In business since 1998, 5Dimes sportsbook ranks among the favorites for high-dollar players.  They offer extremely competitive lines, including what we’ve found to be the best baseball odds in the business.  This book offers some decent bonuses from time to time, but I am not overly impressed with their overall bonus program.  Much like some of the other older books, they can rely a little more on their reputation, so you won’t find them being very aggressive with targeting new players.  Don’t let that detract you, however, because the money you can make up with better lines (particularly in baseball, where they offer 5 cent overnight lines) is worth as much or more than a good initial bonus.

Payout Speed (4/5): The payout system at 5Dimes is on par with most online sportsbooks in terms of the options you have at your disposal, but they lose a point from me because they don’t make it especially easy to request your payout.  This is of course an increasing problem in the industry because of stricter regulations on banks, but I would like to see them implement better software for the requests.

Deposit Options (4.5/5): 5Dimes does allow you to deposit with a credit or debit card, which automatically makes them better than a lot of books in the market.  They have a few other ways to fund your account, including sending a bank wire or Fedex-ing a check, but they don’t have quite as many options as some of the other books we’ve reviewed.

Bonuses (3/5): It isn’t that the bonuses at  5Dimes are bad by any means, they just aren’t anything to get excited about.  They do make up for a lack of “sexy” bonuses in other ways, like better lines and a very strong reputation, but the fact of the matter is that they just don’t stack up that well against some of the other bonus programs out there.

Customer Service (5/5): Customer service is easy to use and, perhaps most importantly, they are very easy to get in touch with.  They offer live chat, plus phone and e-mail support for any problems that come along.  They’ve been in business long enough to know that strong customer service can set you apart in this industry, and 5Dimes sets themselves apart here with flying colors.

Software (3.5): Placing bets is easy enough at 5Dimes, but it’s a little cumbersome and it isn’t very pretty.  I’m sure it’s no easy task to overhaul an entire betting software system, but my opinion is that it needs to be done sooner than later.

Reliability (5/5): 5Dimes ranks up near the top of our list of reliable sportsbooks.  This speaks to their longevity and their outstanding payout record throughout the years.  If you’ve been around the block and have been looking for a sportsbook you can feel 100% confident in, move 5Dimes to the top of your list as the next online sportsbook to sign up for.

Bookmaker is one of the leaders in the online sportsbook business.  They’ve been around as long as anyone (established in 1985) and have been consistently one of the most reliable sites in the industry.  My biggest gripe is that they simply don’t do a lot with their bonuses.  You will get a little something for funding your account, and a little something for reloading them, but they’ve certainly never “wowed” me with any of their bonus offers.  You get the feeling that they aren’t too hard up for players, so they aren’t going to bend over backwards just to get you to sign up.  In short, great reliability, but lacking in bonuses.

Payout Speed (5/5): As far as getting cashed out of your account, Bookmaker is one of the tops in the industry in getting you your money.  Keep in mind that “fast” in terms of cashing out of an online sportsbook is a relative term.  Do not expect your money same-day, but the standard 7-10 business days for a check via Fedex is about as good as it gets unless you fill out the paperwork to request a bank wire.

Deposit Options (5/5): There isn’t much you can’t use to get money into a Bookmaker account.  They accept most major credit cards, which is getting harder and harder to find, plus have all of the options that any other book has and more.

Bonuses (3/5): As I mentioned in the opening paragraph, bonus offers are the only thing that’s really lacking at Bookmaker.  They’ve had the 20% sign up bonus for a long time, which is nice, but it would be a real incentive if they could boost that percentage every now and again to compete with some of the newer books’ offers.

Customer Service (4/5): The customer service is fine, but I’m docking them a point because they do spam you on the phone – relentlessly.

Software (4/5): Bookmaker.com is a very attractive site and fairly easy to navigate, but their odds/wagering software isn’t the most intuitive around.  After a few wagers you’ll breeze through it, but the learning curve is a little more steep than at some other online sportsbooks.

