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25+ sports markets. Generous welcome bonus. Frequent odds-boosts. T&Cs apply, 21+
BetMGM is one of the biggest, brightest and best-known betting sites in the biz, and in this review, I’m going to deliver a comprehensive guide on everything you ought to know about the platform.
Today, I’ll talk your ear off about the brand’s bonuses, functionality, payment methods, customer support and so on. Naturally, I’ll explore the operator’s US licensing and reputation too, and reveal what kinds of long-term bettor perks you can expect here.
| Welcome Bonus | Up To $1500 in Bonus Bets Paid Back if your First Bet Does Not Win |
|---|---|
| Live Streaming | ✅ |
| Cash Out | ✅ |
| Mobile Live Streaming | ✅ |
| Partial Cash Out | 🚫 |
| Mobile Statistics | ✅ |
| Live Betting | ✅ |
| Slot Providers | Evolution Gaming, Inspired Gaming, IGT, NetEnt, Scientific Games +13 more, SHFL Entertainment, Slingo Originals, Spin Games, Ezugi, Williams Interactive, Big Time Gaming, Everi, Ainsworth, Konami Gaming, Playtech, Lightning Box Games, Red Tiger, Nextgen Gaming |
| Live Casino | ✅ |
| Has Self-Exclusion | 🚫 |
| Live Games | 6 |
| Support Types | |
| Deposit time | instant |
| Gaming Licence | Virginia (US) Lottery Board |
| Available States | VA, AZ, CO, IL, IN, IA, KS, KY, LA, MD +12 more, MA, MI, NV, NJ, NY, NC, OH, PA, TN, WA, DC, WV |
| Payment Provider | Deposit time | Withdrawal time |
|---|---|---|
| PayNearMe | instant | |
| Skrill | 1 days | |
| PayPal | instant | 1 days |
| Bank Transfer | instant | 2 - 3 days |
| VIP Preferred | instant | 2 - 3 days |
| Play+ | instant | 1 days |
| Discover | instant | |
| Visa | instant | 1 - 3 days |
| Mastercard | instant | 1 - 3 days |
| Applepay | instant | |
| American Express | instant | |
| Wire Transfer | instant | |
| Cash | instant | instant |
Now, big or small, the first thing I literally always look for when rating a new betting site is bonuses – and I reckon a lot of you guys are the same here, right?
25+ sports markets. Generous welcome bonus. Frequent odds-boosts. T&Cs apply, 21+
When I landed at BetMGM, I made a beeline straight to their “Promotions” page in search of something really special, then immediately penned a BetMGM bonus code guide to the latest offering.
Basically, the brand’s flagship sportsbook promo is an up to $1,500 “First Bet Offer” which will return you up to that amount in bonus bets if your initial bet falls short of the mark.
To claim the offer, I found that you’ll need to be located in one of the 19 US states where BetMGM’s real money betting services are currently available. You’ll also need to be willing to fork out a $10 activation deposit, and be prepared to play through any bonus bets you receive within seven days or less.
Upon entry to the brand’s site, you’ll be asked to select your state. From there, you’ll be plonked center stage on the site’s sportsbook – though there are quick links to BetMGM’s separate “Casino”, “Poker” and “Racing” pages at the top of the page if you need them. Naturally, I’m writing a review here for all you NFL nuts and baseball junkies out there, so I’m gonna set my sights solely on the site’s sports offerings throughout this guide.
The sports homepage is super-intuitive – extending that one-click functionality I talked about already into all corners of the site’s far-reaching sportsbook. In the page header, you can hit “NBA”, “MLB” and other popular links to take you straight to the day’s hottest odds. Underneath that, you’ll find ads for the latest bonuses and odd-boosts, followed by scrollable listings for the matches and games of the day.
Layout-wise, everything was crystal-clear and completely uncomplicated here. Sports markets are on the left, your customizable betting slip’s on the right, and there’s a handy “Media” box that’ll let you jump right into the latest live events. My favorite feature? That’d be the razor-sharp BetMGM search engine, which you can pop-open at any time by hitting the magnifying glass icon.
All the best sports betting sites out there offer dedicated iOS and Android apps. So it goes without saying that you’ll find both here, too – they can be located either via direct download link from BetMGM’s site, or via the App and Google Play stores.
BetMGM in app form is a little more stripped-back, subbing the names of sports for mini game icons and the like, but generally it offers all the same one-click goodness I waxed lyrical about in that last section.
At BetMGM, there’s a plethora of tried-and-tested payment options at your fingertips. You can deposit/withdraw with VISA and MasterCard, as well as PayPal and Venmo. But that’ll not all – Play+ Prepaid Cards, Apple Pay and online bank and wire transfers are all accepted on deposits and withdrawals, too. And if you live near an MGM resort, it’s good to know that “cash at the casino cage” is available on both deposits and withdrawals in NJ, MI, DC, MS and a handful of other states.
