Update: GambetDC has permanently closed. The Washington DC sports betting market is now served by multiple online sportsbooks, including FanDuel, BetMGM, and Caesars Sportsbook. This notice follows a previous BettingUSA warning that the GambetDC app was marred by numerous technical issues and offered poor odds.

GambetDC launched in May 2020 and closed in 2024 after the DC Office of Lottery and Gaming ended its exclusive partnership with Intralot. FanDuel Sportsbook took over for GambetDC, and new regulations approved a short time later allowed additional operators to compete in the DC online sports betting market.

Bettors Beware: High House Hold at GambetDC

Upon launch, GambetDC was immediately met with widespread criticism for offering poor odds that result in an expensive experience for customers relative to other sportsbooks. While other sportsbooks typically offer standard lines in the range of -105 to -110, GambetDC launched with lines of -118/-118 and -111/-125 on sides and totals.

This equates to more house vig, which is money taken from bettors and kept by the sportsbook before winning wagers are paid. As a result, GambetDC customers found it more difficult to win as their bankrolls were hoovered up by the excessive house hold.

To compare, below is a selection of NFL spreads and moneylines offered by GambetDC compared to lines offered by other sportsbook operators.

As this chart shows, GambetDC customers won less on underdogs and had to risk more on favorites in almost every single instance relative to other mobile sportsbooks. In these examples, the house hold was significantly higher at GambetDC than at every other sports betting site.

GambetDC Promo Code And Welcome Bonus

GambetDC offered new customers a second chance first bet worth up to $500, with no promo code necessary. New users could claim the GambetDC bonus by signing up for an account, making a deposit of at least $10, and placing their first wager on any market with odds of -200 or longer (e.g., -200, +100, +300, etc.)

If the qualifying wager lost, GambetDC refunded it with up to $500 in bonus funds. Bettors could not withdraw the bonus, but they could use it to place wagers to win withdrawable cash. Customers had to use the bonus within seven days of receipt, and the bonus was not included in any winnings when used to place successful wagers.

GambetDC occasionally offered additional promotions that require promo codes. For example, the GambetDC app once offered a free bet worth up to $100 to existing users who logged in, input a promo code, and placed a wager on any sport.

GambetDC sports betting promotions were infrequent, but customers could log in any time to see if any offers were available. If any offer required a Gambet promo code, the offers page provided it.

Other GambetDC Sportsbook Promotions

GambetDC occasionally launched new promotions for existing customers, usually attuned to the most popular in-season sports. For example, GambetDC launched risk-free Thursdays (place a $5 bet on the Thursday night game’s point spread and get your money back if it loses) and free bet Mondays (get a $25 free bet if you bet the total on Monday Night Football’s game) for the entirety of a past NFL season.

In addition, GambetDC hosted sports betting promotions for local market teams on occasion.

GambetDC Sports Betting App

GambetDC offered mobile apps for iOS and Android in addition to a responsive website that was compatible with all devices.

Customers could download the GambetDC mobile app for iPhone and iPad by searching for it by name in the App Store while Android users could download the app directly from the GambetDC website.

The GambetDC mobile sports betting experience was largely the same as the desktop experience but resized to fit mobile devices. Customers could log in, view the lines, manage their accounts and place wagers while on the go.

The GambetDC app offered pregame lines, in-play wagering, and simple navigation menus that made it easy to get around. GambetDC had plenty of negative points, but we had no complaints regarding the app’s form or function.

GambetDC Mobile Sportsbook App Screenshots

GambetDC Interface And User Experience

Criticism of the GambetDC interface was rife on Twitter on launch day, but we found it easy to use, easy to navigate and quick to respond to user input. The interface was certainly simplistic as GambetDC was short on features in whole, but what features it did offer worked well.

The GambetDC homepage provided a list of popular events and wagers, navigation menu to view the various sports on offer, and tabs to switch between pre-game and in-play betting. Clicking or tapping the name of any event brought users to a detailed event page where additional wagering markets are listed.

Bettors could click or tap the odds on any listed market to add that wager to the betting slip. Users could add multiple wagers to the bet slip at once to either bet on each outcome individually or wrap them into parlays.

