BetRivers Sportsbook Illinois Promo Code PLAYRIV for $500

BetRivers was the first regulated online sportsbook to open in Illinois, and introduced a new welcome bonus. Create your new BetRivers Illinois sportsbook account, enter the BetRivers Illinois code PLAYRIV and get a second chance bet worth up to $500.

Our top picks for Illinois sportsbook offers 2025

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1

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Caesars Sportsbook Review

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bet365 Sportsbook Review

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BetRivers has become a leader in the growing online sportsbook scene, and it’s not hard to see why. The 1x clearing requirement makes the welcome bonus unusually easy to earn and accordingly one of the most attractive welcome offers in the state. Of course BetRivers has all the betting markets you would expect from any leading sportsbook and a wide range of ongoing promotions. Plus you can earn iRush rewards, which is the proprietary BetRivers loyalty program.

This BetRivers Illinois online sportsbook review provides you with details on how to download the app, how to sign up and the promotions available for new players and veterans alike. We’ll cover the best features and suggest areas that could use improvement, and discuss how BetRivers stack up against other Illinois sportsbooks.

The BetRivers Affiliate Code for Illinois is PLAYRIV

BetRivers’ welcome bonus is almost unbeatable as far as we’re concerned. The sportsbook is offering all new Illinois customers a second chance bet worth up to $500, simply for registering. If your first bet loses, you’ll be refunded with a BetRivers Illinois bet credit.

How do I claim the BetRivers Sportsbook welcome bonus in Illinois?

Activating the BetRivers welcome offer is simple:

• Sign up for your BetRivers Illinois account using affiliate code PLAYRIV
• Make your first deposit and enter the BetRivers deposit code SPORTS
• Make your first bet
• If, unfortunately, that bet loses. You’ll get a second chance at being a winner because BetRivers Illinois will refund your loses, up to $500, with a bet credit.

There are a few more terms you should be aware of when using this offer:

• Remember this promotion is for new players only
• Your bet credit will show up in your account within 24 hours of your bet settling
• You have 30 days to use that credit
• You must use the BetRivers Illinois affiliate code PLAYRIV when signing up and the BetRivers deposit code SPORTS when depositing

Other BetRivers promotions and bonus offers

Once you’ve played through your first lot of bonus cash, the likelihood is that you’ll be on the hunt for more great offers. BetRivers Illinois has a “Promotions” section where you can keep track of all available offers. The site offers good daily odds boosts, varying from moneylines to props and parlays.

iRush Rewards

BetRivers compensates its most-loyal players through its rewards program, iRush. Every time you place a bet, you’ll earn Loyalty Level Points (LLP) that contribute toward a tiered system, and Bonus Store Points (BSP) that you can use to purchase rewards in the the BetRivers Bonus Store.

Collect LLP points to climb the loyalty ladder and receive better rewards. In the bonus store, you’ll be able to redeem for BetRivers Sportsbook bet credits and the chance to spin a prize wheel using your BSP.

We like that this is a multi-part rewards program, keeping it interesting and fun to watch your points total grow as you bet.

Is BetRivers legal in Illinois?

Yes, not only is BetRivers Sportsbook legal in Illinois, but it was the first online sportsbook to launch in the Land of Lincoln.

Sports betting became legal in Illinois thanks to the Sports Wagering Act, which became law in June 2019 when Gov. JB Pritzker signed it. On March 9, 2020, BetRivers accepted the first sports bets in the state. On June 18, 2020, BetRivers went live with its online sportsbook in the Prairie State.

One final note on sports betting law in Illinois: Betting on Illinois college teams is not allowed.

Signing up for BetRivers Sportsbook in Illinois

To sign up for a new BetRivers Illinois sportsbook account, you must follow a few steps:

• Use this link to visit BetRivers Illinois. This will ensure you qualify for the second chance bet sign-up bonus.
• Click on the yellow “Join Now” button at the top, right-hand side of the page.
• Create a screen name and password, and enter your email address.
• Enter the BetRivers Illinois sportsbook promo code PLAYRIV in the “Affiliate Code” box.
• Indicate whether you would like to register with your Rush Rewards or Play4Fun account, then click “Continue.”
• Enter your personal information as prompted — this will include your name, date of birth, address, phone number, and the last four digits of your Social Security number.
• Set up two security questions to protect your account.
• After that, you can deposit and claim the welcome bonus offer.