Here are a few fast-facts I’ve a feeling you’re gonna wanna know:
| Payment processing times | Usually instant on deposits, and up to four working days on withdrawals. |
| Minimum limits | $10 on both deposits and withdrawals. |
| Maximum limits | $8,000 to $10,000 on deposits and $4,000 to $50,000 on withdrawals. |
| Potential fees | There’s a $5 conversion fee on bank wire deposits. |
Generally, if speed is what you need, VISA offers the fastest cash-outs – at 24 hours against online banking’s potentially yawn-worthy up to four-day processing time.
Limit-wise, though, online bank and wire transfers remain most popular among high rollers, as they offer the highest maximum limits, while PayPal is actually kinda restrictive, with a $4,000 per-transaction cap.
It’s two-thumbs-up on the customer support front from me. Live chat is by far my favorite. It’s available 24/7 from the “Help & Customer Care” page – simply hit “Contact Us” the second you land there if you’d rather get connected with an actual human being than scroll through the site’s endless FAQs.
Having said that, as far as FAQs sections go, BetMGM’s isn’t actually all that bad – articles are logically organized into categories, they all answer sensible-enough questions and it’s real easy-to-navigate. In most states, there’s a telephone hotline you can contact, too, as well as an email option.
| Customer Service |  |
|---|---|
| Available Languages: | English |
| Email: | [email protected] |
| Telephone: | (800) 522-4700 |
Why of course it did. Unless you’ve been living under a rock, I reckon you’ll all be more than aware that BetMGM is very closely affiliated with MGM Resorts International – the very same guys who run a ton of in-person MGM and Borgata casino resorts in the likes of Las Vegas and Atlantic City.
The brand’s come a long way since it first launched online in 2018, and now offers legal sports betting services across a smorgasbord of US states, from Iowa and Indiana through to Tennessee and Kansas – with GeoGuard and GeoLocation software behind the scenes to check bettors like you and I really do live where we say we do. For this reason, I would advise strongly against using VPNs, which could potentially see you excluded from the site’s services if signing-up from somewhere you shouldn’t. Always play by the rules, yeah?
Naturally, BetMGM’s broad legal availability means that the brand holds state-level licenses from legit US bodies like the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement (DGE) and the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (DGE), among others. BetMGM is frequently audited, too and takes the security of its bettors super-seriously – offering two-step authentication, SSL encryption and a bunch of other cyber security bells and whistles you can read more about over on their FAQs page (if you really care to).
If that’s not enough to convince you this is a platform that can be trusted, just take a look at their branding – the latest marketing campaign was fronted by Hollywood legend Jamie Foxx, for chrissakes. Is anyone out there as widely-respected as The Foxx?
My interest was piqued first by the BetMGM Rewards loyalty program – a sort of overarching VIP club that you can potentially collect points toward when betting on sports, playing at casino games, or enjoying the odd spot of poker.
The way it works is pretty idiot-proof and much like any other loyalty program you might’ve tried-out elsewhere – rack up points each time you bet, then use said points to climb tiers – of which there are five in total. Each tier will then entitle you to the following mini-bonuses:
| Tier | Regular bonuses up-for-grabs | How many points do you need to join? | Spruced-up customer support offering? | Dedicated VIP host? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sapphire | $5 birthday and registration anniversary bonuses. | 0-19,999. | No. | No. |
| Pearl | $10 birthday and registration anniversary bonuses. | 20,000. | No. | No. |
| Gold | $25 birthday and registration anniversary bonuses. | 75,000. | Yes. | No. |
| Platinum | $100 birthday and registration anniversary bonuses. | 200,000. | Yes. | No. |
| Noir | $200 birthday and registration anniversary bonuses. | N/A – the big boy’s club is invitation-only, we’re afraid. | Yes. | Yes. |
As you can see, you’ll gain entry to bottom-level Sapphire straight-away, and will need to work your way up thereafter.
My BetMGM sportsbook review found that, as is the case with any bonuses, there are a few potential pitfalls to be aware of – such as the fact that there are state-level differences depending on where you’re betting from. To give just one example of this, Kansas-based bettors won’t be able to rack up points by playing at poker or casino games, while Garden State gamers will.
It’s also worth noting that the entry requirements to each tier are frequently updated – though of course, I’ll let you know right here at DeadSpin alongside my football news and trusted betting brand reviews the very second I hear of any changes.
Naturally, there’s more to BetMGM bonuses than just BetMGM Rewards. At the time of writing, you can also take advantage of a refer-a-friend bonus that’ll net you a $50 first bet offer for each successful referral, for example.
