Sportsbook.com is one of the most recognized names in the industry because of their website domain. Unfortunately their plan is to live off of that traffic rather than build up a reputation of good customer service.

At a quick, Sportsbook.com looks like a newer generation shop for betting. Their site is glossy, their contest cupboard is stocked and the lines look fine. But when you delve deeper, you’ll notice that they’ve had a long history of customer service and payout problems.

Since history has a tendency of repeating itself, if you’re going to risk your money on the games, the last thing you want to do is your risk your money with a company that might take its sweet time – or might not payout – your winnings.

1. Who Bets Here

Sportsbook.com is a square sportsbook. Their lines are soft and there isn’t really any reason for a sharp sports bettor to be playing there. Their glitzy website is meant to target the casual guy.

Depositing
Credit Card
Debit Card
Gift Card
Pre Paid Card
Western Union (fees covered for deposits over $200)

Withdrawing
Cheque (One free payout every calendar month)
Bank Wire (One free payout every calendar month)

2. Customer Service

Customer service is a funny thing: you don’t really know how good it is until there is a problem.

As far as depositing, placing a bet and the general day-to-day communications with Sportsbook.com, they are no different than any other good book. They’re polite, courteous and accommodating.

The problem is what happens when your “pending” payout is inexplicably switched to “held” label and you’re waiting weeks on end wondering whether your cheque is coming or not? That’s when you find what type of service you are really getting and in this aspect, Sportsbook.com has failed regularly.

Methods of Contact
Phone
E-mail

3. Placing A Bet

Sportbook.com is one of the latest books to adopt the no-phone philosophy, which in this day and age, isn’t a big deal.

If you want to place a bet nowadays at Sportsbook.com, you have to visit the website one way or another.

Actually placing a bet isn’t too difficult. Once you login, you are presented with a cramped menu in the middle of the screen where you can pick and click what you want. The betting ticket pops up on the right, which is where you place the amount and confirm.

Methods of Betting
Internet

4. Variety

Sportsbook.com has an above average variety of betting options.

They’ve got the main sports covered from head to toe pretty well and they do have a decent amount of sports exotics to supplement. As far as live betting goes, they do offer quite a bit and definitely compete with the best books in game in that realm.

Another area where Sportsbook.com leads the pack is with contests and promos. You’ll find a healthy amount of contests to joins or promotions relating to specific sports or days of the year.

Limits
NFL Games: $5500 ($11,000 on game day)
NBA Games: $3,300
NHL Games: $2,000
MLB Games: $3000

5. VIP Program/Loyalty Program

Sportsbook.com did have a VIP program but it has been removed recently.

6. Bonus & Rebate Program

Sportsbook.com gives you a meager 10% bonus to start off when you deposit, which is as low as it gets. The good news is they give you a 5% reload bonus, so at least that’s something to keep their recurring customers happy.

You actually get 20% for referring a friend, which actually nets you more money than just opening an account and depositing yourself.

7. Website & Usability

Sportsbook.com has a flashy website and it has plenty to offer than just betting lines.

They offer a number of betting resources such as bookie chats, their top ten bets (and the sides that are the most bet on), some profitable angles (courtesy of Statfox) and a betting trends database.

Overall, they produce a site with a high entertainment value.

On the downside, the site is not well organized – especially once you log in – and it ends up look like a messy room. There are many colors and many banners wherever you look and this will irritate people who just want to bet.

8. Reputation

Sportsbook.com’s reputation has been absolutely trashed in the sports betting community. The way sports betting goes, it’s very hard to rebuild the trust once it has been broken.

Sportsbook.com changed management in 2006 but if you do some searches, you’ll see that the payout problems have continued since.

While they lead the race in signing up new customers, their reputation won’t improve until they start treating their clients with more respect.