Reliability (5/5): Nothing but praise for Bookmaker as far as reliability goes.  They’ve been in the business a LONG time and won’t be going anywhere soon.  We have no reports of any difficulties withdrawing funds or bonuses not been added to accounts.  This is where Bookmaker is better than about every other book online.  This comes partly from a straight-forward bonus system (some books have way too many rules about rollover and what you can and can’t bet on), but it works, period.

Sportsbook.com is one of the most recognized names in sports betting on the Internet today.  The biggest complaint about them has been that the payout speed is inconsistent.  They have improved in this aspect over the past couple of years, but it is still their biggest flaw.  Overall the site offers a ton of exotic wagering options on top of the standard ones you see everywhere else.  If you are into prop betting, I would definitely recommend signing up for an account here as they have the most options I have seen so far.

Payout Speed (3/5): Like I said, we have have reports of some delays here, but nothing too serious.  I definitely understand how frustrating it can be to cash out of a book and have to wait weeks or months before you get your funds, but since this is the exception and not the rule, I’m willing to give them about an average rating here.

Deposit Options (4/5): Sportsbook.com offers quite a few options to deposit, but I have to ding them here because they only accept Visa as far as credit cards go.  There are still plenty of other options if you don’t have a Visa card, but they take a little more time to set up and many of the options aren’t available to US players.

Bonuses (3.5/5): The bonuses here aren’t bad, they just aren’t great.  They do get creative with some of their promotions (my favorite is the $13 million perfect bracket contest during March Madness), which can be a lot of fun, but as far as real value here they aren’t much better than the rest of the pack.

Customer Service (4/5): Customer service is readily available via phone or online chat and I have always found them to be friendly and helpful.  Customer service is always a difficult rating because when people call or write in it is usually when something goes wrong, and they aren’t usually very happy to begin with.  Our personal experience has been rock-solid, but we have had a few people write in explaining that things simply were not explained to them clearly.  Overall, though, I’d say your chances of getting any real problems resolved are pretty good through their customer service.

Software (5/5): The site is attractive and easy to navigate.  I find it to be one of the easiest to seek out the wager type(s) you are looking for.  They are usually one of the first books to throw up season win/loss odds in the major sports and, as I mentioned before, they offer some very intriguing props throughout each season.

Reliability (5/5): Sportsbook.com has a massive customer base and have been in business since 1996.  They remain in good financial standing and show no signs of closing up shop or stiffing their players on legitimate winnings.

BetUS is quickly becoming one of the top online sportsbooks in the industry.  What we’ve found is that they offer some of the best initial sign up bonuses in the business.  They offer a wide variety of betting options for their players and, compared to other offshore books, they provide plenty of deposit and withdraw options to make it pretty easy to get your money in and out with minimal hassles.  By and large they’ve had very few complaints and they continue to be in excellent financial standing, meaning they are not going to close up shop or keep your winnings.

Payout Speed (4.5/5): We’ve found this book’s payout speed to be on par or better than the rest of the sportsbook industry.  It has gotten harder over the past few years for books to get the money to players, but given the limited options they do have to pay you, BetUS delivers well on this aspect.

Deposit Options (5/5): It is getting more and more difficult to find books that allow you to deposit with a credit/debit card.  You’ll have to fill out some paperwork about your depositing credit card before you make any withdraws from BetUS, but this is standard operating procedure these days, so it’s nothing to be alarmed about.

Bonuses (5/5): BetUS offers some of the most aggressive bonuses we’ve seen in the industry in years.  The highlight is their $500 match bonus for deposits on $500 or more, but they are constantly updating their incentives to get you to join.

Customer Service (4/5): There’s phone support and live chat available 24/7, but there have been complaints in the past that some of the customer service representatives weren’t has helpful or knowledgeable as they should have been.

Software (5/5): The BetUS site is easy to navigate and it’s simple to place wagers or manage your account.  Something I like about this book is that they are always trying to improve the customer experience which has led to some really good site updates lately.

Reliability (4.5/5): Our staff feels secure betting with BetUS and we have not received any complaints about disrupted payments or anything of the sort.  There are some other sites out there where complaints have been logged, so we don’t want to ignore that fact, but to the best of our knowledge BetUS is as good as any other site as far as honoring your wagers and payout requests.