Bonus Offers - Don’t be tempted by these unsafe bonuses
One of the main ways online gambling sites try to attract new players is by offering enticing promo deals, but if you don’t make sure you’re using a reputable operator, you may be left disappointed.
For example, there are several Betnow sign up bonus offers to choose from. These include a 100% match sports welcome bonus, which gives you the chance to claim up to lots of bonus funds across your first qualifying deposits. Sure, this may seem like an offer, but don’t let it fool you. Betnow USA is an untrustworthy sportsbook that’s not licensed in the US, so the Betnow sign up bonus is one you want to avoid. Forget any Betnow promo codes you may come across.
Luckily, there are plenty of safe and regulated online sportsbooks and
new betting sites in USA 2025 which offer trusted bonuses, as we’ll cover below.
Top 5 Expert Tips – Finding reputable bonuses
While our Betnow review found this site doesn’t offer reputable casino and
US sportsbook bonus
offers, there are loads of online casinos and betting sites that do, luckily. Follow these top five tips to help you pick out genuine offers when browsing gambling bonuses.
Only claim sign up offers from licensed gambling sites
The only way to guarantee you’re getting a fair bonus deal is to only gamble with US licensed online casinos and sportsbooks. Make sure any site you use is legally allowed to operate in the state you’re located in.
Read the terms and conditions
The terms and conditions reveal all when it comes to gambling bonuses, including how you claim a bonus, how you can use it, and how much you can – or can’t – win from it. Always read the small print to avoid any nasty surprises after claiming an offer.
Beware unrealistic offers
Our Betnow review found it offers unrealistic bonuses, which is a telltale sign of an unsafe online gambling site. Make sure you only go with realistic offers from licensed and secure gambling operators.
Only use sites with a secure connection
Whenever you’re making payments online or providing personal data, you should always make sure you’re doing it on a secure website. You can check if a gambling site is secure by looking for the padlock symbol next to the URL in your browser.
Check the bonuses from our recommended operators
While there are many unregulated online gambling sites out there listing suspect bonuses, luckily there are also many reputable sportsbooks and casinos with fair and trusted offers, like free bets and matched deposits. Check out our US sportsbook bonus and casino offers to learn more.
Usability, Look & Feel - Too basic and inferior quality
Our Betnow review found the site is split into two main sections – the sportsbook and casino. The sportsbook interface is clearly lacking in comparison to reputable operators from the list of the
best US sportsbook online
sites.
For example, when you take a look at the sports betting section you’ll immediately notice that there’s no live betting. Despite live betting being hugely popular, this is actually a common theme among offshore betting sites like Betnow. This is because live betting technology is more expensive and time consuming for them to implement, so they just go with the easy option of offering prematch markets.
That’s not the only thing lacking. For example, there’s no statistics to use to inform your betting and there’s no interesting features whatsoever – just a list of basic prematch markets.
The casino section is even worse. Firstly, the gaming selection is very poor. There’s no collection of hundreds of quality video slots like you find on the
top online casino sites in USA. Instead, the only slots are a handful of progressive slots which have extremely basic graphics. The roulette, blackjack and video poker games are similarly basic.
The reason the games all look so bad is because Betnow doesn’t use software from reputable providers. At respected and licensed US gambling sites you can expect to see top quality games from providers like NetEnt and Playtech. Betnow doesn’t even list the software providers it’s partnered with. Overall, the Betnow website offers an extremely substandard online betting and casino experience.
Payments - Can’t guarantee secure payments
Whenever it comes to making transactions online, security should be your number one priority. This is why you should only ever make payments to licensed US online casinos and sportsbooks, and not untrustworthy ones such as Betnow USA.
Our Betnow review found this gambling site does offer several
online gambling site withdrawal and deposit options
for its users to choose from, although payment options alone is not a good reason to choose an online gambling platform. These include VISA, MasterCard, American Express, and Person2Person.
While you may think it’s safe to make payments if the site accepts major debit and credit cards, it’s still not advisable. This is because with offshore betting sites like Betnow, your funds are not protected to the same standards as with respected operators, and you may not be able to claim any compensation in the case that something happened to your money. Plus the chances are that your US bank won’t even let you deposit your money to an illegal gambling site like Betnow.
One indicator that Betnow isn’t to be trusted for online deposits and withdrawals is that it doesn’t accept any major e-wallets like PayPal, Neteller or Skrill. Most trusted gambling sites accept at least one of these, but the e-wallet providers, especially PayPal, do not partner with unsafe sites.
You certainly don’t want to make any payments to Betnow USA. You are afforded no protection when you deposit with them at offshore gambling sites. For example, the banking page on Betnow shows it accepts up to $40,000 at a time whereas the max deposit for bank cards is $1,000 – a big red flag.
