BetOnline Poker Review 2025: Withdrawals, Software, Game Formats, and More
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2.1. First Deposit Bonus 2.2. Free MTT Tickets 2.3. Bad Beat Jackpots 2.4. Leaderboards 2.5. Freerolls
BetOnline is part of the up-and-coming Chico Poker Network or CPN. Chico has grown from relative obscurity before Black Friday into the third-largest US-friendly online poker network. Because of crossover sports and casino players, the quality of play here is very soft compared to most competing poker sites.
BetOnline and its sister skin, SportsBetting.ag, are the only two members of the Chico Poker Network that accept USA online poker players. If you are not a USA-based poker player but are interested in the Chico Poker Network, please see our review of TigerGaming, a Chico skin that does not service USA-based poker players and that has certain extra payout methods that tend to appeal more to an international customer base.
Brags and Beats
We've gathered together a massive amount of information on BetOnline to inform you of every aspect of the poker room. However, before proceeding in greater depth, we feel it would be useful to present the highlights of what this site does best and what its weaknesses might be.
Pros:
- USA and Most other Countries Allowed: Because there are few geographic restrictions, the players at BetOnline generate solid action throughout the day.
- 100% up to $1,000 Bonus: Each new depositing customer is entitled to up to $1,000 for free in matching bonus funds.
- Support for Bitcoin, Litecoin, Bitcoin Cash, and many other crypto-currencies: Quite a few online poker sites transact in cryptos these days, but BetOnline accepts a broader menu of coins than almost all of them.
- Excellent mobile poker client: A fully featured mobile client lets you enjoy virtually the entire poker lineup from your phone or tablet.
- Attached sportsbook, racebook, and casino: Conduct all your gaming – not just poker – from a single account.
- Bad beat jackpot: One of the few US-friendly online poker sites with bad beat jackpots for both NLHE and PLO.
Cons:
- Modest tournaments and series: Though BOL has grown its MTT offerings over the years, they still lag behind what the market leaders offer.
- No cash games below $0.05/$0.10: Fans of true nano-stakes poker are bound to be disappointed with the lack of $0.01/$0.02 and $0.02/$0.05 games.
- No comp points program: BetOnline ended its comp points program for poker years ago, and now only casino, sports, and racing customers can take advantage of the VIP program.
Bonuses & Promotions
BetOnline recognizes the importance of promos in attracting new users and retaining existing customers. To these ends, it has deployed a roster of promotional specials:
First Deposit Bonus
The first deposit bonus is a 100% poker bonus - up to a maximum of $1,000 USD. Players have 30 days to clear their poker deposit bonuses.
The BetOnline poker deposit bonus was once a complex nightmare that required elaborate charts to show how quickly the bonus cleared over five different stages. That is no more!
The poker deposit bonuses for BetOnline and sister site SportsBettingAG are very simple now. Players clearing a bonus will release $5 of bonus money for every $50 in rake they generate. As such, the deposit bonus clears at a 10% effective rakeback rate, which is worse than the industry average.
Free Tourney Tickets
In addition to your welcome bonus, you'll also get a set of satellite tickets. These let you attempt to win a free $109 seat to the $100,000 Sunday Showdown tournament.
The tickets are awarded over the course of eight days beginning when you first register your account. Each day that you meet the minimal rake requirement of $0.03 (for each of the first five days) or $0.02 (days 6 through 8), you'll receive a set of tickets. You'll get three $0.25 step tickets on each of the first five days while receiving two $1.10 step tickets on days 6, 7, and 8.
Step 1 ($0.25) and Step 2 ($1.10) are SNGs that award tickets as prizes. Should you prevail in Step 2, you'll gain entry into a $5.50 Mega Satellite that pays out in the form of $109 Sunday Showdown entries to the top 50 finishers.
Use your tickets or lose 'em! Each of the free tickets awarded as a part of this promotion expires 24 hours after being issued.
Bad Beat Jackpots
Previously active only in designated NL Hold'em games at $0.50/$1.00 and above, the BetOnline bad beat jackpot was extended to all NLHE games in March 2023 and to PLO games a month later. In order to ensure fairness across stakes, each blind level has its own Bad Beat Jackpot, funded by an additional contribution taken from pots at that level.
