BetDSI seems to be everywhere these days.
Whether it’s a 60-second advertisement smacked right in the middle of your favorite podcast or a banner ad placed elsewhere around the internet, you’re more than likely to have run into BetDSI’s aggressive marketing campaign somewhere already.
So, what’s the deal?
Is BetDSI a safe, secure, and trusted betting site for players from North America?
To save you both dollars and time, we’ve gone ahead and put BetDSI to the test.
We’ve analyzed every line of the terms and conditions; we scoured the web looking for detailed, honest reviews – but most importantly, we created our own account at BetDSI to really experience the ins and outs of the site first hand.
Here’s what you need to know about BetDSI:
- Reputation and History (A trusted site with questionable practices)
- Betting Markets (Limited sports to choose from, but extensive markets)
- Betting Odds (Fair and reasonable, but is that a good thing?)
- Deposit Methods (Excellent for cryptocurrency users!)
- Withdrawal Methods (Avoid the hefty fees with our payout tips)
- Promotions and Bonuses (It’s a trap!)
- Website Design and Navigability (Is this the best website online today?)
- Safety, Security and Reliability (Passing all tests)
- Customer Support (Convenient, fast, and effective)
- Conclusion
BetDSI’s Reputation and History
It’s been a turbulent couple of decades for BetDSI since they first appeared in 1998.
With many outstanding reviews and experiences shared online, BetDSI was once regarded as one of the stablest online betting sites for players from North America. This excellent reputation helped BetDSI grow by word of mouth for many years; ultimately it kept players coming back.
Now, partly due to a combination of factors including a more competitive online gambling landscape and a number of questionable business decisions, BetDSI draws a similar rating to my experience at college – barely passing.
In 2019, the consensus on popular gambling forums is that BetDSI is still reliable and safe, although unprincipled.
The sportsbook has shifted from being a must-have betting site in the portfolio of professional gamblers to what is arguably now merely a minefield for recreational players.
With outrageous terms and conditions that hinder players from potentially every seeing their money again, BetDSI preys on rookie bettors with juicy, but tricky bonuses.
That’s why you’ll see BetDSI actively marketing their product through previously untapped digital avenues such as podcast advertising, YouTube sponsorships, and influencer marketing on Instagram.
Interestingly, BetDSI’s reputation has taken a turn for the worse only in the last couple of years. Particularly, their move away from Bookmaker – another offshore sportsbook – has led to a site-wide overhaul that brings both favorable and unfavorable outcomes.
As mentioned, BetDSI is a minefield. But if you can navigate the numerous traps, BetDSI can be one of the most rewarding betting experiences available to US players today.
That’s why we’re here.
BetDSI’s Betting Markets
BetDSI caters to the typical North American sports fan by offering a narrow range of sports, but deep betting markets and options on favorites such as the NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, soccer and more.
Customers can bet on all of the major sporting leagues and events in the United States, as well as the college variants of basketball and football.
Fight fans can try to bash the bookmaker with a range of boxing and mixed martial arts markets available all year long.
Less popular sports and competitions can still be found from time to time. For instance, we discovered odds for the Big Bash cricket league in Australia, darts, and the Biathlon World Cup, if you’re into that kind of thing.
On an average Tuesday in January, we found these sports available for betting:
- Football
- Basketball
- Soccer
- Hockey
- Boxing
- MMA
- Cricket
- Rugby Union
- Biathlon
- Darts
Interestingly, BetDSI wasn’t taking bets on smaller, less popular tennis events such as the ITF Tennis Women’s Circuit, which leads us to believe that their tennis markets are relatively shallow.
For comparison purposes, this is how BetDSI stacked up against other bookmakers at the time of our review:
- Bookmaker: 12 sports
- BetOnline: 11 sports
- BetDSI: 10 sports
- YouWager: 6 sports
While the variety of sports markets available here is more than enough for the average bettor, those who are looking to wager on sports such as handball, futsal, snooker, or other European favorites are probably better suited to sites such as BetOnline that have a broader range of sports.
