DraftKings sportsbook review: Ontario 2024

I was impressed with DraftKings sportsbook Ontario, and that’s due to the wide array of different leagues and tournaments on offer. Impressively, each sport has a convenient dropdown with the current leagues and events available, which I found really useful. 

Additionally, I was really happy to see such a range of sports covered. I was able to check out a whole variety of US-based sports bets as well as get my European sporting events fix as well. And that’s thanks to the diversity of the leagues. 

Did I mention that the sportsbook has college football games and men’s basketball teams? I can definitely say DraftKings is in line with some of my favourite sportsbooks such as BetMGM. It’s a breath of fresh air when you see that a sportsbook considers such selections because they matter to us. 

While the sportsbook’s selection of sports is slightly less than at other rival sportsbooks, the excitement level of its coverage more than makes up for the disadvantage. The 25 choices are an achievement over the few selections at other online sports betting sites. 

I would have wanted to see some more options, such as e-sports, virtual sports, horse racing and so on. However, I was pleased to note that there were political bets there and these included a number of different options as well. 

It should come as no surprise that American football is so popular and has been for some time. Football sports events are really popular and DraftKings sportsbook Ontario has an array of options. Not only can you enjoy NFL, but also CFL and College Football. Within each event are a wide array of betting options too. 

According to the amount of money wagered on sports, hockey is number four on the list of popular sports. There is a wide variety of options for placing wagers on a hockey game including NHL, IIHF World, College Hockey Liga and more. Even so, the sport is exciting because of how fast-paced everything is. Additionally, placing actual bets with money may up the stakes. 

I found that when it comes to the ease of use that DraftKings provides, there are a lot of positives to be said about the platform and bet slip. It’s easy to navigate between the site’s many sports sections. Finding what you need, using it, and understanding it is a breeze. However, disappointingly for me, there are some minor features that the sportsbook lacks. 

For me, and many of you, the live betting markets are key to a good online gaming experience. DraftKings has a whole lot of options so that you can get immersed in the game while you place your bets. I really loved it. 

However, the Draftkings Canadian online sportsbook does not have any live streaming betting markets available. This was a little disappointing though not wholly unexpected. It’s not a strong feature on many online sports betting site platforms at this time. However, I do wish it was! 

That being said, there are a ton of other betting options on the main DraftsKing sportsbook, and the daily fantasy sports platform sets this apart. For instance, the bet builder is enabling you to create, edit and win on same game parlays and a range of other betting options all within the desktop and mobile app sites. 

In terms of betting markets, I can’t fault this as far as online sportsbooks go. Additionally, there’s the chance to cash out of your bets, which means you can cut your bet time in order to get a better win. 

There is a reason why we love same game betting feature, and it’s great to know that DraftKings offers them. A number of retail sportsbooks do, one being PokerStars. Parlay wagers have a large potential payoff but also a high degree of risk. Compared to betting on each event individually, the payouts for a parlay or flash bet are substantially more attractive. You may increase your winnings with parlay betting even if your win percentage is lower.

If I am honest, overall I was quite impressed with the odds offered at DraftKings. With the average payout over the 95% mark, there’s a lot to like here. This is already better than many of the other sportsbooks out there. 

The football market in particular is great and this is actually above the average 95% as well. This is nice for me to see too, though the odds fluctuate across the football markets so some are worse than others. 

Elsewhere, I was pleased to see a number of odds boost options. These do help to push the payout percentages a little higher and give you a better chance of scoring some bigger wins. I liked that these boosts are available on different bets too. 

Additionally, when I looked at the odds themselves, I was pleased to find that these are pretty competitive across the board. Yes, that’s right, when I checked out some of the different odds at other sites, DraftKings matched or exceed them. 

However, this wasn’t always the case, notably the live betting. And because of this, this is where I mark this section down a little. But, the odds do appear to update automatically, which was nice as I didn’t have to manually refresh the pages constantly.

Canadian-specific payment options such as Interac, iDebit and Instadebit are not currently accepted at DraftKings Canada. The minimum deposit and withdrawal amount for the payment methods that are accepted is $10. There are no fees associated with making a deposit, and your money will be available immediately. Likewise, there are no costs associated with receiving payment. However, the amount of work one must go through to find all this information is quite shocking. 