The Texas Hold'em BBJ is triggered by aces full of kings or better going to showdown and losing to a higher hand. Meanwhile, the minimum qualifying hand for PLO is four of a kind sixes. At least four players must have been dealt into a hand in order for it to qualify. Furthermore, the hand must go to showdown, and both the winning and losing hands must use both hole cards to compose their final five-card hands.
Should all these conditions be fulfilled, the jackpot funds will be distributed as follows:
- 20% to the losing hand
- 10% to the winning hand
- 10% to other players at the table
- 20% to players at other BBJ tables at the same blind level
- 35% to reseed the new Jackpot
- 5% house fee
The extra rake taken for the BBJ varies across stake levels from $0.01 per $1 in the pot with a cap of $0.05 at NL10 up to $0.50 per $100 in the pot with a cap of $2.50 at NL1000.
Daily Leaderboards
Every month, there's five figures (sometimes six) up for grabs among several daily leaderboards. Typically, there's a leaderboard for No Limit Texas Hold'em cash games, Omaha ring games, and Sit & Gos.
Points are based on the rake you generate or the number of contests you enter, so whether you win or lose has no impact on your finishing position. The top few competitors each day win prizes, which tend to be game bonuses for the cash game leaderboards and tournament tickets for the SNG contests.
Games and Stakes Offered
The various styles of poker that you can sample at BetOnline are listed at the top of the lobby. They are: Cash Games, Tourneys, Sit & Go, and Windfall.
Cash Games
BoL used to have support for all kinds of niche games, like Stud, Americana, and 6+ Hold'em, but the problem was that these variants seldom saw any action. The ring game selection was therefore considerably reduced, but counterbalancing this trend are the new games that are added from time to time.
Today, the ring game selection consists of NL Hold'em, Pot Limit Omaha (both hi-only and hi-lo), PL 5 Card Omaha, and 6 Card Omaha, The stakes go as high as $5/$10 in all games.
At the lower end of the scale, the smallest games spread are $0.05/$0.10. This may be disappointing to beginners who wish to participate in nano-stakes games, such as the $0.01/$0.02 tables that are found at some competing poker rooms, and it is a small drawback of this room.
NL Hold'em is the only game that has nine-handed tables along with six-max. All other types of ring game poker at BoL are six-handed only apart from 5 Card and 6 Card PLO, which are dealt at five-max tables. There's no heads-up play of any kind to be had in the cash game section. Almost all tables allow straddling, and you have the option to run it three times at most of them too.
At the beginning of 2018, the Chico Network unveiled its take on fast-fold poker, called Boost. In Boost, you can fold your hand at any time and then move right away to another table with a new set of hole cards. Because you don't have to wait for hands you're not a part of to complete, you can really speed through the hands at a rate of several hundred per hour. BOL has Boost pools available for NLHE and PLO.
The cash game multi-tabling limit on BoL is 8. If you attempt to sit at more than this number of tables at the same time, you'll receive a message to this effect:
Below, you can examine the blind levels that exist for these various kinds of poker:
- $0.05/$0.10
- $0.10/$0.25
- $0.25/$0.50
- $0.50/$1.00
- $1/$2
- $2/$5
- $0.05/$0.10
- $0.10/$0.25
- $0.25/$0.50
- $0.50/$1.00
- $1/$2
- $2/$5
- $5/$10
- $0.05/$0.10
- $0.10/$0.25
- $0.25/$0.50
- $0.05/$0.10
- $0.10/$0.25
- $0.25/$0.50
- $0.50/$1.00
- $1/$2
- $2/$5
- $5/$10
- $0.05/$0.10
- $0.10/$0.25
- $0.05/$0.10
- $0.10/$0.25
- $0.25/$0.50
- $0.50/$1.00
- $1/$2
- $2/$5
- $5/$10
- $0.05/$0.10
- $0.10/$0.25
- $0.25/$0.50
- $0.50/$1.00
- $1/$2
- $2/$5
- $5/$10
- $0.05/$0.10
- $0.10/$0.25
- $0.25/$0.50
- $0.50/$1.00
- $1/$2
- $2/$5
- $5/$10
Tourneys
BetOnline runs dozens of tournaments every day, many of which have guaranteed prize pools. Besides the standard-issue freezeouts, there are also rebuy events, progressive knockouts, mystery bounties, turbos, and more. The overwhelming bulk of these contests are NL Texas Hold'em affairs, but there are a few every day for PLO and PLO-8.