Sure, BetDSI doesn’t compare favorably to the rest of the other leading sportsbooks in this particular example, but there is more than enough choices for the average bettor.
And if you’re a fan of the sports that are on offer (see above), you’ll certainly appreciate the depth of betting options.
For example, their soccer markets were surprisingly comprehensive. BetDSI were taking bets on soccer games in 15 different countries as well as international competitions at the time of our review. That’s impressive for a US-facing sportsbook.
BetDSI features all of the usual goodies such as sides, totals, futures and parlays. All of these options are alongside more advanced betting options such as teasers, if-bets, and reverses. Serious gamblers can even buy their own points and make their own betting lines.
BetDSI’s dedicated esports section is also a nice touch. With markets for Counter-Strike, DOTA 2, Overwatch, Heroes of the Storm, and more, BetDSI is also a prime destination for those looking to wager on video gaming. And the options aren’t limited here, either, with moneyline bets, spreads, totals, per-map winners, and more available to choose from.
Also hidden beneath some of the other navigation options is a dedicated section for horse racing. Gamblers can take a punt on races in the United States, Australia, the United Kingdom and other regions all with ease.
In saying that, if you find BetDSI’s range of sports shallow, it’s just another reason to go ahead and start building a portfolio of sportsbooks, anyway. By creating access to multiple sportsbooks at one time, you’ll appreciate the improved odds and additional markets that are always at your fingertips. It’s almost never a good idea to be loyal to a sportsbook, and there’s no reason to start being loyal to BetDSI.
All in all, no matter if you’re a recreational gambler or a dedicated sports bettor, there’s an option for you.
BetDSI’s Betting Odds
BetDSI’s odds and lines are relatively sharp, and that means there’s not a whole lot of value here at this betting site.
Comparable to YouWager and The Greek, BetDSI comes in with fair, reasonable odds that are to be expected of a typical offshore bookmaker.
While elsewhere in the industry it’s Pinnacle who leads the way for relatively thin lines and overround, you’re not going to find the same generous percentages here at BetDSI or any of these offshore sportsbooks. That’s because all of the aforementioned sites don’t need to worry about Pinnacle as a competitor considering that the site is disallowed for users from the United States.
The odds are tougher to beat than what you’ll find at BetOnline and SportBet, but not by much.
One feature that BetDSI does have going for them is that players can buy points and essentially move the line either way to increase (or decrease) the odds available to them for that selection. Say, for instance, you’re confident that Eagles will beat the Giants comfortably. In that case, you might want to consider moving the line from -3 up to -4 to generate additional value. It’s a feature that should be a staple at every sportsbook.
Unlike a couple of the other leading sites out there for North American players, BetDSI doesn’t have any special promotions on odds. There is no reduced juice offers on NFL or NBA, which was something we came to enjoy during our review of YouWager.
BetDSI is consistently competitive and fair when it comes to odds and they are rarely ever soft on one side, meaning that you’ll often have a challenging time trying to extract value from their odds.
BetDSI’s Deposit Methods
We analyzed all of BetDSI’s deposit requirements to bring you an in-depth summary of the options available to bettors and an idea of the benefits and pitfalls of depositing with each method.
BetDSI currently offers five deposit methods:
- Visa / Mastercard
- Cryptocurrency (Bitcoin, Ethereum, etc.)
- Person to Person Transaction
- Bankwire
- Check / Money Order
As we’ve come to expect from online bookmakers these days, each of the available options has their limitations. For BetDSI, depositing with credit card seems to be the worst option of all.
Hidden away in the terms and conditions is one sentence that is destined to give nightmares to new BetDSI players: “7% of the value of “Credit Card and Moneygram” deposits will go towards a fee bonus balance.”
BetDSI is really out here stinging all customers with a 7% fee, cleverly disguised as a “fee bonus.”
Assuming a deposit of $1,500, which is the maximum amount allowed via Visa or Mastercard, the cash balance will be $1,395 and there’ll be a $105 fee bonus associated with the account.
We contacted BetDSI’s support team to seek clarification regarding potential rollover requirements associated with this fee bonus.
