How To Bet On BetMGM (A Beginner's Guide)
In Summary
Learning how to bet on BetMGM comes down to four things: sign up and claim the welcome offer, fund the account, find a market, and place the bet the right way. BetMGM keeps it approachable for beginners, with a clean layout, a rotating promotions menu, and the MGM Rewards loyalty program layered on top. This guide walks the BetMGM basics, breaks down the four core bet types you'll use (straight, parlay, teaser, and round robin), and shows where the real money is made or lost: taking the best available price on every bet, and only firing the boosts that are actually in your favor. New customers in eligible states can currently bet up to $1,500 and get it back in bonus bets if their first bet doesn't win. You can claim the BetMGM welcome offer here (21+, eligible states, terms apply). A big reason our team keeps accounts on as many sportsbooks as possible is so we can always shop the best line, and OddsShopper does that comparison for you in real time, for free.
Watch: The BetMGM Walkthrough
Prefer to see it done? Here is a full BetMGM 🎁 app review and guide from the OddsShopper YouTube channel, covering sign-up, navigation, every bet type, and the promos worth claiming. Watch on YouTube.
Step 1: Sign Up And Claim The BetMGM Welcome Offer
Head to BetMGM, find the Register button in the top right, and enter the standard sign-up details any sportsbook asks for. You'll create a login, the book will verify your identity, and then you can deposit. Sportsbooks make registration and deposit as frictionless as possible, and BetMGM works the same way whether you're on the desktop site or the app.
The reason to start here is the welcome offer. In eligible states, BetMGM's current new-customer deal lets you bet up to $1,500 on your first wager and get the stake back in bonus bets if it loses. That is first-bet insurance: the refund arrives as bonus bets subject to BetMGM's terms, not as cash, but it softens a losing opener.
Claim it before your first bet: Sign up for BetMGM and get up to $1,500 back in bonus bets if your first bet doesn't win. New customers only, 21+, available in eligible states, and terms vary, so read the current offer on BetMGM's own site before you deposit.
Welcome offers can add real value, but only when you understand the terms and spend them on bets you would make anyway. Don't let a bonus talk you into markets you don't understand yet. Across the top of the site you'll also see three lanes, Sports, Poker, and Casino. BetMGM's casino offering is robust, but this guide stays in the Sports lane.
Like every legal U.S. sportsbook, BetMGM will ask you to allow location services before you can place a bet. Don't let it spook you. It only confirms you're physically inside a state where betting is legal, because regulators make books verify that. Allow it, confirm where you are, and you're ready to bet.
Beginner tip: A bonus is only as valuable as the bet you put it on. Claim the welcome offer, but spend it on a straight bet you actually understand, not the splashy multi-leg parlay the promo nudges you toward.
Step 2: Navigate The Site And Find A Game
BetMGM keeps everything within a click or two. The left rail lists the top sports (football, basketball, hockey, baseball, soccer, tennis, MMA, and more), and below that an A-to-Z list for less common sports like darts, cycling, cricket, or snooker. There's also a scroll bar across the top if you prefer browsing that way.
A small habit that saves time: star the sports and leagues you actually bet. Once you favorite them, the Favorites tab pulls them all into one place, so you're not hunting through the full menu every time you open the app. If you only bet the NFL and the NBA, favoriting them turns a multi-step search into one tap.
Click into a sport and you can drill down further. Under football, for example, you'll find NFL, NFL preseason, and college football broken out separately, rather than everything crammed onto one screen.
Step 3: The Four BetMGM Bet Types, Explained
Pick a game and tap a price, and your selection drops into the bet slip on the right. That's where BetMGM gives you four ways to structure a wager. Knowing the difference is most of what separates a confident bettor from a confused one.
| Bet Type | What it is | When to use it |
|---|
| Straight Bet | One selection on its own. If you put a stake on three games as straights, each is its own bet and wins or loses independently | The default, and the right starting point for almost every beginner |
| Parlay | Two or more selections combined into one bet, where every leg must win for it to pay, but the payout is much larger | Occasionally and in small amounts; the more legs, the longer the odds against you |
| Teaser | A football or basketball parlay where you move the spread or total in your favor by a set number of points, in exchange for a lower payout | A specific tool for crossing key numbers (more below), not an everyday play |
| Round Robin | BetMGM automatically breaks your selections into a bunch of smaller parlays | When you want parlay-style upside with a slightly higher chance of getting something back |
A few honest notes on each. Straight bets are where you should live while you learn: they're the cleanest way to bet a number you actually like. Parlays are fun and the payouts are eye-catching, but be careful, because every leg you add multiplies the ways the bet can die, and the book bakes its hold into every leg. Round robins spread your selections across many small parlays, so the ceiling is lower than one big parlay but you have a better shot at recovering some return on a mixed day. We've got a full round robin guide if you want to go deeper.
