Well it’s the midweek and time for me to test out another bookie.
This time around the target is BetRivers, which is fully licensed in the US, in select States of course.
It’s owned by a publicly listed company called Rush Street Interactive RSI (NYSE).
Before signing up at their Pennsylvania site – which has a license from the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board license# 110298 – I did a bit of digging on my own.
To find out the dirt that is.
Funnily enough, there wasn’t any shortage of it.
Plenty abound.
Started with reading out its reviews posted on Trustpilot.
Very poor ratings from the looks of it, even though only 143 reviews were posted last time I checked.
Its cumulative rating stands at 1.4 out 5.0 making it a bad company.
Most complaints revolve around withdrawal problems, deleted accounts.
Some reviewers even claim fake games and winners.
The gist is that according to Trustpilot reviewers, BetRivers is a perfect place to lose your money.
It must be said that I don’t totally believe what is posted on review sites.
Granted, a good bunch of people may be telling the truth, but then these reviews can also be faked by competitors.
In fact a great number of companies hire PR companies whose sole job is to pay hired freelancers to post positive reviews about their clients on such sites.
Reviews of its direct rivals such as FanDuel and DraftKings are also bad.
So, it’s not that BetRivers is somehow unique in getting plastered.
Then I moved on to Reddit, because the chances of reading made-up experiences on BetRivers are frankly quite low.
Close to nil.
Googling gave me nothing interesting other than a user who asks if BetRivers is a scam.
Half of the participants basically sided with the OP, others with the bookie.
Again, most of the angry comments on Reddit are also interconnected with each other, and sing the same standard tune.
“My parlay got rejected,” “Can’t get my account verified,” or, things like “As soon as I won the jackpot, my account was suspended.”
Crazy stuff, but a daily thing in the life of an online casino.
The signup process at BetRivers wasn’t bad at all
My own signup went smooth to be honest; you have to be 21+ to be able to register an account here, plus have a home address and be physically located in the same State, where it is licensed.
Since I got a local PA address, the ID verification, although took about two days, did make it through in the green.
Then came the deposit which I did at least twice, one for $150 and another for $650.
They did offer me a bonus, which I rejected because I know the wagering-requirement politics and games that go behind the scenes.
Read my other articles and you would know I hate bonuses with a vengeance; and very rarely upvote them.
Not at least until their playthrough makes sense.
Their sportsbook is powered by Kambi, and their in-house software.
I’m not entirely sure where they take their lines from.
They’re definitely copied from somewhere, even if they’re taking 100% risk on the other side of the bet.
Their online casino which can be found on their app is actually quite good
A cool thing I spotted on their app (which by the way is available for both Google Play and the Apple App Store) was their comprehensive online casino.
It seems BetRivers does compete with its European counterparts in terms of the number partnerships it has formed with the likes of NetEnt, just for example’s sake.
I myself seeped through dozens of popular slot titles, which normally cannot be found at legal US betting sites, because the majority tend to focus – or have the license for – on sports.
Mind you; I have accounts at FanDuel, DraftKings and BetMGM too.
Frankly, there’s very little difference among all of them.
Perhaps DraftKings has a slight edge when it comes to Fantasy sports, but overall they drink from the same pond.
They’re all entwined, sharing the same gene pool.
Being legal, BetRivers is safe, no doubt
Which brings me to the Safety aspect of this brand.
There’s nothing really to worry about.
Since, BetRivers is regulated by the State Gaming Boards, all you need to do is to contact them directly in case you genuinely feel you have been scammed.
These regulators are there to help the users with such grievances.
I made bets on all sorts of sports and tested out the casino too
Personally I sort of fully tested out their platform.
Made a few parlay bets on NFL among other sports like Golf and Tennis; then played a bit of Roulette, Blackjack and even Poker.
Their Live Casino is not bad at all.
Sometimes my connection broke, but I don’t think it was a malicious attempt on their part, because I was on a losing streak, every time it happened (which was a total of three times in the span of five days).
Their parlay optimizer is kind of sweet, and I was able to make multiple bets on the same match.
Not that it’s unique, other bookies offer it too, although it is not very common.
Hence worth the mention.
Their VIP program should not be neglected
Nothing else makes it stand out as such.
For example, their VIP program is pretty standard as with any other betting site.
You get to earn points, which they call the iRush Rewards.
These rewards can bestow a user free bets and other promos.
Deposits aren’t a hassle
Minimum deposit is only like $10, and the maximum is $100k through ACH.
This is where the offshore casinos and sportsbooks win over legal betting sites in the mainland United States.
And why big bettors prefer to go offshore instead.
Deposits can be made through local bank transfers, cards, PayPal and checks.
They even got their own prepaid BetRivers card.
There’s also plenty of help available in case one doesn’t know how to deposit, for example, they got this tutorial on how to use PayPal to deposit at BetRivers.
Check it out, if you don’t know what you’re doing.
Only the first withdrawal takes time, any future ones are instant
I never managed to withdraw any amount from BetRivers, because well, lost it all on slots and sports betting.
You can request one in the Cashiers section.
But, as any legal online betting site operating in the US, a full KYC would be required.
You must upload scans of your Driver’s license or Passport along with the scan of local utility bill that has your home address on it.
After the first withdrawal is successfully completed, any future requests should be automated.
Now that’s nice.
Their 2nd Chance Bet Bonus is quite interesting
Their welcome package or bonus promotion basically says that if you lose your first wager, they credit the same amount back into your account for up to $500.
BetRivers calls it the Second Chance Bet.
I believe it’s a fair deal and much better than what’s out there normally, where the betting sites simply trap their users into a never-ending loop of playthrough prerequisites.
BetRivers does not offer a No Deposit Bonus.
There is no bonus code required to activate their welcome promo either, even though certain casino affiliate review sites like Sportsbookreview and Covers publish, fake codes, to new users to sign up at BetRivers using their affiliate links.
All for commissions.
The sad thing is that Google doesn’t know any better and ranks such pages, because of these sites’ collective popularity.
Customer service is average to be honest
Customer service is good.
Not great, but more than OK.
Major drawback is that it isn’t available 24×7, their accounts department generally doesn’t respond on the weekends.
Its Help Center area does have lots of common questions answered.
The people behind their Live Chat at least seem to be fairly experienced, but they still can’t do much if the issue involves an interceding of a higher up.
Problem Gamblers aren’t really welcome here
Much like the harsh gambling rules found in the UK – thank you UKGC – BetRivers and basically all the legal US betting sites have to follow a strict code of conduct on what they can and can’t do.
This also means that a lot of free help is readily available for Americans with serious gambling addictions.
It can be a great betting site for people looking out for legal bookies in the US
BetRivers may be not the best, but still good enough for quite a number of Americans who wish to stay straight and use only legal betting platforms licensed in the US.
That’s not to use say, brands like BetOnline and Bovada don’t give them a tough time.
But, let that discussion be postponed for a later date.