Let’s be clear from the start.  These are the only Sports Books I use or will use.  If a Sports Books makes it onto my list then they are one of the top in the industry in trust, security, and payment processing.  The last thing I want to worry about is not getting paid my winnings or worse if my account is going to be canceled and my funds confiscated; basically stolen from me from some untrustworthy online Sports Book.  If I am not willing to risk MY OWN MONEY then I am NOT going to recommend them, period.

You might be surprised at how short this list is out of the thousands of books out there.  My list does sometimes change, rarely, as  Online Sports Book move up and down the ratings charts, however as aforementioned, this is a rare occurrence.  I keep a close watch on them and their ratings.  If I see trouble I will pull my money out and notify all my email subscribers what I am doing, including any news that effects these Sports Books.

One last piece of information, I am an American and thus will not be recommending sites I can not deposit into.  I realize that Pinnacle Sports is arguably the best Online Sports Book in this industry and although I still have an account there, since I was with them before they pulled out of the US market, never-the-less, there will not be a link to them in this section, because I can not deposit with them.

Recommended Sites are in Alphabetical Order

5Dimes

Bet Online

Bet Phoenix

BetGuardian

BetJamaica

Bodog

BookMaker

Caribsports

Intertops

Rebate Wager

The Greek

WorldWideWagering

You Wager

SportsInteraction

Taking a break… Be back soon to continue…

Best of Luck,

JD

When you are finished with this article you should feel confident enough to stand behind your convictions.

A simplified answer to this question for US Federal Law:  There is no law outlawing online gambling on the players side.  Unless you plan to operate an online casino, take bets, or own an online poker room, you will not be breaking any Federal Laws.

Here are some Federal Laws I will not be going into depth on, since most are not used or have nothing to do with players, however do deal with operating a casino, taking bets, or owning a poker establishment:

• Travel Act of 1961
• Interstate Transportation of Wagering Paraphernalia Act of 1961
• Illegal Gambling Business Act of 1970
• Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act of 1970 (RICO)
  
• Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992 (Bradley Act)
• Interstate Wagering Amendment of 1994
• Amendment to Interstate Horseracing Act
• Illegal Money Transmitting Business Act of 1992

Now let’s talk about the two laws you hear mostly about when concerning online gambling.  The Federal Wire Act of 1961 and the Unlawful Internet Gaming Enforcement Act (UIGEA).

Federal Wire Act of 1961:

Whoever being engaged in the business of betting or wagering knowingly uses a wire communication facility for the transmission in interstate or foreign commerce of bets or wagers or information assisting in the placing of bets or wagers on any sporting event or contest, or for the transmission of a wire communication which entitles the recipient to receive money or credit as a result of bets or wagers, or for information assisting in the placing of bets or wagers, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than two years, or both.

The Department of Justice (DoJ) maintains that this means all online gambling illegal, however you will never hear of the them using it to prosecute a player because the US Fifth Court of Appeals ruled that the Wire Act could only be used for sports betting.  Furthermore, because of the beginning phrase of “in the business of” it is surmised that it can only be used against a business establishment or someone in the business of accepting bets.  Although the DoJ maintains all online gambling is illegal, they have yet to charge a person because of the Fifth Court ruling.  I might add that the US Supreme Court has yet to make a ruling.

Unlawful Internet Gaming Enforcement Act (UIGEA):

The UIGEA was attached to the Safe Port Act at 9:29pm the day before the last day of congress to this must pass legislation.  It was attached as a conference report and the reading of the report was waived, so almost no one even knew what it said, but the Safe Port Act had to be passed.

Simplified: This Act basically makes it illegal for institutions to fund or transfer money that is gambling related.  Soon after many processors pulled out of the US market.  Such as Neteller, but Neteller didn’t pull out fast enough as the DoJ seized millions from them.  They returned the money to the US players that had accounts, but it took months to resolve.  I was lucky enough to get my money out of Neteller right after this was passed and before the money was frozen.

There were no clear definitions laid out, and for the first time the banking industry was deemed to be the enforcer, jury, and executioner, something they have never had to do in the past. This caused an uproar in the banking community and it meant they would have to overhaul the banking system, something they were not prepared to do and they have been fighting against the UIGEA ever since.  Ironically, it was the banking industry itself that shined the light on the provisions of the UIGEA that they could not enforce without changing the entire system and today you are seeing more and more Sports Books offer these methods of deposit and withdrawal.

