PlayUp Sportsbook Promo Code

Update: As of July 26, PlayUp is not operating in New Jersey or Colorado. Regulators in New Jersey revoked PlayUp’s license to operate in the state, and the sportsbook told Colorado regulators it planned to suspend operations there. As such, PlayUp is not available in any state and seems to be on the verge of going out of business. This page will no longer be regularly updated.

PlayUp is a new entrant to the U.S. online sports betting industry. The brand launched first in the Colorado sports betting market, lured there no doubt by enthusiastic sports fans and a state regulatory structure that may be the friendliest and most innovative in the country. Operators of all sizes have been flocking to the Centennial State, using it as a launching pad in their quest to dominate the U.S. market. After a successful launch in Colorado, PlayUp opened up shop in New Jersey.

Continue on for more information about PlayUp, including whether it has earned a spot among the best in the business, where it plans to go next, a review of its app and browser versions, banking options, and more. 

PlayUp Colorado for Mobile and Web
PlayUp Sportsbook CO

PlayUp Sign Up Bonus

In order to attract new customers virtually all sportsbooks offer some sort of promotional offer for those making their first deposit. The promotions are usually either a bonus bet or a deposit match up to a certain amount. PlayUp has offered a few different promotions, including the ones listed on the promotions page. Check with PlayUp directly to see their current promotions.

Terms to Watch

Like all bonuses, there are some terms to watch. Let’s say there is a 5x play-through requirement that includes the amount of deposit and bonus combined. If you deposit $100, you have to play-through, or bet, $300 ($100 deposit plus $200 bonus) five times. This means you have to make $1500 worth of bets within 120 days. This is a decent bet-through requirement but should be doable if you are a regular. 

Any winnings from the bets you make are added to your balance. Once you have played through your original deposit and bonus match five times, your balance is fully withdrawable, including the bonus. In other words, if you bet $1,500 as described earlier, everything in your account is yours to keep and cash out.

States Where PlayUp is Live

Some states have legalized online sports betting and others have not. PlayUp is licensed in some of those states, but not in others… so let’s sort through where you can bet with the brand. You must be physically present in one of the following states to wager:

Online sportsbooks in most states are required to have a retail casino partner, a concept known as “tethering,” which means that an online operator like PlayUp has to join up with a retail casino or licensing partner in those states.

Colorado

PlayUp has a licensing deal with the Bull Durham Casino in Black Hawk, CO. Colorado has liberal betting laws, a wide array of markets, and plenty of competition which makes for competitive products.  It’s a great first-stop for legal sports betting brands in the U.S.

New Jersey

PlayUp’s second state was New Jersey, where the company laid the groundwork for a successful launch and opened up shop in October 2021. The company’s retail casino partner is Freehold Raceway, which is owned 50/50 between Penn National Gaming (Barstool Sportsbook) and Parx Casino.

What is unusual about this particular partnership is Penn National and Parx also operate online sportsbooks in New Jersey, so they facilitated the addition of a competitor in an already crowded market.

PlayUp also decided to go all-in on New Jersey by becoming a sportsbook sponsor of the New Jersey Devils, the state’s NHL team. The Devils are one of the most popular sports teams in the state and play in downtown Newark, so this partnership makes sense from a marketing standpoint. While it is clear that PlayUp is committed to growing in New Jersey, it will take a lot of marketing and some luck to gain market share in a state with over 20 sportsbooks. 

Where is PlayUp Going Next?

PlayUp has already announced plans to grow its business to new states. We’ll keep you updated as they launch in new areas.

Indiana

In another partnership with an existing casino/sportsbook operator, PlayUp recently announced an access agreement with Caesars for entry to the Indiana market. This means that PlayUp will be an online “skin” for one of Caesars’ three properties in the state. Casinos in Indiana are allowed to have up to three online skins, which means Caesars can partner with PlayUp and still offer their own online sportsbook in the state.