GambetDC Sportsbook Desktop Screenshots

GambetDC In-Play Betting

GambetDC maintained an active calendar of in-play betting events for major games held in the US and abroad. The in-play betting interface was a bit simplistic in presentation but provided all the basic necessities: live stats, play-by-play updates and real-time betting odds that were constantly refreshed.

The amount of wagering information provided by GambetDC during live events was about on part with the industry average. Some of the informational tools available to customers included text-based game feeds, virtual depictions of what was happening during games, game stats, and historical head-to-head stats.

GambetDC accepted an average range of in-game wagers as well. Customers could wager on the game outcome (moneylines and totals included) along with a variety of props and short-term wagers.

GambetDC Location Restrictions

Sports bettors could download the GambetDC Sportsbook app, create accounts, and deposit funds from anywhere in the country but had to be physically present within city limits to place wagers.

Additionally, the Gambet DC app was subject to additional location restrictions within the District. The GambetDC app could not be used to place wagers on federally owned land such as the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial or within two blocks of a Class A sports betting license holder (a stadium with a retail sportsbook).

GambetDC Deposit Methods

Customers could fund their GambetDC accounts with the following methods:

The minimum deposit for all methods was $10 and the maximum was $2,000.

GambetDC withdrawal methods included ACH/e-check, Play+, and PayPal.

GambetDC Sports Betting Markets

GambetDC offered online sports betting on a broad range of domestic and international leagues, both for professional sports and college games.

Note that this is a list of events for which GambetDC was authorized to cover; it did not necessarily take wagers on all of these events:

• Aussie rules: AFL
• Auto racing: NASCAR, F1, IndyCar, MotoGP and WRC
• Baseball: MLB, NCAA, Japan, World Baseball Softball Confederation, World Baseball Classic
• Basketball: NBA, WNBA, NCAA and FIBA
• Boxing: IFB, WBA, WBC, WBO and Association of Boxing Commissions and Combative Sports
• Cricket: ICC, ICC World Cup, ICC Women’s World Cup
• Cycling: Union Cycliste Internationale
• Darts: PDC
• Football: AFL, CFL, NFL and NCAA
• Golf: PGA, LPGA, PGA European Tour
• Hockey: NHL, NCAA
• Lacrosse: NCAA
• MMA: UFC and Bellator
• Olympics: Summer and Winter Games
• Rugby: Four Nations, Rugby World Cup, Six Nations and World Rugby
• Soccer: MLS, NCAA and many international leagues
• Tennis: ATP, WTA, NCAA, ITF, USTA

Additionally, the Office of Lottery and Gaming approved the following types of wagers:

• Moneylines, point spreads and totals
• Head-to-head
• Odds/Even
• Team and player props
• Futures

In practice, GambetDC offered an average variety of wagers for each event. Some of the bigger events in popular sports were covered with 100+ betting options while many smaller events offered just a handful of options.

GambetDC Responsible Gambling Controls

GambetDC allowed customers to set a variety of responsible gambling controls to keep the time and money spent gambling within predetermined amounts.

• Bet Limits: Set limits ranging from $2 to $100,000 on the total amount wagered each day, week or month
• Deposit Limits: Set limits ranging from $10 to $15,000 on the total amount deposited each day, week or month
• Time Limits: Set a daily time limit for being logged into GambetDC ranging from 1 hour to 23 hours per day
• Cooling Off Period: Self-exclude for a period of 3, 7, 15 or 30 days
• Self-Exclusion: Customers could fill out a self-exclusion form and turn it in in-person at the Office of Lottery and Gaming to self-exclude from all DC gambling activities for a period of 18 months, three years, five years or life.

Expert Opinion: Is GambetDC Legit?

As the official sportsbook of the DC Lottery, GambetDC was a legitimate mobile betting option. It was the only operator approved to offer District-wide mobile online sports betting, but it suffered from numerous significant flaws. Most noteworthy were its poor betting odds and limited promotions.

Ultimately, BettingUSA could not recommend GambetDC except as a last resort for bettors with no other options. Instead, our advice to readers was to get within two blocks of Nationals Park to use the BetMGM app, which was the only alternative at the time.