Fortunately, there is only a one-time rollover requirement associated with the fee bonus and no other impacts.
The extra kick in the butt is that BetDSI “may be unable to return funds back to your credit card,” and you’ll likely need to find another way to withdraw your funds. This wouldn’t be so much an issue if BetDSI weren’t hitting those customers who deposited via Visa or Mastercard with a 10% payout fee when they withdraw using Bitcoin.
Tie that with an incredibly strict and thorough authorization process that includes the need to send documentation for each individual card used, depositing with Visa or Mastercard is anything but a painless experience.
In almost all cases, we strongly encourage players at BetDSI to fund their accounts using cryptocurrency. If you’re into Bitcoin or an alternative cryptocurrency, you can go right ahead and deposit as little as $25 into your account. And if you’re a big-time player, you can load up your BetDSI wallet with $50,000 in one hit. You’ll rarely see a $50,000 maximum deposit allowance at an offshore bookmaker, so this is something that may be enticing to professional players.
Furthermore, customers who deposit using Bitcoin are also entitled to “bigger bonuses” and “free payouts,” which we’ll cover in more detail soon.
The banking experience at BetDSI seems to entirely differentiate depending on whether you deposit with fiat or cryptocurrency.
If you do choose to go ahead and fund your account with a Visa or Mastercard, please note that members must meet a higher $45 minimum deposit requirement as well as a $1,500 maximum per deposit. The limits reach out to $3,000 daily, $6,000 weekly, and $9,000 monthly for all deposits via Credit Card.
That’s how you can fund your account, but what about getting paid?
BetDSI’s Withdrawal Methods
The consensus online is that BetDSI pays their customers and pays them fast.
For most players, that’s more than enough.
But we’re hard to please.
Ideally, we want to be paid fast using the option that we deposited with. We also don’t want to pay extravagant withdrawal fees which seem marked up by ludicrous amounts.
BetDSI has four payout options listed on their site, and they’re not the best (especially for fiat players):
- Bank Draft (Regular Mail)
- Person to Person Transaction
- Bitcoin
- Automated Clearing House
Although we’re seeing more and more sportsbooks offer limited withdrawal options these days, it doesn’t mean that BetDSI get tgets’all-clear’ from us here. BetOnline, for example, list 12 withdrawal options on their website and 5Dimes has 7 different payment methods for customers.
We’ve taken an in-depth look at each of these withdrawal options to bring you all the information you need about fees, payout times, limits and other requirements.
Bank Draft (Regular Mail)
- Minimum payout: $500
- Maximum payout: $3000
- Fees: Between $100
- Processing time: Up to 15 days
- Frequency: One request allowed every 15 days
Person to Person Transaction
- Minimum payout: $100
- Maximum payout: $390
- Fees: $25 for $100-299 and $35 for $300-390
- Processing time: 2-3 days
- Frequency: One request allowed every 7 days
Bitcoin
- Minimum payout: $100
- Maximum payout: $5000
- Fees: Minimum fee of $10 for payouts less than $300
- Processing time: Same day
- Frequency: One request allowed per day, max. $25k per week
Automated Clearing House
- Minimum payout: $200
- Maximum payout: $850
- Fees: $35 per $500 increment
- Processing time: Credited in 4 to 5 business days
- Frequency: One request allowed every 7 days
Whereas other bookmakers like BetOnline, YouWager, Heritage Sports, and almost every other site offer a wide range of free payout options, there’s nothing here for BetDSI’s cash players.
Considering their limited deposit and withdrawal options, we’d go as far to recommend that fiat players stay away from BetDSI and that only those who are looking to deposit and withdraw using cryptocurrency should proceed to sign up at this sportsbook.
This way, you’ll have access to relatively low-cost withdrawals, and higher deposit and withdrawal limits. You’ll also avoid the seemingly never-ending collection of traps awaiting users who are funding their accounts with a Credit Card. Players who make all of their deposits using Bitcoin are also entitled to free payout offers.
Overall, BetDSI’s banking experience changes entirely depending on if you play with cryptocurrency or cash. For cryptocurrency users, you’re going to have a blast at BetDSI. If you want to stick with cash, you’re better off elsewhere.
