My Favorite Parts of Sporttrade
- Best odds in the industry
- Can instantly place live bets
- Cash out always available
- Request your own odds
- Reliable & simple user interface
OA BetReview Rating
87/100
Odds Competitiveness
20/20
Sign-Up Bonus
12/15
User Experience
10/15
Customer Reviews
5/5
Limits
5/5
Deposit & Withdrawal Methods
PayPal, Venmo, Bank Transfer, Wire, Cash
Payout Speed
Up to 5 Business Days
Sporttrade is a betting exchange available in Colorado, Iowa, and New Jersey that allows you to bet against other players instead of against the house like you do with other sportsbooks.
This results in much better odds since Sporttrade just takes a small cut (2%) from each winning bet instead of charging a vig like traditional sportsbooks do.
This is Sporttrade's main selling point: you almost always get a better deal. This means you have to win a lower percentage of your bets to be profitable over time compared to normal sportsbooks.
Other benefits of Sporttrade's exchange model include faster live bets, the ability to cash out or increase your stake at any time, and the ability the place limit orders (set a price and only buy or sell shares if/when the price reaches it).
The biggest downside of Sporttrade is that it has fewer sports and markets available than traditional sportsbooks. Sports are limited to the most popular U.S. leagues and markets are limited to standard spread, total, and moneyline bets along with select props and futures.
It can also be difficult to get the hang of using Sporttrade unless you use stock trading apps regularly. By default, Sporttrade uses “share prices” which reflect the percent chance of that bet winning (ex: $25 share prices reflects a 25% chance of winning or +400 odds). You can switch to American odds—which I did immediately after joining—which reduces the learning curve some if you're used to that format.
The rest of this Sporttrade review will discuss how the betting exchange works, its pros and cons, and everything else you need to know to decide whether it's right for you.
If you're short on time and just want the quick answer, we highly recommend using Sporttrade if you're in a state where it operates (Colorado, Iowa, and New Jersey). The better odds alone make it an essential app for any serious sports bettor.
Here are some screenshots of the Sporttrade app to help you get an idea of what it looks like:
Sporttrade Quick Facts
Sporttrade | |
|---|---|
OA Rating | 87/100 |
Owner | Sporttrade Inc. |
Launch Date | September 2022 |
Sign-Up Bonus | 3% cash back on bets made in first week up to $300 (Claim here) |
States | CO, IA, NJ |
Top Features | Best-in-class odds, instant live betting |
Payout Speed | Up to 5 business days (typically within 24 hours) |
My Favorite Parts About Sporttrade
- Better odds than sportsbooks: As I mentioned in the intro, the best part about Sporttrade is that the odds are much better than you'll find at a traditional sportsbook. Instead of the standard -110 odds (20-cent lines) on 50/50 bets, Sporttrade typically offers around -105 (10-cent lines). While they do take an additional 2% from winning bets, you'll still get a much better deal, on average, with Sporttrade.
- Instant live betting: One of the most frustrating things with sportsbooks is the constant delays and waiting periods when trying to live bet a game. With Sporttrade, you can place live bets and cash out of existing ones at any time: no getting locked out of betting, no 10-second delays for your bet to lock in, and no last-second odds movement after you hit submit.
- Cash out always available: With Sporttrade, you can cash out of your bets at any time unlike sportsbooks which may or may not allow it based on what's going on in the game(s). Whether you want to lock in a profit or try to get a portion of your wager back before you completely lose, you can always do it with Sporttrade.
- Set specific buy & sell prices: You can place Limit Orders which allow you to buy and sell only if and when the share price reaches that point. For example, say you bought a share of the Eagles to beat the Chiefs at $40 (40% or +150). You can place a Limit Sell Order to automatically sell your share if the prices reaches $60, guaranteeing you a profit.
- Reliable app: While I prefer the design of traditional sportsbook apps, I have found Sporttrade's app to be more reliable than most of them. In my experience playing so far, it's fast, never goes down, and never has any annoying bugs.
My Least Favorite Parts About Sporttrade
- Steep learning curve: Since Sporttrade isn't a traditional sportsbook, it can take some time to understand how to use it fully. The way odds are reflected by default (as share prices) and all of the different options within a game and when placing bets can be confusing for new players.
- Limited sports: For sports, you'll mainly find the major U.S. sports and leagues (NFL, NCAAF, NBA, NCAAB, MLB, NHL) along with golf, tennis, soccer, and UFC. You'll have to look elsewhere if you're interested in niche sports like lacrosse and handball.
- Limited bet types: In terms of available bet types, you'll find the typical spread, total, and moneyline bets, as well as some futures and select prop bets like points scored, assists, hits, and yards gained.
An Overview of How Sporttrade Works
To help you get through the steeper-than-usual learning curve we mentioned above, let's go through the basics of how Sporttrade works.
