Betting Website Reviews
New Jersey sportsbook reviews
Whether it’s a sports betting site, a casino site, a poker site, or a combination of things, we want to see software from established, reliable firms. When it comes to online casino betting sites, for example, we really like to see games from NetEnt, Microgaming, IGT, and Playtech. These companies have a long history and are guaranteed fair. Trust captaingambling for Online Betting Information. Captaingambling is a trustworthy bookmaker review site because it's licensed, and it relies on careful research and well-defined research criteria to choose quality bookmakers and betting websites.
SINCE New Jersey legalised sports betting there has been monumental movement in the local industry, with many of the biggest sportsbooks in the world now having a foothold in the US state. This page will highlight the best sportsbook reviews online, with our take on the best NJ Sportsbooks an independent view from local writers. Below you will find a few paragraphs about each betting site we have reviewed, plus further navigation to full reviews:
New Jersey betting site reviews
The following websites are licensed in to operate in New Jersey and are endorsed by our sports betting review team:
William Hill NJ:
One of the leading gambling companies in the world, William Hill did not take long to enter the New Jersey market after sports betting became legal. William Hill started out in the United Kingdom as a retail bookmaker, before expanding rapidly when the online boom came. These days William Hill offers everything from poker to casino to sports betting. At this point the New Jersey website of William Hill only offers sports betting. Read the full William Hill review.
BetStars NJ
Owned by the Stars Group, Betstars is one of the leaders in online sports betting in New Jersey. Offering some great betting promotions and wagering on all major international and domestics sports, BetStars moved into the NJ market through its partnership with Resorts Casino in Atlantic City. The betting site also has up to $500 in free bets available for new customers, although its worth noting it works on a “refund” model where if you lose your first bet it gets refunded up to $500. For more info on Betstars bonuses, read our full review.
DraftKings NJ
DraftKings is a US-brand that got its start in the fantasy sports market, before the recent developments which have lead to regulated sports betting in some states in the USA. DraftKings has got a great reputation among its customers in New Jersey and operates in the state via its relationship with Resorts Casino in Atlantic City, where you can also bet in-house. While the promotions and bonus offers run by DraftKings are right up there among the best of them, if there is a downfall we found while writing our sports book review, this betting company could spend some more time ironing out the layout of their website. To find our more information about the company, bonus offers, promotions, what sports and wagers are available, read our DraftKings New Jersey review.
Fanduel NJ
While FanDuel might be more known for their fantasy sports games, their sportsbook has been launched in New Jersey with great fanfare. Powered by leading international betting brand, Betfair, FanDuel provides a slick interface (for US standards) and also some great bonus offers available, including on the major US sports events. Another pro of FanDuel is that you can bet on sports, play real money fantasy sports and play at their online casinos, all at the one URL. Read our FanDuel review to find out more.
PlayMGM
One of the more well-known brands in New Jersey, PlayMGM is mainly known for its Borgata casino brand. However, the PlayMGM sports betting arm is outstanding, with thousands of daily markets, on sports held in both the USA and overseas. We’ve taken a liking to PlayMGM because of their basketball odds, with the odds often better here than elsewhere during the early parts of the 2019-20 NBA season. Read our guide to MGM sports betting in New Jersey.
Caesars NJ
Caesars is one of the most well-known gambling brands in the world, and their sportsbook is now live in New Jersey. You can bet at both their top-flight online sportsbook and in the flesh at the venue. While the online sportsbook includes wagering on numerous popular US sports, you can also play at the companies online casino with the same account. Regulated by the appropriate bodies in New Jersey, we expect Caesars sports betting offering to continue to improve. Read our Caesars NJ review.
Best Sports Betting Website Reviews
Pointsbet NJ
This Australian-founded online betting site is one of the newer entries into the USA, and they are definitely providing some unique betting options. Pointsbet sportsbooks PointsBetting deal, where the more your bet wins by the more you will win. Pointsbet.com also has plenty of appropriate deposit options for New Jersey punters, including popular credit cards, web wallets and much more. Read our Pointsbet NJ review.
SugarHouse NJ
Originally launched in 2018, PlaySugarHouse.com is affiliated with popular casino the Golden Nugget, while the brand has also launched in Pennsylvania in 2019. SugarHouse has got both an online sports betting offering and a gambling site on offer. Covers all of the popular US sports like basketball and football and has some really nice bonuses for new players. You can find out more about the what is on offer by reading our SugarHouse NJ review.
Resorts Casino Sportsbook
Launched in 2019, the Resorts Casino sports betting website has a nice layout and some great bonus offers and promotions for both new and existing players. The website is fully responsive and works well across all platforms. Has an outstanding selection of domestic sports betting markets, while they also offer some unique markets on international sports like Australian football. Learn more reading our Resorts Casino review.
