When looking for an online sportsbook there are give primary details a prospective customer should look for: financial status, wagering ease, ease of making deposits and withdraws, betting options, and bonus programs.
Of these five, obviously financial status is by far the most important, as it doesn't matter how many bonuses a sportsbook will give you or how easy it is to place a wager if they don't pay.
Here we will take a look at Bet Jamaica, an online sportsbook that consistently gets high marks from sports bettors and for good reason.
Bet Jamaica Background
Bet Jamaica has been around since August, 2003, but its parent company, the highly regarded Olympic Sports, has been in existence since 1996. Olympic Sports also operates The Greek Sportsbook, another sportsbook that receives rave reviews on a regular basis.
Bet Jamaica is located in Montego Bay, Jamaica, and typically caters to the smaller player, as its minimum online wager amount is just $2 USD.
They accept deposits by credit card, bank wire, money transfer, cashiers check or bank draft, among others, making getting started a relatively simple process.
Bet Jamaica offers one free withdraw per month and will typically charge $20 to $25 (USD) for any withdraw after that depending upon the payment method requested.
Financial Status
Gamblers can feel confident to have their funds in Bet Jamaica, as the company's reputation for making prompt payments is widely known in the sports betting fraternity, including by several independent online sportsbook watchdogs, Sportsbook Review and the Off Shore Gaming Association.
Players can access their accounts 24 hours a day and payouts may be requested between 8 a.m. and midnight(EST) Monday through Friday.
Wagering Ease
Bet Jamaica's online site is fairly easy to navigate and there is a good wagering tutorial online that helps explain how its wagering system operates. The company accepts phone wagers for those times you can't be at your computer and the minimum phone wager is $10 USD.
Bettors can place a number of exotic bets, such as teasers, reverses, parlays, round-robins, and can buy half points.
Bet Jamaica's limits are a bit on the smaller side, especially with overnight lines ($250-$300 USD), but are perfectly fine for the vast majority of gamblers.
Bonus Program
Bet Jamaica offers a solid bonus program, including 20% on your first deposit and 10% on all additional deposits. The company also has a number of specials throughout the year, so it is suggested to visit their web site to see what is being offered.
The company offers reduced juice (-105) on all football wagers placed Friday evenings between 6 p.m. and midnight (EST), which should be taken advantage of whenever possible. Laying -105 instead of the customary -110 lowers the winning percentage a sports bettor needs to break even from 52.38 to 51.21.
One of the nicest bonuses comes in the form of the Paradise Loyalty Club, where bettors receive a free wager for every 100 sports bets placed. The amount of the free wager is determined by your average bet size, but for players who bet a number of games, this bonus can add up to a nice-sized chunk of change over time.
Players looking for an online sportsbook won't do much better than choosing Bet Jamaica and they certainly can do much worse.