Customer Support - Lack of contact and support options
We always recommend that users check out a gambling site’s customer support before signing up. After all, you need to make sure you’re able to get through to someone and can get adequate help if you ever have issues with things like deposits and withdrawals.
When it comes to Betnow, we found the customer service to be very lacking. For example, most reputable sportsbooks have a contact or help page which details the ways you can get in touch, opening times for support lines and so on. Instead of that, Betnow simply has a contact icon in the top right corner.
If you click on that icon, it comes up with a phone number that it claims to be open 24/7 although this is most likely a lie. There is no email option available, even though there is an email icon. We tried out the customer support phone line and found it had very long hold times, which is always a bad sign.
What’s more, virtually all licensed US casinos have FAQ pages which contain answers to commonly asked questions about things like bonuses, payments and withdrawals. This is a valuable resource to online bettors, as it means you can easily get help without having to go through the process of reaching out to customer support.
However, there is no such page on the Betnow website, meaning you can’t even learn about basic parts of the site. To sum up, Betnow is certainly a gambling site to avoid if you’re looking for helpful and reliable customer service.
License & Security - Doesn’t hold a US gambling license
We can’t stress enough how important it is to only bet with online gambling sites that are fully licensed to operate in the US state you’re located in. This is because licensed sites are regulated to ensure that they conform to high standards when it comes to player privacy and security, funds protection, gaming fairness, and responsible gambling.
If you choose to gamble with an offshore sportsbook, you won’t be guaranteed the same level of protection, and that’s why we blacklist these sites for your protection. Our Betnow review found that this site does hold a gambling license, but it’s just a Curacao Gaming license. This is a common move by offshore sites in a bid to lend credibility when they are not able to get a license to operate legally in the US. A Curacao license don’t not guarantee anywhere near the same protection as a valid US gambling license.
As Betnow is not licensed to operate in any US state, it is not able to legally offer online gambling to Americans. You may still be able to access it, but we strongly advise against doing so.
Aside from the licensing issue, there are several other big indicators that this site is not safe to use. For example, our Betnow review found there is no information about the gambling site’s parent company either on the site itself or on Google. This is a big red flag.
Any reputable gambling site will make information about its parent company readily available. In fact, the parent companies of many are actually listed on stock exchanges, which means they provide transparency when it comes to things like company finances – this is certainly not the case with Betnow.
Another thing to bear in mind is that Betnow is not certified by any accredited third party testing agency, such as eCOGRA. This means that the software and games may not have been tested to ensure fairness like they are on eCOGRA certified sites. The only certification Betnow displays is from OSGA, but that is simply an agency that works with offshore sportsbooks and is in no way as credible as the likes of eCOGRA.
Betnow claims to be seen on the likes of ESPN, Fox Sports and Forbes, but the specific claim is that “Betnow sportsbook odds can be or have been seen on’ the companies. This is an extremely vague and misleading statement that is simply an attempt to lend credibility to this offshore gambling site.
Authority
Virginia Lottery Board
Headquarters / Regulated Since
US / VA / 01/1987
Authority
Virginia Racing Commission
Headquarters / Regulated Since
US / VA
One way in which unsafe offshore gambling sites attempt to lure customers is by offering loyalty programs which make them seem like they’re rewarding users. Our Betnow review USA found that is the case with this site.
The site claims to provide a rebate bonus to all users which is equal to 15% of your net loss on horse racing bets each week. Sure, this may sound like a great offer, but we recommend avoiding it completely.
There are many reasons for this. For example, when you look at the offer page, it says “Please call 1-888-759-2665 to validate bonus eligibility and applicable terms and conditions prior to making your deposit.”. This in itself is a huge red flag – a reputable casino would ask you to call them to discuss bonus terms on the phone.
All the terms should be clearly laid out on the page. This is because the person you speak to on the phone could tell you anything they want to make the offer seem more attractive and encourage you to sign up. The site could then go completely against what the person said and there won’t even be a record of the call to back you up.
However, while our Betnow reviews have found that their loyalty program is not a safe or trustworthy option, luckily there are many reputable schemes available at the
best online gambling sites USA. If you’re on the lookout for a generous rewards scheme for online gambling, check out our expert reviews on the best US casino and betting sites.
Overall Conclusion - Our damning verdict on Betnow
Having conducted our Betnow review, we can confirm it’s certainly not an online gambling site we recommend.
For starters, Betnow is an offshore site that is not licensed to offer legal online gambling services in the US. That means if you do choose to use the site, your personal data and your money will not be afforded the same protection as they are at licensed US betting sites.
Aside from that, it’s not even a sportsbook or casino worth using. The technology is seriously lacking, the games are poor, the site isn’t well designed, and overall it just offers a very subpar online gambling experience.
Don’t risk your safety on this untrustworthy site. There are plenty of licensed and reputable online casinos and sportsbooks out there which offer a much better experience, so we strongly advise staying away from Betnow.
