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When the brick-and-mortar Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa opened in Atlantic City back in 2003, it was – and remains – New Jersey’s largest hotel and arguably it’s most luxurious.
Today, it’s owned and operated by MGM Resorts International and remains one of Atlantic City’s premier attractions. So it wasn’t much of a surprise when Borgata, through MGM, became the second NJ online sportsbook in the state’s history, launching on August 22, 2018, under the “PlayMGM” brand. But within months of the launch, things changed. MGM Resorts International rebranded PlayMGM as “BetMGM,” and it wasn’t until May of 2019 when a solo Borgata-branded sportsbook opened its virtual doors, becoming the 15th online operation in NJ.
How does the Borgata Sportsbook stack up against the competition? If you like the BetMGM platform, chances are you’re going to like Borgata’s, as they are just about exactly the same. Like, Spiderman-pointing-at-Spiderman meme levels of the same.
Borgata Sportsbook promo offer
Borgata offers $100 in free bets after opening an account and placing a $20 bet. This is a pretty good deal, but let’s go over all the details to see if it too good to be true.
Borgata Sportsbook promo code & details – April 2024
Borgata Sportsbook’s free bet promotion is legit. There are no catches. After opening an account by using our special promo code, you make a deposit and find a wager you want to make at -200 or greater (-110, +200, etc.). This can include parlays or futures. Once you make the bet, you will receive $100 in free bets, broken down into ten $10 credits. The outcome of your original $20 bet doesn’t affect the free bet credits. You get the credits whether your first bet wins or loses, but hopefully it wins.
Once you get your free bet credits, you are off an running. You have 7 days to use all 10 credits, so there is no time to waste. You can use the credits one at a time or combine them into bigger bets, but you can’t break them down into smaller bets. In other words, you can combine two credits to make a $20 bet, but you can’t make two $5 bets with one $10 credit. It’s all or nothing.
You also can’t use the credits in the casino. They must be used on sports events. The credits cannot be cashed out either. Use them or lose them.
If you do win some of the bets you make with your free credits, which you hopefully will, the winnings are yours to keep and cash out. There is no play-through requirement, which is a nice touch. The only bad news is you don’t get to cash out the free bet credits. So if you use a $10 credit to bet on the Giants at +200 and win, you can immediately withdraw your $20 winnings but not the winnings plus the original $10 free bet. This is standard at most sportsbooks.
All in all this is a very good promotion that is worth checking out. Read on for more information on whether Borgata Sportsbook is worth your time after redeeming the new customer promotion.
What’s great about Borgata Sportsbook?
Easy to use: The Borgata Sportsbook app and web-based version are both clear and intuitive to use. There are not a lot of bells and whistles, but that’s just fine if you’re looking for action.
Huge selection of markets: If there’s a game being played, there’s a pretty good chance Borgata Sportsbook has a market for it.
Other games: Unsurprisingly, Borgata also has a robust online casino that’s connected to the sportsbook, offering countless slots, table games – both video and live – and more. Borgata’s online poker site is also connected.
Supported platforms: Getting to the Borgata Sportsbook could not be easier. The platform supports PCs and Macs, as well as Android and iOS smartphones and tablets. The mobile experience is mostly indistinguishable from the desktop site.
Excellent customer service: Getting help online or over the phone is quick and easy.
What’s not so great?
Vig: The vig on some games and props is high. Like, really high. It’s not like this all the time, but sometimes, and that may be all that’s needed to turn off a sports bettor.
Too similar to BetMGM: There is virtually no difference between the Borgata sportsbook and the BetMGM sportsbook. A little more differentiation between the two could be beneficial.
Repeated authentication: When logging in, you’re forced to retrieve a four-digit code sent to your email.
Borgata promotions
Borgata Sportsbook is always offering a variety of promotions, depending on the season. Parlay insurance seems to be a standard. They also routinely offer relatively decent-sized odds boosts on select events. These are wonderful bets, as often you can “arbitrage” your way to guaranteed victory.