Teasers deserve a specific word. A teaser lets you shift the line a set number of points. The walkthrough demonstrates a 7-point, 3-team NFL teaser. Teasers are powerful when they drag a number across the key margins football games actually land on. The two key numbers in football are 3 and 7, because games are so often decided by a field goal or a touchdown. Tease a -9.5 favorite down to -2.5 and you've pulled it through both of those numbers, which is the situation a teaser is built for. Two cautions matter. First, never tease through zero: the video's own demo teases a -6.5 favorite up to +0.5, crossing zero, and the host flags it on camera as exactly what not to do, because turning a small favorite into a small underdog is a trap. Second, the book prices the teaser to its advantage, so this is not free money. Use teasers to buy key numbers, not to chase a payout.
While you're in a game, click into it and you'll find far more than the headline lines: player props (a batter to homer, a pitcher's strikeout total, touchdown scorers, receiving yards), alternate spreads and totals, and period markets like first-five-innings or individual quarters. That depth is where a lot of edges hide once you know what you're looking for.
Step 4: Use BetMGM's Boosts And Promos As Tools, Not Free Wins
Promotions are one of the few real edges a recreational bettor has, but only when the boosted price is actually good, and that's where most people slip, either ignoring real value or chasing the fake kind. BetMGM runs a steady rotation of promotions, and the main ones to know:
- Odds Boosts / Profit Boosts. BetMGM bumps a price up, say lifting a market from +500 to +600, or a +200 line to +400. Boosts are in your favor most of the time, but not always, and the book occasionally posts one that still isn't a good price. The right move is to confirm the boosted number actually beats the fair price before you fire.
- Free Bets And Price Knock-Downs. Sometimes the book hands you outright free bets, or slashes a heavy favorite from something like -1000 down to even money. When the math is clearly in your favor like that, take it.
- MGM Rewards. Sign up for the loyalty program and every bet accrues points you can redeem for betting credit, casino play, hotel stays, and resort perks across MGM properties. It's a solid rewards program, and it costs nothing to opt in.
Treat same-game parlays as entertainment, not edge, whether they're pre-built or your own. BetMGM's SGP builder is slick, but the source is blunt on this: avoid the pre-built same-game parlays the book markets to you. If you build your own, keep the stakes small, because the book still prices these related legs knowing they tend to hit together, so building it yourself does not dodge that cost. Unless you've confirmed a mispriced combo against fair odds, treat any SGP as a small-stakes sweat.
Claim the good promos, and judge every boost the same way: the only question is whether the boosted number beats the de-vigged fair price. A big enough boost can turn a bet you'd never place at the standard number into a good price, and a modest one can leave a bad number bad. The fair price is the test, not whether you liked the play beforehand. Take every boost that clears fair, even at small max stakes, because stacked small edges are how boost value is actually harvested.
Bet The Best Number: The Habit That Adds Up
Everything above is how to use BetMGM. Here's one of the biggest habits that improves your long-term results: never lock in a price without checking that another book isn't paying more for the same bet. Every line has the book's cut built in. A standard two-sided market priced -110 on both sides carries roughly a 4.5–5% hold, and the exact number you take eats into your return more than almost anything else you do.
This is why our team keeps accounts on as many sportsbooks as possible. It isn't about collecting apps. It's that the same bet is rarely priced identically across books, and over a season the difference adds up. Claiming the BetMGM welcome offer gets you one strong book in the rotation, and the winning move is to line-shop that book against the field on every bet.
The takeaway: BetMGM might post the best price on your bet, or it might be a few cents short. You won't know until you compare, and that one habit, repeated all season, can meaningfully improve your expected return.