The latest innovation in tournament poker pioneered by BetOnline is called Triple Threat Tournaments. They're so named because there are three ways of winning money. You can earn cash from the normal prize pool just like in a regular tourney. There are also bounties for knocking out players. Finally, there's a special bounty jackpot that triggers if you KO the right player and gives you the chance at scoring a massive payday.
The highlight of the week comes on Sundays when there is a Main Event that costs $100 + $9 to enter and boasts prizes of no less than $150,000. Most guarantees throughout the week are quite a bit smaller than this prestige event, but on the other hand, field sizes tend to be a bit more reasonable than at larger sites, numbering no more than a few hundred in most cases.
One weakness of the BoL tournament lobby is that there haven't really been many special series to look forward too. Still, series like the MICRO tournament series and Championship Online Poker Series seem to be cropping up these days more often than in the past..
Here's a selection of what you have to look forward to if you're an MTT grinder who wishes to check out the lineup at BetOnline:
13:30 $22 Mini Main $10,000 Gtd
13:30 $109 Sunday Main Event $150,000 Gtd
14:00 $55 $20,000 Gtd
15:30 $215 $40,000 Gtd
18:00 $55 $20,000 Gtd
13:00 $3.30 PLO/8 $300 Gtd
14:15 $22 $7,000 Gtd
17:45 $215 $10,000 Gtd
19:30 $55 $25,000 Gtd
20:30 $33 R/A $6,000 Gtd
22:30 $44 $7,000 Gtd
23:30 $109 $7,500 Gtd
14:45 $55 $7,500 Gtd
18:45 $109 $10,000 Gtd
19:10 $16.50 $5,000 Gtd
19:45 $5.50 PLO $500 Gtd
20:15 $215 $5,000 Gtd
20:45 $55 PLO/8 $2,500 Gtd
22:45 $55 Hyper $3,000 Gtd
Sit & Go
The sit-n-go area of BoL lists contests beginning at $1.50 on the low end, climbing up as high as $60 buyins. Almost all of the games are NLHE although there are a few PLO/8 competitions listed too.
All three popular speeds (regular, turbo, and hyper) are represented here as are three tables sizes: 2, 6, and 8. There are no multi-table SNGs. In addition to the standard sit n' gos that accept cash buyins and pay out in real money, there are, from time to time, SNG qualifiers for special events. One unusual feature of BOL HUSNG is that the loser gets a small consolation prize.
In November 2023, BetOnline added Mystery Bounty SNGs to its repertoire. These are six-max tables where the elimination of an opponent triggers a mystery bounty paid from a jackpot pool that grows with every buyin collected.
Here's a list of the formats supported and the stakes at which you can dabble in them:
$1.38 + $0.12
$3.22 + $0.28
$6.44 + $0.56
$13.80 + $1.20
$27.60 + $2.40
$55.20 + $4.80
$1.40 + $0.10
$3.31 + $0.19
$6.65 + $0.35
$14.35 + $0.65
$28.80 + $1.20
$57.60 + $2.40
$1.31 + $0.19
$3.10 + $0.40
$6.30 + $0.70
$13.70 + $1.30
$27.60 + $2.40
$56.88 + $3.12
$1.40 + $0.10
$3.31 + $0.19
$6.65 + $0.35
$14.35 + $0.65
$28.80 + $1.20
$57.60 + $2.40
$1.38 + $0.12
$3.25 + $0.25
$6.58 + $0.42
$14.14 + $0.86
$28.38 + $1.62
$56.88 + $3.12
$1.42 + $0.08
$3.36 + $0.14
$6.76 + $0.24
$14.55 + $0.45
$29.16 + $0.84
$58.38 + $1.62
$1.31 + $0.19
$3.10 + $0.40
$6.30 + $0.70
$13.70 + $1.30
$27.60 + $2.40
$55.20 + $4.80
$0.30 + $0.10 + $1.10
$0.70 + $0.24 + $2.56
$1.45 + $0.42 + $5.13
$17.60 + $2.40 + $10
Windfall
In late 2017, the Chico Poker Network debuted a takeoff on the tried-and-true sit-n-go formula that allowed it to catch up to the offerings at other competing sites. Windfall Poker is a lottery-style sit n' go format that sees three players contend for a randomly chosen prize pool that can reach as high as 2,500 times the amount paid to enter. Windfalls are winner-takes-all, except if the top 2,500 multiplier is selected, in which case second and third places receive some cash too.
