Draftkings

DraftKings Sportsbook Review.

States Available

DraftKings has expanded quickly across the United States since 2018. You can now use the DraftKings Sportsbook app in these states:

• Arizona
• Colorado
• Connecticut
• Illinois
• Indiana
• Iowa
• Louisiana
• Michigan
• New Hampshire
• New Jersey
• New York
• Oregon
• Pennsylvania
• Tennessee
• Virginia
• West Virginia
• Wyoming

Mobile App Design

The DraftKings mobile app is similar to those offered by SBTech’s many customers around the world. It is easy to use, fast and dependable. We’ve heard complaints from many bettors about apps crashing or freezing because they cannot cope with location services requirements, but that doesn’t seem to be the case with DraftKings. It has gone down sometimes, but that’s usually in the face of extreme demand, such as the New York sports betting launch in January 2022.

We tried out the DraftKings mobile bookie app on old and new iPhones and Android phones, and it always performed well. We could get our bets on quickly, which is helpful, especially for in-play betting when a big game is on.

One top tip is to turn the “Remove Animation” setting to off on your phone, as that makes the app much more reliable and stable. You’ll also need to make sure you’re always using the most current version of the DraftKings Sportsbook app, as you’ll often experience problems with the older versions, such as freezing pages.

If you do that, you should find that the app performs well. It might be a little complex for beginners at first, because it has a lot of information, but you should soon get into the swing of it.

Security

DraftKings Sportsbook has a secure mobile app. The security is bolstered with each upgrade. It can be a pain to continually update the app, but it does ensure you’re protected.

We haven’t heard of any security issues for DraftKings Sportsbook since it launched in 2018. It’s licensed by various regulatory authorities, from the Arizona Department of Gaming to the Wyoming Gaming Commission, so it needs to follow strict consumer protection laws and it always pays out on time.

Sportsbook

The mobile app from DraftKings and SBTech allows you to bet on lots of different sports, leagues and games:

• Football | NFL, NCAAF, CFL
• Basketball | NBA, NCAAB, WNBA, leagues around the world
• Baseball | MLB, leagues around the world
• Hockey | NHL, NCAA, European leagues
• Tennis | Grand Slams, ATP, WTA, small tournaments
• Golf | PGA Tour, European Tour, Fed-Ex 500, exhibition matches
• Soccer | MLS, European leagues, internationals, worldwide leagues
• MMA |
• Boxing |
• Cricket
• Curling
• Cycling
• Darts
• Handball
• Lacrosse
• Motorsports
• Rugby League
• Rugby Union
• Snooker
• Table Tennis
• Winter Olympics

That’s a long list of sports. It doesn’t offer betting on entertainment, esports, politics, financial markets and so on. If you want to bet on those categories, you’ll need to check out a mobile bookie like BetOnline, BetUS or MyBookie.

Betting Markets

You’ll find a ton of mobile betting options on each game at the DraftKings Sportsbook app. If you tap on an NFL game, you’ll see the spread, total and moneyline. You’ll then find a long list of alternative spreads and alternative totals.

Player props include passing yards, passing TDs, rushing yards, receiving yards and exotic prop bets. You’ll also find game props, player parlays and betting on quarters and halves, plus a same game parlay tool that lets you put lots of options together.

That’s just one example of the betting options at the DraftKings mobile app. You’ll find similarly thorough coverage of NBA games and big soccer games, and the MLB betting options and NHL betting markets are varied too.

Futures betting markets.

The DraftKings Sportsbook app comes with a load of futures betting markets. You can put parlays, round robins and teasers together using a simple mobile betslip, and it has an impressive range of bets on smaller sports too.

The odds are average. You’ll normally get standard juice lines on NFL and NBA games (-110 on either side is standard, or -105 on one side and -115 on the other), but the moneyline odds and prop odds could be stronger.

One thing we should mention is that DraftKings boss Jason Robins said in a recent interview that the company doesn’t want players that make a profit. The brand has a reputation for limiting winning bettors, which isn’t good.

Robins has since tried to reel back the comments, claiming they were taken out of context, but it has damaged the brand’s standing among bettors, who are obviously trying to earn a profit from their sporting expertise.

Live Betting

You’ll find a comprehensive live betting platform within the DraftKings mobile app. Just tap on the “Live In-Game” option to see the football, basketball, baseball, soccer, hockey, golf, tennis, rugby, handball, cricket, table tennis and other live events you can bet on.

There’s live streaming of some sports, and you’ll get score updates on others. It has a decent selection of live game lines and live props, and you can also bet on fast markets, such as what will happen in the next five minutes of a soccer game (goal, corner, penalty). It’s an easy-to-use live betting section.

Racebook

You won’t find an online racebook at the DraftKings app, so you can’t bet on races like the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness Stakes, the Belmont Stakes or the Breeders’ Cup Classic.

