Who needs the Monaco Grand Prix when you have the Indy 500? Dubbed “The Greatest Spectacle In Racing,” this is one of the premier motor races in the world, which goes down on Sunday during Memorial Day weekend.
Best Indy 500 Betting Sites
During the Indy 500, the best drivers from around the world reach speeds up to 230 mph + as they zoom around the oval track at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. This legendary race has been going on since 1911, and it isn’t slowing down! You can now bet on the Indy 500 in 30 + US states and celebrate alongside your favorite driver.
Fasten your seatbelts as we get your engine up to speed on everything you need to know about Indy 500 betting sites, and we will share strategy tips, a breakdown of betting types, and useful race facts!
Best Indy 500 Betting Sites
#1. FanDuel - Best Overall Indy 500 Betting Site
FanDuel has taken the podium position in our race for the number 1 Indy 500 betting site. They managed to pip the other sportsbooks at the final turn thanks to their well-designed mobile-optimized platform, which gives you instant access to 15 + Indy 500 live betting markets. You can bet on the Indy 500 at FanDuel in 20 + states, and they always have great odds, especially for parlays (you make custom lines) and proposition bets.
FanDuel has a fantastic mobile app for iOS and Android and some of the sharpest betting commentary for the Indy 500 you will find anywhere. They are very generous when it comes to promos, and in the weeks leading up to the Indy 500, you can score profit boots and special odds for same-race parlays. To test out the best Indy 500 betting site, sign up to FanDuel, bet $5 on the Indy 500, and if your driver wins, you will receive $150 extra in bonus bets!
FanDuel has never let me down. I am on a first-name basis with the customer support team, and they always cash out me within a few hours. I find their betting odds better value than other sportsbooks, and if you enjoy parlays, then there is no better Indy 500 betting site out there!
- Massive Choice of Sports
- Daily Odds Boosts
- Convenient Banking
#2. Caesars - Best Indy 500 Welcome Bonus
Caesars is the official betting partner of the Indy 500, and for good reason! They are available in 20 US states and offer an immersive betting experience thanks to 15 + live markets combined with HD streams of The Greatest Spectacle In Racing.
Caesars markets itself to recreational players, which means you can take advantage of soft odds and an easy-to-use betting platform. Caesars Sportsbook has an iOS and Android app paired with exclusive promos for the Indy 500, like bonus bets, same-race parlays, and odds boosts. So quit wasting any more time looking for the perfect Indy 500 betting site and register at Caesars, make sure you use the promo code: GUSAFULL and get a bonus bet up to $1,000 if your first Indy 500 wager loses!
I wish I didn’t already have a Caesars account so I could claim the massive welcome bonus, bet $1,000 on Josef Newgarden to win the Indy 500, and enjoy 100% insurance. Caesars does everything right, I like their fast payouts and same race parlays, and I feel in control over my Indy 500 betting experience thanks to the range of betting options.
- Great Mobile App
- Brilliant Welcome Bonus
- Range Of Bet Types
#3. BetMGM - Best VIP Program
You can bet live on the Indy 500 at BetMGM from 20 + US states and enjoy market-beating odds. This online sportsbook offers great value on underdog drivers, and they have extensive markets, including props and head-to-head matchups.
BetMGM also ticks all of the boxes when it comes to an Indy 500 betting site thanks to their 24/7 customer support, dedicated mobile app, and an epic VIP program where you earn points every time you bet, which can be used to book hotel rooms, shows, and restaurants and to pay for shopping sprees at MGM properties.
So, if you are serious about betting on the Indy 500, then join BetMGM and use the promo code: GAMBLEUSA to get up to $1,500 back in bonus bets if your first Indy 500 loses!
If I’m in the mood to back some no-hopers, then I head straight for my BetMGM account, as they tend to have the longest odds for underdog drivers at the Indy 500. And when my friends who are new to online sports betting ask me to recommend a sportsbook I usually send them to BetMGM because they also have big welcome offers.
