Bally Bet Review

Bally Bet Sportsbook Summary

If you like pinball, you're probably quite familiar with the Bally brand – but is the revered flipper game specialist worth your time when it comes to its sports betting product?

There are certainly positives to the Bally Bet sportsbook experience – among them, a strong social and community presence and in-house odds courtesy its proprietary tech setup. But there's also a lot that can be improved here, from the size of its sports menu to it desktop design and its meager bonus and promo offerings.

Here's a closer look at Bally Bet, and why there just isn't much here to set this sportsbook apart from an ever-growing crowd of sports betting sites.

Bally Bet Quick Facts

Bally Bet Locations

Bally Bet is available for online sports betting in the following states:

• Arizona
• Colorado
• Indiana
• Iowa
• New York
• Virginia

Bally Bet is also preparing to launch in Ohio for the start of that state's legal sports betting window, which opens Jan. 1, 2023.

Sports Leagues to Bet On

Bally Bet covers all the bases (sports metaphor!) when it comes to the main competitions of interest to U.S. sports bettors, but those looking for a little more variety in their sports menu might be disappointed. Here's a look at how Bally Bet provides in the Big Six leagues:

NFL Betting

If you can't nail NFL betting, you won't have much of a future in the U.S. – and Bally Bet doesn't skimp here, providing bettors with hundreds of markets for every regular-season and playoff game. I especially like that Bally Bet prominently features markets like the highest- and lowest-scoring teams of a particular week; not every major sportsbook has these options.

College Football

Bally Bet is present in the college football betting space, but if you're looking for a robust selection of markets, you'll be better off with FanDuel, Caesars or other major players. A quick glance at most regular-season games shows roughly a dozen or so betting opportunities per matchup, with slightly more for more marquee FBS encounters.

NBA Betting

Those who love a little NBA wagering are adequately taken care of by Bally Bet, which offers a decent selection of pre-game and in-game betting opportunities. I would like to see even more markets per game here – and that goes double for player props, given the growing interest in these markets. Bally Bet does a good-but-not-great job here.

College Basketball

Similar to how the NCAA football crowd might be left wanting, bettors who can't get enough of their college basketball wagering will wish there was more here. Bally Bet's nightly NCAA hoops markets are somewhat underwhelming, certainly when compared with sites like DraftKings or BetMGM. Even with increased markets for March Madness, Bally Bet lags behind here.

NHL Betting

If NHL betting is your thing, you'll want to shop around. Bally Bet features menus for player props, but you either don't get access to them until right before game time, or they don't appear at all. There's a robust "First Goal-Scorer" prop for most games, but that's about it. I would expect to see Bally Bet get better here as hockey betting becomes more popular in the U.S.

MLB Betting

It's the same refrain for baseball bettors who try Bally Bet: There are some popular secondary markets here, but not as many as you'll find elsewhere. The quality of odds on these markets could also be better, with 40 cents of vig the lowest you'll see on most two-way plays. This sportsbook would be wise to prioritize more markets across all major sports.

Other Sports Leagues

Not only does Bally Bet come up short in terms of number of markets for the main sports, it also provides a considerably smaller menu of secondary sports compared with the competition.

Bettors on Bally Bet can also wager on the CFL, golf, soccer, tennis, MMA, boxing, auto racing, international baseball and basketball, table tennis and the WNBA. It also provides a selection of "specials" bets usually geared toward marquee matchups, but there aren't many available.

Online Betting Experience

Both the desktop and mobile app are simple to use at Bally Bet. The interface isn't inundated with promos or featured contests that you might not bet interested in, which is a refreshing change compared with some sportsbook layouts.

Website Experience

This is a delightfully simple interface with little clutter and a few bells and whistles that are worth a mention. Chief among them is the sub-menu you get when clicking on a sport on the left-side menu; this is a great way to instantly access any secondary menu you're looking for, rather than having to look for it after clicking into the main sports menu.

Unfortunately, while Bally Bet does well to make things easy for the novice player to find, it also has a major issue with the way it displays odds throughout the site. I haven't seen odds listed in a smaller font on any other sportsbook. I mean, look at the image above! There is no excuse for making the odds so difficult to read – and it's a major turn-off for players of all skill levels.

Mobile Betting and Betting App

Thankfully, the odds displayed on mobile are considerably easier to read – and that's not the only benefit to using the app version. Players have easy access to the site's social tools and bet tracking services, both of which I'll get into later in the review.

Both the desktop and app versions are in line with the industry standard when it comes to responsiveness, with no major lag issues when it comes to flipping between screens. The live betting experience, on the other hand, isn't quite as positive (more on that next).

Live Betting

Live betting is available via Bally Bet along with in-game props for all major sports. However, the live betting functionality is below-average at the moment and will surely be a topic to address as the platform is built out.

There is no live streaming, but that could also change as Bally’s acquired naming rights in a 10-year deal in March 2021 for all Sinclair Regional Sports Networks previously branded with the FOX Sports Networks name.