Example: The Same Bet, Two Prices
Say BetMGM posts an MLB moneyline at +190 while another book lists the identical bet at +198. On a $100 wager, +198 returns $198 in profit and +190 returns $190. That's $8 captured on a single bet just by taking the better side. Small as it looks, those differences compound across every bet you place over a season, and at standard pricing, habitually taking the worse number is one of the biggest reasons even a bettor who wins more often than not can still finish down. Over a full year, consistently taking the best available price is often one of the biggest factors separating a winning bettor from a losing one. It's the same bet either way, and the only question is which book pays you most for it. For why this matters, see how a sharp bettor shops every number, and the mechanics of line shopping itself.
Hand-checking the market across every book, while lines are moving, is slow. That's the job the OddsShopper odds screen does for free: it line-shops the same bet across the major sportsbooks in real time, so you instantly see when BetMGM's number is the best price available, and when it isn't. Its +EV tools go a step further, de-vigging each market to its true price and surfacing the bets, including which BetMGM boosts, that are actually +EV rather than just flashy.
New to OddsShopper? It compares the same bet across the major sportsbooks at once and flags where the price is in your favor, doing automatically the line shopping this guide just walked through by hand. It's free to start, and it's the fastest way to check whether BetMGM's price, or its latest boost, is really the best number on the board: open the live odds screen.
A Few Realities Before You Start
- Manage Your Bankroll. Losing a few bets isn't the end of the world, but digging in and doubling down to win it back with no real edge is how beginners get wrecked. Only stake what you can comfortably lose, and size each bet to the edge, not to how confident you feel. Our bankroll management guide covers how to size sanely.
- Don't Fire Blind. Betting with no line shopping and no read on the true price is just donating to the book. Check the number before you place it.
- Variance Is Brutal, Especially On Parlays And Teasers. You'll hit heaters and downswings that both feel permanent. Well-priced bets balance out over a large sample, not over a single weekend.
- It's 21+ And Legal Only In Regulated U.S. Markets Where BetMGM Operates. Bet only where it's legal, never chase losses, and reach out for help if betting stops being fun (1-800-GAMBLER).
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I bet on BetMGM as a beginner?
Register, allow the location check so your state is verified, and deposit. Then pick a sport from the left rail, tap a market (moneyline, spread or run line, or total), set your stake in the bet slip, and place it as a straight bet. Before you confirm, check whether another book is paying a better number for the same bet, because that price difference adds up fast over a season.
What is the BetMGM welcome offer for new customers?
Where the offer is available, BetMGM's current new-customer deal is first-bet insurance: bet up to $1,500 on your opening wager and, if it loses, get the stake back in bonus bets (subject to BetMGM's terms). Offers change by state and over time, so confirm the live terms on BetMGM's site when you sign up. New customers only, 21+.
What are the four bet types on BetMGM?
Straight bets (one selection), parlays (multiple selections that all must win for a bigger payout), teasers (a football or basketball parlay where you move the spread in your favor for a lower payout), and round robins (the book splits your selections into many smaller parlays). Beginners should live on straight bets and add the others slowly as they understand the trade-offs.
Are BetMGM's odds boosts worth it?
Often, but not always. A boost only helps when the boosted price actually beats the fair number, and BetMGM occasionally posts one that still isn't a good price. The only test is whether the boosted price beats the de-vigged fair number: a big boost can make a play you'd otherwise skip worth taking, and a weak one can leave a bad price bad. That's exactly what OddsShopper's de-vigged pricing is built to check.
Should I use BetMGM's same-game parlays?
Treat any SGP, pre-built or your own, as entertainment priced in the book's favor, and skip the pre-built SGPs the book markets to you in particular. While you're learning, lean on straight bets and small parlays.
Is the MGM Rewards program worth signing up for?
Yes. It costs nothing to join, and every bet accrues points you can redeem for betting credit, casino play, and hotel or resort perks across MGM properties. There's no downside to opting in.
Ready to get started? Claim the BetMGM welcome offer first: sign up here to bet up to $1,500 and get it back in bonus bets if your first bet doesn't win (new customers, 21+, eligible states, terms apply). Then bet the right way, because one of the highest-leverage habits is taking the best available price on every wager, and OddsShopper does that work for you for free, comparing the major sportsbooks in real time, checking BetMGM's number against the field, and surfacing the +EV bets and boosts. Please bet responsibly. 1-800-GAMBLER.
