Summary

I know that when you usually hear DraftKings mentioned, it’s because someone wants to talk to you at length about their lineup or give you their expert opinion on why it wasn’t such a great play to pick the QB you did.

Not this time, though: I’m here to give you my take on the DraftKings sportsbook and whether it’s worth signing up for. I’ll tell you how their bonuses stack up against the competition, how easy it is to place bets, and everything else you need to know. And I promise I won’t mention my lineup.

Why Should You Choose DraftKings?

As one of the market leaders in the DFS industry, the DraftKings name carries a lot of weight, so if all you’re looking for is a recognizable and reliable brand to place your bets with, then DraftKings is it.

Beyond that, though, there’s not much that makes DraftKings stand out. They offer a good range of markets to bet on, with all major US and European sports covered, but there’s little that you can’t find on other sportsbooks aside from a few niche markets. It’s good to see some NCAA hockey markets, for example, which aren’t so easy to find elsewhere.

The DraftKings sportsbook does everything competently, but the one reason I’d recommend it over others is its mobile app. The layout is clean and it’s easy to find specific markets, and overall, it just makes for a pleasurable betting experience.

Bonuses

The DraftKings welcome offer is a $50 free bet upon a first deposit of at least $5 - nothing to write home about and standard compared to their competitors. The exact offer changes from time to time, so it’s best to double-check before signing up. Their website currently states that this promo will end on 12/31/21.

DraftKings also advertises a separate bonus that awards up to $1,000 in funds as you play, and that can be used across their DFS, sportsbook, and casino. As you might expect, there are numerous conditions attached to the promo, not least the playthrough requirements that mean you’re awarded $1 for every $25 you wager.

That means to qualify for the full $1,000 bonus, you need to make a first deposit of at least $5,000, and then play through a total of $25,000 in the following 90 days. What’s more, only wagers with odds of -300 or longer qualify. DraftKings notes that the bonus is equivalent to 20% of your first deposit, but what they don’t mention is that it’s equivalent to just 4% of the playthrough amount.

It’s not such a great bonus, and especially disappointing that the terms of the offer mean you would need to wager five times the minimum $5 deposit amount to even qualify. If you have the time and money to place all those bets while sticking to the promo guidelines, then the $1,000 bonus is a nice one to get your hands on – otherwise, it will be difficult to capitalize on the offer to its fullest.

Aside from that, the DraftKings refer a friend promotion gives you both a free bet up to $100. That bonus scales depending on your friend’s deposit amount, so they would need to deposit at least $100 for you both to get the maximum bonus amount.

Their policy on promotions isn’t that different from the way that other sportsbooks operate in the US market, although sites like FanDuel and BetMGM have a wider range of offers. If you are interested in betting with DraftKings, I’d recommend staying close to their social media channels for details of parlay promos and other short-term offers.

Depositing and Withdrawing

The DraftKings sportsbook reassures me that it’s ‘quick and easy’ to withdraw my winnings. Good to know, although their own FAQs also say that withdrawals can take up to five days to reach your bank account or PayPal, which I think is a stretch to call quick.

The positive news is that you can choose from a wide range of payment methods, and if you’re in New Jersey, you can make a withdrawal in person from the Cage at Resorts Casino in Atlantic City. Here’s the full list of available payment options:

• Online banking
• Visa, MasterCard or Discover credit and debit cards
• Electronic gift cards
• DraftKings prepaid cards
• PayPal
• Play+ prepaid cards
• Cash deposits at certain locations
• VIP e-checks
• Wire transfers

For withdrawals, you can expect your funds to reach you in the following timescales:

Withdrawal method	Expected time
Cage (only NJ)	One hour
Wire	Up to 48 hours
Play+	Two to four days
PayPal	Three to five days
Online Banking	Three to five days
ACH	Three to five days
Check	Depends upon the amount, e.g. up to three business days if $2,000 or greater

I like that DraftKings keep the sign-up process simple, and they don’t ask you to provide unnecessary personal information. They only ask for your basic details (name, address, DOB) and verification of your SSN. Once you’ve confirmed your location, you’re good to get started.

As is standard in the industry, you can access DraftKings’ responsible gaming policy by clicking the logo in the website’s header. You can set daily, weekly, or monthly deposit limits, wagering limits, time limits, and you can self-exclude. It’s important to note that DraftKings makes it easy to access the tools to set these limits, but I’d like to see more options to monitor your spending, like FanDuel’s Reality Check, which reminds you of the time and money you’ve spent.

The Mobile App

If you’re using the DraftKings sportsbook on the go, their app is way better than playing through your mobile browser. The layout is cleaner in comparison and provides quick links to different sports on the home screen, which makes it easy to jump to specific markets.