BetRivers.com sports betting site review

BetRivers utilizes simple but effective software that makes sports betting easy for every user. The site is split into three neat sections, making it easy on the eye and not as cluttered as other online sportsbooks out there.

On the left-hand side of the screen, you’ll find the sports and bets menu as well as your personal betting history. This displays all the popular betting markets and BetRivers promotions for the day. To find an A-Z list of all the sports BetRivers offers, scroll down.

Click on a sport and all the games and markets for it will appear in the middle section of the site. The panel on the far right-hand side of the page is dedicated to the BetRivers newsfeed. This shows the number of bets being won by users in real-time. It’s probably unnecessary for the home page, but interesting nonetheless.

Your bet slip will pop up from the bottom of the screen whenever you select a bet. To navigate to the BetRivers casino, promotions, or help pages, use the bar at the top of the screen.

BetRivers recommends using Google Chrome when placing bets, but the site also works very well on Mozilla Firefox and Internet Explorer.

Download the BetRivers Sportsbook app in Illinois

Customers in Illinois can also access the sportsbook by mobile. The BetRivers mobile app is responsive and easy to navigate, with access to most of the same features as the desktop site.

What’s disappointing, however, is that the app is currently only available to Android users. There’s a small workaround to access the site on your Apple device that we’ll tell you about below. Here’s how to use BetRivers on your mobile.

How to download the BetRivers app for Android

The Google Play Store doesn’t list gambling apps, so you’ll need to visit the BetRivers IL site to get your hands on the Android app. Here’s how to do it:

• On your Android device, use this link to visit BetRivers and download the Android app. This will make sure you access the sportsbook’s great welcome offer.
• Scroll to the bottom of the site and click the “Download the BetRivers App” button.
• Visit your device settings and allow installs from “unknown sources” — you’ll need to do this, as the app isn’t on the Play Store.
• Click on the downloaded file in your notifications drop-down bar to install the app.
• Sign up for an account using our exclusive promo code, or log in if you already have an account.

How to use the BetRivers app on an Apple device

You can find the BetRivers sportsbook app in the Apple App Store and on the BetRivers website.

• You can use this link to visit BetRivers to bet on your iPhone / iPad so you can receive the welcome offer.
• Scroll to the bottom of the site and click the “Download the BetRivers App” button.
• Click on the downloaded file in your notifications drop-down bar to install the app.
• Sign up for an account using our exclusive promo code, or log in if you already have an account.

BetRivers Sportsbook app review

The BetRivers sportsbook app is a breeze to use. With clear navigation menus, large action buttons, and a clean aesthetic, customers are able to place wagers in a matter of minutes. The BetRivers app also gives users access to statistics in order to make the most educated bets possible.

Through the sports betting app, you’re able to claim the welcome bonus, watch games live, and place wagers. It’s designed to be a scaled-down version of the desktop site, so you’ll have no problems making your way around it.

Best features of the BetRivers Sportsbook app

While almost all online sportsbooks in Illinois offer an array of sports to bet on as well as a varied selection of bets to make, we wanted to tell you about three of the best features that BetRivers Sportsbook has to offer.

• iRush Rewards Program: Once you join BetRivers, you are part of the iRush Reward Program. The BetRivers loyalty club rewards you for every sports bet you make and allows you to reach either Gold Card, Platinum Card or Black Card status. The more you wager, the more points you earn, which can then be redeemed for bet credits or comps. Players earn more iRush points for less money when placing parlays bets. For example, you earn one point for making a $6 straight wager, but it only takes a $0.50 bet on parlays of 10 legs or more to earn one iRush point.
• Retail Locations: We like the fact that there’s a BetRivers retail sportsbook in Illinois. Head on over to Rivers Casino Des Plaines and you can continue to bet in person, and enjoy everything a brick-and-mortar sportsbook has to offer.
• Bonus Store: While having a loyalty program is great, we really like that BetRivers Sportsbook Illinois has a bonus store where you can redeem your iRush Rewards points. You can save them up and redeem them for bet credits of various dollar amounts, use them for profit boosts of up to 25% and much more. The bonus store really allows players the freedom to decide what they think is the best use of their rewards points, which is great in our opinion.

