, you might think that you normally place bets with fiat currency with the bookie A and with crypto with the bookie B. But in fact, you use crypto for the bookie A and fiat for the bookie B! Using the wrong payment options might incur excessive fees and your winnings will decrease.
Final Thoughts
Hopefully, you found this article informative and now understand the main differences between old and new bookmakers. Before signing up for a bookie, you should make sure it has a license. You can register at several betting platforms but it might be wiser to stick to only one. Newer bookies might have better designs and more generous selections of promotional offers — but they didn’t have enough time to build a reputation for themselves.