In 2023, BetOnline restructured the Windfall event buyins and types. In addition to normal Windfalls, there are now All in or Fold games and Open Face Chinese Pineapple Windfall events.
Here are the buyins available for regular Windfalls, All in or Fold, and Open Face Chinese Windfall events:
Software
BetOnline uses poker software developed by Connective Games. This is a marked upgrade over the old software solution created by Playsafe Holding, which was retired in 2016. There's download software for both Macs and PCs, and in April 2017, a revamped BoL mobile poker client made its first appearance. It works with both Android and iOS systems, and it has virtually the complete lineup of poker games that you can access from the desktop application.
The download poker suite contains many user-friendly features, like a hand history viewer, auto buy-in, and auto-rebuy. As far as graphical customization goes, the options are a bit limited, but you can change the color of the table and background along with an avatar to show next to your nameplate.
Serious grinders will undoubtedly appreciate the wealth of settings that make it convenient to put in long sessions at multiple tables. A plethora of hotkeys exist to enable you to perform your actions with a single keystroke. The bet slider buttons are customizable to specified numbers of big blinds, fractions of the pot, or percentages of the pot, and you can make these numbers different for both preflop and postflop.
Built-in HUD
While putting in long sessions of poker, you may find it useful to take advantage of a basic HUD (heads-up display) that BetOnline added to its software in November 2024. What this feature does is keep track of your opponents' playing styles and show you information about them. You can disable the HUD in the settings if you wish.
After you play 10 hands against an opponent, the HUD assigns them a symbol to the right of their nameplate characterizing their playing style. You can hover the mouse over this symbol to get more information.
To view more detailed stats about a player, you can move the mouse over the middle of that individual's nameplate:
For even more detailed statistical info on your adversaries along with the ability to customize the HUD, you can download the BetOnline Odds Calculator. This is a separate application that runs in conjunction with the BOL poker client and is available for PC and Mac. The BetOnline Odds Calculator is derived from the popular Hold'em Indicator software and is available through a link on the BetOnline website.
PokerTracker 4 and Holdem Manager aren't compatible with BetOnline or any other Chico Poker Network sites out of the box. They can be configured for BOL with the assistance of third-party hand grabbing software, but such packages might contravene the terms and conditions of BetOnline Poker. The wording on BetOnline's website is unclear and subject to interpretation, but we've encountered posts from players who claim to have received a warning via email after attempting to run a third-party HUD.
If you like the BetOnline Odds Calculator and would like to use something similar on other sites too, then perhaps you should investigate Hold'em Indicator, the package on which the Odds Calculator was based. You can read more about Hold'em Indicator on our poker software page.
Play Money Games
Although it's not a prominent part of the poker offering, BetOnline does host play money games. There are no play money tournaments, only ring games.
You have the option to play for free chips at NL Hold'em, NL Omaha, NL Omaha/8, PLO, PLO/8, Limit Omaha, Limit O/8, and the seldom-encountered variant PL Hold'em. A button in the cashier lets you reset your play chips in case you run out.
Though these practice chip tables are fairly modest in nature, it's nice to see BOL running them. Many competitors have abandoned free poker tables altogether.
Contests
BetOnline offers a variety of contests accessible via a button in the poker cashier. This is where you'll find the daily leaderboards, RISE rewards, and certain other time-sensitive promotions. In some cases, you'll have to opt in to participate in a contest, but others are activated automatically.
The tabs for each contest give an overview of the promotion, show your progress toward the goals, and list the top competitors on the leaderboard.
Mobile Poker
You can play poker at BetOnline from your phone or tablet. There's a browser-based solution for iOS devices and a downloadable app for Android. Your system must be an iPad 3 or higher, iPhone 5 or later, or Android OS 6+ platform in order to access the poker room in this way.
Almost the entire selection of games from the normal desktop client is also present in the mobile poker interface. This includes even the more niche products, like Windfall and Boost. This is a welcome change from many mobile poker applications, which often restrict the games that users can play.
