Bookmaker Sportsbook Review

Overview
Expert Review
User Reviews
8.8 /10
Large limits, Early lines and overnight odds.
Modest bonuses, Unfair practices with advertisers
Avg User Rating
(3 Ratings)
8/10
Bookmaker Sportsbook Review

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Bookmaker Sportsbook Rating
TSB Editor
Friday, July 31, 2009 - 2:26pm
The name Bookmaker (now bmaker.ag) had been synonymous with online gaming integrity and success, but actions in 2011 involving affiliates and advertisers changed that.

Bonuses, 8.8 – *Dropped by .1 point in 11/09 - Bonuses are fair, but not on par with what come competitors will offer. But it’s what their competitors do not or cannot offer in terms of reputation and payouts that is a major selling point here. The company has offered a conditional 20% signup bonus, which is solid and the 8% rebate at the racebook is fair. And the loyalty program (with freeplays and other prizes) adds to the bonus haul regular clients can enjoy.

Customer Service, 8.5 – *Downgraded .5 after complaints from players and vendors over communicating changes and rules. Live chat and customer service reps fluent in English, Spanish and Mandarin provide an impressive level of customer comfort and assistance.

Odds variety, 8.8 – Being the sportsbook ‘where the line originates’ focuses primarily on North American facing sports. It means you won’t find the vast array of sports represented at Bookmaker that may appear at other books catering to international clients (where betting on bandy or handball or European tennis may be in vogue). What Bookmaker does offer odds on, they offer quickly. They all show the Top 10 bets of the day in a slick format and show which games or bets are going off the board in the next few minutes.

Overall Experience, 8.7 – *Downgraded June 2011 due to worries around paying vendors, which translated to trepidations over whether the same philosophy would be adopted regarding player monies. - There are some sites where you cringe when you visit the site, but later find the experience to be excellent. Others are full of glitz and flashy graphics but fall down badly on the functionality side. Bookmaker.com strikes a nice balance between an improved and stylish design, set off with useful flash pockets describing promotions and rules, and the solid functionality of players who need to get where they are going – the betting menu or the poker room. BookMaker Mobile, the full range of casino, horse, poker and sports and the peace of mind of knowing you are playing with the industry’s longest-tenured companies makes the user experience a terrific one.

Payment Solutions, 9.0 – *Dropped .4 pts 11/09 - A slew of options for deposit and withdrawal and a blemishless reputation for payouts large and small give BookMaker a Top 2 rating in this extremely important category here at TopSportsbooks.com. Professional players can wager as much as they wish as often as they wish and get paid in their choice of more than a dozen international currencies. However, some issues in late 2009 with deposit options, causing slight drop in ranking and again in 2011.

Reputation, 8.5 – *Downgraded full percentage point over 2011 claims of unfair practices with vendors and advertisers. There had been only two online sportsbooks whose reputations are unassailable when it comes to fairness, payouts and overall reputation and Bookmaker (now bmaker.ag) had been one of them. However, much of that reputation was tarnished in 2011 when arbitrary and uncommunicated changes of policy led to a mountain of complaints from vendors, affiliates and advertisers. [ Details on one complaint ]

Software, 8.9 – The DGS platform (Digital Gaming Systems) has been a proven winner in the online gaming space and it underpins the Bookmaker experience. The interface is clean, the logic of moving around the betting menus and screens is solid. It is not the world’s fanciest software but it is reliable and rates far above average in the online sportsbook space.

Stability/License, 9.1 – Costa Rica no longer offers an online gaming licensing regime, but BetCRIS/Bookmaker were always at the forefront of that movement when it was in place and they were always members in good standing. The absence of such a regime there has done nothing to diminish the solidness of the operation, nor detracted from its sparkling reputation. There are two books that generally acknowledged as the biggest and most stable in the industry.

TSB Experience, 8.7 – *Dropped .6 points May 2011 on concerns over treatment of vendors, rule changes and clawbacks. *Dropped .2 points 11/09 - Members of TopSportsbooks.com have dealt with the BetCRIS group and BookMaker on numerous levels since 1999. Visiting the Costa Rica headquarters on numerous occasions, the greeting is always cordial and professional and the offices and operations center always clean and professionally run. Whether providing content feeds or working through advertising opportunities, the client-vendor relationship has always been strong, typified by the same quick payment of invoices as customers enjoy on their winnings. Experienced some issues with marketing partners in late 2009 that forced the ranking down slightly here, hopefully they can turn that aspect around.

Website , 8.9 – Improvements in the past year have raised the bar on user experience and site navigation. Bookmaker now rates among the best in terms of design, ease of use and tutorial and stats content for visitors. You don’t have to scroll an inch to find the precise entry point to the site that interests you, whether its checking out the major action of the day, the bonus schedule or the individual horse, casino, sports or poker channels.

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