Choosing a sportsbook is a controversial subject.

Think about it. Websites come and go in our lives, but once you choose your sportsbook you are making a decision you will likely second-guess several times per week (or day) for an undefined period of time.

On top of that, you are also entrusting that site with your hard-earned money. You can always withdraw your funds, but that can be when the troubles start.

All of this means you need to find a sportsbook that provides you with the right combination of the following services, features, or perks (in no particular order of importance):

• Ease of deposit
• Ease of withdrawal
• Trustworthiness
• Perks, bonuses, etc.
• Site navigation and ease of use
• Odds
• Coverage of preferred sports
• Availability of different betting features and types
• Customer service
• Reputation
• Service to your locale (ie. do they take business from your country?)

It's a lot to consider. And you will never find a sportsbook that does everything perfectly. What's right for your friend might not be right for you, so taking recommendations can be tricky.

You might be looking to just drop $10 or $20 on whatever football games are playing on the weekend. You probably aren't going to withdraw anything till the end of the season if you have any money left. You really don't need a whole lot of features and the difference between betting at -110 and -107 is really just pennies to you.

So why would you care about signing up with your friend's book that offers the best European handball lines and promises withdraws to your door within 48 hours?

All of that would be nice, but you're never going to use it. You would probably be more interested in a site that offers a nice bonus that will give you a little more chance of making it through the whole season without draining your bankroll.

That's why I find it easier to break the process down to fit different types of bettors, based on how they are going to interact with the site.

Questions to ask yourself:

1) Is a bonus important to you?

While some people in the forums will trash you for bonus-hunting, there is nothing wrong with it as long as you understand the possible repercussions.

Keep in mind, those bonuses have to come from somewhere. This means that books that offer aggressive bonuses might not offer odds as low as some of their competitors. So, while you might make yourself a nice $100 bonus, you probably won't get to experience the joys of betting games at -105 instead of the -110 at your site.

But if you are only betting $10 or $20 per game, who cares about 50 cents here or there when you just scored an extra $100 in bonus?

Sportsbooks that offer aggressive bonuses have to be vigilant against bonus-abuse, though. They are always on the lookout for people who appear to be trying to manipulate their betting patterns to skirt the minimum bonus requirements and cash out.

Bonus books have to put up with a lot of crap and this makes them a very suspicious lot. This means that they can sometimes act like Homeland Security with plenty of hoops to jump through to ensure they aren't getting hosed.

So, while grabbing yourself a nice bonus might be exactly what you are looking for to enjoy your wagering hobby, you have to understand that there may be a trade-off in the quality of service you might receive. But if you're on the up-and-up, you should have a good experience.

So, if you think that a nice bonus is just what you are looking for, then this is what you need to consider.

a) Don't get yourself stuck in a situation where you need to rollover your bonus 25 times when you can probably find another site that will offer a five-times rollover. The Covers Top Sportsbooks List offers a link to each sportsbooks bonus information.

b) Make sure you understand the bonus rollover rules. There are often subtle but meaningful differences between how each site handles bonuses.

c) Don't plan on making frequent withdrawals - especially if you plan on withdrawing your bonus. This is the kind of stuff that sets alarm bells ringing at bonus books.

d) For this reason, make sure you are choosing a site that has an interface that you enjoy. You are probably going to be stuck playing here for some time while you satisfy the rollover requirements.

2) How big a player are you?

If you are somebody who regularly places wagers of $50 or more, you really should consider signing up with a low-juice sportsbook. It's a simple matter of mathematics.

To illustrate, let's assume that you will make four $50 bets per night for 100 straight nights (400 total wagers), and you will end that period with a record of 210-190, or 52.5 percent.

If you are wagering at a sportsbook that strictly offers odds at -110, you will end your streak having won a grand total of $50.

However, if you managed to find a sportsbook that allowed you to make the same bets at an average of -107, you instead would have a final tally of $335. That's an extra $285 in your pocket with no real additional effort. And if you regularly make even larger wagers, the long term difference will naturally be even more noticeable.

You probably will have to sacrifice a big bonus in order to reap these rewards. But if you are a bigger player, you will thank yourself in the long run.