- Superb range of sports
- Enticing rewards program
- Extensive catalogs of betting markets
#4. bet365 - Best Overall Indy 500 Odds
bet365 offers an incredible Indy 500 betting experience to all players in NJ, CO, OH, IA, KY, and VA. This British-based sportsbook operates in 100 + countries and consistently offers the softest odds for Indy 500 markets. You can take advantage of the top 3, handicap, fastest lap, and other markets, which allow you to bet on all aspects of the Indy 500.
bet365 also has some other great features that will supercharge your experience, including live streams, early cashout, and bet boosts for the big race. Remember to use this link to sign up, and bet365 will give you $200 in bonus bets when you bet just $1 on the Indy 500, even if your wager wins!
Trust the Brits to come up with an epic Indy 500 betting site or bookmaker, as they like to call it. bet365 likes to cater to recreational bettors, so they are my go-to when I am on the hunt for soft Indy 500 odds. I also like their range of markets for the Indy 500, including head-to-head matchups and handicaps.
- Great Welcome Bonus
- 20+ Sports to bet on
- Been operating since 2000
#5. DraftKings - Best Indy 500 Promos For Existing Players
Everyone knows DraftKings is a top Indy 500 betting site! They are available in 20 + US states and may have the best-designed mobile-optimized site out there. DraftKings also makes a conscious effort to lure players in with great Indy 500 odds, for example, their odds for the favorites tend to be higher than the market.
DraftKings has 10 + markets for the Indy 500, including classic markets like to win and top 3, as well as different props like fastest pit stop. Leading up to the race, they have some great analysis on who is likely to win, and on race day, you can even live stream the Indy 500. Also, don’t forget to check out their Indy 500-specific bonuses, which are always top-tier, you can usually boost your winnings by 30% or more. Create an account at DraftKings and deposit at least $10 to get a 20% match bonus up to $1,000 and use the bonus cash to bet on any Indy 500 market!
When I am betting on motorsport on my phone, I always pull up the DraftKings app. It never crashes, and you can place a wager with the click of a button. Also, if you are looking for insurance, cashback, odds boosts, and other Indy 500 specific promos, then I find DraftKings the best value.
- Accepts deposits as low as $5
- Hefty welcome and referral bonuses
- Available in 22 US States
What Is the Indy 500?
The IndyCar Series is essentially America’s version of the F1, and in fact, Indy cars have even higher straight-line speeds than F1 cars. The Indy 500 is the most prestigious IndyCar race of the season, think the Monaco GP and takes place annually on the Sunday during Memorial Day weekend at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) in Speedway, Indiana.
The Indy 500 is raced over 500 miles, hence the name, and drivers must complete 200 laps of the circuit. The race has a long history with the first event taking place in 1911 and was won by Ray Harroun.
At the moment, the sole chassis manufacturer for the IndyCar series is Dallara, while engines are made by Honda and Chevrolet. Interestingly, there are four drivers in the history of the Indy 500 who have each won the race four times: A. J. Foyt, Al Unser, Rick Mears, and Hélio Castroneves.
At the Indy 500, each lap is 2.5 miles long, and unlike F1 circuits, the track is an oval with just four turns per lap. The reigning Indy 500 champion is American Josef Newgarden, who drives for Team Penske. Team Penske is the most successful team, with 19 Indy 500 wins under their belt. Other top IndyCar drivers who have previously won the Indy500 include Will Power, Scott Dixon, and Marcus Ericsson.
How to Bet On the Indy 500
Alrighty, so we have revealed the best Indy 500 betting sites, now it’s time to show you how to actually use these online sportsbooks to place a bet. Follow along below to add a bit of excitement to race day:
- Scroll through the betting sites on our list and use our link to unlock a fantastic welcome bonus
- Fill out the registration form, and remember to have your Social Security number handy
- If requested, upload your ID and proof of residence
- Open the cashier and make a deposit (click on your payment method, enter an amount, and type in your payment details)
- Your deposit will hit your account right away; now go to the home screen where all the betting markets are, and type Indy 500 into the search bar
- Have a peruse around the Indy 500 markets and click on a particular market, for example, To Win
- Make a selection, for example, Marcus Ericsson to win the Indy 500
- Type in your stake (the amount you wish to bet), for example, $100
- Double-check the betting slip to ensure your selection, stake, odds, and potential payout are correct then, when you are happy, hit the place bet button
- Tune into the race and scream your driver over the finish line!
Once you place your bet, you don’t have to do a thing. After the Indy 500 is over, the betting site will settle the bet, and if you pick a winner, your winnings will be transferred to your account right away. If there is any issue with the settlement, just reach out to the sportsbook’s customer support, and they will solve the problem.