The app otherwise does an excellent job of bringing the DraftKings betting experience to mobile. You can tap the screen to pick a line, and it will be prominently highlighted, so there’s little chance of making the wrong pick by mistake. Your betslip will pop up at the bottom of the screen when you make at least one pick, as it does if you were to play through your mobile browser, and it’s then a quick process to place your bets.

One thing to note is that sports betting apps are prohibited in many states, so if you want to bet through the DraftKings app, you’ll need to be in one of the following locations: Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wyoming.

Regardless of where you’re located, you won’t be able to find the Android app on Google Play, so you’ll need to download it manually from the DraftKings sportsbook website. It’s easy to install and there are instructions to help, but many of their competitors have now made their apps available on Google Play, so DraftKings needs to catch up.

If you’re not in one of the permitted states, you may still be able to download and install the Android app but you won’t be able to sign up for an account, as you won’t get past the geolocation checks during the registration process.

If you are in one of the states above, you’ll be able to download the app to iOS devices directly from the App Store. At the time of writing, the app has a 4.8 score from over 250,000 ratings, so it seems that users have had an overwhelmingly positive experience with it. The availability of features like FaceID helps, as does the fact that the developers have clearly designed it with iOS devices in mind, rather than simply stuffing the mobile sportsbook into a native app. If there’s one reason that I’d suggest using DraftKings over other sportsbooks, it would be their app.

Betting Options

DraftKings is strictly middle of the pack when it comes to the range of sports and markets it offers. You’ll find all major US and European sports, which is to be expected, and there’s a lot of depth in the markets they offer for these. For example, the basketball section boasts betting options for the NBA, college basketball, the EuroLeague, and the EuroCup. Markets include individual games, as well as player bets on top scorers, number of points or rebounds, and so on.

Outside of the mainstream sports is where DraftKings falls behind. They offer no markets for sports such as Aussie rules, badminton, cycling, and lacrosse, which are niche sports but notable by their absence, especially when they’re easily accessible on other sportsbooks.

For the sports they do offer, you’ll find a good variety of markets. For the major sports this includes many different props and parlays, as well as standard moneylines and futures. If your focus is on the major leagues and nothing else, there’s certainly a good amount of choice in the markets on offer.

Vig/Juice Comparison

So now you know the markets you can find on DraftKings, what sort of cut can you expect the sportsbook to take? I looked at a sample of NFL, NBA, and NHL odds to find out how their juice levels look compared to their competitors.

• DraftKings are middle of the pack when it comes to the vig on their NBA markets. On the specific bets I looked at, they have a hold of 4.2%-4.5%, which is the same as most of their competitors. The best alternative I could find was SBK sportsbook, which has a vig of 4.0% on its Spread bets, compared to DraftKings’ 4.5% - not a significant difference.
• It’s a different story when it comes to DraftKings’ NFL markets. The vig there is 6.3% on Over/Under bets, which is higher than any other sportsbook. Looking at SBK, it’s half that (3.1%) and on Pointsbet it’s 3.4%. That equates to a noticeable real-term difference.
• I was therefore surprised to see that it’s the opposite for the NHL, where DraftKings is leading the market in some areas. Their vig on Spread bets is 3.8%, matched only by SBK and ahead of any other sportsbook. Over/Unders are also competitive, with a big gap in some cases: for example, it’s 4.2% on DraftKings compared to a huge 8.1% on Pointsbet.

So it turns out that DraftKings is a great place for hockey bettors to find themselves. Not only does the sportsbook offer a better selection of markets than their competitors, but they also won’t take a huge cut if you decide to bet. You’re not really going to notice a difference when it comes to NBA betting, but I’d suggest comparing odds from other sportsbooks if you’re interested in the NFL.

What Other Betting Products Do They Offer?

I said I won’t talk about my lineup, but I will at least mention DraftKings daily fantasy sports, as that’s where the company made their name. You can access the DraftKings DFS right from the sportsbook, through the tabs at the top of the website, so you’ll find it easy to play both.

DraftKings have carried over the look and feel of their DFS to the sportsbook, so it feels like a cohesive experience, rather than two sites stitched together. Likewise, the casino and Marketplace, which you can also access right from the sportsbook.

If you haven’t heard of DraftKings Marketplace, it’s a site where you can buy and sell sports-related non-fungible tokens (NFTs), unique digital assets which often have bonuses or other rewards attached to them. For example, you could buy anything from a cartoon of Simone Biles performing a dismount from a mailbox to a digital puck celebrating Wayne Gretzky’s career achievements. I can’t imagine this will appeal to most sports bettors, but it’s there if you want it, and it’s good to see DraftKings making efforts to branch out into new markets.