Identifying safe betting sites lays the groundwork for BettingUSA to conduct thorough and useful sportsbook reviews. An online sportsbook can offer excellent betting bonuses and the most generous lines in the world, but weak security standards render those points moot.

BettingUSA considers multiple factors when discussing safe betting sites, ranging from their encryption standards to whether they promote responsible gambling and how they treat customers. Security is a wide-ranging topic, so this page will begin with a list of the safest online betting sites and continue the discussion in detail below.

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What Are The Safest Online Betting Sites?

BettingUSA considers the following online sportsbooks the safest betting sites because each takes a comprehensive approach to security. They are licensed, reputable, and use current best practices to protect customers’ funds and private information.

But first, a caveat. Not even the safest sports betting sites are invulnerable to security breaches and bad actors – the same as online banking and e-commerce. Of course, bad actors will always look for vulnerabilities, but the best online sportsbooks go to great lengths to prevent breaches or make customers whole if one does occur.

BetMGM Sportsbook

• Licensed: Yes – multiple states
• Established: 2018
• Login Security: 2FA via passcode texted to registered phone number; optional e-mail login alerts
• Cash-Out Security: If enabled, customer must answer their security questions to withdraw
• VeriSign and TSL1.2 or above encryption
• Verified by Visa and Mastercard SecureCode during payments
• All cashier transactions meet Payment Card Industry (PCI) standards for data security

DraftKings Sportsbook

• Licensed: Yes – multiple states
• Established: 2012
• Login Security: 2FA via passcode texted to registered number, biometric login, optional e-mail login alerts
• Industry-standard SSL encryption

FanDuel Sportsbook

• Licensed: Yes – multiple states
• Established: 2009
• Login Security: 2FA passcode texted to user’s phone number or sent to an approved authenticator app on their phone; optional additional 2FA via passcode sent to user’s registered e-mail address; optional e-mail login alerts
• Industry-standard SSL encryption
• Partnered with HackerOne to reward anyone who finds a security vulnerability in FanDuel; to reported vulnerabilities

Bet365 Sportsbook

• Licensed: Yes – multiple states
• Established: 2000 in the UK; first US license in 2019
• Login Security: 2FA passcode texted to customer’s registered phone number or e-mail address; optional biometric ID login
• 256-bit SSL encryption

Characteristics of Safe Betting Sites

Safe online sports betting is a two-sided coin.

On one side are sportsbooks’ obligations regarding customer security. On the other are the steps customers can take to enhance their own safety.

Of the two, sportsbook obligations come first. A positive experience begins with choosing a safe betting site. If an online betting site doesn’t have minimum security standards in place or treats bettors poorly, there’s nothing customers can do to overcome that.

Let’s discuss both sides of this coin, beginning with sportsbooks’ obligations to their customers.

How Safe Betting Sites Protect Their Customers

Under the obligations category are two sub-categories of security measures safe betting sites take to protect their customers.

Tier one is the first and most important: It covers the steps betting sites take to safeguard customers’ funds and personal information.

Tier two relates to how online sportsbooks treat their customers – how quickly they limit winners, whether they offer non-predatory bonuses, etc.

And last, a quick note: Brand-name sportsbooks are the most stable, secure, and reputable in terms of paying winners and following the law, but some tend to push the line with questionable actions like voiding bets on technicalities or limiting winners too quickly.

There seems to be a continuous tug-of-war between tier one and tier two safety considerations – rarely do you get both in one sportsbook. DraftKings is perhaps the best in this regard, but Bet365 is also very high in that list despite not being as known in the US market.

Tier One Considerations: Most Important Factors

Tier Two Considerations: How Sportsbooks Treat Their Customers

Tier two considerations deal with how betting sites treat their customers – how fast they limit winners, whether they offer non-predatory promotions, support responsible gambling, and so on. In short, safe betting sites treat their customers well.

Lower-quality sportsbooks can be legal and operate within the confines of the law but still not qualify as “safe” in the sense that bettors are assured of having a positive experience. These aren’t necessarily legal issues but are just common-sense, golden rule types of considerations.

How Bettors Can Enhance Security

Although state law requires licensed online sportsbooks to take every reasonable measure to protect their customers, some aspects of security are the end user’s responsibility.

Not even the safest betting sites can fully protect customers who respond to phishing e-mails and reuse passwords. Here’s what bettors can do to protect themselves when betting online:

Customer Reviews of Safe Sports Betting Sites

Customer reviews posted to discussion forums and social media are excellent sources for unbiased discussions of specific sportsbooks and information about which sports betting sites are safe. Usually (but not always), individual customer reviews posted online are simple, straightforward, and not overly salesy.

However, individual customer complaints can be biased or lack critical details. For example, it’s not uncommon for someone to start a thread in a sports betting discussion forum accusing a sportsbook of stealing their money, only for the other members to immediately recognize the original poster’s story doesn’t add up and side with the sportsbook.

In addition, misunderstandings can lead to intensely negative reviews that don’t accurately reflect the sportsbook’s relative quality. See the anecdote below for an example of how misunderstandings can slant the discussion against a sportsbook that hasn’t done anything out of the ordinary.

That said, customer reviews are informative in aggregate. Sports betting sites develop safety reputations over time. So if a particular sportsbook is the frequent subject of complaints about unpaid winnings, hacked user accounts, and other issues, there’s probably something to those allegations. As the saying goes, where there’s smoke, there’s (usually) fire.

Safest Sports Betting Deposit Methods

Deposits and withdrawals represent potential weak points in security because they transmit valuable information between customers, sportsbooks, and third-party payment providers.

The safest betting deposit methods involve cash and prepaid cards because they create separation between bettors’ sportsbook accounts and bank accounts:

• PayNearMe: Bettors can deposit physical cash at most sportsbooks by selecting PayNearMe to generate a payment slip, visiting the nearest PayNearMe outlet, and completing the deposit with cash – no banking information required.
• Prepaid Gift Cards: Bettors can buy prepaid gift cards in person from a local retailer with cash or credit and then redeem the card online without ever sharing their banking details.
• Game On Gift Cards: Game On Gift Cards are like prepaid gift cards except specifically designed for the legal US sports betting industry. With prepaid gift cards, it’s sometimes hard to tell if a particular brand supports deposits to online sportsbooks. In contrast, Game On Gift cards work every time.

Moving one level down in security are established deposit methods that facilitate instant online transfers. The following methods lack the separation advantage of the deposit options described above but are much more convenient and nearly as secure:

• Credit and Debit Cards: Credit and debit cards offer multiple security benefits: the major credit card brands are highly experienced, well-funded, and successfully process billions of transactions annually. In addition, federal law requires credit card issuers to reimburse all fraud losses greater than $50.
• PayPal: PayPal offers many of the same benefits as credit and debit cards – it’s reputable, experienced, and provides excellent care for customers who experience fraud.

Most payment providers also contribute to the effort by providing additional security tools. For example, and provide an extra layer of security during payments by confirming customers’ identities before processing deposits to online sportsbooks.

The safest betting sites also provide withdrawal security measures to protect against unauthorized withdrawals. For example, BetMGM’s optional cash-out feature asks users to answer their security questions before withdrawing.

Safe Online Betting FAQ