Which Bookies (really) offer the best odds?

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One of the most important things in sports betting is to get the highest odds possible. Lots of people believe that small margins don’t matter that much. In reality, even the likes of 0.05-0.10 higher average prices can be the difference between winners and losers in the long run.
This is why it is worth it to have an account in at least a couple of bookmakers. It will allow you to get the best price and be flexible. In this article, we will take a look at the odds offered by some of the biggest sportsbooks for the most popular sports.

The main tool for measurement we used is the betting margin. It is the extra edge the bookmakers use on each market. The margin (also called juice and edge) is the reason why they are making profits in the long run. The lower it is, the higher are the average odds offered to the players.

What kind of bookmakers were part of the research

Good odds are of crucial importance, but they are certainly not the only thing you should expect from a bookmaker. For a start, the best price in the world won’t compensate for the fact that a certain operator won’t pay you. Safety and good reputation were one of the criteria for this list.

Other things included the variety of sports and betting markets, the promotions available, the usability of the platform, the customer support service and the speed of the payments. Simply put, we made a shortlist of the best bookmakers and compared their odds. You can occasionally find better prices at other operators, but they won’t be worth it for the reasons mentioned above.

The best odds for football

Football is hands down the most popular sport on the planet. It’s no surprise that is also the one that attracts the most betting volumes. The good news is that the competition between the bookmakers is fierce and you can find some great odds*.

To compare the best sportsbooks on the market, we decided to check the prices on a couple of popular games and markets. We used the likes of the English Premier League, the Spanish La Liga and the Champions League. The markets we picked are Full-Time Result, Over/Under 2.5 goals and Asian Handicap.

We will show the odds for the Champions League game between PSG and Barcelona as an illustration. The quoted numbers for each bookmaker are based on a couple of more games and this might be the reason for slight differences between them and the example.

Unibet

The British giant Unibet seems to be one of the bookmakers when it comes to prices on football betting. It is among the leaders in all of the markets we checked with a margin of 2-5%. It’s the lowest when it comes to Match Result and rises a bit on other popular options.

PSG – Barcelona
Match result: 3.30 3.50 2.30 (margin: 2.70%)

PSG +0.25 AH: 1.91 1.93 (margin: 4.00%)

Over/under 2.5: 1.80 2.06 (margin: 4.1%)

Ladbrokes

Another bookmaker from the United Kingdom is following closely. Ladbrokes has pretty low margin compared to the average odds in the industry. It is somewhere in the 3.5-7% region with the best odds once again for the Match Result market.

PSG – Barcelona

Match result: 3.25 3.40 2.30 (margin: 3.50%)

PSG +0.25 AH: 1.85 1.94 (margin: 5.3%)

Over/under 2.5: 1.73 2.00 (margin: 7.1%)

Bet365

The betting margin of Bet365 is even lower than Ladbrokes and Unibet in most markets. It often is under the 2.5% mark:

PSG – Barcelona

Match result: 3.30 3.50 2.30 (margin: 2.30%)

PSG +0.25 AH: 1.90 2.02 (margin: 2.1%)

Over/under 2.5: 1.80 2.00 (margin: 5.3%)

The best odds for tennis

Tennis has always been a fan favourite and is probably the most popular individual sport in the world. With a huge global audience and plenty of tournaments available, it attracts plenty of bettors. That’s why we decided to check the tennis odds available and compare the bookmakers.

It was a bit tricky because there are so many events available. Not all bookies offer the same variety of markets. Except for Grand Slams, lots of tournaments are covered with only basic stuff like match winner and a couple of other options. We gave an example with the ATP match between Alex Dolgopolov and Janko Tipsarevic.

888 Sport

888 Sport is a bookmaker famous for its loads of promotions. It turns out that they have good odds too, especially when it comes to tennis. The average betting margin is under the 5% mark which is considerably better than the industry average.

1. Dolgopolov – J. Tipsarevic

Match winner: 1.97 1.84 (4.9%)

Bet365

The biggest betting operator in the world stands its own ground. Bet365 offers almost identical odds in terms of margin. It is once again about 5% which is pretty good.

1. Dolgopolov – J. Tipsarevic

Match winner: 2.00 1.77 (5.4%)

William Hill

William Hill also offers solid prices on tennis. The average betting margin of the odds is just above 5%. It is behind the very best in the business, but not by much and often is actually on the same level.

1. Dolgopolov – J. Tipsarevic

Match winner: 2.00 1.80 (5.3%)

The best odds for US leagues

US leagues like NFL, NBA, MLB, NLH are obviously not a separate sport. However, we decided to group them together, as most bookmakers have similar margins on all of them. We’ve gone through some of the most popular markets available and here are the results:

William Hill

Another strong category for William Hill. The legendary British bookmaker is the leader when it comes to US leagues. The average margin is around the 4% mark which is great news for bettors who prefer these competitions.

Chicago Bulls – Toronto Raptors

Match winner: 3.50 1.33 (3.60%)

Bet365

Bet365 finds its place in this section as well which is a testimony to the bookmaker’s service. It has pretty much the same betting margin as William Hill, around 4%.

Chicago Bulls – Toronto Raptors

Match winner: 3.40 1.33 (4.40%)

Ladbrokes

Ladbrokes is another sportsbook that has pretty juicy odds. They are just below the other two and the customers of the operator can enjoy one of the lowest margins on US sports in the industry.

Chicago Bulls – Toronto Raptors

Match winner: 3.30 1.34 (4.70%)

Conclusion

As you can see, the margins of the leading bookmaker in each category are slim and you can get some good prices. It is also important that even when a sportsbook has the lowest margin, you can still often find better odds at some of the others on this list. This is why having at least a couple of accounts is a must.

Finally, you may notice that horse racing is not a part of this list. The reason is simple. Most of the top European bookies have guarantees for best odds and basically offer exactly the same price. The likes of Bet365, Ladbrokes, Unibet, Betfred and a couple of more are an excellent choice for this sport. That’s also a good reason to have multiple accounts.

*Odds being correct at the time of publishing.

This is a personal comparison and cannot be read as an objective review.

Bet365

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This review is based on a personal experience of the Bet365 offers.

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Disclaimer: This information was valid at the time of writing, for the latest updates please visit Bet365 platforms.

last update : May 2024