Iowa

PlayUp also partnered with Caesars in Iowa, and will use one of the four Caesars casinos in the state as its retail partner. This partnership will give it access to the Iowa market, which has become more competitive lately as sportsbook operators descend on the Hawkeye State and its legions of eager sports bettors.

Additional States

PlayUp hasn’t announced any concrete plans for expansion beyond Colorado, Indiana, Iowa, and New Jersey, but the states listed below are shaping up as prime candidates to follow:

Other PlayUp Promotions

PlayUp offers additional promos to entice bettors and offer additional value. We expect some sort of deposit bonus to always be available, but these types of additional promotions may vary throughout the year.

Why PlayUp? 

With plenty of sportsbooks to choose from, why should sports bettors give PlayUp a chance? During testing, two features immediately stood out that separated PlayUp from its competitors. A few other features were lacking compared to other sportsbooks. Let’s go over the advantages and disadvantages of PlayUp

Advantages

Live Betting

PlayUp has a superior live betting feature that is far more intuitive than most other sportsbooks’ offerings. There are dozens, sometimes hundreds, of markets available for each live event. From high-profile NBA and NHL playoff games to the most ordinary Tuesday evening MLB matchup, they’re all covered. The prices are updated in real time and the action is displayed in a visually appealing way using real-time data provided by Sportradar.

Each play is captured and shown in an animated display that is hard to describe but impressive when seen first-hand on your screen. There is no latency in the plays shown or the time displayed during games. That said, the wager pricing is quite a bit different than other operators such as DraftKings.

Play Up Cricket Betting
West Indies vs South Africa Cricket Bet

Pricing Example

During testing, there was a live match between Faroe Islands Premier League powers Tofta Itrottarfelag B68 and HB Torshavn (seriously). On PlayUp there were 84 possible bets for this obscurest of obscure matchups. But the pricing provided nowhere near the value of the same offerings on DraftKings. For example, during the match, Tofta was down 3-0 but was still offered at +5000 on PlayUp. That sounds about right for a 3-goal deficit in the second half, until you go to DraftKings and see Tofta offered at +100000. That’s a 1900% increase in value between the two sportsbooks.

Of course, the chances of Tofta winning were miniscule, so the price difference wasn’t much more than semantics, but Draftkings offered better value for the bettor in other live markets during this game as well. PlayUp has an impressive visual display on their app, but their in-play prices can be less favorable to the bettor than their competition. 

Every sportsbook has different pricing strategies for live betting, most of which are decided by a computer algorithm. Tofta being offered at a lower price while down by 3 goals isn’t necessarily a deal-breaker on which sportsbook to pick, particularly when they ended up losing by 6 goals. It is just another example of the importance of shopping around to find the best line value. You may not necessarily find it on PlayUp.

Variety of Sports

Another advantage PlayUp has over its competitors is the sheer number of different sports available to bet on. They have so many that you probably haven’t even heard of some of them. Now, part of this is likely due to PlayUp being active first in Colorado, the state with the widest assortment of approved sports. None the less, it’s impressive.

The sports offered seem to shift regularly; indoor lawn bowling was offered one day and wasn’t offered the next. Check back often if your favorite obscure sport isn’t listed. Also remember that each sport often has many leagues. So within soccer there are dozens of leagues, from the Premier League and MLS to the Faroe Islands. The sheer number of betting opportunities offered by PlayUp is almost incalculable. We would need a group of interns working here day and night to add up all the different bets you can make.  Available sports include:

Betting Markets

A market is a type of wager available to bet on. If 84 wagers were available in the aforementioned Faroe Islands soccer game, that could be also described as 84 markets. An available wager is sometimes referred to as a market because the sportsbook “makes the market” by offering wagers for people to choose from. If you want to bet on the Devils to beat the Bruins in an NHL game, that is one market. Taking the Bruins would be a second market, and picking the over would be a third. All sportsbooks offer a variety of markets, but PlayUp excels in giving people a plethora of betting opportunities. The most common markets offered by PlayUp include:

Disadvantages

Confusing Layout

In-play betting seems to be what PlayUp focuses most of its attention and budget on. Live betting opportunities on the most low-profile events are prominently featured on the app in particular. This is not a bad thing, but it can cause some confusion when you try to find an event that is upcoming, particularly when you are on the “home” page. The home page offers “popular” games, but, during testing, “popular” baseball games included AAA minor league and Japanese league games while MLB games were harder to find. This is more of an issue on the app than the browser version, and we expect it to be addressed as the product is refined further.