BetDSI’s Promotions and Bonuses
BetDSI’s bonuses and promotions for new members might look enticing from the outside, but we can only recommend staying well away from them.
Unlike many other leading sportsbooks, BetDSI’s promotions page hides relevant terms and conditions and merely states *terms and conditions apply, rather than explaining all of the critical rules and regulations right there.
What’s the reason?
BetDSI is seemingly targeting recreational, inexperienced sports bettors and trapping them with big bonuses that they’ll likely never be able to cash out.
Seriously, if you manage to get tangled up with BetDSI’s promotions, you’re likely to have more chance of leading the New York Jets to a Super Bowl yourself than seeing your money again.
BetDSI’s 100% New Member Bonus Offer
You’ve probably heard all about this offer while listening to your favorite podcast or while finding yourself a couple of hours deep down the YouTube rabbit hole; that brief interruption (commonly known as advertising) may have led you to our review. If so, strap yourselves in for some knowledge bombs.
We’d like to believe that Admiral Ackbar warned us of BetDSI’s new member offer all the way back in 1983 during Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi.
With visions of a future that included ridiculous rollover requirements, Admiral Ackbar announced: “It’s a trap!”
Ackbar was right: BetDSI’s welcome promotion is nothing but a trap.
Here’s the featured example of how bonuses work at BetDSI (you’ll find this in their terms and conditions page):
If a player deposits $100 and opts in for the 100% New Member Bonus Offer, they’re now required to meet a rollover requirement of 20 before withdrawing any money from their account.
Usually, the rollover applies just to the bonus amount (in this case, $100). BetDSI, however, enforces the rollover on the total of the bonus and the winnings from the bonus bet.
When a player wagers their $100 bonus and wins $600, the $600 is then added to the $100 deposit amount and the $100 original bonus amount for a total of $800. The 20x rollover requirement is calculated on this new amount of $800, totaling $16,000.
So now, this player who deposited only a hundred dollars into their account won’t be able to withdraw that $100 or any other amount until they’ve submitted $16,000 worth of bets on BetDSI’s platform.
We wish we were exaggerating.
It should be illegal to enforce these kinds of requirements and restriction on players.
And it’s precisely why we recommend that you stay far away from BetDSI’s promotions.
Fortunately, the pain is optional.
If you are out there looking for a decent sportsbook with a good bonus structure, we suggest you head on over to YouWager, who we found to have one of the greatest bonus structures for sports bettors online today.
BetDSI’s Refer a Friend for $200 Offer
It’s not all doom and gloom over at BetDSI’s promotions page, however.
One particular bonus that we found to be particularly promising was their “Refer a Friend” offer that allows you to make a couple hundred bucks by inviting your friends to become a BetDSI member.
After our experience with the “100% New Member Bonus Offer,” we were totally expecting this one to be riddled with catches as well. However, the terms and conditions are very reasonable and BetDSI asks only that the new member deposits $100 or more before receiving your bonus of $200. In this case, the bonus is only required to be rolled over five times.
And in the case that you have more than a handful of friends, you’ll be happy to know that there’s no limit to how many times you can cash in on this offer.
Not bad, BetDSI…
Not bad at all.
Just make sure to keep your friends well away from that New Member Bonus Offer.
BetDSI’s Loyalty Program
Another welcome sight on BetDSI’s promotions page was information regarding their Loyalty Program, which rewards players for betting on their platform.
Users receive BetPoints for every bet type and will receive anything between 1 and 2 BetPoints depending on how “wild” the wager is. Parlays and teasers are rewarded with more BetPoints, while straight bets are apparently classified as boring and receive only the one.
As you move up the rankings, you’ll have access to “one free Bitcoin payout per day,” as well as bigger and better free play bonuses.
However, progressing through to Diamond status might prove difficult considering that moneyline wagers on NFL, MLB, NBA, NCAA football and basketball, and live wagering are not eligible for BetPoints.
It’s a decent effort, but this isn’t enough reason to consider converting to BetDSI.