How could BetRivers Sportsbook improve?

Up until now, we have detailed a lot of the top features and best aspects of BetRivers online sportsbook, but we’d be remiss if we did not also offer up some of our critiques of the Illinois sportsbook. So here we have detailed three aspects that could do with some improvement.

• Get rid of the newsfeed: This complaint is specifically for the BetRivers Sportsbook website. Overall, the look and feel of the BetRivers website is pretty much the same as the Apple and Android app versions, with the newsfeed being the one major difference. Online the newsfeed is a constant scroll of various bettors’ recent wins. It will display something like Player X had a big win or Player Y has five wins in a row. Not only do we think that people don’t care, but it’s extremely distracting; the one positive is at least it’s not on the BetRivers app.
• End automatic sign-ups for marketing: A lot of the time when you sign up for a sportsbook account or social media account, you are asked if you want to receive various forms of marketing from the company. It usually is as easy as either clicking no or unchecking a box. Not so at BetRivers. When you create your BetRivers online sportsbook account, you will automatically be signed up to receive marketing in the form of email, text, calls and even to receive mail at your home address. Yes, it is fairly easy to go into your account and uncheck all the boxes if you don’t want to get tons of marketing info, but we would prefer not being automatically enrolled to begin with.
• More customer support options: First off, if everything goes according to plan, you will never need to contact the BetRivers customer support team, but if you do, we just wish there were more options to do so. If you’re on the app and you click the customer support button, it takes you to a live chat feature. If you don’t want to have a chat at that time, you can back out of the page and enter your issue into a search field in order to try to solve it on your own, but that’s it. On the BetRivers website there is a link to send an email, as well. It would be nice to have that feature on the BetRivers app and for there also to be options to call or text customer support.

BetRivers sports betting options

The BetRivers IL sportsbook has a particularly decent range of betting options available. The site offers the usual moneyline and point spread betting, but makes things a little more interesting with futures, props, parlays and live betting.

The most popular betting options get the most screen time. The live betting section can be opened from the left-side menu, where you’ll be able to see all the sports currently open to bets. Clicking on a game will display live stats. You’ll always be able to find moneylines, spreads and totals when live betting, and BetRivers Sportsbook IL will occasionally offer live props.

Prop bets for all major sports, including the props on the MLB, NFL and the NBA, are available.  Place bets on a number of different aspects of your favorite sports to keep betting interesting. Prop bets are also particularly handy when you’re not confident about what the result of a game is going to be.

Futures wagers are great for fans of particular sports who are ready to stick around for the long-haul. With BetRivers IL, you’ll be able to bet on the winner of the US Open, the MVP in the NBA finals, or even the winner of the Super Bowl way in advance. Odds for these bets are updated as the season plays out.

Alongside futures and props, the sportsbook also offers a few interesting options. You can find the specials menu within the left-hand panel, above the sporting list.

The sportsbook also features its “Jackpot Parlay” tool that allows you to filter sports, types of bets and timeframes to build your multi-part bet. You can put parlays together manually, too.

How to place a bet with BetRivers IL

Once you fund your account, it’s easy to go through the site and place your bets. Make sure to pay attention to the odds of each bet, as these can change quickly. BetRivers gives you the chance to choose how odds are displayed. Users can pick between American odds, decimal and fractional. Here’s how to place a bet at BetRivers Sportsbook in Illinois:

• Select your sport from the left-side panel.
• Choose a game and bet type.
• Enter the amount you want to wager. The bet will then be added to your bet slip.
• Toggle between singles, combos, or parlay on your bet slip.
• Once you’ve chosen all your bets, click “Place Bet.”
• Results of your bets will be displayed once each event has ended, and winnings will be credited to your account if the bets work out in your favor.

