Best Sports Betting Sites for Beginners

Dipping into online sports betting can feel daunting because so many options exist. Every sportsbook boasts about being the best for one reason or another. Prospective bettors all have different preferences for the perfect online betting site.

Using our expertise, we’ve compiled a list of what we consider to be the best online betting sites for beginners. We’ve also broken down what to look for as you begin your betting journey. Everything you need to know about finding your starter sportsbook in the US is right here.

Everyone has different priorities when it comes to choosing their first betting site. However, it's tough to know which books satisfy those requirements before trying them out. We've got you covered. These are the betting sites that you should be looking at for your first foray into sports betting, as they're widely available and far from complicated.

Why It's Great for Beginners

DraftKings is the most available sportsbook around. Along with that, the navigation is great, its banking is strong, and customer support is readily available 24/7. DraftKings has a ton of betting markets available. This is a safe and easily accessible betting site that will hold your hand as you learn the ropes.

Why It's Great for Beginners

It's tough to beat a book with consistently competitive odds as your first choice. It's not like Caesars Sportsbook has glaring holes in any other facets. The app is easy, banking is a breeze, and Caesars has a large selection of sports to choose from. The bonuses that come with Caesars Sportsbook are just the cherry on top.

Why It's Great for Beginners

Some apps can feel confusing for newcomers, but FanDuel is the easiest to understand on the market. It also allows every preferred banking option and has a ton of betting markets available. FanDuel stretches from coast to coast and is one of the top operators in each of its states.

Why It's Great for Beginners

Bet365 leans on its experience to help beginners discover how a strong betting site should operate. They have all of the features that turn a good betting site into a great one. There's no shortage of sports or bet types to choose from. Bet365 will elevate your expectations of a betting site.

Why It's Great for Beginners

BetMGM is reliable and makes it easy to find whatever you're looking for. Using its bet slip will teach you the ropes right away, especially for parlays. The BetMGM app is extremely responsive and has all of the top features around. There won't be any headaches if you start with BetMGM.

Why It's Great for Beginners

Understanding a sportsbook's rewards system can be tricky, but not with Fanatics Sportsbook. It's tied to their merchandising store, and the bet slip informs users how much FanCash they're earning with every wager. Then, the app is lightning fast and has everything clearly marked. The new kids are doing alright when it comes to welcoming beginners.

Why It's Great for Beginners

Offering a second chance bet is a great way to help beginners discover their path. Then again, BetRivers is a fantastic platform for newcomers to learn about promotions in general. Learning the best ways to bet on different sports and utilize bonuses is the reason beginners should turn to BetRivers.

Why It's Great for Beginners

Parlays are talked about a lot in American betting circles, and Hard Rock Bet is a strong operator when it comes to crafting parlays. Between its loyalty program and customer support, it's clear that Hard Rock Bet takes care of its customers too. Newcomers should trust this solid app that will not leave users out to dry.

There's no shame in having a favorite sport, especially not in the betting world. Sticking to what you know, or what works, is a smart idea. Although you can probably pick a betting site with your favorite sport available, that doesn't mean it's the best one.

If you're looking to wager on a specific sport on your first betting site, these are the options to consider for America's top sports.

In America, football is the most important betting market. It shouldn’t come as a surprise, considering that football is the most popular sport in the nation. Parlays, pools, DFS, and more are among the ways to get money on gridiron action.

The NFL is king, earning most of the attention every week. The NFL is partnered with multiple sportsbooks, as are several of the league’s teams. At the college level, states that permit collegiate betting have received plenty of wagers on NCAA football.

Every company tries to win in football. These are the books doing it the best right now:

There isn’t a league in America that welcomed legalized betting more openly than the NBA. They’re also partnered with multiple betting sites, and so are most of the franchises. It has been a win-win situation, as daily NBA promotions help both parties.

Then, there’s college basketball, most notable for the craze that accompanies it every March. The NCAA Tournament, more affectionately known as March Madness, is great for pools, bracket challenges, and special promos.

If you’re looking for a great basketball betting site, these are the top options to check out:

There’s a lot of time when baseball, particularly MLB, is the only major sport active in America. The good news is that every day is different in baseball. BetMGM may be the only official MLB sponsor among betting sites, but every site offers something new.

