You might be familiar with the Bally brand from its long, winding evolution over the past four decades. From the now-defunct Bally Total Fitness to Bally’s Casinos – add in a brief stint as the face of more than a dozen regional sports networks airing MLB, NBA and NHL games – to the Bally Bet casino and sportsbook of present day, the Bally’s Corporation certainly has a long history in the gaming industry.

While the company’s history suggests a willingness to quickly jump from one opportunity to the next, the Bally Bet casino and sportsbook should still be taken seriously as a player in the US gaming market. With a useful Bally Bet welcome bonus, a wide array of sports to bet on, solid odds and a good live betting experience, Bally Bet does make it worth your time to check out their platform.

Can't compete with top sportsbooks, but worth a try for the welcome bonus

Still, we can’t sugar-coat it: Bally Bet’s welcome bonus doesn’t compare to competitors like Bet365, DraftKings and FanDuel which all offer a much stronger welcome bonus than Bally Bet. Its app is a bit glitchy and seems to want to aggressively push sportsbook users into the casino, and it’s available in fewer states than most major sportsbooks.

But if you’re looking to take advantage of the bonus bets that come with Bally Bet's welcome bonus and want to check out some other positive features of the sportsbook and casino, you won’t be wasting your time. We’ll break down some more positives and negatives of the Bally Bet casino and sportsbook in this review.

Like most sportsbooks in the US, Bally Bet offers a bonus for first-time users who place a wager on the platform. While Bally Bet’s $50 bonus on a $10 first-time wager isn’t the most lucrative in the game, it’s still money that’s added to your account for you to bet how you choose.

One strength to note in Bally Bet’s welcome bonus offer is that they do not require users to actually win their first bet in order to receive a $50 sign-up bonus. Just place the $10 bet and earn two $25 bonus bets within 48 hours of your first bet. Keep in mind that you have 28 days after registering with Bally Bet to place your wager and receive bonus bets. Once you receive the bonus bets, you have seven days to use them in a bet before they expire.

The Bally Bet welcome bonus may not be the most enticing on the market, but Bally Bet sportsbook also offers rewards, bonuses and boosts to help users earn a profit in their sports betting. Check in regularly via desktop or the Bally Bet mobile app to find offers of profit boosts anywhere from 30% to 100%, plus bonus bets and pre-built parlays with boosted odds.

For a platform that seems to prioritize casino over sportsbook, it’s no surprise that Bally Bet offers great rewards for casino players that aren’t available in its sportsbook. Games like slots, baccarat, roulette and blackjack all return players different sums of Bally Bucks based on the amounts wagered when they play. Bally Bucks can be redeemed for bonus money when enough rewards are accrued.

Bally Bet isn’t available in quite as many states as first-class sportsbooks like FanDuel and DraftKings, but it's still available in quite a few locations. If you want to take advantage of Bally Bet’s welcome offer, you’ll need to be physically located in one of the following states to play:

• Arizona

• Colorado

• Indiana

• Iowa

• Maryland

• Massachusetts

• New Jersey

• New York

• Ohio

• Tennessee

• Virginia

If you’re in one of these states, you only need a few pieces of information to share with the sportsbook in order to get started:

• Full name

• Current home address

• Date of birth

• Email address

• Telephone number

• Social Security Number (SSN)

Like every sportsbook, Bally Bet’s digital app has plenty of positives and negatives. For a company that’s been in the gaming industry for decades, you might expect more in terms of the functionality and layout of the app; however, there are plenty of good betting features on the app that are worth exploring.

First of all, the app does include all the betting features available on desktop. It’s comparable to other mid-tier sports betting apps like BetMGM that provide everything you need to bet on sports, but can be laggy, glitchy, and lack utility where you need it. The home button doesn’t actually direct you to the sports betting home, for example, so you have to backtrack to get where you came from. Also, plenty of team names cut off in the interface and the app doesn’t feature team logos, so the UX isn’t quite as clean or user-friendly as we’d hope.

If you’re an avid sports bettor like me who isn’t as interested in casino games, the Bally Bet app may drive you crazy with its attempt to push you into their social casino. Opening the Bally Bet app takes users to their casino, and navigating to their sportsbook still directs you to casino games like blackjack included in the “sports” category along with myriad casino promotions and ads.

It’s not all bad, though – solid live betting lines updated in real time and sports betting promotions displayed front and center have us not quite giving up on the Bally Bet app quite yet. Plus, the Bally Bet app features one of my favorite minuscule components of sports betting apps: a slider feature to allow users to adjust totals and spreads to check the odds on different combinations of outcomes.

Bally Bet wisely developed their digital app to include the same slider tool that's available on their website. I get frustrated with sportsbooks that offer limited spreads and totals on a given game, and Bally Bet's app doesn't just give you more options, but offers the slider tool to make it easier to check the odds on each of those options.

Bally Bet has several intriguing features ranging from same-game parlays to live betting and even an “Instant Betting” feature for microbetting enthusiasts. One tool I’m particularly fond of is a cash out feature which offers users a chance to take home a portion of winnings or cut their losses before a bet is oficially settled. Sure, we expect that from any modern sportsbook — but credit where it's due.

Here are a few other features of Bally Bet sportsbook and casino we’d like to highlight.

Bally Bet’s live betting feature is one of its strongest. While it doesn’t match the impressive live betting suite of DraftKings Sportsbook or Bet365, sports bettors who prefer to make in-game bets will find Bally Bet to provide a good experience.

If you’re into microbetting and like making picks on the next immediate play, Bally Bet features an “Instant Betting” tool that lets users bet on the result of the next play, shot, at-bat and more. Instant Betting on both desktop and the app updates rapidly with new options constantly on offer, which presents a really exciting way to watch and bet on sports while they’re happening.