While placing a bet on the Indy 500 is pretty straightforward, you need to be careful about which sportsbook you choose because there are some shady operators out there. We recommend only betting with licensed sportsbooks because if something goes wrong, you have a gambling authority that will go to bat for you. It is important that the sportsbook offers 24/7 customer support, has an easy-to-use platform, pays out winnings within 48 hours, and has great odds for the Indy 500.
Also, remember to claim your welcome bonus when you sign up to a sportsbook. You can usually get bonus cash or insurance on your first wager when you make your initial wager. These bonuses are a great way to jack up your potential Indy 500 betting winnings without risking more of your own cash.
Types of Bets to Place
Indy 500 betting has moved past just wagering on your favorite to win the race. You can now bet on all different aspects of the race, and sportsbooks are constantly coming up with new props. Here are some of the top Indy 500 markets:
- Race Winner – With this bet, you simply guess which driver is going to win the Indy 500, for example, you place $20 on Scott McLaughlin to win at +1,000 odds. This is by far the most popular Indy 500 bet type and is a good place to start if you are betting on the race for the first time.
- Top 3 Finish – As the name suggests, you need to predict a driver to make it on the podium and cross the Indy 500 finishing line in first, second, or third. For example, if you bet on Will Power to place in the top 3, and he overtakes Scott McLaughlin on the final turn to sneak into 3rd position, you win! This is a less risky bet than a race winner wager but typically has a lower payout.
- Head-to-Head Match-Up – With this Indy 500 bet type, the sportsbook will pick two drivers, and you need to predict which driver will finish higher in the race. For example, the Indy 500 betting site pairs Josef Newgarden against Hélio Castroneves, and you bet on Castroneves. If the Brazilian finishes above Newgarden, you win. It doesn’t matter if Castroneves comes second last and Newgarden comes last you still win.
- Props – Props allows you to bet on different aspects of an Indy 500 race. For example, you can bet on which team will win the race or which car manufacturer the winning driver will cross the line in. You can also bet on silly things like the winning car number being odd or even.
Effectively Betting on the Indy 500
You are never going to become an Indy 500 betting champion by randomly throwing cash on your favorite driver. Boost your odds of rounding the final bend in first place with these simple Indy 500 betting tips:
- Find longshots with a chance of winning – When you pull up the odds for the Indy 500, you will notice some drivers are paying out crazy figures, odds of +30,000 are not uncommon. However, don’t be blinded by these odds; there is usually a very good reason why a sportsbook is offering +30,000. You want to find a few drivers who are paying in the +1,000 to +2,500 range, these drivers are still considered long shots, but you will find former Indy 500 winners and drivers who have won numerous IndyCar races.
- Hedge by betting favorites – Only backing drivers with +2,000 or higher odds is a risky strategy, but you can take some risk off by mixing a few favorites. For example, you might bet on two drivers at +2,000 and +2,500 odds and then bet on two race favorites at +500 and +700. Just make sure you size your bets so you are guaranteed a profit if one of your drivers wins the Indy 500.
- Pay attention to Indy 500 practice sessions – As the Indy 500 is the first race of the IndyCar series, practice sessions are the very first look at drivers. Interestingly, the Indy 500 has literal weeks of practice, so you can get a really good feel for which drivers are on fire and who has the fastest car.
- Fade the betting public – If the money comes pouring in on certain drivers, the lines will often shift dramatically as the online sportsbooks frantically try to get the public to bet on other drivers. You can take advantage of the shift in prices and get fantastic odds on drivers the public aren’t interested in.
Notable Indy 500 Betting Moments
The biggest upset in Indy 500 history took place in 1987. Legendary driver Mario Andretti had been leading the race after crushing other drivers in qualifying, but then disaster struck as the Italian faced mechanical problems with 23 laps to go. It only took Al Unser Sr. to capitalize on the situation, and just a few laps later, he took the lead and held on to win his 4th Indy 500.
Prior to the race, many fans had completely written off Al Unser. Everyone expected him to retire at any minute and was even racing part-time during the previous season. Amazingly, at the start of 1987, nobody wanted to sign Unser, and he didn’t even have a team. Luckily for Unser, he managed to sneak a position on Penske’s team when Danny Ongais got injured during practice. Unser took a car with a year-old March chassis that had been sitting in a showroom and used it to outmaneuver the best drivers in the world.
