Sportbet

Sportbet was another early bird in the online sports betting game, first allowing bettors to log in to the website and make a wager in 1999. The sportsbook was known early on as being excellent in marketing and sales but a little rough around the edges when it came to customer support and players being able to redeem their winnings. Players who were hungry for a bonus and juicy promotions would play there but many recreational players were turned off by the adversarial relationship Sportbet had with their winning clients.

A few years later Sportbet would make Jake Slater head of day to day operations as the sportsbook’s General Manager. Early on things were slow to change but Jake worked closely with players and the management here at Predictem to change rules, make bonuses more friendly and easy to understand, and to review disputes to make sure the customer would always receive the benefit of the doubt. Sportbet flourished both in reputation and on the business end. By 2006 Jake and Sportbet was offering payouts within an hour and many promotions that you don’t see today such as -105 reduced juice Tuesdays, Free half point Thursdays, and a Free Crazy Prop Bet Of The Day.

By 2009 Sportbet had grown exponentially and we were entering the golden era for sportsbooks located in the Caribbean. They were working ouf of the Equus building in San Jose, Costa Rica. Their neighbor, 5Dimes Sportsbook had also grown, and to a much larger size. They both needed additional space so it made sense when 5Dimes acquired Sportbet and sister sportsbook Island Casino.

Today Sportbet is a fully backed brand under 5dimes, one of the largest sports betting operations. 5dimes does not allow players to play at multiple properties at once so players looking for a new book select from one of these brands and do so by comparing features. 5Dimes uses their two main brands to represent the different betting styles. 5Dimes of course is known for their large betting menu at -105 reduced juice pricing. Sportbet’s default setting is to also have reduced juice pricing, but at -107.

The main reason for bettors to use Sportbet is because hands down, it is the best place to bet parlays and teasers online. For example, a 4 team teaser pays 3 to 1 while the next best sportsbook offers 2.6 to 1. For parlays, a two-team parlay pays 2.74 to 1 whereas the next best book pays 6 to 1. To put it bluntly, if you are a parlay or teaser bettor, you must use Sportbet or, WIN OR LOSE, you will leave a lot of your money in your bookie’s hands.

Sportbet Sportsbook’s Beginnings

Yes, Sportbet started out with a lot of disputes. The power of social media and online reviews didn’t exist and original ownership took advantage of that. The most negative feedback they dealt with came in the form of posts in online betting forums. Today, brand and reputation is everything and 5dimes Sportsbook has had a superb reputation for over 20 years and the best product in the category. While we do like to tell the story of a sportsbook’s heritage and beginnings, for almost 10 years Sportbet has been fully owned by 5dimes and existing as a 5Dimes property. 

Sign-up Bonus – It’s There Only Because

Remember the old days where retail stores specialized in one thing? You could go into a home improvement store and see people choose a stereo from the 2 models in the whole store at terrible prices. You’d want to go up to them and give them a slap across the face and say
“Are you crazy? You don’t buy that here!” 
They’d throw money away pretending that just up the street Best Buy didn’t have three models up from that at the better price. Maybe they were impulse buyers or maybe they were lazy? Maybe they were about to paint the bathroom and needed a stereo and just be done with the prep work? That’s how it is when you take a bonus at Sportbet. They have to offer it because some of the dumbest players, too-rich players, or laziest players will leave to get it elsewhere if they don’t. Sportbet is going to put so much more money in your pocket than any max bonus if you play for a few months. 

Reduced Juice at -107

If you do not bet parlays and teasers go bet at 5dimes and pay -105 pricing for each bet. Sportbet may be the perfect sportsbook for the player who bets teasers and parlays but will also bet the occasional straight bet. No one likes paying retail pricing and at Sportbet you will pay 30% less juice than any typical -110 operation. 

Unique Odds – At 14c Lines You See a Lot of Moves

Some sportsbooks might have -110 or even -115 in some markets. That’s a lot. So much that they sometimes don’t have to move the lines because the price margin is high enough that they are profitable even when the market shifts a tad and they don’t. Sportbet on the other hand can’t afford to site idly by and expect their low margin pricing. You may see -110 and -104 on the other side when the -104 is the side you want, to an extent, you already won. And sometimes two juicy sides happen to be the teams you want to parlay which can be a very very good deal. 

Bitcoin Betting

Typically bitcoin redemptions take a few business hours although Sportbet asks that players allow for up to 72 hours to send the funds. A few years ago the term bitcoin sportsbook meant it was a specialty bitcoin betting site. Now, bitcoin is simply the means to move money quickly to and from your book. Sending bitcoin to your Sportbet account means you will have a balance in USD just as if you deposited through any other method. 

Sportbet Pros & Cons

In our 5Dimes review we talk about 5Dimes being one of the best sportsbooks of all time. Obviously much of that carries over to Sportbet. However, Sportbet also holds the title of one of the best parlay and teaser sportsbook and certainly the best one on the market now. There have been many books over the years to offer high payouts and many have gone out of business because they didn’t understand how parlay and teasers can really beat the house and overall revenue. Sportbet has found a way to offer these payouts while being a profitable bookmaker. Because of this Sportbet books more parlays and teasers than all of Las Vegas combined.