BetDSI’s Website Design and Navigability
BetDSI overhauled their website in August 2018 and the new design has been positively received online by old and new members.
It’s no surprise, either, because the old website was a pig’s breakfast.
The update has modernized the style and design of the website as well as introducing three different modes for placing bets at BetDSI:
- Sportsbook (Modern)
- Classic Book
- Retro Book
It’s unheard of for an online sportsbook to offer up such a variety of design and navigation options for users, and it’s something we came to greatly enjoy while betting at BetDSI.
Modern Sportsbook
BetDSI’s “Modern Sportsbook” look is the default option and our preferred choice when placing bets on sports at BetDSI.
It looks like any other decent sportsbook, so we’re already accustomed to the left-side navigation menu and fast betting options. The layout is crisp and without harsh color schemes that other leading sportsbook use – BetDSI sticks to white.
The three column layout enables fast and easy betting. It’s as simple as picking your sport, event or game, and then writing up your bet slip.
The modern layout is one the most convenient and fastest of all available options online today.
Classic Book
If you’re uncomfortable using the modern sportsbook for some strange reason, you always have the option to bet using the “Classic Book” layout.
Resembling more of an online shopping site than a webpage that allows you to place wagers on football, the “Classic Book” is a terribly slow process that involves six unique steps before confirming your bet. Unlike the modern layout, where you can select your event or game and then place your bet without needing to load another screen, the classic design requires you to load a new screen every time you progress through a stage.
We can only imagine that this option is preferable to methodical sports bettors who want to place massive wagers slowly but surely.
Retro Book
The “Retro Book” design is a lot like what you’d find over at Pinnacle and other leading sportsbooks. The design is simple and straightforward and all of the menus are located at the top of the screen.
Here, you can swap between straight bets, teasers, parlays, if bets and action reverse wagers quickly and easily.
Although it’s not our preferred style of choice, BetDSI’s “Retro Book” is much more user-friendly than that of YouWager’s similar layout.
This fresh and fast approach to their website design carries over to more than just the process of placing a bet.
We found the sign-up process to be incredibly fast – taking just a matter of seconds – before we were then taken to a menu that allowed us to add optional details such as address, city, date of birth, etc.
Overall, BetDSI isn’t just one of the cleanest looking betting sites, but also one of the most practical, efficient, and convenient options available online.
BetDSI’s Safety, Security and Reliability
BetDSI was once regarded as one of the safest, most secure and reliable betting sites online for players from North America.
In the past year or two, however, BetDSI has developed a reputation for being a disreputable betting site that employs relatively unethical tactics to keep sharp players away.
For instance, a quick search online returned several mind-boggling scenarios in which players were left feeling like their funds were being held hostage. Not ideal.
Safety and Reliability
We’ve touched on some of the worst-case scenarios earlier in our review, particularly on the topic of welcome promotions that tie up all of your deposited funds into a 20x rollover requirement – but that’s not all…
BetDSI has reportedly been introducing an endless track of hurdles for winning players who are looking to cash out their money.
Scarily enough, the more successful you are at BetDSI, the harder it is to actually receive your money.
There’s a confirmed report online showing that a player who was required to turn over upward of $25,000 in bets before withdrawing any funds was then smacked with a limit of $250 per bet.
At a maximum of $250 per selection, this bettor was required to wager at least 100 times before even having access to their winnings.
Offshore bookmakers like BetDSI can get away with this type of behavior because they’re technically not disallowing any member from withdrawing their funds – they’re merely making it more challenging.
One of the other hurdles you may experience at BetDSI is their intensive verification process, which by all reports is both annoying and exhaustive. Before withdrawing a large sum of money, you may be asked to provide evidence of your utility bills among other common requirements such as license and/or passport information.
Sadly, for most of us, we’re getting kind of used to giving away all of our personal data for free – but that doesn’t mean we should have to.
Despite these concerns, there is no evidence suggesting that BetDSI is yet to pay out a customer who has requested a withdrawl. Yes, there are plenty of traps and tricks to watch out for, but you’d be very unlikely (if not the first in the world) to not receive your money.