Even though, it is clear, gambling online is not against any Federal law from the players perspective, that doesn’t mean the DoJ can’t come in and confiscate everything you own, sell it off and then once the courts rule in your favor, I am sure the DoJ will say, “oops, sorry”  However, the chances are pretty slim as long as you are just a player and not working the business side.

State Law:

There are many state laws that prohibit online Sports Betting as an individual pursuit.  For example, in Washington St., it is a felony to put $5 down on your favorite NFL team online and in Texas, it is perfectly legal to bet online, as long as you do it in the privacy of your own home.  So, you need to check your own state laws for legality.  I should mention New Jersey since it is the first state to actually pass legislation legalizing and regulated online gambling.  I believe right now they are just waiting for the Governor to sign it into law.  When that happens, there will probably be a cascade effect of states passing bills for online gambling.

The following link has has a list of states and if you click on each state it will display the statues for that particular state.  As for the chart, pay attention to the states that specifically list Expressed Internet Prohibition:

State Gambling Law Summary

In-the-end we learned that online gambling for the player is not illegal on the Federal level, however if you live in Louisiana, Montana, Nevada , Oregon, Washington, and Wisconsin then you are screwed.  I might add many online gambling establishments will not allow people from Kentucky to register on their site, since Kentucky believes their citizens should not be allowed to gamble online and if they can register from Kentucky, then Kentucky wants to fine and seize the domain names of the companies allowing this.

I hope I have shined the some light on the subject and helped you sleep a little better.  I live in Texas, so it is perfectly legal for me as long as I don’t go down to the local Piggly Wiggly, whip out my laptop, and say, “let’s start playing poker online everyone, line up…” Umm, there isn’t no such thing as a Piggly Wiggly… well, not anymore…

Best of luck and remember, play smart,

JD

Two very good questions.  I will briefly touch on legality since this article is about “How to Fund” and not law.  First off, when most people say funding a Sports Betting account is illegal, they are referring to the Unlawful Internet Gaming Enforcement Act (UIGEA), which was attached at the 11th hour to the must pass legislation of the Safe Port Act, you can read more about it here.  Basically, on the federal level it is illegal for an institution to process money to fund a gambling account.  Naturally, there were exceptions, such as Horse Racing or land base casinos and so forth, however there were no clear definitions laid out, and for the first time the banking industry was deemed to be the enforcer, jury, and executioner, something they have never had to do in the past. This caused an uproar in the banking community and it meant they would have to overhaul the banking system, something they were not prepared to do and they have been fighting against the UIGEA ever since.  There is a lot of information out there on how the banking industry is against the UIGEA and I will not be coving that in this article.  Now, credit cards, had already pretty much stopped allowing gambling transaction before the UIGEA came into effect, so they didn’t really need to change anything.  However, places like Neteller, quickly pulled out of the U.S. market and so did nearly every instant payment company out there.  The U.S. government did manage to seize millions of dollars and this caused a lot of chaos in the Sports Betting world for a little while.  Oh, there were still other methods to fund and withdrawal money, but most people had put them on the back burner.  Ironically, it was the banking industry itself that shined the light on provisions of the UIGEA that they could not enforce without changing the entire system and today you are seeing more and more Sports Books offer these methods of deposit and withdrawal.

Let’s get a couple of things straight.  UIGEA is a law against institutions and not individuals, however there are many state laws that prohibit online Sports Betting as an individual pursuit.  For example, Washington St., it is a felony to put $5 down on your favorite NFL team online and in Texas, it is perfectly legal to bet online, as long as you do it in the privacy of your own home.  So, you need to check your own state laws for legality.  I should mention New Jersey since it is the first state to actually pass legislation legalizing and regulated online gambling.  I believe right now they are just waiting for the Governor to sign it into law.  When that happens, there will probably be a cascade effect of states passing bills for online gambling.

