BetUSA may not be the best North American facing sportsbook in the region, but it has certainly been able to capture a fair chunk of the beginner-level betting market. This sportsbook brings with it a quality betting platform that is BIG on live betting and a streamlined casino and poker experience.
BetUSA was established in 1996 to cater to the North American market, back then, there was a huge boom in internet companies and a rise in rudimentary online sportsbooks. BetUSA entered the market with a lot of value at the time, offering competitive odds and a superb betting experience that still holds to this day.
Even though BetUSA isn’t the same big company as it once was, it is still striving to provide the same quality and value that it has been offering for decades. The sportsbook has been a fan favorite for many people just out of nostalgia.
This sportsbook has become the place for casual bets for many bettors around the country. Although it still lacks in many areas related to bonuses, timely payouts, and customer service, BetUSA is pretty much a “guilty pleasure” for many Americans today.
The mobile experience offered by BetUSA negates the need for any mobile application. We tested the mobile-optimized website and found it to be more than sufficient for all types of bettors. The betting experience on the optimized website is more or less the same across other platforms, and we appreciate the design aesthetic of BetUSA as well. If you are big on placing quick bets and playing a few games between breaks, then this sportsbook is going to provide you just that with its amazing mobile website. One drawback that we noticed was the use of banners and general ads that popped up now and then. This hinders customer experience, and we think BetUSA should reduce the banners shown on the homepage.
The desktop experience is similar in appearance to its mobile version. You will, again, disappointingly find a lot of banner ads and pop-ups throughout the website, which can hamper the design and feel of the homepage. The website itself is lightweight, and we enjoyed how well-optimized it was. We tested the mobile website on Google Chrome and found that it did not hog CPU or RAM, which is a good sign since most modern websites tend to overclock computers, demanding more than necessary resources.
There isn’t any concrete welcome bonus offered by BetUSA, but they do have running promotions that can get you a few free plays. This is disappointing in the sense that most beginner-level bettors tend to flock to sportsbooks that offer the most bonuses. Free play bonuses allow users to experiment and learn from various betting platforms so that they can, in the future, place larger bets – bringing in more profits for the sportsbook.
BetUSA has several reward programs as well that will get you just enough bonuses to stay motivated but expect nothing more. There is no VIP program or special privileges for high-stake players, which is, again, disappointing.
BetUSA covers most of the North American sports ranging from football, basketball, boxing, and more. You will find a lot of different categories on the platform, which is great since a lot of people tend to visit the betting website during various sports seasons. You can also find a few niche sports categories as well.
BetUSA offers competitive odds, which seems to offset some of the sportsbook’s disadvantages. (like not having a good bonus structure) We found the odds to be compliant with industry standards, and some categories also had reduced juices and lower margins offering players an even better live experience.
The casino is sufficient for most gamblers. The casino section is full of all the hottest games, and you can find a lot of players on the site throughout the day as well. We found the selection of games to be great, and all the games were mobile-ready and optimized for multiple devices. The casino section seems to be updated frequently, so you can expect to find multiple new additions over a year as well.
The poker room has a lot of hot table games, and most poker fans will find the experience to be sufficient. BetUSA poker offers a balanced experience, and we found a lot of mainstream games on the platform as well. It seems that the sportsbook wants to play it safe, as is evident by its lack of newer and unconventional games.
Perhaps the most disappointing part about the casino section is the lack of live dealer games. It is truly a letdown to see a big sportsbook that has been around for decades struggle in the online space. We think BetUSA has the infrastructure to implement this feature, and we only wish that they add it as soon as possible to attract more players and target a wider demographic of gamblers.
North America seems to be the epicenter for eSports, and it truly shows with the number of sportsbooks that have adopted and added the category to their catalog. The eSports category at BetUSA is sufficient enough to keep most players engaged. From Dota 2, League of Legends, Starcraft, and a few more titles, mainstream gamers would find the eSports section to be satisfactory.
The deposit methods at BetUSA are slim, which means that they have limited deposit options, especially when it comes to cryptocurrencies. There is virtually no support for Bitcoin, but our team reported that BetUSA might be able to accept Bitcoin later, as informed by BetUSA support staff. In the meanwhile, you can make do with Visa and Mastercard deposits.
We find more or less the same situation with the withdrawal options as well. There are limited options and no support for Bitcoin transfers which are instantaneous and free of charge on other rival sportsbooks. The processing time at BetUSA has also been reported to be an average of 2-3 days instead of 24-48 hours on other sportsbooks.
Another disappointing aspect of BetUSA is that it lacks live chat and phone support. The sportsbook only provides the Email support at the time. We tested the email support channel and found it to be just satisfactory, considering that you are likely to get a response in 1 business day instead of instantly if you were to use the live chat feature on rival websites.
BetUSA has a dwindling reputation in the sportsbook scene. North American users may use the website out of a force of habit or nostalgia since this is one of the oldest sportsbooks in the region. Although the business is registered and operates legitimately, it still struggles to pay out its customers on time.
BetUSA has some bad reviews on Reddit where people have posted their complaints on the platform. Most of these complaints are related to payment delays and account-specific holds that have caused people to lose money. Some users reported having faced 6-week delays, which is unacceptable by today’s standards.
Yes. BetUSA is a registered entity in the USA.
Yes. The sportsbook is largely legit for US players but has faced a lot of criticism over the years for its lack of timely payments.
You can ideally expect your money in about 3-5 days, but some users have reported that they faced week-long (at times, longer) delays as well.
You will only pay taxes on your winnings as per your local tax laws.
Yes. You can place all bets using the mobile-optimized website.
Yes. BetUSA reports to the IRS and all relevant authorities.
Between the lack of timely payments, a lack of bonuses, and a serious lack of support channels, BetUSA is a sportsbook that needs to be approached with caution. It provides a generally good betting experience but seems to be unreliable when it comes to timely payments. Even though the sportsbook has been reported to improve its payout ratio, only time will tell if it truly changes over a few years.
BetUSA blends live betting and a superb website experience in a package that delivers a lot of thrill and satisfaction for most intermediate players.