What’s particularly baffling for this DraftKings review, is the fact that DraftKings doesn’t support Interac, the widely accepted payment method for Canadian online gambling sites. I can’t fathom why DraftKings doesn’t think to follow suit with the rest of the industry standard and embrace it. 

For the most part, withdrawals take a little longer time to process than deposits, with the former being visible in your account instantly. When it comes to getting your hands on your cash, the fastest option available is PayPal and if you decide on another method, you will, unfortunately, have to learn patience. 

I had not anticipated the absence of Canadian-specific options like Interac and iDebit. It is still difficult to grasp just how large a gap exists between DraftKings and its competitors in this area. Nevertheless, the number of different payment methods offered by the sportsbook is about average for the industry. 

With its low transaction fees and lightning-fast processing times, PayPal is the best choice. Credit and Debit cards are the total opposite. At this point, in this DraftKings review, I wonder whether Draftkings even cares. The whole objective is to prioritize ease of use and accessibility, and this is precisely where the sportsbook falls short. 

There are not many positive things that can be said about this section. From a lack of essential information and the lack of a search feature to a lack of available payment options, in this particular section of its sportsbook, DraftKings is lacking on many fronts.

I love a site that puts player security and safety first — a big plus for this DraftKings review. The first sign that a site is safe is always the secured web address, and of course, DraftKings passed that one. The payment options are also another sign and DraftKings does have Visa, Mastercard, Discover and PayPal so that is another good thing. 

All the required responsible gambling features are present which is great. And, the DraftKings’ responsible gaming page is well laid out, detailed and straight to the point. There is no information missing and all details on safe gaming are covered. I wish it kept the same energy with its Deposit and Withdrawals page. 

From betblocker, to deposit limits, time limits, wagering limits, self-exclusion, authentication, screening tools from the NCPG, self-help toolkits from the Cambridge Health Alliance and helplines from the Responsible Gambling Council and ConnexOntario, what more can one want? I have seen that the majority of sportsbooks have good responsible gaming pages, but DraftKings has more to offer. 

Although all the sportsbook has to offer, I did note that they do not offer any unique safe gambling features even on the mobile sports betting site. It’s not unusual, and it is no big deal as DraftKings is already offering more than we can keep up with. 

This part of the sportsbook is good and there are more positive things rather than negatives to talk about. All relevant features are available, and I can confidently say that the DraftKings online sportsbook has its safety and security priorities in order.

Just when I thought the Payment Methods section was the most disappointing, I was in for a surprise, and not a good one. In fact, in areas where Draftkings excels, it excels very well, whereas, in areas where it does not, it falls far short of expectations. 

I am quite dissatisfied with sports betting sites that offer only two main contact methods among the three common ones (live chat, email and phone) and DraftKings does not even offer any of these. This, in my opinion, earns the sportsbook a very low rating. 

The sportsbook might be available 24/7 but with only an option for a contact form, this does not do much. I did contact the support team in hopes that their response times would redeem them, but then again, I was in for disappointment. 

On average their response times are a few hours, which is not fast enough for me. What happens when I am in need of urgent support on this sports betting site? Does that mean I have to wait hours for a small inquiry or an urgent question. 

One last thing to mention is that there is no search bar. This means that you cannot search using certain keywords, which usually makes things easy. And, to make things worse finding specific information in the help section is quite hard. 

I have seen plenty of sites lacking in a number of ways, however, the majority of sportsbooks that offer a desktop browser also offer a mobile browser. This got me thinking – Did they figure out that a DraftKings Ontario app was enough and Canadian sports bettors might not see any reason to use a mobile browser? 

Having a mobile browser is convenient as it does not take up any memory space on your mobile device, and you always save the link for easy access. It’s a convenience that I thought a well-known sportsbook like Draftkings was going to offer without a second thought, but there we are. 

The good part is that both the DraftKings website and mobile sportsbook function well without any errors or glitches so you can log in to your DraftKings account via either platform. The Draftkings website loads fast and navigation is smooth. I did not have a hard time moving around and browsing through the site. 

The sportsbook could do with some improvements though. And I would definitely love to see them be consistent with their features and overall sportsbook design. A search function would be great as well as a sticky live tab, but that would mean they have to work on the support methods. 

Lastly, DraftKings could make things more accessible, especially in the help section. The overall main page of the site has a smooth flow with transparency and easy navigation. The other parts of the sportsbook are inconsistent, some being good and others simply terrible.