For traditional live bettors, you’ll find their odds to be fair and the bets on offer to be adequate, whether they’re live moneylines, picks against the spread or even player props.

Bally Bet same-game parlays are definitely worth exploring for users who are new to the platform. Their odds are fair, and in some cases are more bettor-friendly than more popular sportsbooks, so stacking your picks with Bally Bet to check the parlay odds is always a good practice.

Same-game parlays on Bally Bet are competitive with major sportsbooks

Place a same-game parlay bet on Bally Bet with picks that range from player props to moneylines and spreads, and test your luck across multiple competitions using a parlay with picks from multiple games.

If you love parlays but don’t exactly trust yourself to build them, you might be better-served by sportsbooks like FanDuel and DraftKings that offer compelling pre-built parlays. The pre-built parlays on Bally Bet can feel thrown together or even arbitrary, while most high-quality sportsbooks create pre-built parlays out of newsworthy topics, surging players or top-tier teams.

It seems accurate to categorize Bally Bet as a casino-first platform that also has a sportsbook. Maybe that’s a result of their sportsbook being much newer than their casino operations; maybe it’s an intentional direction for Bally’s Corporation. Either way, even if you’re dissatisfied with the sports betting experience on Bally Bet, their casino may warrant your attention if you like to play slots, blackjack, roulette and more.

If you’re looking to bet on sports and play casino games for money, you’ll be pleased to know that you can bet on sports and play casino games with the same account. If you win money on either hub of the platform, it’ll be deposited into the same Bally Bet account, and you won’t be forced to monitor two different accounts just to enjoy Bally Bet.

The Bally Bet online casino also has more evolved gameplay, a more intuitive interface and an overall better experience than the sportsbook side. Users have the ability to play games with a live dealer or choose from a wide array of casino games to play for real money or for free. And with promotions like $5,000 in cash prizes on blackjack and roulette, a chance to earn a piece of $20,000 in a bonus sharepot and much more, it seems pretty evident that even the promotions portion of the casino experience outmatches the Bally Bet sportsbook.

One of Bally Bet’s strengths as a sportsbook is their wide array of available sports to bet on. With 25 sports available for wagers, plus college sports and alternate leagues, Bally Bet has one of the best betting varieties on the market. See below for a full list of sports available for betting on Bally Bet.

If you’re ready to get started with Bally Bet, you just need a minimum of $10 to make your first deposit. Let's break down the different payment methods you can use to deposit money or withdraw funds from your account.

To make your first deposit with Bally Bet, just use one of the following payment options:

• Debit Card

• Credit Card

• Online Banking

• PayPal

• Apple Pay

• ACH/e-Check

• Cash at Casino

Interestingly, Bally Bet offers plenty of deposit methods, but restricts the ways in which you can withdraw money from your account.

Thankfully, Bally Bet doesn't require a minimum amount for you to withdraw money from your account. If you’re ready to make a withdrawal, here are the payment methods supported by Bally Bet:

• Debit Card

• ACH/e-Check

• Cash at Casino

Curiously, Bally Bet promises to have withdrawn money delivered back into your account 30 minutes after withdrawal, which would be an impressive feature to boast. However, in a test I initiated on Bally Bet, the money was not available in my account 30 minutes later. I actually found it impressive that the money was in my account about two hours after my withdrawal, but two hours is not the 30 minutes that Bally Bet advertises.

It's also worth noting that Bally Bet does not accept Venmo as a deposit or withdrawal option. Since most major sportsbooks offer Venmo as a payment option and plenty of sports bettors prefer it, Bally Bet certainly falls short in this area.

These unfortunately aren't the only issue with Bally Bet's withdrawal process.

As you can see, Bally Bet has far fewer payment methods for withdrawing money than depositing. While agreements between sportsbooks and payment method partners can be complicated, it's easy for Bally Bet users to be suspicious that the company is trying to make it difficult to withdraw money.

Crucially, PayPal is not listed as an available method for withdrawing funds from your account unless you used it as a deposit method. If you're a sports bettor who prefers to use PayPal as your withdrawal method after using a debit card or online banking for your deposit, it appears that Bally Bet won't suit your needs.

As we’ve already mentioned, the Bally Bet customer service offering is strong and even boasts more responsive and user-friendly options than major sportsbooks like DraftKings. To get in touch with Bally Bet to resolve issues or ask questions, use one of the following methods:

• Bally Bet Live Chat: 24/7 on the Bally Bet app and website

• Bally Bet Phone Support: (844)-844-3238

• Bally Bet Email Support: 24/7 webform

• Bally Bet Mailing Address: 100 Westminster St., Providence, RI 02903

• Bally Bet FAQ: Available on the Bally Bet app and website

To sum it all up, it’s true: Bally Bet isn’t the best overall sportsbook on the market in the US. It has an app that prioritizes casino over sportsbook and can be a bit laggy, and its welcome offer and promotional offers don’t quite match top US sportsbooks like FanDuel, DraftKings and Bet365. But with a trustworthy platform and competitive odds, Bally Bet is definitely worth keeping in your rotation of sports betting options.

Trustworthy and worth your time, but not the best on the market

One thing to keep in mind if you’re considering becoming active with Bally Bet – if you like playing casino games in addition to betting on sports, Bally Bet may actually be the right platform for you. Bally Bet offers a wide array of sports to bet on with competitive odds, and the Bally Bet casino features a ton of games to play for real money or for free with a user-friendly interface. The app and platform may not be perfect for sports bettors like me, but if you like to dabble in casino games as well, give Bally Bet a shot.