Okay, lets move along, we could be here all day discussing the laws and regulations of this free country of ours.  How to fund your new account.  So you signed up with Bet Phoenix and want to get their 100% bonus, but how do you it.  One way of course is to just contact them and they will give you options, but surprisingly, one of the easiest ways to fund the account is not mentioned; or if it is listed, it is not called by it’s actual name.  I am talking about Money Gram or Western Union.  Usually, they try and steer you to Gold Pay or some ewallet and the funny part is, these ewallets, usually want you to fund them through MG or WU, so why not just tell you to use MG or WU directly.  Well, I would guess because like most places, there are affiliate programs that your new Sports Book is signed up with to get a little something back.  Whatever the case my be I just always ask for MG information or bank wires if the amount to deposit is over $5K.  Yes, I know, it seems strange, fund an account with a bank wire, but that is one of the holes in the system.  Another is the ACH system, you are beginning to see more an more books offer instant deposits and such because the only way to change the ACH system to comply with the UIGEA is to change it globally and no way, for example, will the UK, where gambling is perfectly legal, change their entire banking system for some yanks.  So, my favorite ways are ACH, MG, WU, or bank wire.   I do not bother with Gold Pay or ewallets, because all have some type of fees attached.  Of course when making a deposit to your book, they will refund your fees, if you deposit at least $200 at most books.  The problem is when you withdrawal.  That can be a major hassle and expensive via ewallets.  You might be thinking about checks for deposits and yes, you can, but it is just not worth the aggravation.  I, like most of you probably, was a little scared in the beginning, I didn’t know much about funding an account and thought I would try with a check.  First, I had to wait for the book to receive the check.  Then I had to wait for the check to clear.  Days past before I was able to actually use the funds and swore I would never use that method of deposit again.  So, save yourself some aggravation and just go with one of the instant routes: MG or WU or ACH.

MG or WU:
These deposit and withdrawal methods are usually called Person to Person.  I guess coming right out and labeling them by their full actual name is not something they want to risk.  lol, even I am using MG or WU because, I don’t know, the books don’t like to use their real names so I will follow their example.  There is a pretty big difference in fees.  MG is under $10 at your local Wal-Mart and WU can run into the $100s in fees for deposits.  Of course your book will refund your fees, but come on paying $70 in fees for same transaction that costs $10 at MG, forget it, I always use MG over WU.  Now, what happens if you want to deposit over $900 and the clerk is asking for your Drivers License or Identification card, not a problem, I always give it with a smile.  What happen when you hit around $2500 or where ever that level is and they need your social security number.  No, problem, just give it with a smile.  However, nearly every time, your book will just break up the deposits into smaller amounts so you will not be asked for a social.  Now this next part is very important.  Make sure you double check everything, the name is spelled correctly, it is going to the right country, and it is being delivered in US Dollars.  The easiest way to know it is in US dollars, is the currency exchange rate will be listed as 1.00.  I can not stress this enough, more times than not, there is an error on the clerks’ side.  Nothing to get upset about, they can correct it there.  So make sure you check.  If you discover this error when you get back home you will then need to contact MG and they will play 20 questions with you.  Like do you know the person you are sending money to and so on.  This is actually just so they can tell you at the end, that because you do not know the person MG will not be able to guarantee the money if you are sending it to the wrong person and so on.  It is all not really a big deal, but it will take a lot of time sometimes to straighten out.  So, save yourself some aggravation and correct the problem before it gets to this stage.  One more thing, every name I have sent to is in the following format: First Name, Last Name, and 2nd Last Name.  I know it seems strange for us Americans, but that is the format.  Once you have made your MG deposit, contact your book and give them your control number, the amount of the deposit, the fees, the person you sent it to, and the country it was sent to.  In some cases your money will be credited in less than 10 minutes.  Every book is different and if you did this in the middle of the night, it might take until the next morning.  However, if you call from Wal-mart it is usually credited by the time you get home.  I usually just go online and give them information via live chat.  MG or WU is fast and cheap and is my personal favorite method, well except ACH, but you don’t see too many of them yet, but more and more books are heading in that direction.

ACH:
This is usually labeled instant deposit or withdrawal.  Now, sometimes ewallets such as gold pay or neteller are called instant deposits, but they will be labeled by their actual name.  If you see a deposit method labeled instant deposit it is usually, now, referring to the ACH system.  So, how fast is the ACH system, about one to two days.  It is a wonderful method of withdrawal when you don’t need the money that day.  You just enter your routing number and account number from your bank and everything will be processed fairly quickly.  As you can see, you want to make sure you are using only high caliber, trustworthy books for these type of transactions.  However, I will use this method first if it offered.

