ThePuntersPage (TPP) – Best Sportsbooks, Guides and Stats

Before we actually get some first-hand experience with a betting site, we begin by spending hours researching everything we can about them in order to get the best overview possible before we move onto more practical measures. Things we are looking for include their reputation. We check this by looking up what other people have been saying about them in general, across forums, on the App Store and so on.

We check to see if we can find any significant controversies or security issues, alongside any awards or accolades they have collected over the years. Checking out how long they have been around is also very helpful, as it contextualises how the site is likely to progress.

There’s also no more important part of our research than our security checks. We look for licences, encryption, privacy policies, responsible gaming policies and measures, alongside what banking options are available and whether they are trustworthy.

The last part of our overview is simply checking out what is available, meaning finding out what kind of betting variety the operator has to offer through their sports, markets and other products.

After we have gotten to know the site better, it is time for us to sign up ourselves. As we do so, we can get a first-hand experience and analyse how easy and straightforward this process is made so we can relay that back to you, as we know this process can be a source of anxiety for many. Should you be using a promo code when signing up? Or maybe want the opportunity to set deposit limits before placing any bets? We will tell you everything you need to know!

This can be part of the signing up process, but not always, so we’ve given it its own step here. We want to point out here that the reason we do things in this order is because we want to replicate, as best as possible, the kind of experience you will have when using this bookmaker.

We already made notes on the banking options available, so this is all about seeing how well they work. To do this, we deposit our own money and see how easy the process is and how quickly it gets added to our player account.

Once we have the money in our account, it’s time for us to place a bet. This could be anything – whatever we think could offer us good value. Here we will be checking out the structure of the site, its layout and how easy it is to find the market that we want.

This is also where we check out the quality of the betting odds by analysing the overround of a few different bet examples. Whether we win or we lose, though, we make sure to leave some money so we can also withdraw funds to analyse how easy and quick that process is as well.

Next up, we try out the promotions. We may have already checked out some of the promotions before this step, as many of them relate to our first deposit or first bet. However, we make it a point to check out as many additional examples as we can.

In addition to this, we aim to see whether the terms and conditions make them worthwhile. This means we look for everything from time limits to wagering requirements. We read every word of the terms and conditions, but still always recommend you check them out for yourself as they are subject to change.

After this, we test them out as thoroughly as we can to see if they work as described; for example, if there is a free bet following a deposit, how long it takes to appear, and how easy it is for the customer to use.

At this point, we usually have a few questions. That means this is the perfect time to contact customer service. The first part of this step is to go through the FAQs or the Help section and see what questions we can find answers to there.

Once this is done, we contact customer service through whatever means are available, test multiple options and even do so at different times to see if you can expect the same service at 2am (if available) as you can at 2pm. We add all this information to our notes and analyse the speed and helpfulness of the responses.

There are few better tests of an operator’s mettle than the kind of betting experience they can offer while a game is live and ongoing. So, we find events that are currently happening and see how they handle it. We look out for live streaming, and if that is available, we spend some time observing what is on offer and look out for any lag or streaming issues.

It’s important to note that the live experience is the perfect time to see what technical limitations the site has, as this is often where they are under the most strain. If everything works seamlessly here, it’s a good indicator of what you can expect in general. We also look for how well the betting markets and the odds update, and what graphics and other analytics are available to help you keep on track of the action as it unfolds.

Once all this is done, we do it all again – but this time on mobile. Ideally, we’ll find a perfectly portable version of what we have already experienced, keeping an eye out for design considerations being put into place for the difference in screen size and device, especially on dedicated apps.

We don’t want to see any loss of content from the desktop version and we want it available to as many people as possible. We view the mobile experience as every bit as important as the desktop version, as plenty of people love to play while on the go. See our list of best betting apps for a selection at your choice.

Our main focus on ThePuntersPage is sports betting, but that doesn’t mean we aren’t aware that a lot of people look for a jack-of-all-trades betting option, meaning the inclusion of other products is also of great importance to them. So, once we have checked off everything on our list that applies to sports betting, we go a step further to see what else is on offer, including things like Lotto, Casino, Bingo and much more.

We check out the quality and variety of what is available. Do note, however, that we wouldn’t give a sports betting site a bad review for not including these things. Different betting sites simply have different target audiences, so that is a choice rather than a flaw. Nonetheless, we view this step as vital to informing the reader as fully as possible on all facets of the operator.

Now we have broken down each and every element of a betting site, it is time for us to come up with a final conclusion. How good we think the site is and who we think it would be best for are our main considerations here. To do this, we give each site element we have looked at a score out of 5 to get an average overall score. We then provide our final thoughts in our ‘ThePuntersPage Final Say' section, so you can determine whether it’s worth your time to sign up or not.