Casino, Poker, & Other Gaming Options

The Bally Bet app doesn’t currently offer iGaming or casino options in the United States, but that should change with its acquisition of Gamesys Group, a leading global online gaming operator. At present, Bally Bet doesn't operate in any state with online casino legislation.

Bally Bet History

Bally’s Corporation is a gaming, betting, and interactive entertainment company headquartered in Providence, Rhode Island.

In 2020, casino operator Twin River Worldwide Holdings purchased the Bally’s name from Caesars Entertainment for $20 million and rebranded itself as Bally’s.In March 2021, Sinclair Broadcast Group and Bally’s Corporation announced the official rebrand of their regional sports networks as Bally Sports. Bally’s acquired naming rights in a 10-year deal for all Sinclair RSNs, previously branded with the FOX Sports Networks name as a perk of the partnership.

In Oct 2021, Bally’s completed their acquisition of Gamesys Group for $2.7 billion, a UK-based leading global online gaming operator. These two transactions are pivotal in converting Bally’s into a premier global data-driven gaming company.

Conjoining Bally’s and Gamesys’ player databases and technologies provide Bally’s one of the largest portfolios of omni-channel cross-sell opportunities, consisting of in-person gaming, online sports betting, daily fantasy sports, iCasino, poker, bingo, and free-to-play games. These offerings, linked with Bally Interactive and Bally’s media partnership with Sinclair Broadcast Group position the company to achieve significant growth opportunities in U.S. online entertainment and sports betting.

Bally’s also agreed to acquire Manchester-based iGaming innovation studio Degree 53 in October 2021.  Degree 53 clients include Penn National Gaming, Betfred, Scientific Games, and FDJ Gaming Solutions.

In November 2021, Bally’s Corporation ($BALY) reported a record-setting $314.8 million in revenue for Q3 2021, surging $198.2 million for a 170% increase year-on-year.

Customer Ratings & Reputation

The app reviews haven't been kind to Bally Bet. It has an unimpressive cumulative score of 2.5 on the App Store, though there aren't many reviews in the hopper. The Google Play score is better (3.3), but not by much.

That said, there are redeeming qualities Bally Bet has that warrant mentioning.

One of the unique concepts you’ll currently find at Bally Bet is the friend feature that integrate a social media aspect with betting. Once you are following your friends, you can use a variety of features. Share and discuss wagers on your social feed, poke fun at your friend’s “lock of the night,” or celebrate a big win with your connected betting community.

On the interactive betting side, you can add your friends’ wagers directly to your bet slip with the click of a button and challenge your friends in custom leagues to earn betting bragging rights. You’ll also find your betting Hall-of-Fame with your biggest payouts, longest winning streaks, most considerable underdogs, and a wealth of other information on your profile.

Customer Service

Bally Bet offers all the basic customer service methods you would expect to see from a major sportsbook. We tested some of these methods posing as new bettors looking to sign up for an account and found the speed and quality of the customer service to be above-average.

The sportsbook also offers live chat and an FAQ section on its state-specific contact pages.

Bally Bet Contact

• 24/7 Live Chat
• Email: support@ballybet.com
• Phone: 844-844-3BET
• Twitter: @BallyBetSupport

Bally Bet Legal Betting

Individual state gaming regulators monitor Bally Bet in regions where it is legal to operate.

Responsible Gambling

The legal age for sports betting in most states is 21+. This is subject to regional regulation. Please play responsibly. Bally Bet complies with the rules laid down by the regulating bodies in the states in which it operates.

Here are a few resources to help ensure you are gambling responsibly.

• National Council on Problem Gambling (NCPG): The NCPG has over 50 years of experience assisting people and families affected by problem gambling. You can call or text them (1-800-522-4700) or join their 24/7 Live Chat.
• Center for Problem Gambling: The Center has been funded by the New York State Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services (OASAS) since 1996. They are committed to serving anyone affected by a gambling addiction. Treatment is confidential and provided regardless of a person’s ability to pay. Their gambling counselors have significant experience working with problem gambling and include therapists who are Nationally Certified Gambling Counselors.
• BeGambleAware.org: Offers free, confidential help and support to anyone worried about gambling for themselves or others.
• Gambling Therapy: A global service provided by Gordon Moody offering free emotional support and advice to anyone affected by gambling.

Why Choose Bally Bet?

The competition for sports betting dollars is fierce – so you need something to differentiate your product from the rest. And Bally Bet's calling card is a simple interface that doesn't intimidate new players with blasts of color or intrusive promotions.

Bally Bet's interface is its strong suit, with a left-side menu that allows players to easily access whatever betting market they're looking for and a simplistic layout that favors function over fanciness. Add in the unique social component and in-app bet tracking service (with trophies!), and there's a lot Bally Bet does well.

Still, Bally Bet has a long way to go to earn mention alongside the top sportsbooks in the industry. The quality of odds could be better, as could the selection of sports (and markets within major competitions). If Bally Bet can catch up to the competition here, it could very well be one of the most immersive sports betting apps in the U.S.