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It’s time for another addition of the Bonus Power Index rankings updates. This time, though, we’re not talking about sweepstakes casinos. Rather, we’re running through our inaugural launch of online casino rankings. If you’re in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Michigan, West Virginia, or Connecticut — you might want to sit down.
Full Casino BPI Rankings
| Casino | Final BPI Score | Bonus Score | Free Spins Score | Game Total Score | Popularity Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bally's Casino | 3.4 | 3.2 | 4.2 | 1 | 4.5 |
| Bet365 Casino | 3.8 | 2.4 | 4.8 | 2.9 | 4.7 |
| BetMGM (ALL) | 3.9 | 3.3 | 3.2 | 3.5 | 4.8 |
| BetMGM (NJ, PA, MI) | 3.4 | 2.9 | 1 | 3.5 | 4.8 |
| BetMGM (WV) | 4 | 3.6 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 4.8 |
| betOcean Casino | 2.2 | 2.5 | 1 | 2.7 | 1 |
| BetRivers (ALL) | 4.2 | 4.4 | 4.5 | 3.5 | 3.6 |
| BetRivers (MI, NJ) | 4.2 | 4.4 | 4.5 | 3.5 | 3.6 |
| BetRivers (PA) | 4.1 | 3.9 | 4.5 | 3.5 | 3.6 |
| BetRivers (WV) | 4.1 | 4.4 | 4.2 | 3.5 | 3.6 |
| Borgata Casino | 4.2 | 3.2 | 4.1 | 4.7 | 4.5 |
| Caesars Palace | 3.1 | 2.9 | 1 | 3.2 | 3.5 |
| DraftKings Casino | 4.6 | 5 | 4.5 | 4 | 4.6 |
| Fanatics Casino | 4.2 | 5 | 4.8 | 3 | 3.3 |
| FanDuel Casino | 4.2 | 2.5 | 5 | 3.7 | 5 |
| Golden Nugget Casino | 4.2 | 5 | 4.5 | 2.4 | 4.4 |
| Hard Rock Bet Casino | 4.4 | 5 | 4.1 | 3.8 | 4.3 |
| Horseshoe Casino | 3.3 | 2.9 | 3.2 | 3.2 | 2.7 |
| PartyCasino | 3.1 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 3 |
| PlayStar Casino | 3.1 | 1.9 | 4.5 | 2.9 | 1.8 |
| Stardust Casino | 3.4 | 1 | 4.2 | 3.2 | 4.2 |
| Wheel of Fortune Casino | 2.4 | 1.3 | 1 | 3.3 | 1.8 |
If this is your first time coming across the BPI (welcome), here’s some context for how we calculate these ratings. We start by taking all input values (think the size of a deposit bonus for “offer value” or the number of free spins for “spin value”) and normalizing them along a 25-point scale. The highest scoring operator in any given category, — take FanDuel casino in the spins bonus category, for example — will start with a 25 point score.
Once a 1-25 score has been derived for each operator, these values are reduced to a 1-5 rating along a logarithmic scale. We use a logarithmic scale to prevent outliers in individual categories from skewing 1-5 values for every operator below the highest-rated one. For more information on both sweepstakes and real money casino rankings, visit our how we rate page.
Now that all that’s out of the way, it’s time for the fun part. Here are our biggest takeaways from version 1.0 of the real money casino BPI.
DraftKings Casino is a Juggernaut
Much like Stake.us in our sweepstakes rankings, DraftKings casino takes the crown (get it) in our inaugural release.
The party starts with their welcome bonus: 1,000 flex spins on 100+ slots with a 1x playthrough requirement. The 1x playthrough on a spins bonus of this size is pretty rare in an industry where operators generally require players to “wash” their bonus coins 15x, 25x, even 30x times before having a redemption opportunity. Only FanDuel casino rivals DraftKings on this basis — what’s new.
What separates DraftKings from FanDuel is its game library. DraftKings’ 4,094 titles easily trumps FanDuel’s 1,701, though both fall short of PartyCasino’s 9,700.
DraftKings rounds out its arsenal with a 4.6 popularity rating — amassing 17,000 monthly searches.
The race for first was close in round one. Ultimately, DraftKings’ easily redeemable flex spins and strong game library are what carried it over the line. Heavy is the head that wears the crown.
The Biggest Brands Have the Best Bonuses
As much as I love an underdog story, one thing that was made apparently clear when compiling these ratings is that the biggest names are generally the best operators, full stop.
This is a bit of a departure from our sweeps casino ranking system where there are a number of brands (thinking of Lucky Bunny and The Boss) that compete with other top operators on their own merits despite being less well known.
In the case of our online casinos rankings, major brands like BetRivers, bet365, DraftKings, FanDuel, and Fanatics have the 4.5 scores in either the “money offer” or “free spin” category.
The exception to the rule here is BetMGM, which has a high nominal offer but an excessive playthrough requirement on its bonus. Is 15x really necessary? bet365’s 30x is insane. I think I’m opting for Fanatics this time.
BetMGM is Just Better in West Virginia
Did you know John Denver was born in Roswell, New Mexico? Maybe that’s common knowledge. It is funny how a guy named after a major U.S. city is most associated with a totally different state. This is a long windup to say that I think John Denver would be proud of BetMGM online casino.
Like BetRivers, BetMGM has different offers in different states. Their deposit match bonus in West Virginia —$2,500 + a $50 spins bonus — is the largest nominal welcome bonus available. The 15x playthrough requirement does hurt its overall score in this category, but fortune does favor the bold sometimes.
Given BetMGM’s offers in NJ, PA, and MI amounts to only half this, I think we can all agree that sometimes it pays to be in West Virginia. Almost heaven?