For instance, let’s say Borgata Sportsbook offers an odds boost on the number of touchdowns Daniel Jones is going to throw in a Giants game. Let’s say it’s +150 for over 1.5 touchdowns. Well, on most other sites, the under is priced at -110. So you can bet $100 on the over at +150 and $130.96 on the under at -110. No matter what happens, you’d net $19.04.
You can also expect a variety of “risk-free” betting promotions, free live bet promotions if you place pre-game bets, and more excellent opportunities to make some money.
Borgata sports loyalty program
Good news for all Borgata Sportsbook bettors! Borgata Sportsbook is now connected to MGM’s industry-leading MLife rewards program. This makes sense since MGM owns Borgata, but for a long time you couldn’t earn rewards betting on Borgata Sportsbook, which was a real drawback. Not anymore! Now your Borgata Sportsbook bets earn you MLife rewards which can be redeemed for free bet credits, free meals and hotel stays, and even an annual cruise for qualifying members. If you already have an MLife account due to your casino play, it’s easy to connect to Borgata Sportsbook to keep earning tier credits and rewards points.
Borgata Sportsbook desktop version
If you like the look of the BetMGM Sportsbook app and desktop site, then you’ll like Borgata’s design, as it’s exactly the same layout and fonts.
The layout on the desktop site goes something like this. Across the top are links to the casino, the poker room, sports markets, a search function, “my bets,” and promotions. Below that are the top markets for the day’s sports action. Over to the right is a fun feature: The media player, which every so often is featuring live feeds of whichever event MGM has secured rights to. You may find a tennis match or a soccer game, usually coming at you from foreign soil.
In the middle of the screen – and the only real estate on the page that has a little whiz-bang to it – is the promotions slider, featuring both sports and casino promotions. Below the slider is a list of upcoming events.
Down the right hand side is the betslip, which populates each time you click on a game. It does not wait for you to actually place the bet before it goes in the betslip, which is actually a handy time-saver. An additional feature that you may or may not like is the Parlay Generator. It randomly selects five bets that you can immediately combine into a parlay. Add the generated parlay to your betslip and you have a 5-leg parlay in seconds. We at NYOG do not recommend spending more than a few bucks on this feature because the odds of success are extremely low, but it’s a nice gimmick.
Borgata Sportsbook app
As for the mobile app, it looks and feels mostly the same compared to the desktop site. Items are more stacked than spread across the page, but it features the same “top games,” the same promo slider, the same everything else.
The chief difference is the bet slip is not visible on the home screen. There is a button for it at the bottom of the page – along with “home,” “menu,” “my bets,” and “promotions” tabs – but in order to see the entirety of your Australian Rules Football parlay, you’ll have to click the “bet slip” button.
Lastly – and always a good thing – we didn’t have any crashes or freezes when using the app or the desktop site.
Banking at Borgata Sportsbook
Banking with Borgata Sportsbook couldn’t be easier and there are plenty of options. You can now fund your account using any of the following:
ACH (VIP Preferred e-Check)
Online Banking
PayPal
Skrill
Play+ Card
Electronic Wire Transfer
Cash in person at Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa
PayNearMe
Credit/Debit (Visa, MasterCard, Discover, and American Express)
As far as withdrawal options, there are several options.
ACH (VIP Preferred e-Check)
PayPal (as long as you have deposited via PayPal)
Online Banking
Play+
Skrill
Paper Check by Mail
Cash in person at Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa
We have used Borgata Sportsbook frequently and made several withdrawals, all of which came very quickly — within 48 hours.
Betting lines at Borgata Sportsbook
On the positive side, the standard -110 lines are mostly in effect in point spread betting. Like other sportsbooks, you’ll sometimes see things go to -105 and -115 in a game, or even +100 and -120. While Borgata hews to that formula, every so often you’ll see a -106 alongside a -121, for 27 “cents” total, or some elevated whacky number like it. Not a huge deal, but those margins will add up.
