Pinnacle

Launching in 1998, Pinnacle was one of the earliest bookmakers into the game. They’ve withstood the test of time and are more successful than ever today.

This bookmaker hangs its hat on offering the “best odds” and “lowest margins.” Many sportsbooks make these claims, but Pinnacle may very well have the industry’s most-favorable odds.

This operation opened in Curacao and initially focused on grey markets, like the US and Canada. They’ve since expanded to Europe after acquiring a license from the Malta Gaming Commission.

Pinnacle rates strongly in the areas that skilled bettors care about, including odds, high betting limits, and plenty of markets. They’re also a well-known “sharpbook,” meaning they have no trouble accepting bets from the pros.

Pinnacle isn’t without its faults, though, because they don’t have live chat or a welcome bonus. They also have a somewhat weak in-play betting section when considering their size and reputation.

Extras & Features

We had trouble finding features at Pinnacle at first. After all, most online sportsbooks offer most of their extras in the live betting section.

However, we eventually found that Pinnacle does have some helpful tools under their “Betting Resources” link. This area features blog posts, an odds converter calculator, bet calculator, arbitrage calculator, handicap table, and margin calculator. You can make some pretty informed bets just by using these tools.

Odds

Pinnacle works to do one thing better than anybody else: offer the best odds. In fact, their homepage currently reads, “Always best odds with the lowest margins.”

They embody this saying by offering an average margin of around 3.5%, which is outstanding. The rest of the industry is lucky to get their margins under 5%.

Another interesting thing about Pinnacle is that they accept action from “sharps,” or pro bettors who are highly revered among bookmakers. That said, this operation is a great choice for skilled punters.

In-play / Live Betting

Pinnacle has an okay live betting section. They feature the main sports along with a few obscure markets. However, we’re not blown away by the amount of in-play markets they cover.

It would also be nice to see a few features, such as live scores, stats, and/or live streaming. Unfortunately, Pinnacle is void of these options.

Sports Markets & Betting Types

While this bookmaker may not offer our favourite in-play betting section, they do a great job of covering lots of other markets.

Pinnacle of course features lines on all of the major sports. However, where they stand out is their coverage of minor markets, such as Alpine skiing, badminton, bandy, cross-country skilling, CrossFit, and politics.

Website Navigation & Layout

This website features a plain look that doesn’t try to impress with fancy graphics. The navigation is simple, with the markets featured on the left-hand side. All you need to do is select a market to bring up available bets in the middle.

Pinnacle also features an odds selector at the top, which allows you to switch between American and fractional odds. This feature is helpful if you’re more comfortable with one type of odds over the other.

Other Details

Pinnacle only offers email support. It’s rare for such a successful bookmaker to not have live chat and/or phone support as well.

The website is protected by Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) technology. This encryption is used to keep hackers from intercepting your banking and personal details.

Pinnacle is licensed by the Malta Gaming Authority and Curacao eGaming. They don’t, however, have a UK Gambling Commission license. Therefore, UK residents are barred from wagering here.

Deposits can be made at Pinnacle through over two dozen methods. Some of these options include Bitcoin, Visa, MasterCard, Neteller, Skrill, Paysafecard, Sofort, InstaDebit, and WebMoney.