Golden Nugget sports betting
The Golden Nugget sports betting site has a great layout, although it can at first seem to be a bit busy. If we had to highlight the best thing about the Golden Nugget betting site it would be that it has futures markets well in advance of other books in New Jersey. If we had to highlight a downside it would be the lack of horse racing markets – although the Golden Nugget sportsbook is not on its own there. If you’re in New Jersey and not a member of the Golden Nugget you should be. You can claim a nice no deposit $50 welcome bonus for signing up.
Learn more by reading our Golden Nugget sports betting review.
New sports betting reviews
Unibet
With sports betting operations in dozens of jurisdictions worldwide, Unibet is one of the best-known gambling brands on the planet. Unibet NJ brings the company’s online sportsbook and casino products to the Garden State. Read more in our Unibet NJ review.
FoxBet
Foxbet is one of the latest betting brands to hit New Jersey, with it an amalgamation between Pokerstars and Fox Sports. With the clout of these giants of industry behind it, it’s hard seeing Foxbet not taking off in the states. Read more in our FoxBet review.
How we review NJ sports betting sites
Reviewing online betting sites is a hard thing to do if your’e not familiar with the product, which is one thing we always make sure of before employing someone to write our reviews. They must be based in New Jersey and be passionate or at least objective about sports betting and the local industry. Some of the things that we look for when writing our sports book reviews are:
Licensing: If a betting site is not licensed by the New Jersey Department of Gaming Enforcement you won’t find it on this site. While there is a thriving offshore betting industry surrounding the USA, New Jersey is one of the states with fully regulated and legal sports betting industry.
Bonuses: We love something for free at New Jersey Sports Bet and online betting sites catering to this market, so far, have all got great bonuses, usually in the form of freebets or bonus bets. As always be aware of the wagering requirements attached to any free bets, it’s not the year 2005 anymore, they are much harder to game.
Betting markets: Our betting reviews will always take a look at the sports and racing markets on offer. What is the point of signing up at an online betting site if they don’t have the markets you want to be on.
Mobile sports betting: With all online betting sites needing to have a mobile website in 2019, we take note of the quality of each in our reviews, including highlighting any lowlights of the mobile offering. So far all the regulated online sportsbooks in New Jersey have got mobile websites, while many also have native and local apps available.
Opinion / Verdict: When it comes down to it, there are many online sportsbook review sites out there and most are factually correct, but not all have accurate and well-formed opinions. Our reviews are written by New Jersey locals and edited by industry experts. You can trust us.
It’s crucially important to stay safe when betting online. In fact, it should be priority number one when assessing a site to bet on.
We’ve done most of the hard work for you by searching the web, reviewing hundreds of potential betting sites, and separating the worthy sites from those you should avoid.
Check out the sites listed in the table above. All of these passed our security checks with flying colors.
Betting Site | Bonus | Bet Now | |
---|---|---|---|
1 | up to €30 Free Bet | Go to Site | |
2 | 22Bet | 100% up to €122 | Go to Site |
3 | 100% up to €200 | Go to Site | |
4 | 10Bet | 100% up to €50 | Go to Site |
5 | 100% up to €50 | Go to Site |
Of course, we don’t just expect you to take our word on it. That’s why we’ve outlined how we made the decision to include these below if you’re interested.
The safest gambling sites are inevitably found in the countries where it is legal and regulated. These sites have to pass quality checks and comply with strict regulations to get a license from the authorities in these countries. This is one of the factors we consider when assessing a site.
How We Decide if a Betting Site is Safe
There are literally tens of thousands of potential betting sites to choose from. We’ve visited, bet on, and reviewed thousands of them. Over time, we have developed criteria for assessing betting sites.
Each site listed in the table above passed the following tests:
It Must Have a Valid Gaming License
If a site doesn’t have a license issued by a credible authority, that’s a warning sign that it might not be safe. It’s even worse if it once had one but lost it. That means it violated the issuing authority’s rules.
There are lots of gaming authorities in the world, but the following are the ones we rate highest.
This is widely considered the gold standard of casino gaming licenses. The UK is a highly regulated market and there’s a zero tolerance policy towards cheating and scheming. If a betting site has a UK license, it’s almost guaranteed to be safe.
Malta is a Mediterranean island nation and an iGaming mecca. Lots of online casinos and software firms operate out of Malta. The Gaming Authority, therefore, takes licensing issues incredibly seriously and is quick to clamp down on anything considered unfair.
Geographically, Gibraltar lies off the tip of Spain. It’s actually a British overseas territory, though. While it governs its own affairs, gambling regulations stem from the UK Gambling Act (2005), making a Gibraltar license just as worthy as a UK one.
This small island nation in the Caribbean is home to thousands of remote eGaming operations. A Curacao license is generally held in high regard, and although the regulations are a little more flexible than the UKGC’s, for example, a betting site with a Curacao license is still considered pretty safe.
So, that’s a quick look at some of the top gambling regulators. Our recommended sites always have a valid license. You can double check these directly on the websites listed above.
It Must Offer Fast, Reliable Payouts
There’s more than one way for a site to be unsafe, but without a doubt, the most common sort of betting site scam is when you deposit and don’t get your money back.