BetRivers futures betting

Let’s check out the futures market at BetRivers Sportsbook in Illinois. Here are futures bets you can make on the local pro teams from the state:

• Bears: At BetRivers, you can bet on the Bears to win the NFC North or the Super Bowl. It also has odds on a team going 16-0 or 0-16 until every team in the league has either won or lost a game during the season. When it comes to individual futures, BetRivers has odds on who will win the regular-season MVP award and who will win the Offensive Rookie of the Year award, as well.
• Blackhawks: The hockey futures you can wager on at BetRivers include odds on Blackhawks winning the Stanley Cup at season’s end or to win the Western Conference. You also can wager on any team in the league to win the Cup or its respective conference. BetRivers did not have futures odds for players, though it might have one for regular season and playoff MVP during the season and playoffs, respectively.
• White Sox and Cubs: As soon as the MLB playoffs end, BetRivers comes out with futures odds for the following season. You can wager on the Cubs or bet on the White Sox to win the NL and AL pennants as well as to hoist the World Series trophy at the end of the season. It is likely that BetRivers also will have futures for various individual awards like NL and AL MVP and Cy Young award winners.
• Bulls: You can wager on the Bulls, or any other NBA team, to win the championship as well as to represent its conference in the NBA Finals. Prior to the NBA draft, BetRivers also has odds on which player will be the first selected. Closer to the start of the regular season, you also should be able to wager on who’ll win that year’s MVP.
• Sky: BetRivers does not have futures markets for the WNBA.
• Fire: BetRivers is one of the few sportsbooks we have seen in Illinois with a futures market for MLS and the Chicago Fire FC. You can bet on the Fire or another MLS team to win that season’s MLS Cup.
• College Sports: While BetRivers has futures markets for college football and men’s college basketball, you cannot wager on any Illinois schools due to the state’s laws. If you want to bet on other teams at BetRivers, you can wager on conference winners and the overall national champion in NCAA football. There are markets for conference winners, overall national champion and which teams will reach the Final Four.

Sports available at BetRivers Illinois

BetRivers offers a pretty large selection of betting markets. To browse them, scroll down on the left-hand panel to find an A-Z list. The plus sign next to every sport will reveal the leagues available for that particular game. Here’s what you can expect:

• Australian Rules: AFL
• Basketball: NBA, NCAAB, WNBA
• Baseball: MLB, Japanese NPB, KBO League in South Korea
• Boxing
• Cricket
• Darts
• Football: NFL, NCAAF
• Golf: Includes The Masters and The Open Championship
• Hockey: NHL
• Motorsports: NASCAR, IndyCar, Formula 1
• Rugby Union
• Soccer: Covering games from 28 countries and the World Cup
• Tennis: Grand Slam
• UFC

More sporting events are added as they come into play throughout the year — the menu changes based on the sporting calendar and public interest.

Illinois sports teams you can bet on

There are seven professional sports teams from the Prairie State that you can wager on using the BetRivers Sportsbook app. In this section, we present to you a short overview of each franchise and the types of bets available at BetRivers.

• Chicago Bears: The Bears franchise dates back to 1920 when it was known as the Decatur Staleys. The team became known as the Chicago Bears in 1922. The Bears have gone to two Super Bowl games in their history, winning Super Bowl XX 46-10 against the New England Patriots and losing Super Bowl XLI to the Indianapolis Colts 29-17.
• Chicago Blackhawks: The Blackhawks franchise isn’t quite as old as the Bears, dating back to 1926 when Chicago was a member of the NHL’s Original Six. The Blackhawks reached their first Stanley Cup Final in 1931 and won the Stanley Cup for the first time in 1934. Since then, Chicago has won the Cup five more times, with the team’s most recent championship coming after the 2014-15 season.
• White Sox and Chicago Cubs: The White Sox franchise dates back to 1901 when the team was known as the Chicago White Stockings; it became the White Sox in 1904. While the Cubs date back to 1876, when they too were known as the White Stockings. In 1890, they became the Chicago Colts, in 1898 the Chicago Orphans and finally in 1903, they were named the Chicago Cubs. The White Sox and Cubs have won three World Series titles apiece. The Sox ended their World Series drought in 2005, while the Cubs halted their historic dry spell in 2016.
• Chicago Bulls: The Bulls’ first season in Chicago came in 1966-67, but it wasn’t until the 1980s and ’90s when the Bulls staked their claim as one of the top teams in NBA history. Chicago won six NBA titles in an eight-season stretch led by arguably the greatest player in basketball history, Michael Jordan, who was named the NBA Finals MVP in all six of the Bulls’ title campaigns.
• Chicago Sky: The Sky are the lone Illinois pro team that has yet to win a title, but it’s been around for the shortest period of time. The Sky’s first season was 2006, and the team didn’t reach the WNBA playoffs until 2013. Chicago reached the WNBA Finals the following season, but the team was swept by the Phoenix Mercury 3-0.
• Chicago Fire FC: The Fire kicked off their MLS existence in grand fashion by winning the MLS Cup in the franchise’s first season in 1998. The Fire reached the Cup finals in 2000 and again in 2003, but Chicago lost both times.