The consensus on gambling forums now seems to be that BetDSI is still reliable and safe, although unprincipled.
Security
When it comes to the security of data and information, BetDSI is an undisputed top-tier sportsbook.
Many other leading sportsbooks have a poor track record of security. It’s not uncommon to find reports of credit card data being stolen from other bookmakers who fail to take care of customer information and payment data, but there are no such issues here at BetDSI. Overall, their track record is squeaky clean.
We were pleased to find that the customer service agents did not require a password before assisting a customer. Surprisingly, this is a major issue with a couple of the other popular bookmakers and there’s no apparent reason why anyone would need to provide a password to an agent.
BetDSI’s system is far more effective. By asking for a PIN number, this one simple step avoids what could be a potentially dangerous scenario.
There are no reports online that suggest BetDSI give away personal data and information to agencies or other companies.
They mention in their privacy policy that they take “substantial precautions to safeguard your personal, nonpublic information” and their record has held up.
Furthermore, we appreciate that BetDSI doesn’t engage in terrible spam phone calling techniques and tactics.
Players at BetDSI are getting a safe and secure experience every time.
Do keep in mind, though, that if you’ve sparked some attention because of your winning ways, you should expect some hurdles to jump before you cash out your profits.
BetDSI’s Customer Support
BetDSI’s customer support avenues are surprisingly decent.
We say surprisingly not because of our expectations of BetDSI but because most other leading bookmakers fall short in this regard. While we’re now conditioned to expect long wait times, inadequate customer support staff, and outdated ‘Frequently Asked Questions’ pages, BetDSI is leading the pack with remarkably fast, efficient and convenient live chat support, and a helpful knowledge base.
For instance, it’s usually a challenge in itself to locate the live chat support option at your average sportsbook.
At BetDSI, the live chat option is always accessible via a tiny hovering chat icon located on the bottom-right of the page.
By clicking on the live chat button, you’ll then proceed to a conversation with a customer support agent. We’ve tested this on multiple occasions on different days and times and we never experienced a wait time longer than 30 seconds.
BetDSI employs customer service representatives from “LiveAgent,” a company that provides live support for the websites of Yamaha, BMW, Huawei and more, so you’re getting premium customer support here.
We asked a variety of tricky questions to the agents to test their knowledge and honesty and found that the support agents went above and beyond our expectations every time.
We also appreciated the ability to send instantaneous feedback at the end of the conversation. This feedback surely helps “LiveAgent” and BetDSI discover what’s working for their customer support teams and what isn’t.
Strangely, BetDSI’s phone number for toll-free phone support isn’t listed on their ‘Contact Us’ page. There you’ll find e-mail support, live chat support, and their knowledge base, but there’s no phone number. We had to Google “BetDSI phone number” to find it.
First world problems, huh?
Conclusion
For most bettors, BetDSI is a more than suitable betting site.
With fantastic – if not industry leading – website design and navigability, BetDSI is an attractive solution for rookie bettors and experienced professionals.
But that should only be the case if you’re betting with cryptocurrency.
Bettors should also steer clear of BetDSI’s promotions and welcome offers because they are riddled with deceitful terms and conditions.
Those who are looking to play with Bitcoin can enjoy complete freedom, safety, and security, while those who are playing with cash are likely to run into several hefty fees and problems along the way.
BetDSI’s range of sports is fairly limited when compared to other leading sportsbooks, but the depth of markets is impressive. Tie that in with competitive odds and BetDSI makes for a brilliant addition to your betting portfolio, especially when looking to bet on the NBA, NFL, and other popular American sports and leagues.
Pros
✔ Superb website with clean, modern design and an excellent range of options and styles
✔ Fast, efficient and reliable live chat support
✔ Industry-leading Bitcoin banking options
✔ Solid reputation; safe and secure website
Cons
❌ Deceptive bonuses with unfair terms and conditions
❌ Reasonable odds; hard to find top value bets
❌ Limited range of sports to choose from
❌ Unacceptable cash banking options
BetDSI
⭐⭐⭐ (3 stars out of 5)