The table layout is a bit simplified for mobile, but everything you really need to see is visible. There are three ways to choose your betsize: by dragging a curved betslider, by using preset buttons for 1/2 pot, 3/4 pot, and other betting options, or by pressing plus and minus buttons to increment/decrement the bet by one bb. It's even possible to multitable although this is a bit awkward on smaller screens.
Even if you lack a compatible mobile device, you can still log into the BetOnline website and play in your browser. This is true also if you're on your laptop, a friend's computer, or any other system that you don't want to install the poker client on.
Player Traffic and Game Quality
The Chico Poker Network has enough cash game traffic to be the third-largest destination for online poker in the United States. Tournament participation seems to be a bit smaller no doubt because BetOnline has not implemented an ambitious schedule of guarantees like some of its competitors have established.
Almost all stake levels in NLHE and PLO see at least one table going throughout the day, and the micro-stakes can have more than a dozen active simultaneously during busier periods. However, Pot Limit Omaha Hi-Lo, 5 Card PLO and 6 Card PLO are a bit less popular, and you may encounter just a handful of games running across all stakes.
There are usually at least 20 Sit & Gos along with Windfalls running at any given time with an increase during prime hours. Most of the action is focused at the $15 level and below.
As already mentioned, the tournament schedule at BetOnline is on the smaller side, and so field sizes tend to range from a few dozen to a couple hundred players. The exception is the weekly Sunday major, called the “Main Event,” which routinely draws in the 1,500 entries at $109 apiece needed to meet its $150K guarantee.
The quality of the games tends to be good. Not only does BetOnline not specifically market to professional poker enthusiasts, it also caters heavily to sportsbook users and casino players. Both of these factors lead to tables populated by individuals whose poker strategies are – shall we say – less than optimal.
The lack of a traditional rakeback system, slow bonus clearance, and lack of big tournament series also contribute to the dearth of poker pros. BetOnline tries to cater to a recreational group of customers, and its efforts have largely succeeded.
Cashier
The Chico Poker Network, including BetOnline, has moved with the times, adding and removing cashier methods depending on prevailing industry trends and the preferences of customers. Nowhere is this more evident than in its deployment of crypto-currency, starting with Bitcoin in 2015 and expanding this menu to currently feature 16 distinct crypto coins.
Deposits
You can fund your account via a number of convenient methods. Players from the United States can make deposits through the following channels:
| METHOD | MIN DEPOSIT | MAX DEPOSIT | DEPOSIT SPEED | DEPOSIT |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Visa | $25 | $2,500 | Instant | DEPOSIT NOW! |
| Mastercard | $25 | $2,500 | Instant | DEPOSIT NOW! |
| Amex | $25 | $2,500 | Instant | DEPOSIT NOW! |
| Discover | $25 | $2,500 | Instant | DEPOSIT NOW! |
| Person to Person | $100 | $600 | Within 1 day | DEPOSIT NOW! |
| Money Order | $300 | $9,000 | Within 15 days | DEPOSIT NOW! |
| Wire Transfer | $500 | $10,000 | Within 3 days | DEPOSIT NOW! |
| Cashier Check | $1,500 | $10,000 | Within 20 days | DEPOSIT NOW! |
| Bitcoin | $10 | $1,000,000 | Up to 30 minutes | DEPOSIT NOW! |
| Litecoin | $10 | $1,000,000 | Up to 30 minutes | DEPOSIT NOW! |
| Ethereum | $20 | $1,000,000 | Up to 30 minutes | DEPOSIT NOW! |
| Binance Coin | $20 | $1,000,000 | Up to 30 minutes | DEPOSIT NOW! |
| Ripple | $20 | $1,000,000 | Up to 30 minutes | DEPOSIT NOW! |
| Bitcoin Cash | $20 | $1,000,000 | Up to 30 minutes | DEPOSIT NOW! |
| Cardano | $20 | $1,000,000 | Up to 30 minutes | DEPOSIT NOW! |
| Dogecoin | $20 | $1,000,000 | Up to 30 minutes | DEPOSIT NOW! |
| Shiba Inu | $20 | $1,000,000 | Up to 30 minutes | DEPOSIT NOW! |
| Solana | $20 | $1,000,000 | Up to 30 minutes | DEPOSIT NOW! |
| Stellar Lumens | $20 | $1,000,000 | Up to 30 minutes | DEPOSIT NOW! |
| Tether | $20 | $1,000,000 | Up to 30 minutes | DEPOSIT NOW! |
| Tron | $20 | $1,000,000 | Up to 30 minutes | DEPOSIT NOW! |
| USD Coin | $20 | $1,000,000 | Up to 30 minutes | DEPOSIT NOW! |
| Avalanche | $20 | $1,000,000 | Up to 30 minutes | DEPOSIT NOW! |
| Polygon | $20 | $1,000,000 | Up to 30 minutes | DEPOSIT NOW! |
There are no fees (beyond the nugatory miners fee) attached to crypto-currency deposits. However, some of the other payment channels, notably credit cards, do charge a fee.
