For many US states, online sports betting has been off the cards for years, which meant that sports bettors would typically have to travel to Nevada, and more specifically, Las Vegas, to get their sports betting fix. However, with the state of New Jersey pushing the US Supreme Court to overturn the decades old PASPA law, things started to change in 2018.

New Jersey became the first state to offer online gambling and sport betting, which was soon followed by a number of other states including Pennsylvania, Delaware, West Virginia and several others. However, even though PASPA is a thing of the past, and several states have begun to offer online sports betting, things are still moving slow. To make matters worse, you have to be in those states to bet online and, to make sure that happens, your location is tracked and your IP address is verified. This then leaves the vast majority of sports betting resources if you want to bet on sports for real money, in the dark.

Of course, not everyone can travel to New Jersey or Nevada to get some real money betting action going on, so what’s the alternative? For many outside of these states, the only alternative is to look at the somewhat murky world of offshore sports betting. Murky because many are unsure of what the legal ramifications are to sports betting for real money at offshore sites, and murky because how would one know which sites offer legitimate opportunities and which are a scam?

Why Betting Offshore Makes More Sense

Offshore online gambling is not a new phenomenon that just sprang up after the PASA repeal. For years, gamblers in the US have sought to circumvent the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 (UIGEA). This has meant either using a VPN (Virtual Private Network) to disguise their IP address, or finding offshore sites such as those licensed out of Costa Rica and Curacao, that were willing to accept US gamblers online.

While there may be some risk involved in gambling offshore, this is largely due to not enough research being done into potential sites, which includes reading in-depth review such as those found on US offshore sports betting resources like OffshoreSportsbooks.com. Provided enough research is performed, and the necessary level of caution and common sense is applied, offshore sports betting can provide an excellent alternative to the currently sluggish US state-based online sports betting options.

There are plenty of offshore sports books with an excellent reputation and track record, that provide top notch online sports betting opportunities across the board. In most cases, the amount of sports betting options and opportunities far exceeds what is currently available at US state-based online sports betting sites. Once you get comfortable with the idea of betting offshore, and have found a suitable, safe and trustworthy site, you may even find that posted odds are superior in most sports, and the chances of clearing significant profits are higher too.

Is Betting Offshore Legal?

This is the million-dollar question that everyone asks at some point. Is it legal to bet online at an offshore sportsbook? The truth of the matter is, at this stage, no one really knows. The overturning of PASPA by the US Supreme Court seems to have only added to the confusion, as no one is sure anymore what is legal and what isn’t.

Essentially, the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act made it illegal for anyone to take a bet and process the payment within the United States. However, this does not mean that you can’t place a bet online, as long as the site you’re dealing with is not based within the US. So basically, in a nutshell, you can be a sports bettor online, you just can’t be a bookie.

What Sports Can You Bet on with an Offshore Sportsbook?

As a US sports bettor, you will be very happy to learn that most offshore online sportsbooks will offer plenty of action on all of the sports that you love to bet on. This includes plenty of NFL, NBA, MLB and NHL action. Top offshore sportsbooks will usually give you highly competitive odds on current and upcoming events, and will often include plenty of details as they build up to the events.

Aside from the regular US sports which everyone enjoys betting on, most offshore sportsbooks will also offer a wide array of other sports, including tennis, golf, soccer (the other football), MMA and UFC action, horse racing, dogs and much more. You’ll be able to take advantage of some great sign-up offers, free bets, cashbacks on losses and all sorts of other promo goodies. Signing up is fast, US dollars are accepted, and there are plenty of payment options to suit your specific needs. It just becomes a matter of shopping around to find the best fit for you.

So, What’s the Best Way to Choose a Good Offshore Sports Betting Site?

As the saying goes, there are plenty of ways to skin a cat. Some prefer to go it alone, trying out different offshore sports betting sites until one sticks. However, the obvious drawback to this is that trial and error can be costly, and if you’re on a limited budget, this is simply not a viable option. The more practical, and somewhat safer alternative, is to simply find a reliable and trustworthy offshore sports betting resource.

We mentioned OffshoreSportsbooks.com earlier in this article, and that is a good place to start your journey. The reason why it’s important to go with an online resource like that is so you can find several potential offshore sportsbooks to choose from at one site. There is no need to then run around trying out different ones first. You can read in-depth reviews which go through all the key features including bonuses, number of sports covered, odds and payout speeds, reliability, support and so much more. Be sure to pick a site that is truly independent and that pays for all their own reviews, there are sites out there that are nothing more than sponsored advertising for specific sites.