India Sports Betting Criteria

So you're looking for the best sports betting sites for Indians. I've reviewed dozens of international sports betting services from the perspective of nearly every country on the planet for various review sites. This site is only concerned with online sports betting as it pertains to bettors in India. There are so many factors that go into selecting the best sports betting service for your needs. Is the company reliable and reputable? Are they regulated by trustworthy governing body? These factors help you to determine if your deposits are safe and your withdrawals assured. These factors actually apply to every bettor no matter where they reside because everyone wants to protect their money. So what are the factors that affect Indians?

First, they must accept Indian player registrations. Second, they must provide significant coverage of the sports that Indians love the most. By far, cricket is the most important sport in India by a wide margin. Thus it is assumed that you likely want to bet IPL, International or other top-level cricket competitions. Not every online sportsbook covers cricket, so this is not always a given. Third, the betting site must offer a number of Indian-friendly banking methods making it easy for players to deposit and withdraws funds to their betting account. Each of the sites that I list below meet these three foremost criteria, but I discuss my list creation methodology at the right of the page.

Understanding betting laws in India - Is online sports betting in India Legal?

Gambling in India in general can be a subject of controversy. The federal government has determined that according to a schedule of the Indian Constitution, individual States have the power and authority to make laws with respect to gambling and betting. Each state is responsible to tax gambling and sports betting events or activities.

While the laws of each state are different with regard to which types of betting or gambling are allowed, the general interpretation is that these laws only apply to gambling activities that occur physically in public such as a legal race course or illegal betting parlours and clubs. It is generally believed that that these laws are not applicable and unenforceable with regard to what Indians do within the privacy of their own home.

The issue of betting in your native currency: the Indian Rupee

Most online sportsbooks around the world provide betting accounts in anywhere from about 3 to 12 currencies. As you can imagine, these companies support the currencies most used by their target customers. This leaves Indian bettors in a bit of a dilemma. Some sportsbooks offer Indian Rupee Sports betting but as a company, are too new to be called reputable and others have poor track records of cancelled bets or even stopped accounts where any remaining money was essentially confiscated. The terms and conditions for these sites will leave you with no recourse unfortunately. This is why I essentially only recommend sportsbooks that are mature and tend to cater to Western markets, like Europe, Canada, Australia etc. India as a market is growing in importance. As this growth continues, more of the World’s best betting sites will offer betting accounts in the Rupee.

Where Indian ex-pats in UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar & Kuwait may bet on sports

Millions of Indians move to the Arabian Gulf states in order to pursue job opportunities and superior wages compared to what is available at home in India. If this situation is something that you are considering for yourself, but you’re not sure what the available situation is with regard to sports betting in the Middle East, know that online bookies are your best option for sure, as public gambling is very much a no-no in that part of the world.

This leaves you with the issue of finding a solid sports betting site for the country to which you might move. Know that many reputable online bookie brands actually do not serve Middle East states, for one reason or another, but there are resources that can help to point you in the right direction. Find top UAE sports betting sites as well as those for Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia or Oman.

The best online sports betting sites for players in India

How sites get into the list:

It is important to understand what this site is, and what it is not. Many sports betting review sites are built simply to present you with the brands you likely know best with logos and banners. Next to these logos you will likely see a 5-star rating or a very high letter or number grade with no actual reason or justification for this assessment. These review sites assume you then go and register without any thought as to why you make your selection.

As you can see from my list, several of the biggest names that target the Indian market are not listed. Unlike other review sites, I’m not interested in simply trading on a brand that you know. I want you to play with top India betting sites.

My list only includes sites that have satisfied the following criteria:

Established companies with excellent track records of trustworthiness and fairness.
Provide some of the best odds pricing on the sports that Indians enjoy the most.
Provide an excellent user experience for both desktop and mobile betting.
Offer a wide array of banking options that are accepted within India.
Offer at least some free account withdrawal methods, after all, it’s your money.
Provide leading edge technology for live, in-play betting in addition to other features.

If I’m not satisfied and a site has failed to meet all these criteria, the reviewed sportsbook is not included in my list.

I’ve reviewed over 30 of the biggest names in the business. I’m not here to list every sportsbook, tell you what is wrong with them, and then hope to trade on their brand and logo because they advertise at an Indian Premier League cricket match or an English Premier League football match and you know their name.

I’m here to show you the best companies with which you may bet from India. The INR sportsbooks are listed first, the rest are in alphabetical order. They all provide an excellent experience, but have their differences. Please read and enjoy responsibly.

Bank easily with your sportsbook from India

Key to your sportsbook experience is the manner in which you’ll be able to deposit and withdraw funds from your betting account via your chosen banking methods.

If you choose a sportsbook that does not offer Indian Rupee accounts and you need to select another currency, try to ensure your funding source is set in the same currency as your betting account to avoid excess currency exchange fees. In many cases, such as with an e-wallet, your currency should match that in your sportsbook account.

Most online sportsbooks are focused on targeting the average bettor. As such, there are limits placed the amount that can be bet or that can be won. Smaller companies are at a higher risk of a big loss, and thus they tend to have lower limits.