When I first landed on their flagship sportsbook page, I instantly saw that more than 25 different markets were up-for-grabs on the left-hand side of the screen. What I didn’t realize right off the bat, though, is that these categories are all split into innumerable sub-categories, meaning the actual market selection at your fingertips is a lot larger.
Diversity is of course the brand’s biggest strength here – mainstream must-haves like NBA, NHL, or Premier League soccer are all on the cards, but you’ll equally find an exciting range of much more specialized beach volleyball and lacrosse tournaments. I’ve even enjoyed the odd flutter on lawn bowls and sailing.
One thing that is a little limited, mind, is access to collegiate sports events, though this is in part due to the fact NCAA props are prohibited more generally in some of the US states where BetMGM is available, such as Colorado and Arizona.
If you’re new to betting entirely, one totally awesome feature that caught my attention on day one was the brand’s on-site “Betting Guides”. Now, these run through – in minute detail – how to place anything from point spread and money line to more complex parlay bets, with all guides of course written in the language of BetMGM’s own platform (think “how-to” screenshots and reference-points) to help get you guys started.
High rollers will feel equally at home here, – the brand’s actual betting slips are set-up with one-click functionality and are clearly geared more toward those of us who know exactly what we’re doing, and don’t like faffing around.
Odds at BetMGM are, in a word, competitive. They have to be, right? Else this wouldn’t have ballooned into one of the US’ market-leading platforms.
Initially, your odds are displayed in all-American “+” and “-“ style, though the format can be switched-up in seconds via BetMGM’s burger menu. I found that there weren’t really any biases here in terms of one sport offering consistently more attractive odds than another.
One neat feature clocked quickly by my BetMGM sportsbook review was that fact the brand occasionally dishes out “Odds Boost Tokens” to frequent bettors, which grant you guys temporarily superior odds on selected events.
At the time of writing, an NBA-themed offer promising 50% odds-boosts every day during the Finals was up-for-grabs – perfect for any of you following the latest basketball news.
It is, and the quality of live betting experiences here is nothing short of superb. BetMGM was actually the world’s first online sportsbook to roll-out sports live-streaming alongside in-play bets back in 2015.
Today, there’s a relatively unassuming-looking “Media” widget on the sportsbook homepage that I found will immediately open up a live-stream of the latest big games and events happening right now. Alternatively, you can click the “Live” button in the top toolbar to check out today’s up-to-the-minute in-play odds.
The “Media” widget allows you to quickly toggle between streams using a drop-down filter, and keep the stream open in a mini window while browsing other sports and odds elsewhere on the platform – an especially fun feature on touch screen devices like iPads, where you can move your mini-stream around the screen at a whim.
Whether it’s tennis or NCAAF you’re looking at, the “Live” page has one-click betting functionality, and yet more drop-down boxes to help you quickly flit between, say, handicaps or halftime bets.
All online sportsbooks have limits, and BetMGM is no different. Naturally, they vary depending on the sport or event you’re looking at, but the good news is they’re always very transparent here – your bet slip will automatically tell you what’s what as and when you add to or modify it.
From a responsible gambling standpoint, my review also found it dead-easy to impose limits on yourself here if ever things are getting to be a bit too much. Deposit and betting limits, as well as self-exclusion options, can all be altered via your account page any time you like.
New customers registering from BetMGM-friendly US states can currently claim an up to $1,500 first bet offer, which you can claim simply by creating an account with the brand. The offer has rules, though – you’ll need to put down a $10 or more qualifying deposit and will receive five Bonus Bets only if your initial cash bet loses.
BetMGM offers unbridled access to pretty much every sports market under the sun – though there are strict state-level laws regarding betting on NCAA props and events. This means that only bettors in selected US states get access to this particular market.
I talked a lot about this in my latest BetMGM sportsbook rating. Basically, you can potentially hit a bigger payout on selected sports bets by redeeming an Odds Boost Token before making your bet selection. These boosts will essentially temporarily entitle you to superior odds than other players for that event only.
So, with a brand rep that’s good enough for Hollywood royalty like Jamie Foxx, an up to $1,500 bonus available to newcomers in multiple eligible states, and a website and apps that are a real joy to use, BetMGM’s got an awful lot going for it, eh? But should you guys actually register and bet here?
Well, it depends on what you’re looking for. My review found that this brand’s pretty much unbeatable if you’re hunting about for competitive odds on mainstream, big-name NFL, NBA and MLB fixtures, as well as headline-grabbing international events like the soccer World Cup, Wimbledon and even the Tour de France. But if you were hoping to bet on collegiate sports or smaller events, you might sometimes find your options are a little more limited.
Nevertheless, BetMGM’s website and apps certainly rank among the most streamlined and easy-to-use I’ve seen, that rewards program is pitch-perfect for longer-term bettors and the brand’s reputation is second-to-none.