This is one reason why we recommend using cryptos whenever possible. Other strengths of crypto coins include relative freedom from government and banking control as well as speedy transaction timeframes on both the depositing and withdrawing sides. If you aren't yet fully acquainted with Bitcoin but would like to learn more, then check out this thorough guide to getting started with Bitcoin for online poker.
Making a Bitcoin Deposit
There are quite a few deposit options both obscure and commonplace at BetOnline. For our money, Bitcoin represents the best combination of convenience and popularity. Fortunately, making a BTC deposit is a piece of cake. Just follow the steps below:
- Click on the green dollar sign to the top-right of the poker lobby to open the cashier.
- Click on the first option on the left of the cashier, marked “Deposit.”
- The depositing interface will appear in your web browser. Choose the “Bitcoin” option.
- Type in the amount you wish to deposit or select from one of the preset values. If you would like to enter a promo code, this is the page to do it on. Press the “Continue Deposit” button when ready.
- Scan the QR code or copy-paste the Bitcoin address into your wallet. BetOnline calculates and tells you the amount of BTC that corresponds to the dollar value that you wish to deposit. When you have finished the sending process in your crypto wallet, press the green button labeled “I've Completed My Deposit.”
- You'll have to wait for one network confirmation on the blockchain before the funds will be credited to your account. This should take around 10 minutes.
Payouts
Cashouts at BetOnline are available through a few legacy payment processors as well as a plethora of crypto-currencies. Below is a comprehensive list of withdrawal options for American customers:
| METHOD | MIN CASHOUT | MAX CASHOUT | CASHOUT SPEED | FEES | GO TO BOL |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Money Order | $1,000 | $6,000 | Within 7 business days | $80 | VISIT NOW! |
| Check by Courier | $500 | $2,500 | 15 business days | $50 (payouts < $1,500), 3% (payouts $1,500+) | VISIT NOW! |
| Person to Person | $50 | $400 | Within 5 business days | $26 - $51 | VISIT NOW! |
| Wire Transfer | $500 | $25,000 | Within 15 business days | $45 to 3% | VISIT NOW! |
| Bitcoin | $20 | $100,000 | Up to 24 hours | $3 - $20 | VISIT NOW! |
| Litecoin | $20 | $25,000 | Up to 24 hours | $5 - $17.50 | VISIT NOW! |
| Ethereum | $200 | $100,000 | Up to 24 hours | $7.50 - $30 | VISIT NOW! |
| Binance Coin | $20 | $10,000 | Up to 24 hours | $5 - $15 | VISIT NOW! |
| Ripple | $20 | $10,000 | Up to 24 hours | $5 - $15 | VISIT NOW! |
| Bitcoin Cash | $20 | $10,000 | Up to 24 hours | $5 - $15 | VISIT NOW! |
| Cardano | $20 | $25,000 | Up to 24 hours | $5 - $17.50 | VISIT NOW! |
| Dogecoin | $20 | $10,000 | Up to 24 hours | $5 - $15 | VISIT NOW! |
| Shiba Inu | $50 | $10,000 | Up to 24 hours | $5 - $15 | VISIT NOW! |
| Solana | $20 | $10,000 | Up to 24 hours | $5 - $15 | VISIT NOW! |
| Stellar Lumens | $20 | $10,000 | Up to 24 hours | $5 - $15 | VISIT NOW! |
| Tether | $200 | $100,000 | Up to 24 hours | $7.50 - $30 | VISIT NOW! |
| Tron | $20 | $10,000 | Up to 24 hours | $5 - $15 | VISIT NOW! |
| USD Coin | $200 | $100,000 | Up to 24 hours | $7.50 - $30 | VISIT NOW! |
| Avalanche | $20 | $10,000 | Up to 24 hours | $5 - $15 | VISIT NOW! |
| Polygon | $20 | $10,000 | Up to 24 hours | $5 - $15 | VISIT NOW! |
For payouts, some methods have significant fees attached. Crypto withdrawals used to be free; however, BOL started charging fees on crypto cashouts in early 2025. Nevertheless, crypto remains affordable compared to most other payment channels. This is one reason why we heartily advise our readers to choose cryptocurrency for all their internet gaming needs.
