4 Kentucky Sports Betting Pre-Launch Bonus Offers Now Live at bet365, FanDuel, BetMGM, DraftKings

Kentucky online sports betting is less than a month away — and you can pre-register for a number of sportsbooks as of this week. In-person betting will launch on Sept. 7, with online betting to follow on Sept. 28.

In total, there are eight books approved in Kentucky late next month. Many pre-launch offers will either offer higher monetary values, or won't require a deposit, which will change once betting goes live in a state.

Here are all the details of four pre-launch offers that are now live on Wednesday after BetMGM joined the fold. You must be 18+ to bet in Kentucky (in most states you need to be at least 21 years old), but some books, including FanDuel and BetMGM, are still requiring you to be 21.

Kentucky Sports Betting Pre-Launch Offers

1. FanDuel

• Status: Pre-launch offer is live
• Bonus code: No code; use this link
• Offer: Get $100 in bonus bets, plus $100 off NFL Sunday Ticket

FanDuel is the overall market leader in the United States and FanDuel Kentucky should be no different. It offers a huge variety of markets, an excellent same game parlay product (and parlay product in general, which is massively important for American bettors) and has helped create or popularize many props that are now mainstream — anytime touchdowns, NBA first basket, etc.

Like bet365, FanDuel gives you a lump $200 in bonus bets and you can split them up however you'd like — one, $100 bet or 100, $1 bets, and everything in between.

2. bet365

• Status: Pre-launch offer is live
• Bonus code: TOPACTION
• Offer: Bet $1, Get $365 in bonus bets, plus up to $50 extra ($10 per touchdown in Packers-Lions on Sept. 28, up to five TDs)

bet365, the biggest sportsbook in the world, has slow-played its entrance into the U.S. a bit. It's only available in five states, with Ohio (right at launch) and Iowa the most recent states. This $365 bonus bet offer is the biggest on the market right now and in other states, they're only offering $200 in bonus bets.

You'll also get $10 per touchdown in Lions-Packers on launch day, up to $50.

Kentucky will mark the second state, and it hopes its superior product will help it quickly gain market share. bet365 has our favorite same game parlay product on the market.

bet365 doesn't split up the bonus bets in any pre-determined increments — you can use them in any amount you'd like. So you can make 40, $5 bets or one, $200 bet.

Here are the terms and conditions:

• A deposit (minimum $10) is required to participate in this offer. The deposit must be made in the 7 days prior to you claiming the offer.
• Place qualifying bets of $1 or more to get $365 in Bonus Bets. Your qualifying bets must settle within 30 days of claiming the offer. Only qualifying bets placed and settled after claiming the offer will count towards releasing your Bonus Bets.
• Bets placed must meet certain conditions to count:
• Must contain at least one selection at odds of -500 or greater.
• Only the largest cumulative wager on an individual selection within a market/fixture combination (either pre-game or Live In Game) will count towards the settled bets requirement.
• Where a bet has been partially Cashed Out, only the remaining active wager will count.
• Where a bet has been edited using our Edit Bet feature, only the new wager on the new bet will count.
• Fully Cashed Out, event-specific Bonus Bets placed by selecting ‘Use Bonus Bet’ from the bet slip, Live In Game bets which are settled as a push and bets deemed no action do not count.
• Your Bonus Bets are non-withdrawable and the Bonus Bets wager is excluded from any returns. Any returns from Bonus Bets placed will be added to your Withdrawable Balance. Bonus Bets cannot be used on certain products, offers/promotions and bet types. See full Terms and Conditions for details.
• Your Bonus Bets will be forfeit and removed if your account is inactive for 90 consecutive days.

3. BetMGM

• Status: Pre-launch offer is live
• Bonus code: TOPACTION
• Offer: Get $100 bonus bets with no deposit

BetMGM Kentucky has $100 available with no deposit required right now. In other states, they've got a $1,500 first bet on the house, meaning you'll get paid back in bonus bets equal to whatever you lost if your first wager on the platform loses.

4. DraftKings

• Status: Pre-launch offer is live
• Bonus code: No code
• Offer: Get $200 bonus bets with no deposit

DraftKings is right behind FanDuel in the U.S., as the two DFS operators turned sportsbooks have separated themselves from the pack in the first five years of sports betting in America. Like FanDuel, DK offers one of the best parlay products on the market, has innovative and original markets, and offers my favorite user experience and navigation of any sportsbook.

DraftKings Kentucky returns your bonus bets in eight, $25 increments.

How Do Bonus Bets Work?

With all of these sportsbook offers, you're not just getting free cash. You're getting bonus bets, which you'll have the opportunity to turn into cash. Bonus bets are like a credit in which you keep any profit from bonus bet wagers, but not the bonus itself.

Here's how they work. Say you want to bet $10 in bonus bets on Kentucky football over 7.5 wins at +120.

• If Kentucky goes over, you'll profit $12 in cash (a $10 bet at +120 pays $12) but you don't keep the bonus bet.
• If Kentucky doesn't go over its win total, you just lose the bonus bet.

Here's Stuckey's breakdown of the Wildcats 2023 season and why he likes the over.

I'm based out of Lexington and love some of the things I'm hearing about the progress of this team.

The opposite was true last year when I bet the Kentucky win total under in large part due to imminent issues along the offensive line, which was the ultimate demise of the Cats even with a talented quarterback.

Well, I think they could potentially have one of the most improved offensive lines in the country due to an abundance of returning production and new additions that will allow everyone to slide into their more natural positions.

Consequently, we should see increased offensive efficiency across the board.

Speaking of which, I don't think they will miss a beat with Devin Leary now under center in large part due to that improved play up front. They also return their top five receivers and maybe even more importantly bring back offensive coordinator Liam Coen, who should serve as a major upgrade.

On the other side of the ball, you can almost undoubtedly count on the defense being very good under Mark Stoops and coordinator Brad White, so I'm not too concerned with some of the key pieces lost.

Plus, an improved offense will in turn do wonders for a defense that won't have to live on the field.

The special teams were also a disaster for Kentucky last year, so Stoops named a new coordinator to help fix those issues, which could really help in close games.

Lastly, they could build plenty of momentum out of the gates with a real chance of starting 5-0 with the following start:

• vs. Ball State
• vs. Eastern Kentucky
• vs. Akron
• at Vanderbilt
• vs. Florida

The back half of the schedule is obviously not easy — it's the SEC, after all — but I'm a bit lower than the market on a few of the teams they'll face in those games.

An under-the-radar Cats team is primed for an eight- or nine-win campaign in a bounce-back post-hype season. That's exactly the environment that Stoops thrives in.