Sports betting has been a part of our lives for generations now, but the online shift is what really changed the game. Now you can bet on any sports market and from anywhere using your mobile phone. Fantastic, isn’t it?
Today, I’m going to take you on a journey through the wonderful world of online sports wagering. For those of you who are new to this game, I’ll start by explaining the concept and its popularity. We’ll then take a deeper dive into the best bookies and the features that they can offer.
I’m no historian, but what I can tell you is that betting on sports has been commonplace on this planet for centuries. For as long as competitive games have been around, we have been able to bet on them.
Moving on to the more recent past, those of you who are my vintage or older will probably remember manually having to walk into a betting shop to place a sports wager. In much of Europe, North America, Australia, and beyond this form of betting is still available.
But it’s 2025 now, and let’s face it, who among us physically goes to the shop to buy anything anymore? You can even have your groceries delivered to your door, for goodness sake.
The shift that took sports betting from being an in-person to an online medium was fast and brought with it some interesting features and developments. Naturally, speed and convenience were the two main driving force factors that fueled the online shift.
By using websites and betting apps for sports, we now have everything in the palm of our hand. You can bet from the comfort of your living room, on the work commute, or even while you’re actually at the game.
Whether or not we like to admit it, we’re a little bit lazy and we want things now, and online gambling is something that can facilitate that. However, there is a lot more to it, as I will show you throughout this guide.
Here at the Frog, we’re all about the deep dives and attention to detail. At the same time, I’m not here to bore you with needless waffle and technical jargon.
So for those of you who want it, here is a quick look at the main pros and cons that I will cover in more detail throughout this article:
The shift to online sports betting opened up a whole new world of possibilities. New betting sites are arriving on the market, bringing with them new ideas and features.
I’ll get to that a little bit later on, for now, let me introduce you to some of the coolest things about online sports gambling in general:
| Convenience: | You can bet on any sport, at any time, and from anywhere. |
| Availability: | Many online sportsbooks are licensed and available in many different countries, states and jurisdictions throughout the world. |
| Apps and websites: | You can bet through the official app and/or through your desktop or mobile browsers. |
| Market access: | There are far more sports betting markets for online bettors than in-person. |
| Bonuses and promotions: | More sports betting bonus offers are available to new and existing punters online. |
| Extra features: | Online betting sites are constantly improving and creating new features to make the betting experience even better. |
You could easily be foreign for thinking that there is only one way to bet on sports online. Don’t you just find your bet at odds that appeal to you, put money on said bet and watch the game?
Yep, that’s one way to do it, but as I have touched upon above, there are now so many different ways that you can wager on your favourite sports. Rather than cover all of the different nuances, I have compressed it down to the three main forms of sports betting: pre-game, in-play (live), and micro-betting.
Here’s my take on how each of these betting mediums works:
This is your bread-and-butter form of sports wagering, that involves placing your bet before the event starts. For instance, you take Djokovic to win the Wimbledon quarter-final before the match starts.
On the best live betting sites, you can wager on the game while it is actually happening in play. For instance, you might place a bet on Bellingham to score next during half-time of a Real Madrid match in the UCL.
This is the newest form of betting and it involves fragmenting the game down into small moments that you can bet on. For example, you can bet on a player to score or put up a point in the next 10 minutes.
There are loads of different types of bets that you can place online. Now, I’m not going to sit here and list them all for you, as that would be a waste of both your and my time.
Instead, I’ll keep to just the most common and popular bets that punters like to place across all sports:
| Bet type | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Moneyline/win bet: | A basic wager on one team or athlete to win the match. | Real Madrid to win at 2.1 odds. |
| Points spread: | The contest is evened up as the bookmark | Panthers -7.5 (they would need to win by eight or more points for your bet to pay out) |
| Over/under (totals): | You bet on the points or goals totals from both teams combined being over or under the standard amount | Panthers vs Bucs under 45.5 (if both teams combine to score 45 points or less your bet pays out) |
| Team props: | Any bet on a team that isn’t influenced by the actual result of the match. | Manchester City to score over 1.5 goals |
| Player props: | The same as above, but for an individual player. | Phil Foden to score anytime during the match. |
| Handicap betting: | Similar to the points spread, but with more flexible options. | Manchester City -1.5 (your bet can still win if Man City lose, as long as they stay within a goal of the opposition) |
| Futures: | Bets on longer-term outcomes such as the full season or tournament. | Manchester City to win the Premier League. |
Are you ready to give sports betting a try, before you choose your ideal site here at the Frog, take a look at my quick step-by-step guide to getting started with sports betting:
*Usually you will need an official government-issued photo ID card (such as passport, or driver’s licence etc.) and a utility bill or bank statement as proof of address. This is to ensure that you are over 18 or whatever the legal online gambling age is where you are.