A few things to consider if a low-juice sportsbook interests you:

a) Can you really afford to wager the amounts you are betting?

b) Take the time to follow the lines of your potential sportsbooks. Make use of the Covers.com Free Odds pages and track which sportsbooks regularly fall into your sweet spot. You might find that some of the books might offer lower odds, but not on the games or bets you prefer.

c) If you truly want to take advantage of lower lines, then you really need to consider having multiple outs. Low odds only work if you can find them on the games you want. Don't be afraid to sign up at more than one location if this is a strategy you plan on following.

3) Will you be making frequent withdrawals or deposits?

I've never really understood why some folks feel the need to be constantly withdrawing and reloading their accounts. I've always been a fan of simply depositing a fair chunk into an account and then only worrying about it if it gets too huge (ha!) or more likely so small that it needs to be refreshed.

I understand that other people like to move their money around, so it is something that needs to be considered.

If you are going to be making frequent withdrawals, you really need to look for a sportsbook that has a multitude of payment options, as well as a reputation for timely service.

In the current climate, there are occasional periods when even the most consistent operations suffer temporary glitches in their systems and therefore have delays. It happens. Get used to it.

Where the best operations make up for these occasional problems is in customer service. A top-notch sportsbook will sail through a rough patch of payment issues without missing a beat. Sites with poor service can make a small glitch to appear magnified many times worse than it actually is.

If you plan to make frequent deposits and withdrawals, here are a few things to consider:

a) Never, ever put yourself in a position where you need this money ASAP to avoid something bad happening, like a missed car or mortgage payment. If you don't have enough money at home to manage your personal affairs, you are wagering over your head and need to cut back.

b) Look for sportsbooks with a wide variety of payment options and explore them all. Why limit yourself to strictly Western Union or checks, when your sportsbook might offer a far superior option that you just need to sign up for?

c) Don't rely strictly on the cheapest payment methods possible. Those are the methods that get jammed up first, because everybody is using them.

d) Take a look through the forums and follow the reputations of different sportsbooks. And be wary not to get swayed too much by a one-time offender, since everybody gets jammed up now and then - and there are a lot of "interested parties" in the forum too so you have to take some comments with a full shaker of salt. If you see regular long term complaints about certain sportsbooks and their payments, then you should probably take heed.

e) Avoid bonus books. As mentioned above, some sportsbooks offer aggressive bonuses that can be very enticing. However, if you are in the habit of making frequent withdrawals, you will no doubt find yourself on the wrong side of their fraud investigators - even if you have done nothing wrong. Hey, cut them some slack too. They're just trying to protect everyone.

Other things to consider:

• Obvious, but a common complaint - make sure the sportsbook you are signing up for covers all the sports and bets you are interested in.
• Do you also play casino games or poker? Then it's nice to sign up with a property that offers those games as well, rather than managing multiple accounts at different sites.
• How's their customer service? This is more than a simple payment-processing question. Give your potential sites a call and see how they handle your questions. Can you understand their operators? Are they trying to get you off the phone without answering your questions? You'd rather find this out now rather than at the worst possible time.
• Play around with their interface. If you plan on using this site many times, then make sure you are not going to find yourself regularly accidentally canceling your bets or missing out on plays simply because of an interface that is unforgiving and incomprehensible.
• For God's sake, avoid Bodog! At least until they get their feet back under them. Otherwise, don't plan on making any withdrawals for a good long time.

Finally, I hope the one thing that is clear during this discussion is that not every sportsbook is suitable for every person. You need to take the time to shop around and choose a sportsbook that offers the right combination of features and benefits for you. That is why we provide the Covers Top Sportsbooks List.

Of course not everybody approves of the exact order of the Covers Top Sportsbooks List. However, that is mainly because individuals each have their own personal priorities, while we have to take into account all of the above factors and issues.

We rank the list based upon the overall factors that we consider important. Mainly, we have to be certain that the companies on the list are trustworthy and 100 percent certain to always pay their players. Assuming this is important to you too, then I highly recommend that you browse through our list and evaluate each property to see if it suits your betting style.

Most of all, have fun!