Rewards/BetOnline Rakeback
Standard flat-rate rakeback is not possible at BetOnline as it is against network rules. The RISE rewards program, which appeared in June 2024, used to give high-volume players weekly rakeback, but RISE rewards have since been discontinued. You can obtain part of your rake back through leaderboards, reload bonuses, and various other mechanisms, but the returns from these methods fluctuate and are basically dependent on what promos are active during any given month.
As Professional Rakeback is a legitimate rakeback affiliate, we do not dabble in under-the-table or disallowed forms of rakeback, and so we cannot set you up with a BetOnline rakeback account. If you do encounter any website that claims to offer BOL rakeback, it's likely to be a shady, untrustworthy organization that's either lying to you or breaking network rules and thereby subjecting your account to unpredictable fund seizures, closure, or other punitive measures. Needless to say, we counsel you to stay away from any such illegitimate rakeback deals.
Other Gambling at BetOnline
BetOnline is a full-featured gambling emporium, and it therefore has a lot to offer besides just poker. It's a fine destination for whatever forms of real money gaming you prefer to engage in.
The sportsbook is the main product, and it lists contests from all around the world in a number of sports. You'll find all the standards, like American football, soccer, baseball, NBA basketball, and ice hockey. More obscure forms of athletics are represented too, like cricket, lacrosse, and rugby union.
The eSports betting section of the sportsbook may appeal to you if you're a fan of video games. NBA 2K, League of Legends, and Counter-Strike are just a few of the games for which odds are listed, and you can bet on your favorite teams and individual players.
Wagering on horse races is facilitated through BOL as well. Races in several countries, including the United States, Canada, and United Kingdom, are covered. You can place all the familiar straight wagers and exotics that you want and even get a rebate of up to 9% on your action.
Finally, BetOnline hosts a casino with more than 1,000 games from leading developers, like BetSoft, Nucleus Gaming, and Rival. Blackjack, roulette, and all the standard table games are here along with numerous slots. A live dealer section with real-life, human dealers beckons.
BetOnline Dislikes
We've maintained a fairly positive tone throughout this BetOnline Poker review because we find it an excellent site with a lot going for it. However, no review would be complete without touching upon the downsides too. Therefore, we have presented below a few aspects of BetOnline Poker that we dislike.
High Rake
BetOnline's cash games feature some of the highest rake around. Whereas the industry standard is 5% rake up to a cap of around $3, there are many blind levels where BetOnline rakes more than this.
For example, the rake in NL $0.50/$1.00 games with seven or more players is set at an excessive 5.56% with a cap of $3.75. As we increase the stakes, the maximum possible rake gets higher, up to $8 a hand at $5/$10.
Any serious poker player knows that they're fighting an uphill battle against the rake, which reduces their profitability. At BetOnline, the uphill incline is more severe, leading to diminished winnings.
Screenshots Prohibited
The BetOnline download poker client is designed in such a way that taking screenshots or video of the tables is impossible. Instead of showing the table window like normal, any screenshot instead displays a black rectangle.
There is an inbuilt facility for capturing images from the program through the use of a hotkey. This saves an image to a specified folder, which the user can open up later.
This is some kind of solution although it makes things difficult for the user who is unable to select the image format or quality. It also doesn't let you, for example, take a screenshot of several windows simultaneously of which only one is the BetOnline software package.
This is undoubtedly an anti-cheating feature designed to make life difficult for screen-scraping bots and other malware. However, it does also pose difficulties for poker streamers and humble poker site reviewers.
The web-based version of the software does not have this limitation, so it is this platform that most poker streamers use to showcase their play at BetOnline.