If you want an online racebook alongside a high-quality mobile sportsbook, check out a mobile bookie like BetUS, MyBookie, BetOnline or Bovada. They all cover loads of races from around the world, including all the biggest races of the day in the USA, and you’ll get racebook bonuses and rebates too.

DraftKings may add a racebook in future, but it doesn’t currently have the in-house capabilities.

Casino

You can play at the DraftKings mobile casino if you’re in Connecticut, Michigan, New Jersey, Pennsylvania or West Virginia.

It has more than 600 casino games from some of the world’s best mobile casino suppliers, such as NetEnt and IGT. You’ll find great variety when it comes to slots and table games, but the live dealer section is a bit sparse.

DraftKings has a great welcome bonus for mobile casino players: a 100% deposit bonus up to $2,000, plus an additional free bet. The bonus funds have a 15x rollover requirement. You’ll then get more bonuses as an ongoing customer, and the loyalty program includes the casino.

If you want to play casino games in states outside Connecticut, Michigan, New Jersey, Pennsylvania or West Virginia, check out BetUS, BetOnline or MyB Casino.

Welcome Bonus

The main welcome bonus is a $50 free bet plus a 20% deposit match up to $1,000. The first part of the bonus is good, because it has only a 1x rollover. The second part of the bonus isn’t so good, because it has a 25x release requirement, which means you need to place $25,000 in sports bets to get the $1,000. That’s a raw deal compared to some of the other bookie bonuses featured on our site.

DraftKings seems to understand that this isn’t a great bonus, because it keeps launching alternative offers, which are a lot sweeter. One recent example is “Bet $5, Win $280”. You bet five bucks on a game, and if it wins, you get seven free bets worth $40. That’s a short-term offer, but DraftKings offers loads of bonuses like that. You’ll have to grab them quickly, because they often disappear after a week or two, but you’ll normally find something appealing if you dig a bit.

Promotions

DraftKings doesn’t offer many promotions. There’s no reload bonus and you won’t get parlay bonuses. However, you will find odds boosts in another section of the app. They’re pretty fun, although you can get sucked into betting on props that you wouldn’t normally go for, so you’ll have to be careful.

There’s a refer a friend bonus too, along with free to play daily pools that dish out cash prizes. You’ll also join Dynasty Rewards, the loyalty program spanning the DK sportsbook, DFS and casino. You earn crowns, which you can spend on free plays and various other rewards when you accumulate a certain amount.

You start off as a Bronze member, but you’ll soon start moving up the tiers if you place a large volume of mobile bets, or if you place large bets. VIPs will be placed in the Onyx tier, where you get your own account manager, tailored bonuses, gifts and all sorts of other perks.

Banking

DraftKings accepts instant, free deposits through lots of payment options. You’ll be able to use all the main credit cards and debit cards – Visa, Mastercard, Discover, American Express.

PayPal is also available, and you can sign up for a Play+ card from DraftKings. It recommends online bank transfers, but you can also use an e-check or a wire transfer. Cash at the cage is accepted too. You’d need to visit a retail DK sportsbook or partner casino for that. You can’t use PayNearMe, crypto or e-wallets like Skrill and Neteller.

Payout times

One major downside for DraftKings mobile bookie customers is the payout times. It makes you wait five business days for a withdrawal request to be processed. That’s poor in this day and age. If you use a bookie like BetOnline or BetUS, you’ll often get same day payouts via the quickest methods, so DraftKings might not be the best bookie if you’re in a rush to get your money.

You can get paid out by bank transfer, e-check, wire transfer, paper check, Play+ or PayPal. The process is a lot quicker if you go to the casino cage, as they should be able to get you cash within an hour, but that’s not convenient for everyone.

The payouts at DraftKings are secure and you’ll definitely get your money. Withdrawals start at $1 and go up to a maximum of $100,000. 

Customer Service

This is a weak spot for this mobile bookie. It says that its customer service department is open 24/7, but there’s no phone line or live chat, so you can’t gain immediate support.

Instead you’ll need to fill in a form – which isn’t always easy for mobile users – and then wait for someone in the customer service team to get in touch with you.

Other mobile bookies have phone lines and live chat options that you can use 24 hours a day, so it’s strange to see that a famous brand like DraftKings hasn’t followed suit. It does have a help center, but it should improve its customer service capabilities.

Conclusion

DraftKings burst onto the scene in 2018 and it has quickly become one of the most widely used sportsbook apps in the USA. That’s mainly a result of the large bonuses it offers and the extravagant sums it spends on marketing.

It has a user-friendly sports betting app, with a ton of betting options on lots of different sports. The odds are okay, and you can find some good odds boosts each day.

There are some areas that could be improved, like adding live chat and a phone line for customer service, improving the moneyline odds and speeding up the payout times, but it’s a very impressive mobile bookie that you can trust.