An easier way to find the event you are looking for is to scroll across the top of the screen on the app to find the sport you want and then tap on it to find all the upcoming events in that sport. The home section often focuses on live events and games being played later that day, whether they are the most relevant to most bettors or not.  

PlayUp Live Betting Odds

As described above, the live betting option on PlayUp is superior to most apps, but the odds can offer inconsistent value. This may be nit-picky, but if you are keen to focus your time and bankroll on live betting, you want to get the best value since the prices change so quickly. During testing, PlayUp consistently offered less value on a majority of live bets compared to DraftKings. This was not always the case with regular pre-game bets, including point spread and moneyline bets. As always, we encourage you to shop around to find the best value for the bets you want to make. 

Banking Options

Deposit and withdrawal options vary by sportsbook and even state. Some sportsbooks offer many options, while others offer just a few. PlayUp is right in the middle, offering plenty of good choices for players to deposit and withdraw funds. Remember to check the rules of your particular financial institution before making a deposit. 

Customer Service

Many people have said that live chat is the customer service function of the future. If they haven’t said that, they should start saying it, because it’s true. People don’t want to talk on the phone anymore. They would rather chat with someone to have their questions answered. Having a chat option for customer service may be the most important customer service function a sportsbook can offer. We are pleased to report that PlayUp has a great chat function that is easy to find, the chat bubble bouncing up and down at the bottom right corner of the browser page. It’s not available on the app yet, but it should be coming soon.

Chat functions are great and all, but sometimes it’s easier just to get someone on the phone. Not to worry, PlayUp has a phone number that you can call to speak with a customer service representative. Or you can send them an email and a U.S.-based team member will get back to you shortly. However you want to have your questions answered, PlayUp is there to help.

About PlayUp

PlayUp is an Australian company that operates in its home country along with New Zealand, India, and the USA. The company is new to the American market but is not new to sports betting, having operated successfully overseas since 2007. The company is highly regarded and popular among bettors in Australia, and, in a nod to the increasing popularity of online daily fantasy sports in India, expanded there in 2018. Daily fantasy sports have taken off in India because they are legal in the country and sports betting is not. 

Australians are mad about sports, particularly cricket, rugby, and Australian Rules Football. American sports such as basketball and even baseball have their own leagues in the Land Down Under. Because sports are so popular in Australia, sports betting is also a popular pastime in the country. Several sports betting companies operating in America are headquartered in Australia, including PointsBet and PlayUp.

In order to succeed here in America, PlayUp is going to have to separate itself from the competition. The company’s in-depth knowledge of the countries it enters combined with its effective pricing and promotional strategies will serve it well here in the States. Plus, there are lots of people in Colorado and elsewhere who enjoy wagering on cricket, Australian Rules Football, and rugby, in addition to other lesser-known sports, of which PlayUp has a great deal of pricing and marketing expertise. 

FAQ

Where is PlayUp live? Where is it going?

PlayUp went live in Colorado in March 2021 and New Jersey in October 2021. The company has publicly announced plans to go live next in Indiana and Iowa.

What separates PlayUp from other sportsbooks?

PlayUp has a superior live betting platform that features industry-leading graphics and real-time game data. Its live betting options are also plentiful but sometimes do not offer the best value. Another advantage of PlayUp is its wide variety of sports offered. PlayUp is a great option for those interested in wagering on lesser-known sports. 

What promotions does PlayUp offer?

PlayUp usually has great promotions for new customers. If you check out the offers above in this article, or the promotions page on the site, you can see all the excellent promos to use!