Bitcoin Sports Betting FAQ for newbies

What is Bitcoin?
Think of it as Internet money

How do I convert dollars to BTC and vice versa?
One easy way would be through CoinBase. You can deposit/withdraw from your bank account. There are some disadvantages to CoinBase as the wait time is a few days and the exchange rates are not the best. There are many other ways, but I list CoinBase because it is the easiest for newbies to get started. There are ways to buy/sell BTC with cash also, such as via the Localbitcoins site.

Once I get the BTC, where can I play?
There are at least 3 sites that come to mind.
BITBOOK.BIZ: This is a low-vig book. I don't like their interface, but it's a small sacrifice. Their lines are very similar to Pinnacle.
BTCSPORTSBET.EU: This is more of a full-juice book.
BTCSPORTSMATCH.EU: This is a great site. There is no juice, other than a 1% commission on winning bets. The downside is it's a matching service (like Matchbook). So if nobody takes your action, then there is no bet. However, over time, there are more and more people so there is a higher likelihood that somebody is willing to bet against you.

How do you make an account?
Here's the amazing part. You don't need any information other than a username and password. You may optionally give an email. Bear in mind that your access to your account rests 100% on your knowledge of your ID and pw. If you forget or lose it, then nobody can help you recover your account!

What’s the advantage of using BTC instead of dollars?
You can deposit BTC into your sports accounts with one click. After you are done betting, if you don’t want to keep a balance at your sportsbook, you can withdraw instantly. The BTC system might take from 1 to 45 minutes to get the BTC safely back into your hands, but most of these sportsbooks will process it instantly and put the order into the system. Imaging depositing funds Sunday morning and then cashing out Sunday night after the last game. Mindboggling.

What can I do with BTC after I win and collect?
You can convert it back into dollars (via Coinbase, for example) or you can spend it on a variety of things. Every day, more and more businesses are accepting BTC, but we still in the very early adoption stage.

If you have any other questions, leave them here. Try it at your own risk or research it more on your own.

I have successfully done all of the above already.

Can Americans do this?

I'm in the US

Can you buy bitcoins with credit card anywhere?

Bear in mind. Once BTC are transferred from party A to party B, there is no way for party A to try and get them back. This is why BTC sellers are hesitant about using PayPal or CC. Because many stories abound where party A sells party B some BTC via PayPal or CC and then party B files for a chargeback. Then party A's funds are reversed and Party B disappears with the BTC. Probably, your fastest way to BTC in the next hour is to try a person to person exchange via localbitcoins.

How legit are these sites?  I may make a play on GSP this weekend just for fun ...

I've been playing regularly on these sites and payouts have been no problem. Upon request, the transaction is on the blockchain within seconds. But as with any unregulated entity (this applies to playing with a local book), you just have to always keep in mind that the money could disappear. I can vouch for the three that I've listed that I've cashed out sizable amounts on occasion with no problem. In fact, I encourage others to post feedback on this thread if/when they try it out, so it's not just my opinion. Post your experiences, good and bad.

Sounds good.   

Price of bitcoins are too high. No newbies want in .

bitbook.biz


is there a fee to take money out from this book?

I'm quite sure there is no fee, other than maybe a typical miner's fee, which as you know is .0005 BTC which is less than 25 cents, regardless of the size of the transaction. Looking back, I think they actually absorb the fee themselves, but it's irrelevant either way.

Great thanks

UPDATE!!

This BITBOOK.BIZ site has been down for a few hours this Saturday morning.

Too early to get worried, but since I was recently recommending it, I think it's fair to update you that the site is now down. I hope it's temporary.

Problem solved. They just put up an announcement:

"Sorry we're having a temporary issue with our domain name provider. We are working on getting it fixed as soon as possible, but until then you can use https://bitbook.bz to access your funds and place bets."

It's still down.......  thanks for the updates

bitbook.bz works

Kind of gives me incentive to cash out at the end of the day and reload every morning. It's a use of 20 seconds each time, but still.

Why don't any of these books offer lines for boxing?

I think I saw a line for Pacquaio; but nothing else?

I do the same thing. 

This sounds very intriguing. 

I am mostly a $50/$100 bettor. Since the cost of one coinbase bitcoin is roughly $650 I am concerned if I can make smaller bets like this or is a minimum bet size at these sites = 1 bitcoin?   If so this doesn't work for me as I am not interested in having a minimum bet be $600+.

basically can you bet partial bitcoins at the sportsbooks?

Yes, I know for a fact you can do 0.1 BTC which today is about $73. You might even be able to do less than that but I haven't tested it.

hoophome, your concerns about whether you can buy in and play small are not an issue at all with bitcoin.  On the contrary, because of the low transaction fees, BTC are especially suitable in that case. 

Minimum wager on the BTCSportsMatch.eu Exchange is now .1 BTC which is $61 with BitCoin at $614 today.

BitBook down