Banking options at BetRivers Sportsbook

It’s easy to deposit and withdraw money from your BetRivers Sportsbook account. The banking section is under the “Cashier“ button at the top, right-hand corner of the screen. A drop-down menu will then appear, displaying the amount of money in your account available for withdrawal, any active bonus money and your current balance. Below the figures, you’ll find “Deposit” and “Withdraw” buttons to begin a new transaction.

How to deposit

When you click on the “Deposit,” you’ll see several ways to add money to your account. The default is online banking, but you can change your selection using the blue menu on the left-hand side. It lists all available depositing methods:

• Credit or debit card
• Online banking (ACH)
• BetRivers Play+
• Pay with cash
• Cash at the casino cage
• Wire transfer

Once you’ve made a selection, enter the amount of money you’d like to deposit. You’ll get the chance to enter a promo code at this point. Enter your banking details and click “Deposit” to add the money to your account balance.

How to cash out

Click the “Withdraw” tab in the cashier menu to take winnings out of your account. The page will recommend a payment method to you, but you can change your selection using the blue menu on the left of the page. Transactions can spend up to 72 hours in the review stage. Withdrawal methods include:

• BetRivers Play+
• Check by mail
• Cash at the casino cage
• Online banking (ACH)

BetRivers.com customer support

The best sportsbooks have a great customer support team behind them, and BetRivers certainly doesn’t disappoint. The “Help Center” can be accessed easily from the navigation bar at the top of the page. In there, you’ll find an extensive FAQ menu with a search tool making finding the right articles fast and easy.

If you can’t find your answer within the FAQ page, you can use the sportsbook’s live chat feature to speak to a customer support member. The team answers most requests instantly, providing you a message within the hours of 9:30 a.m. and 2 a.m. EST, and is friendly.

If you’d rather email customer support, there’s the option to do that too. Simply submit your request from the help center.

Where is the BetRivers Illinois retail sportsbook?

BetRivers retail sportsbook is at Rivers Casino in Des Plaines. State mitigation efforts due COVID-19 may affect when the Illinois casino is open.

It features an LED-HDTV wall with a premium setting to watch all the sports you can handle. The 26-person bar also includes tabletop video poker machines.

BetRivers Sportsbook at Rivers Casino

• Address: 3000 S. River Road, Des Plaines, IL 60018
• Phone: 888-307-0777
• Website: riverscasino.com/desplaines/casino/sportsbook
• Amenities: LED high-definition TV wall, open-air patio, 26-seat bar with tabletop video poker
• Hours: 10 a.m.-midnight, Mondays-Saturdays; 9 a.m.-midnight Sundays
• Opened: March 9, 2020

Is BetRivers the best sportsbook in Illinois?

BetRivers is not the best sportsbook in Illinois, in our opinion. BetRivers Sportsbook still is a good option for players looking to join either their first sportsbook in the state or who are considering having more than one sportsbook account.

BetRivers does have a few things we like about it (check out our best features section below), but all in all, the sportsbook isn’t quite up to the status of PointsBet, Caesars Sportsbook and BetMGM Sports, in particular.

With sports betting having only started in the state in early 2020, though, there’s no reason why BetRivers can’t climb the ranks to become the top sportsbook in the future. And no matter what happens, BetRivers Sportsbook will always have the distinction of taking the first legal sports bets in the state and opening the first online sportsbook in Illinois.

History of BetRivers Sportsbook

BetRivers is owned by the gaming company Rush Street Gaming, which is based in Chicago. Rush runs a number of casinos in the Northeast. The operator’s sportsbook launched in June 2019 when sports betting laws were changed by the US Supreme Court. The site was originally available in Pennsylvania but has since expanded to reach Indiana, Colorado and now, Illinois.