In order to be able to bet, you need to fund your account – that’s a bit like saying that you need money to buy food, but sometimes you have to point out the obvious. The most common way to do this is by using your bank card directly. However, the most common doesn’t always mean best.
These days, there are plenty of alternatives available, many of which offer advantages that credit and debit cards can’t. Personally, I like e-wallets, such as PayPal, because they act as a middleman between your bank and the betting site, which keeps your information more private.
That being said, I’m aware that everyone is different, so here’s a list of payment methods offered by the lowest deposit betting sites in 2025:
On top of the instant gratification that many of us are looking for, online betting apps and sites have loads of other handy features that can enhance your overall betting experience. I’ve shared some of my most-liked features with you below:
Depending on your location, there will likely be quite a variety of online betting sites available to you. Some of them will be good, some average, and others that aren’t even worth mentioning, but how can you sort the good from the bad?
If you were looking for new insurance right now, you would probably use a comparison site, am I right? When jetting off on holiday, I think I can safely assume that most of you would hop on Skyscanner first rather than going directly to an airline.
I find that the same approach is best when it comes to online sports betting. Here at the Frog, you can directly compare the best sites where you are, through our ratings and expert reviews, which have been written either by me or one of my colleagues.
I’ve taken the liberty of plugging our sports betting reviews here at the Frog, so it’s only fair that I give you a bit more insight. I don’t like to be enigmatic or keep things hidden, and at the Frog we always aim to be fully transparent.
But enough rambling on, here is a look at the main things I consider when rating and reviewing betting sites:
I like to think of myself as a nice guy, and I don’t want to just flood you with some facts and figures. On top of that, I also want you to help my fellow punters out by sharing some advice based on my experience as an online gambling expert.
With that in mind, here are my top five tips to help you when using online betting sites:
First and foremost, make a plan to manage your bankroll. I start by depositing my overall budget, which is no more than I can afford to lose without causing any real worry. Secondly, I set aside increments of my total bankroll for each bet, between 1-5%.
Sorry guys, this might seem like an obvious one, but always bet on sports that you actually know about and follow. Trying new things is cool, but betting with real money isn’t the time for experimentation I’m afraid.
It can be really tempting to bet on your own team to win as an added means of willing your desired outcome into existence. This is the biggest error that I see people make. When it comes to betting you need to leave your emotions at the door and use logic instead.
One thing that I always do is look for any promotion that can even slightly enhance the odds of my bet. Whether that is a simple odds booster, a bonus bet, or something else, it’s always good to give yourself that extra edge. That being said, you shouldn’t place bets that you otherwise wouldn’t have just for the sake of using a promotion; remember your bankroll management from my first tip!
If you’re the superstitious type, that’s fine, but you need to ignore that side of yourself when it comes to online sports betting. All that matters here are the odds, stakes, and implied probability. I hate to break it to you, but there’s no such thing as a winning or a losing streak.
Well guys, that just about sums up everything that you need to know about the world of sports betting in [yyy]. Basically, there has never been a better time to be a sports punter, as you can access your favourite betting markets anytime that you like. In fact, you can probably find betting markets so niche that you didn’t even know that they existed.
However, with easy access to so many options, you need to take care to regulate yourself and make smart decisions. To do this, I recommend that you bookmark this page and revisit my top five tips and other pieces of advice throughout the article.
Besides that, what are the next steps, I hear you ask? I would take a look at the online bookie reviews in the comparison tool here at the Frog to find your ideal platform.
There are many great websites for online sports wagering, and the answer to this question depends largely on your location. Discover the best platforms where you are here at the Frog.
There isn’t really a hack, tip or trick to sports betting, otherwise, we’d all be loaded and the bookies would’ve gone out of business a long time ago. That being said, if you manage your bankroll, analyse the data and stick to sports you know, you can give yourself a decent chance.
To give you the simple answer, you win by making correct predictions for sports games. However, there is more to it than that, and you can find my top five expert tips here at gamingfrog.com.
