bet365 vs MyBookie: Licensed vs Offshore, Not a Fair Fight

bet365 vs MyBookie: Two Different Regulatory Worlds

bet365 vs MyBookie looks like a typical sportsbook matchup, but the two operators sit in almost opposite regulatory categories. bet365 is a UK Gambling Commission-licensed giant that has built a 17-state US sportsbook one license at a time. MyBookie has taken US bets since 2014 under a Curaçao eGaming license, with no US state license at all — and in 2025 picked up formal cease-and-desist letters from two state regulators.

bet365 vs MyBookie sounds like two sportsbooks stacked against each other on the usual criteria — bonus size, odds, app quality. The real comparison happens one level down, in the license each one holds. bet365 built a 17-state US sportsbook footprint under individual state licenses on top of a UK Gambling Commission parent. MyBookie has spent over a decade taking US bets from Curaçao without a single US state license, and in early 2025 two state regulators formally told it to stop.

The License Gap Is the Whole Story

bet365’s US sportsbook is not one approval — it is 17 separate state licenses as of September 2026, each requiring the state’s gaming regulator to audit segregated player funds at renewal. MyBookie operates under a single Curaçao eGaming license held by Duranbah Limited N.V., a real regulatory body but one with far lighter reserve and dispute-resolution requirements than any US state commission — and it applies to MyBookie’s entire US operation at once, not state by state.

What changed in 2025: the Michigan Gaming Control Board sent MyBookie’s operator a cease-and-desist letter on January 23, 2025. The Florida Gaming Control Commission followed on February 5, 2025, naming MyBookie alongside Bovada and BetUS. bet365 has no comparable action against it, because its US sportsbook operates inside the licensing system, not around it.

Is MyBookie Legit Next to a Licensed Name Like bet365?

In its own terms, yes — MyBookie has taken US bets since 2014 and built a payout reputation documented across offshore-betting forums that long predates the 2025 letters. That is a real track record. It simply is not the same kind of legitimacy bet365 carries inside its 17 states, where a state regulator, not forum consensus, is the backstop. Judged as sportsbooks, both take real bets and pay real winners. Judged as regulated entities, they are not comparable.

How Safe Is Each One for a US Player?

Inside a bet365-licensed state, safety is a solved problem in the way US regulated betting solves it: geolocation, audited funds, and a named regulator to complain to. MyBookie’s safety case rests on tenure and a genuine but thinner Curaçao license — real oversight, but no American agency that can compel a payout if something goes wrong. Neither risk profile is invented; they are just different categories of risk.

bet365 vs MyBookie, side by side

	bet365	MyBookie
License	17 US state sportsbook licenses (Sept. 2026) + UK Gambling Commission 55148	Curaçao eGaming, via Duranbah Limited N.V. — no US state license
US footprint	AZ, CO, IL, IN, IA, KS, KY, LA, MD, MI, MO, NJ, NC, OH, PA, TN, VA	Every US state, unlicensed; Michigan and Florida sent cease-and-desist letters (2025)
Track record	Founded 2000, still majority family-owned	Taking US bets since 2014, documented forum payout history
Casino	NJ and PA only	Available in the same account, all states, unlicensed
Payout speed	Original method / bank transfer / check, state-regulated timelines	Bitcoin 12-24 hrs; bank wire 1-2 day review + up to 7 business days
Recourse if something goes wrong	State gaming regulator complaint process	None backed by US law; Curaçao eGaming only

Which One for Who

A reader physically located in one of bet365’s 17 licensed states has a straightforward, better-regulated option and should take it. A reader outside that footprint who still wants a sportsbook is choosing MyBookie’s offshore category by default — not because MyBookie beat bet365, but because bet365 simply is not a legal option there yet. That is a real trade-off, not a marketing one, and it’s worth being honest that 2025’s cease-and-desist letters mean MyBookie’s own footprint could keep shrinking.

Neither sportsbook is a way to make money — every wager on either platform carries a structural house edge. 21+ where bet365 is licensed. 1-800-GAMBLER.

bet365 vs MyBookie — Frequently Asked Questions

Is bet365 or MyBookie legal in the US?

bet365 is legal in 17 US states as of September 2026 — Arizona, Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Missouri, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and Virginia — each under its own state sportsbook license. MyBookie holds no US state license anywhere; it operates offshore under a Curaçao eGaming license, which puts every US player in the same unlicensed gray zone regardless of state.

Is MyBookie or bet365 safer to use?

bet365, inside its 17 licensed states, is the safer product by any regulatory measure: segregated funds, state-audited license renewals, and a regulator a player can actually file a complaint with. MyBookie's Curaçao eGaming license is real oversight, not none, but it is far lighter than a US state gaming commission, and there is no American regulator who could compel a payout if a dispute went bad.

Is bet365 or MyBookie more legit?

Both have real track records, just very different kinds. bet365 has operated since 2000 under the UK Gambling Commission and now holds 17 individual US state sportsbook licenses. MyBookie has operated since 2014 and built a documented payout reputation on offshore-betting forums, but it does so without any US state license, and Michigan and Florida regulators both moved against it in early 2025.

Why did states send cease-and-desist letters to MyBookie but not bet365?

Because bet365 applied for and holds actual state sportsbook licenses in the states where it operates, while MyBookie has never held one anywhere in the US. The Michigan Gaming Control Board sent Duranbah Limited N.V., MyBookie's operator, a cease-and-desist letter on January 23, 2025; the Florida Gaming Control Commission followed on February 5, 2025, naming MyBookie alongside Bovada and BetUS. bet365's US sportsbook has no comparable action against it because it operates inside the licensing system those letters are meant to enforce.

Does bet365 or MyBookie pay out faster?

MyBookie's crypto withdrawals — Bitcoin especially — typically clear in 12 to 24 hours, which is fast by any sportsbook's standard, though its bank wire option is slow: a 1-2 day internal review plus up to 7 business days to transfer. bet365 pays through the original deposit method, bank transfer, or check by mail, timelines set by each state's licensed banking partners rather than a single crypto-driven number.

Can I use bet365 or MyBookie outside my state's license list?

For bet365, no — sportsbook access requires being physically located in one of its 17 licensed states, enforced by geolocation, the same as every other state-licensed US operator. MyBookie, because it holds no US state license to begin with, doesn't geofence by state the way bet365 does, but that absence of state-by-state gating is a symptom of being unlicensed everywhere, not a feature.