Some sites also put up major obstacles to allowing you to withdraw, such as by asking for unreasonable verification documents or by putting in minimum withdrawal clauses which far exceed the deposits you have made.
We check the terms and conditions of each site we recommend and avoid recommending those with anything we think is ‘funny business.’
Ideally, we want to see same day payout for e-wallet withdrawals, and we want to see a maximum 3-5 business day wait for credit and debit card withdrawals.
Despite how some players feel, we actually like it when a casino asks you to verify your identity. As long as the process isn’t too complex or time-consuming, this means the site cares about fraud prevention and identity theft. When it comes to looking for safe betting sites, that’s a big plus.
It Must Run on a Secure, Encrypted Connection
Betting Sites Reviews
Does the idea of advanced encryption make your head spin? Don’t worry, we feel you on that.
There’s no need to have a deep understanding of this issue to make use of it. That’s why they pay IT professionals the big bucks. All you need to know, as an online bettor, is that you want to bet at sites with https:// at the beginning of the web address.
That means the site runs on an SSL encrypted connection. Without getting into boring details, this makes it virtually impossible for hackers and criminals to steal financial and/or personal data on the connection.
If you take a look at any of the sites listed above, you’ll see that they run on secure connections. We don’t take risks with your data safety, and you should avoid any sites which aren’t encrypted.
On most browsers, a little notification will appear beside the address bar telling you if a site is not secure. Pay attention when this happens. It could be a costly mistake to ignore this.
It Must Offer Games from Reputable Software Providers
Whether it’s a sports betting site, a casino site, a poker site, or a combination of things, we want to see software from established, reliable firms.
When it comes to online casino betting sites, for example, we really like to see games from NetEnt, Microgaming, IGT, and Playtech. These companies have a long history and are guaranteed fair.
If we see betting software we don’t recognize, that’s not an automatic write-off. We know this industry is highly innovative and are always willing to give upstarts a chance. However, we need to dig deeper and find out if these companies are reputable, and ideally want to see third-party verification of payouts.
Safe betting sites will have no problem publishing payout rates and explaining how the software works. If they aren’t willing to be transparent, we aren’t willing to recommend them.
It Must Have an Established History & Solid Base of Players/Bettors
The longer a betting site has been around the better, in our view. If a site has been servicing thousands of players since 1998, it’s highly unlikely to be unsafe. If it has survived for decades, it’s a safe bet (pun fully intended).
We’re also aware, of course, that there are lots of new betting sites coming online on a daily basis, and plenty of them are safe. In those cases, we look at the management team and company running them. If they are experienced and run multiple safe betting sites, we are happy to recommend them.
If a site is totally new, run by a startup with no industry reputation or experience, it’s highly unlikely you’ll find that site on our recommended list. They will only make it if they’ve done something exceptional to win our trust.
There are some new betting sites which make the cut, but it’s rare, and as you’ll see from the table above, most of our preferred betting sites have been around for a while.
Some of the Risks Associated with Online Betting
Part of the key to staying safe when betting online is education. We don’t mean to be patronizing, but if you’re new to this, you’re more likely to fall into the hands of predatory sites and scammers.
We want to prevent that, if possible. Other than sticking to the sites which have already been reviewed in-depth by our team of experts, it helps to know what some of the common safety concerns are.
Here’s a quick rundown of some of the risks associated with betting sites:
- Outright Theft – This is simply a site stealing your money or making it impossible to get it back. It happens all too often but can easily be avoided. Stick to sites with a reputation for fair, fast payouts. Also, take some time to at least skim the terms and conditions, especially the ‘withdrawals’ section.
- Identity Theft – This is the one that really seems to freak people out these days. It’s always slightly unnerving when a betting site asks you to send a copy of your ID and a recent utility bill to verify your account. Again, it won’t be such a worry if you stick to the best-known operators who have licenses requiring them to take data protection seriously.
- Fee Gouging – Those terms and conditions are a treasure trove of information, as we’ve said before. Still, virtually nobody takes the time to read them. This is where dishonest operators can confiscate your winnings for no reason or take back a hefty slice in the form of fees.
- Viruses & Malware – Lots of mobile bettors, in particular, like to download an app from their favorite betting site. However, too many less scrupulous operators install malware, adware, and spyware along with the app. Get a good antivirus program which detects malware, adware, and spyware, and you should be safe.
- Rigged Games & Odds – The crooked bookie or casino run in a smoke-filled room parlor by the mob is long gone. These days, they’ve migrated online. Some unsafe betting sites create their own odds software or casino games, which are designed to rip you off, plain and simple.
Summary
It’s always worth it to take the time to research before deciding on a betting site. You can start by reading some of our in-depth reviews.
We cover each of the points listed above in detail and leave no stone unturned. We’re not saying every site we review will turn out to be right for you, but we are saying you’ll be in a much better position to make a decision after reading one.
You can find our safest betting sites and their full reviews on the table at the top of this page. We wish you the best of luck!