BANKWIRES:
I have used a few bankwires, but they are kind of pain.  There is a lot of information to fill out and if there is a mistake it could take months to track down, or so I have been told by the books and have read horror stories about bankwires gone missing.  Personally, mine have all went through fairly smoothly.  The only problem I have had was on my first one, I was dealing with a teller that really wasn’t familiar with them.  They had to call a branch manager that was out to lunch and so on, took nearly the whole day to finally get it done.   Then I had to wait 24hrs for it to register at the books bank and then more time for them to credit it.  So, the whole process took about 48 hrs.   So, my suggestion is make sure you deal with a knowledgeable person.

CHECKS:
I personally just don’t like them.  I already mentioned the issues with using them as a deposit but many things can go wrong when depositing them in your own bank accounts.  They can bounce, since most books use a third party processing company for checks, that processing company may have to close an account quickly or a multitude of reasons can happen and you have a bounced check on your hands.  Not a pretty picture, fees start to pile up, and for this reason, many banks will tell you it can takes weeks for the check to clear.  However, sometimes a few weeks have past and your bank “clears” the check only to discover, oops, they cleared it too early.  They just followed there personal deadline, but actually the account was closed.  So, a month passes and your money is removed from your account for a bounced check.  It can be a nightmare.  Here is a little trick though to greatly increase your chances of having a good check and getting the money from it quickly.  I discovered this on my first deposit to a small bank.  The teller told me it would take 3 months to clear.  I was thinking that is crazy, but I didn’t really need the money, so okay whatever.  I started to leave the bank and another teller called out to me.  She said, “Please wait.” and got on her phone to call someone, now you can imagine, my heart is pounding.  I may not be breaking any laws, but still it is hard to believe when we have been told over and over it is illegal, furthermore, whether it is legal or not, that still wouldn’t stop an uninformed law enforcement officer from arresting you.  The Department of Jutice does it all the time.   Arrests, confiscates and then the courts say, what are doing, this guy didn’t do anything wrong and the DoJ’s response is oops, sorry.  In the mean time you have to pick up the pieces of your life.  Okay, so all this flashes through my, remember this is my first time depositing to a small bank.  I walk back over to a different teller, she is on the phone and I can now hear her.  She is saying, “yes… okay.. alright”  She’s writing things down.  She hangs up and says, “Okay, the funds will clear by tomorrow.”  By this time my eyes were wide and I had to think for a moment for her words to register.  I smiled big and thanked her and asked what did she do.  She informed me that the check had a US agent listed on it.  She showed me and in small print was a US number and a bank.  Although, it was an international check, it had an agent so she was able to contact that person directly and confirm the funds.  So, score one for small town customer service.   However, I really do not like this method of withdrawals and will use one of the other methods.  However, sometimes it will be the only method allowed.  If this is the case, I always request they use a courier with a tracking number and once I get the check I always look for the agent and mention the agent to the teller when making the deposit.

So, those are the methods I like to use to fund accounts.  I hope I was able to pass on some useful information and if you have any questions, feel free to ask them, either in the comments section below or the contact us form to the right.  Oh and don’t forget to thank our advertisers by checking out what they have to offer if something catches your eye.

Best of luck on your journey to becoming a Professional Sports Bettor and remember, play smart,

JD

However, let’s break this down a little more.  In my article:  How to Effectively Use a Sports Betting Free Play Bonus I demonstrate that a free play is worth about 50%-58% percent of the value of a cash bonus.  So, naturally if one place is offering a 50% cash bonus and another is offering a 100% Free Play bonus, I would take the free play, since I would be guaranteed at the least to make 50% cash from that bonus.

This may have been an easy solution or answer but I know if you are asking the question, then you have been struggling with this for a while.  At the top I put in the Bet Online link because they match anyone’s listed bonus, but keep in mind it is a Free Play bonus.  So, if someone is offering a 75% cash bonus, they would match it with a 75% free play bonus.