Moneylines, however, are a different story. While the underdogs are usually in line with other sportsbooks, it’s been our experience that the favorites are priced out of line, sometimes comically so, and not on the bettors’ side.
Player props, as well, are not a strong suit for Borgata Sportsbook, as the vast majority of over/unders on player props were priced -115 or higher on each side. Most other sites we’ve reviewed are around -110 or -115 per side on average on player props.
Having said all that, there are still times when Borgata’s lines beat other sites. There seemed to be little rhyme or reason, but it just highlights what should be the mantra for any sports bettor, especially one in New Jersey with so many options: Shop for lines.
What you can bet on
Borgata Sportsbook does a good job falling in line with industry standards as it pertains to the betting markets that are offered. A vast swath of American and international sports are offered, markets listed from Borgata Sportsbook include the following.
Aussie Rules Football
Baseball
Basketball
Boxing
Cricket
Cycling
Darts
Football
Golf
Hockey
MMA
Motorsport
Rugby
Soccer
Tennis
Game selection and bet types
Borgata also does a good job in offering plenty of options for most sports, especially the major ones. For instance, NBA offerings include the standard wagers such as point spreads, moneylines, and over/unders. But it goes much deeper with player props, quarter and halftime markets, race to points, winning margins, and more.
Borgata Sportsbook also offers live betting on all sports as well. In short, the Borgata sportsbook does a fine job in what they offer.
Below is a list of the common types of wagers you can make at Borgata Sportsbook.
Point spreads
Moneylines
Live, in-game betting
Totals (over/under)
Quarter, halves, period, and innings bets
Team props
Player props
Futures
Teasers
Parlays
Borgata customer support
Borgata has a strong customer support game. Live chat is available, and in our experience, it’s relatively quick to get someone to talk to. Same with their toll-free number (1-877-448-5833).
Additionally, there is an email option for customer support located on the Borgata contact page. Do be aware that the email option will likely take the longest to receive assistance.
All in all, it’s a seamless customer service situation. Customer service is available 24/7.
Borgata’s brick-and-mortar sportsbook
Borgata online sportsbook is the virtual arm of Atlantic City’s Borgata Casino, which opened its physical book in June 2019.
Dubbed the Money Line Bar & Book, the venue boasts seating for 100 patrons, and features nearly a dozen betting windows and a large video wall plastered with flatscreen TVs.
The 8000 square-foot space is also comes equipped with several hightop tables, a luxurious bar and a special VIP lounge.
More about Borgata Sportsbook
The Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa opened in Atlantic City in July 2003 and remains the city’s highest-grossing casino as well as New Jersey’s largest hotel, with more than 2,700 rooms. The land-based venue boasts more than 160,000 square feet of gaming space.
Owned and operated by MGM Resorts International, the online version of the Borgata Sportsbook was launched in May 2019, and was the 15th online sportsbook to open in New Jersey.
Borgata Sportsbook Verdict
Bottom Line
Borgata Sportsbook is pretty much a carbon copy of BetMGM. Which means it’s pretty good overall, runs smoothly and clearly, but in a number of areas the pricing is out of whack. That said, you’ll find plenty of positives that make Borgata Sportsbook worth checking out.
A veteran media professional, Donnie is the operations manager for SharpSide and managing editor for PocketFives. He has more than 10 years of professional experience in the gambling industry, working extensively in the worlds of poker and sports betting. Donnie was named Media Person of the Year at the American Poker Awards in 2016 and currently resides in the gambling capital of the world, Las Vegas, Nevada.
A veteran media professional, Donnie is the operations manager for SharpSide and managing editor for PocketFives. He has more than 10 years of professional experience in the gambling industry, working extensively in the worlds of poker and sports betting. Donnie was named Media Person of the Year at the American Poker Awards in 2016 and currently resides in the gambling capital of the world, Las Vegas, Nevada.