Lackluster Rewards for Poker
Though BetOnline boasts a welcome bonus, somewhat regular reloads, leaderboards, and other promotions, the actual value delivered by them is substandard. For instance, the welcome bonus is worth the equivalent of just 10% rakeback: far inferior to the typical 20% – 30% delivered by competitors.
In October 2023, BetOnline revealed a new and supposedly much-improved VIP system. However, poker is specifically excluded from it. This would have been a perfect opportunity for BOL to address the issue of poor poker rewards, but it neglected to do so to the dismay of frequent players. Later on, a RISE rewards program gave weekly rakeback, at least to high-volume players, but it proved to be short-lived, and there is now no VIP program for poker fans.
Support + Customer Service
If you encounter an issue at BetOnline and would like help in resolving it, you can contact the customer service team. They are available 24/7.
The CS phone number is 1-888-426-3661, or you can send an email to help[at]betonlinecs[dot]ag. There's also a poker-specific support email: poker[at]betonlinecs[dot]ag. Perhaps the most convenient way to get in touch with support personnel is through Live Chat, which you can open up through the Contact Us page on the BoL website.
BetOnline Ownership and Licensing
You may have heard some bad things about BetOnline in the past, and suffice it to say that we heard the same things too. In fact, Professional Rakeback refused to work with BetOnline or the Chico Poker Network for many years because of their bad reputation for slow payouts.
However, new ownership and management took over from the old owners, Playsafe Holdings, in 2011. By the end of 2013, almost all pending payout issues had been solved. From then until now, BetOnline has been known as an honest operation that pays out wins fairly.
BetOnline is licensed by the government of Panama. However, Panama licensure is viewed by many as a “rubber stamp.” Therefore, the true assurance of financial security and gaming integrity lies in the reputation BetOnline has built for itself over time.
Feedback From Real BetOnline Poker Players
Everything we've told you about BetOnline Poker is well and good, but we're aware that you might be interested in what other real money players have to say. Therefore, we're pleased to present below comments from actual users across the internet.
BetOnline Concluding Words
Although there are a few minor drawbacks to BoL Poker, we're confident that it will satisfy the needs of the overwhelming majority of online poker players. We heartily recommend BetOnline Poker whether you're looking for a primary internet poker home or you seek to expand the mix of sites that you already play at. Relatively fast payouts, a soft player pool, and frequent promotions make this a place where you can pad your profits without too much effort.
Nevertheless, if you've absorbed all the information we've presented above and you still feel like taking a pass on BetOnline, you have other offshore poker solutions awaiting you. Check out our USA internet poker guide and rundown for details on some of the top rooms for Americans.
To learn more about how BetOnline stacks up against other highly rated poker and gambling sites, please feel free to peruse this detailed BetOnline vs Bovada page or this fact-oriented BetOnline vs Sportsbetting.ag comparison.
Responsible Gaming
BetOnline recognizes the importance of responsible gambling and encourages those who might have a problem to get assistance from the following organizations:
In addition, players can request from BetOnline support to take a break of a predetermined length of time. Then, the user can contact support again to have the account reopened.
A more lasting solution is to request permanent self-exclusion. Those who opt for self-exclusion will not be able to access their accounts and furthermore will be prevented from opening a new account. BetOnline will stop sending marketing materials to such customers. Wins from bets ungraded at the time self-exclusion is applied will be withdrawable, but they cannot be used to make further wagers.
Frequently Asked Questions
Though we have gone over a wealth of information in the review above, you may still have a few unresolved questions about BetOnline Poker. Check out our FAQ below for answers to some of the most common queries about this poker operation.
The poker leaderboards are shown in the poker software within the Cashier. There's a button for “Contests,” and when you click on it, a window will appear where you can view the top users as well as your position in the various leaderboards that are run by the site.
Much as with every internet gaming company, BetOnline has certain rollover requirements that must be met before you can make a withdrawal after receiving a sports or casino bonus. If you're uninterested in these bonuses, then you can contact support and have them remove it from your account. We advise you to do this BEFORE you begin playing because forfeiting a bonus after you have already begun to use it may mean you'll lose whatever winnings you were fortunate enough to earn.
External Resources
We've attempted to be as comprehensive as possible with the BetOnline review above. Nevertheless, time and space considerations mean that we could not by any means hope to capture all the information that's out there about this gaming site. If you would like to learn more, then please follow the links below to go to third-party resources that have additional details about BoL.