Home runs, strikeouts, and first five innings wagers are among the most popular ways to hop into MLB action. Here are the best baseball betting sites available:

Stay hot when the weather turns cold with these great hockey betting sportsbooks. The NHL is the most popular league, but there are plenty of international tournaments and leagues to choose from as well.

If you’re looking for a great hockey betting site, check out these sportsbooks:

The most popular sport on the planet gets plenty of traction with American sportsbooks. From soccer’s superstars to the most popular leagues, you should find a book with the fixtures that you want.

These are the top betting sites when it comes to soccer:

Every state is free to decide whether or not they’ll legalize sports betting within their borders and to what extent if they choose to. That has led to inconsistencies coast to coast.

Some states only offer retail betting, while a couple only offer online betting. A sportsbook can be legal in one state but unavailable in a neighboring state. There are still 12 states where placing a sports bet in any form is illegal.

There’s much to consider when picking a betting site, assuming it’s even allowed in your state. Below is a list of the types of betting legalized, if any, by state.

When you sign up for a new betting site, they typically offer you a special one-time bonus for joining them. Further, existing customers are often offered promotions to boost specific bets every day. Most betting sites also feature a rewards program. There's plenty to learn about promotions and bonuses. Here's a quick breakdown of what the common types of promos entail:

Betting features come up often, but what are they? The simplest way to describe them are as tools or options to enhance a customer's betting experience and get a leg up on the competition. How each betting site implements a betting feature, if at all, varies. Keep an eye out for these key betting features when choosing your first betting site.

Cash Out

Most sportsbooks offer a cash out option for bets these days. A cash out lets you settle a bet while the event is live for whatever the designated value is. It’s a way to minimize losses or avoid a bad beat before it’s too late.

Every betting site has different calculations for their cash outs. Some sites are more reliable at offering cash outs than others. It’s a tool that can come in handy for every beginner sports bettor.

Live Betting

Live betting is a feature that lets bettors place wagers on games as they unfold. It has become commonplace for the top betting sites. Yet, not every sportsbook comes equipped with the same options or features.

Not every online betting site allows for live same game parlays. Live player props are another feature that isn’t offered everywhere. It’s crucial to find a book that provides the best live experience if you want to bet on in-play markets.

Parlays

A parlay is what happens when you take multiple single bets and combine them into one. For example, taking the Yankees -110 and the Rockies -110 would create a +264 parlay. The catch is that the parlay won’t win unless every single bet that comprises it successfully hits.

Same game parlays (SGPs) are one of the most popular ways to gamble on sports. Availability isn’t the only question when it comes to SGPs. It’s worth considering what bet types can be combined into a same game parlay, how frequently the betting site provides same game parlay promos, and how many leagues an SGP is available for.

Responsible Gambling Tools

A lot of sportsbooks have tools ready for users to help them control their respective accounts. That doesn’t mean that the company is strict about them or makes them easily accessible. If you want to impose limits on your betting account, you must register with a book that will honor the options you desire.

Responsible gaming tools include wager limits, deposit limits, and loss limits. Some tools will let you voluntarily lock yourself out of your account for a set amount of time. If you desire control over your sports gambling, take the time to find a book that will provide it.

Every betting site that you use should make payments quick and painless. That includes deposits and withdrawals. You shouldn’t have to worry about your money with a trusted sportsbook.

Credit cards, debit cards, and online bank transfers are the most common methods bettors use to make transactions. However, e-wallets like Venmo and PayPal are becoming more popular every day. Not every betting site has joined the trend yet.

Guarantee that your preferred banking method will be an option with your new betting site. Fortunately, these eight best beginner betting sites all offer Venmo and PayPal:

Wondering how users feel about the apps for these sportsbooks? Here's how the apps rate in their respective stores and how we have graded the betting site overall.

As a bonus, a lot of sportsbooks also come with an online casino for their customers. It’s another way to wager with a familiar company. A greater variety is how these betting sites can keep things fresh for their existing customers.

The best part is that you can use the same funds already tied to the sportsbook. Unlike betting on sports, playing at an online casino isn’t tied to a schedule. Poker, blackjack, slots, and roulette are among the games waiting to be played.

Online casinos keep fun ways to play a tap away. However, every state with a company’s sportsbook may not have access to the casino. Real money online casinos are limited to the following states right now:

• Connecticut
• Delaware
• Michigan
• New Jersey
• Pennsylvania
• Rhode Island
• West Virginia