How Sporttrade Makes Money
Unlike a traditional sportsbook, Sporttrade doesn't charge a high vig on bets. Since you're betting against other players—not Sporttrade—they don't have an incentive to “charge” more on each side of the bet like normal books.
Sporttrade makes money by taking a 2% cut from winning bets.
When factoring in this small fee, you'll still almost always end up with better odds on Sporttrade than traditional sportsbooks.
Share Price
The share price reflects the percent chance of that bet winning and can also be used to determine your profit.
Shares range from $0 to $100, with the price translating to the percent chance of that bet hitting. Each share always pays out $100 if it wins, though you don't have to buy full shares and you can also purchase multiple shares.
If the share price for the Blue Jays to beat the Rays is $42, the implied probability of them winning is 42%. In this case, you would profit $58 if they do win (take $100 minus the share price to determine your profit).
While the share price system is great for beginners since reading odds itself can be difficult to get the hang of, I found it difficult to wrap my head around it when first using Sporttrade.
If you prefer American odds, you can switch to them by going to Account –> Trading Experience.
Buying & Selling
Buying contracts is very similar to placing bets: browse through the games and bets available, pick a side, enter how many shares you'd like to buy or how much you'd like to bet in dollars, and hit Place Order. Most orders will be filled instantly.
Note: To bet in dollars, just hit the “Shares” button that's right below the number input.
Once you've purchased shares/made a bet, you can sell them (or a portion of them) at almost any time. You can either go back to the game you're interested in to see the current price or view your portfolio to see what your shares/bets are currently worth.
Selling has always been instant for me, just like buying.
You can also place Limit Orders if you want to only buy or sell at a certain price point.
To do this, click on the bet you're interested in and click Limit Buy or Limit Sell at the top of the screen. You can then set the price you'd like to buy/sell at, and your transaction will go through if the share price reaches that point.
Limit Buy Order
Let's say you're watching the Chiefs play the Vikings, and the Vikings start the opening drive moving the ball down the field. You think the Chiefs will win but don't want to bet right away in case the Vikings end up scoring—which would result in you getting better odds.
If the Chiefs' share price is at $60 (-150 odds) while the Vikings are at midfield, you could put in a limit buy order of $55 (-122 odds), which the share price could feasibly go to if the Vikings score.
Your buy order will automatically go through if/when the share price hits $55.
Limit Sell Order
Limit sell orders work the same way as limit buy orders, just in reverse. You set the price you want to sell shares at, and if/when the share gets to that price, you'll automatically sell your shares.
I use limit sell orders when I want to lock in some profit and eliminate the chance of a last-minute collapse by the team I bet on or a backdoor cover from making me lose my entire wager.
For example, say I bought a contract for the Eagles to beat the Giants at $60. I know the Eagles have been prone to second-half losses this year, so I want to make sure I get out in time and secure profit if they take an early lead.
To do this, I put in a limit sell order of $80, guaranteeing myself $20 in profit per share (before fees) if the share price ever does hit $80.
Midway through the third quarter, the Eagles have a commanding 21-7 lead and share prices reach $80. My shares automatically sell at that price, locking in profit for me.
Then, if the Eagles have a late-game collapse and end up losing, I'm not affected since I already sold my shares.
Sporttrade Odds Competitiveness
ODDS ASSIST RATING: 20/20
As I've mentioned a few times, the best part about Sporttrade is how great the odds are. You almost always get better pricing at Sporttrade which means you profit more on winning bets and, therefore, have to win a lower percentage of your bets to turn a profit over time.
In short, Sporttrade makes it easier to make money sports betting due to lower vig (essentially the same thing as “fees”) on each bet.
Most sportsbooks offer 20-cent lines which translates to -110 odds on a 50/50 bet. That extra -10 is essentially what the sportsbook is charging to help them make money.
Sporttrade, on the other hand, typically offers 4- to 10-cent lines, which translates to around -102 to -105 odds on 50/50 bets.
Let's say the Phillies are playing the Braves and the total (Over/Under) is set at 8.5 runs.
DraftKings has O8.5 at -110 odds and U8.5 at -110. If the Under hits, a $100 bet would result in a profit of $90.91.
Sporttrade has each side set at -102, since they offer more competitive odds. In this case, that same $100 bet would result in a profit of $96.04 even after the 2% commission Sporttrade takes.
That's a difference of $5.13—over 5% of your initial wager!
Simply put, if you're in Colorado, Iowa, or New Jersey, Sporttrade should be the first app you check when going to place bets on the sports they offer.
Sporttrade Sign-Up Bonus
ODDS ASSIST RATING: 12/15
Sporttrade has a unique sign-up bonus whose value is determined by how much you wager your first week after registering.
For every bet with odds of -400 or longer (-200, -110, +150, etc.) you place over the first 7 days after signing up, you get 3% cashback as a bonus. The maximum amount you can get back is $300, which would require $10,000 in bets.
