After years of betting in different countries, with different bankrolls, on different sports, and with different goals; I feel like I am now in a position to do a deep dive into what I think the best bookmakers are. Yes, the best betting sites in the world. Strap in!

There are so many variables that could give anyone bookmaker ascendency over the rest in the battle of the best betting sites:

• Biggest range of markets?
• Best odds?
• Sites that won’t limit your account?
• Best betting exchange?
• Best overall?

So.. I thought I better cover all bases and give my best in each category!

To make sure this is truly the world’s best list I will exclude any bookmakers that only operate in a few countries. For country-specific lists check below, if your country is not on the list let me know and I’ll endeavour to do a write up for you and add it as soon as I can!

Best Australian Betting Sites 2020
Best UK Betting Sites 2020

And Without Further Ado…

Betting Site With The Biggest Range Of Markets

Firstly, why does it matter? No one can bet on 100’s of sports right…

That is true, but where can we find the most value? It is often in the less popular leagues and markets, the ones found only at the biggest bookmakers! This is due to the bookmakers having to spread their resources more, they become less likely to calculate the correct probabilities for the ‘forgotten leagues’.

There is less analysis and also less bet volume to help them correct the odds. A huge opportunity for bettors like us to pounce.

Bet365

Is anyone surprised? You can place a wager on anything from U19s third league football to the Britain’s Got Talent winner.

There are other bookmakers that might have alternate markets and extra options on some events, however, for consistency and accessibility Bet365 is the best bookmaker for you to attack those more obscure markets.

Betting Site With The Best Odds

Okay, so this one is obviously important. We want the best odds and we want them now!

There are two ways to attack this question. The bookmaker that makes the most probability errors and is the slowest to correct them(Soft Bookmakers) or the betting site that has the most accurate and up to date odds but with the lowest margins(Sharp Bookmakers).

We’ll be penning a full article on how and when to take advantage of soft and sharp bookmakers and which are the best, all in a comprehensive guide very soon(Subscribe to be notified). For now, I’ll give you the best in both categories.

Marathonbet(Soft) and Pinnacle(Sharp)

Marathonbet may be the most widely known soft bookmaker around. Everyone should give them a go, you will eventually be limited by them, probably quicker than with most other bookmakers but they have great odds to take advantage of before then.

Marathonbet pump out their markets as quickly as anyone and then correct their odds on the run, this gives us all a huge opportunity to get on some juicy odds before they are corrected!

Then we have Pinnacle, the polar opposite. You won’t be limited here and you will have great odds due to their low margins.

But here is the catch, they will only publish a market once they are confident they have calculated the odds and probability as well as possible, so you won’t find glaring mistakes to take advantage of here. This is your calculations and system up against theirs, do you think you can beat them?

Betting Site That Won’t Limit Your Account

Here is another MASSIVE advantage of sharp bookmakers, you won’t get limited. One of the biggest considerations for any successful sports bettor is dealing with the limiting of accounts.

While it seems dodgy and might even be illegal(Read our full write up about that here), it persists.

There are certainly ways to mitigate the effect limiting has on your betting, read ‘6 Ways To Beat Bookmaker Betting Limits’.

But how good would it be if you didn’t have to worry at all? Well, here you go..

Pinnacle

Pinnacle is aptly named, it is the absolute pinnacle of reliable, trustworthy and ethical sports betting.

Small margins, no account limiting and even resources to help you improve your betting.

Yet they still make money, how? It’s because they only publish markets they have a good analysis for. For this reason, there are fewer markets than a lot of the other bigger players.

Lots of professional sports bettors place their bets here at Pinnacle, if you think you have a bet or a system that can outplay their market-leading 2-2.5% margins then you can bet freely and profitably without ever being limited.

Best Betting Exchange

The rise of betting exchanges has helped the online betting industry explode over the last 10 years.

In simple terms, a Betting Exchange is a betting site where you bet against other bettors rather than the bookmaker.

So which one is the best? A few factors come into play, the amount of commission the site takes from the bettors to participate, the range of markets and how active it is.

This one was close…

Betfair

Okay so everyone knows Betfair. They’re great, you’re getting a huge range of markets, it is easily the most active and liquid betting exchange in the world.

Easy to use, nice interface and the one I would recommend if you had to choose one.

The one downside, important downside, is the commission rates. Usually, it will be anywhere from 2-5%, still better than you average bookmakers at 6% but higher than some of the other less active betting exchanges. We have a full Betting Exchange comparison in the works, stay tuned!

Best Overall

This is by no means clear-cut. It depends a lot on what type of sports bettor you are, which system you are using and what markets you prefer..

But I promised you a winner so here we go!

Bet365

The biggest and the best. Bet365 has a higher turnover than any other bookmaker in the world, 25 billion USD, there are plenty of reasons why they appeal to so many.

They find a nice middle-ground for professionals and amateurs alike. With a huge range of markets, competitive odds and simple user-face they tick most boxes.

You will be limited at Bet365 eventually if you are a highly profitable bettor, however, they aren’t as quick on the trigger as some other bookmakers with similar qualities, like Marathonbet.

I would recommend Bet365 to anyone at any stage of their betting career. Personally, it has been an ever-present stalwart of my sports betting.

And there we have it, Bet365 takes the crown as the best overall bookmaker in the world.

Best Betting Sites – Conclusion

Having said all of that… Why not all 4? And then even more.

The more bookmakers you open accounts with the more odds there are to compare and the more value there is to extract.

If you have any other bookmakers you think should be taking up these spots, let us know in the comments below or on Twitter!

And as always, happy (value) betting!