Illinois was BetRivers’ to lose, and it’s done just that.
Rush Street Gaming is based on Illinois and owns the Rivers Casino in Des Plaines, Ill. They launched the BetRivers brand
Rush Street lobbied to keep DraftKings and FanDuel out of Illinois, or at least suppress their firepower, by requiring users to sign up in person for the first 18 months of legalized betting in the Land of Lincoln. But the COVID-19 pandemic forced Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker to sign an executive order allowing users to sign up online.
Because of this, and its lookalike product that fails to stand out in a crowded market, BetRivers does not control much of the Illinois market.
BetRivers sign-up bonus
BetRivers is offering a $500 “first bet on the house” in Illinois. In some other states, it’s less, so the IL offer is tied for the highest available right now.
So how does it work? If your first bet loses, you’ll be refunded in bonus bets equal to whatever you lost. So if you bet $100 on the Cubs at +110 against the Cardinals as your first wager, here’s how it will go:
- Cubs win, you’ll profit $110 ($100 x 1.1) and keep the $100 you wagered. So you’ll now have $210 in your account, and the promo is effectively over.
- Cubs lose, you’ll get $100 back in bonus bets.
BetRivers calls their bonus bets “site credits”, but they work like most other books – you keep any profits from those wagers, but not the credit itself. In the past, some sites have used “site credit” as a way to describe credits in which you would keep the bet amount itself ithe bet wins.
So let’s say you get the $100 back in bonus bets from the Cubs lose. Here’s how it will go. You bet all $100 on the White Sox to beat the Guardians at +120.
- If the White Sox win, you profit $120, but you don’t keep the $100. You now have $120 cash in your account following a $100 deposit, good for $20 in profits.
- If the White Sox lose, your credits go away and you’re left with nothing.
Sign-up for the BetRivers deposit match
Here’s how to grab the BetRivers’ sign-up bonus:
- First, click this link to navigate to the BetRivers promotion page.
- Create a new account by selecting the register button and using bonus code X
- Make a minimum $10 deposit to start earning up to a $7,500 deposit for $1,500 in bonus bets
BetRivers Sportsbook Illinois Review: 3.5/5
Bonuses & Promos: 3.5/5
BetRivers in most states has a lower sign-up bonus than its competitors, and an offer not all users will take full advantage of. You’ll get a $500 first bet on the house.
BetRivers does offer a bunch of “existing user” promos like parlay insurance on tennis, MLB and golf. If one leg of your four-leg parlay loses, you’ll get bonus bets back. They’re not slam-dunk, must-bet offers, but they’re nice options to have if you bet these sports anyway.
Betting App & Features: 3.5/5
BetRivers uses odds and tech provider Kambi to power its mobile app, meaning it looks a lot like its competitors. Ever wonder why the odds at Rivers and Barstool are exactly the same?
That means BetRivers is not a must-have book, especially if you already bet at Barstool.
User Interface
The BetRivers app is a bit slow and laggy, and the layout feels dated. It can be difficult to find many markets, because there’s little organization – it’s just many bets stacked on top of each other with weird naming conventions.
The big saving grace for BetRivers is a pretty strong search function, which allows you to find players or teams included in certain markets. For example, if you search “Chicago Bears” it will show you Super Bowl odds, NFC North odds, and anything else the Bears are listed in. Some other books will only let you search by the title of the market, like “Super Bowl odds.”
Stability & Functionality
BetRivers ranks pretty low on our list of favorite user experiences, because the tech feels a bit outdated and slow. It doesn’t have the sleek UX of DraftKings of FanDuel, two companies who have been building DFS and sports betting products for a decade.
Odds & Variety: 4/5
Pricing so many markets is difficult, which is why many companies use an odds provider like Kambi. That means BetRivers does offer a ton, even if the odds aren’t great and the same as many other books.
Odds
BetRivers’ pricing isn’t spectacular. When you price so many markets, you need to give yourself a cushion to not get burned by bad lines.
So Rivers will offer 30+ cent lines on golf matchups (like -140 on one side and +110 on the other) and has average pricing on anytime touchdown scorers in the NFL.
Even in MLB, many of their totals are 23 cents (so -120 on one side and -103 on the other) instead of -120/+100.
Sports
- Aussie Rules
- Baseball
- Basketball
- Boxing
- Cricket
- Cycling
- Darts
- Football
- Golf
- Ice Hockey
- Lacrosse
- MMA
- Motorsports
- Rugby League
- Rugby Union
- Snooker
- Soccer
- Table Tennis
- Tennis
- Volleyball
Registration, Deposit, & Cashout: 4/5
BetRivers has standard deposit and withdraw options, like every other sportsbook, including bank account, PayPal, credit card and more.
Illinois Sports Teams
Illinois Sports Team | League | Location |
Chicago Bears | NFL | Chicago, IL |
Chicago Bulls | NBA | Chicago, IL |
Chicago Cubs | MLB | Chicago, IL |
Chicago White Sox | MLB | Chicago, IL |
Chicago Blackhawks | NHL | Chicago, IL |
Chicago Cubs
The Chicago Cubs have played at historic Wrigley Field for over 100 years as the most popular baseball team in Chicago. The Cubs play in the NL Central with their fiercest rival being the St. Louis Cardinals.
The Chicago Cubs finally overcame their curse and won the World Series in 2016, their first since 1908. They were able to defeat the Cleveland Guardians (then Indians) in seven games.
This season, the Cubs are third in the NL Central behind the Cincinnati Reds and the Milwaukee Brewers. Hovering around .500, the Cubs have plenty of time left in the season to make a push towards a division title. You can find Cubs games available for wager on BetRivers.
Chicago White Sox
The Chicago White Sox have an equally long and tumultuous history in the MLB. The White Sox are famous for the historic cheating scandal in 1919 where they were accused of throwing the World Series for a payout. This led to the longstanding ban on American sports betting.
The White Sox have three championships in their history with the most recent being in 2005. Currently, they are in a rebuilding year as they are near the bottom of the AL Central. However, avid fans can always find White Sox markets on BetRivers Sportsbook.
Chicago Bears
The Bears are in make-or-break territory with Justin Fields at quarterback. He enters his third season off a promising sophomore campaign, but it’s no sure thing he develops into an elite quarterback.
Chicago Bulls
The Bulls are one of the most historic franchises in the NBA with an all-time championship run in the 1990s with Michael Jordan.
Chicago Blackhawks
The Blackhawks are one of the original six teams of the NHL. After a long hiatus from the Stanley Cup, the Blackhawks went on an incredible run, winning three Stanley Cups in 2013, 2015 and 2017.