You can unlock the offer by signing up at Sporttrade with referral code ASSIST.
Note that you only receive the cashback for shares you buy (new bets). You don't get any for shares you sell (cashing out of bets).
You'll receive your bonus funds within 72 hours of your initial 7-day period ending. When I took advantage of this offer, I received my funds within 6 hours.
The cashback is a nice little bankroll booster to start off your Sporttrade betting career.
Curious how Sporttrade's sign-up bonus stacks up to competitors? You can compare all sportsbook sign-up bonuses here.
How to Sign Up at Sporttrade
Signing up at Sporttrade is a breeze. It requires the same information online sportsbooks typically ask for such as:
- Name
- Referral code (use ASSIST if you want to support us here at Odds Assist)
- Address
- Date of birth
- Phone number
- Last 4 digits of your SSN
- Desired username and password
Here are some more images of the Sporttrade sign-up process to give you an idea of what it requires (click to expand):
User Experience & App Stability
ODDS ASSIST RATING: 10/15
Sporttrade has a desktop site that shows current market prices, but you can only place bets via the mobile app (iOS and Android).
The mobile app is pretty different than traditional sportsbook apps like FanDuel and Caesars. It uses the same type of menus (horizontally scrolling menu for sports and footer menu for key parts of the app), but the way the games and markets are displayed differs quite a bit.
In the example above, you can see how much more FanDuel fits onto a screen than Sporttrade. It's much easier to see current odds at a glance on FanDuel compared to Sporttrade, which requires a lot of scrolling.
Despite it not being up to par with top-tier sportsbook apps, it's easy enough to use, especially once you get the hang of it. The benefits of Sporttrade (mainly the great odds) greatly outweigh any deficiencies it has in the design department.
There are three main sections of the app: Portfolio, Markets, Futures, and Account.
In Portfolios, you can see your open bets, including their current value and past trades (including bets and sales).
In Markets, you can see all of the available bets, including their current buy/sell prices.
The main page of this section shows all upcoming games but you can quickly filter to the league you're interested in via the top menu.
Once you find the game you're interested in, you can click into it to see available markets.
When you're ready to buy/sell shares, simply click the market you're interested in, select whether you want a Market Buy/Sell or Limit Buy/Sell, enter the amount you want to buy/sell, and confirm the transaction.
The Futures section works much like the Markets section except it's all futures bets. These bets are on things like who will win the Super Bowl, who will win MVP, or who will win Cy Young.
Finally, the Account section has everything you'd expect like info about your balance, links to deposit and withdraw, settings, support, and much more.
If you can't find something in the app, check out the Account section first to see if there's something there that can help. This is also where you can change odds formats, trading mode (Advanced allows for shorting outcomes while Simple doesn't), and choose Light/Dark mode.
Deposits, Withdrawals, & Payout Speed
ODDS ASSIST RATING: 4/5
Sporttrade has many of the banking options that the best sportsbooks now offer and at least one that will work for the vast majority of people.
I really like how fast the payouts are. In my experience, they're usually completed within a day (sometimes within an hour), though Sporttrade states that it could day up to 5 business days.
Here's a quick look at their deposit and withdrawals:
Deposits
You can fund your Sporttrade account using online banking, PayPal, Venmo, wire transfer, or cash at Bally's Atlantic City.
The minimum deposit is just $1 for bank transfer, PayPal, and Venmo deposits.
The minimum for using cash at Bally's Atlantic City is $100 and wire transfers likely also have a higher minimum. The app doesn't disclose the minimum for wires, but they typically are much higher.
For PayPal and Venmo, you must have the money already in your balance there—you can't use a credit card or bank that's connected to your PayPal account to deposit.
Deposit Method | Minimum Deposit | Deposit Time |
|---|---|---|
Online bank transfer (via Trustly) | $1 | Instant |
PayPal | $1 | Instant |
Venmo | $1 | Instant |
Wire transfer | Not disclosed | Instant |
Cash (at Bally's Atlantic City) | $100 | Instant |
It's a bummer that there are no debit/credit card deposits allowed. I know many bettors like the simplicity of using their debit cards, but the online bank transfer (via Trustly) is really easy to set up. You just have to sign into your bank account and you're good to go.
Withdrawal Methods & Payout Speed
You have 3 options for cashing out your winnings at Sporttrade: online bank transfer, PayPal, and cash at Bally's AC.
Deposit Method | Minimum Deposit | Payout Time |
|---|---|---|
Online bank transfer (via Trustly) | $1 | Up to 5 business days |
PayPal | $1 | Up to 5 business days |
Cash (at Bally's Atlantic City) | $100 | Instant |
Sporttrade asks to give them 3 to 5 business days to get you your money, but I've found it to be much faster. I've withdrawn via bank transfer and PayPal and I received my money in under 24 hours.
87/100