Well guys, if ya have any more questions fill free to ask and remember, play smart,

JD

So let’s say you clicked on BetPhoenix here, signed-up, sent your money, and got a 100% free play.  Okay, so now what ?  You might ask; you might also be thinking how can I use this free play bonus effectively to guarantee I get 50% of it in cash.

First a quick explanation of how a sports betting free play works. If you already know, then you can skip this paragraph.  Let’s say I sent $500 to Bet Phoenix and they gave me $500 in free plays.  I now have two different balances, a cash balance and a free play balance.  Now I pick the game I want, I will use Utah Jazz in the NBA and the spread is -2.  Well, I am not sure if Utah will win, so I use my free play.  I place $110 down to win $100 of my free play and Utah wins by 8 points.  Woot! I won.  Now my cash balance is $500 + $100 = $600 and my free play amount is $500 – $110 = $390.  If you add the two now it is only $990.  So, even though I won, which if this was only a cash balance with no free play, I would have a balance of $1100, I still lost the free play amount.  The thing about free plays is once you risk the free play the amount risked is gone, whether you win or lose.  Now with cash, you get the amount you risked back if you win.  So, basically, a free play is the same as cash if you lose, but if you win, you only convert it to cash.  Hopefully I explained that clearly, if not please just leave a comment below and I will try to explain the unclear parts bettor.

So, what we want to do is maximize this free play we got.  There are several ways and some are complicated and some are not.  Now before I start to explain I will not be talking about using 12 three team parlays with 6x odds or anything like that.  Yes, it can convert something like 75% or higher of the free play to cash, the problem that most people don’t seem to realize is, yes technically, it can be done, but in practicality you would be extremely hard pressed to find quality books that first had 6x odds, then allowed you to bet both sides, then allowed you to cover every possible scenario, and then allowed you to do it with a free play.  So, you may in your search have come across using parlays and that strategy, well, good luck to you if you want to try that route.  As for me, I will stick to converting a guaranteed 50% – 55% into cash.

Okay, I will use an example of an actually play I did recently:

NBA- Dec 27, 2010
Minnesota Timberwolves +155
New Orleans Hornets -170

Now our goal is to turn that $500 free play  into at least $250 cash so our cash balance would be $250 + $500 = $750.  The lines above are to win lines.  Now you always have to use the free play on the dog and you are looking for a line that is at least +150 with the other team no greater than -200, this will insure you get at least a 50% return.  Now you will not be able to do this at one book, you will have to have money in another book for this to work because you are just asking for trouble if you try this at one book.

Okay, so let’s see how this betting strategy will turn out.  We would have placed our $500 free play on the Minnesota Timberwolves +155; which would be to risk $500 to win $775.  Now we go over to our other account and risk $500 cash on the New Orleans Hornets -170 in the amount $500 to win $294.12.

Final outcome if Minnesota wins = $775 cash from the free play, but lose the $500 cash play, so our profit is $275.
Final outcome if New Orleans wins = $0 from the free play, but gain $294.12 from the cash play, so our profit is $294.12

Minnesota wins = $275 cash which means 55% of the free play was converted to cash
New Orleans wins = $294.12 cash which means 58.8% of the free play was converted to cash.

So, how did we do?  On this day the Minnesota Timberwolves won.  Our new cash balance is $500 + $275 = $775. This play took me only a few minutes to make and yet earned me a nice 55% return on that free play, which added to my bottom line and that is really what this is all about, adding to your bottom line.

So, there you go, an easy way to insure you get at least a 50% return on your free play.  I hope I explained this well enough and if not, just leave me a comment and will do my best to help.

Best of Luck and play smart,

JD

Bet Online offers some of the biggest free plays in the industry and will match anyone’s bonus with a free play bonus.  Guaranteed money, gotta love it!

Now, I will not be giving my own systems out or selling my own systems.  However, I will try and steer you in the right direction so you can develop many different ways to be successful, but you will have to think outside the box and really question what you have been told and what you thought you knew.

However, I will start with the basics…

Advice & Strategies:

• Is Online Gambling, Online Sports Betting, Online Poker illegal in the US: Yes or No?
• How to Fund an Online Sports Betting Account
• How to Effectively Use a Sports Betting Free Play Bonus
• Which is a better bonus: Cash or Free Play?

Best of Luck,

JD