There was another massive upset at the 2016 Indy 500 when Alex Rossi, a 66 to 1 underdog, won the race. Despite having a slow car, the American used a masterful fuel strategy to overtake his rivals and hold the lead. All of the other drivers were forced to pit, but Rossi somehow managed to conserve enough gas to complete the last 90 miles of the race. The final laps were high drama as the American’s team screamed at him to conserve fuel as he was running dangerously low. Rossi averaged just 179.784 mph over the last lap, and his car had to be literally towed as it ran out of gas!
These Indy 500 upsets are great lessons in the fact that anything can happen on race day. Underdogs who everyone has written off can come from nowhere and win the race. Often, the fastest car or best driver doesn’t win the race. This is why it’s usually worth it to place a bit of cash on long-shot underdogs because you never know, the next Rossi or Unser Sr might be lining up on the grid as you are reading this!
How Indy 500 Odds Work
Before you place any bet on The Greatest Spectacle In Racing, you should study the odds closely. The odds reveal two critical pieces of information: how much you can win and your likelihood of winning (AKA implied probability). For example, if you bet $100 on Pato O’Ward at +500, then your potential payout is $600. When making bets with + odds, to calculate your potential payout, you simply multiply your stake by the odds and then add the stake.
To calculate your likelihood of winning, convert the odds to decimal odds and then divide 1 by the decimal odds. So + 500 becomes 6.00, and you divide 1 by 6. So, in this example, the sportsbook is giving Pato O’Ward a 16.67% chance of winning the Indy 500.
Also, if you watch the direction the odds move in, you can tell which drivers the betting public is expecting to win. For example, if Pato O’Ward starts as a +500 favorite but then shrinks to a +400 favorite, that means a lot of people are betting on him, and the sportsbooks are reducing the line to incentivize bettors to wager on other drivers.
To calculate the odds, sportsbooks use complex models that look at all kinds of factors, such as the type of car the driver is driving, the driver’s form, previous results in the Indy 500, the weather, and virtually everything you can think of that might impact a race.
Also, as described above, the sportsbooks will move the odds based on the betting action. This is because sportsbooks don’t care about the result of the Indy 500; their goal is to spread the action across different drivers and make money, irrespective of the result.
Sportsbooks do this by adding juice to the odds, which is the sportsbook’s commission. The commission is baked into the odds, which you can calculate by adding up the implied probability for all drivers in the race. The amount over 100% is the implied probability. For example, if you add up the implied probability for every driver in the Indy 500 and it comes out to 107%, then the juice is 7% (107 – 100).
Common Mistakes to Avoid When Betting on Indy 500
Indy 500 betting sites lick their lips when newbie bettors make mistakes. To avoid gifting money to online betting sites, avoid these common Indy 500 betting errors:
- Going all in on favorites – Betting on heavy Indy 500 favorites is like picking up pennies in front of a steamroller. If the favorite wins, you get a small payout, but if the favorite loses, then you have lost your entire bankroll. The risk-reward ratio does not make sense. Instead, you should go for mild underdogs and use a smaller portion of your bankroll to bet on them.
- Not using bonuses – Betting sites are constantly running great promos in the lead-up to the Indy 500, including insurance and odds boosts. You can use these promos to flip the house’s edge in your favor. You should be constantly looking to get the most amount of free play from an Indy 500 betting site as humanly possible.
- Betting on a single driver – Predicting the winner of the Indy 500 is difficult as often the driver in pole position doesn’t go on to win the race. To increase your odds of winning, bet on a number of drivers to win, usually, a mix of favorites and underdogs makes sense.
- Factoring in last season’s IndyCar results – The Indy 500 is the very first race of the season and is a completely different beast from the other events throughout the year. You can’t predict who is going to win based on the driver rankings from the previous year. You are much better off paying close attention to qualifying and using your eye to see which drivers have their game face on.
- Betting on non-Indy 500 drivers – The Indy 500 attracts lots of NASCAR drivers and even some F1 stars. Unfortunately for these drivers, they rarely have success at the Indy 500 as this is a unique race, and they are battling against drivers who have decades of experience racing Indy cars. Even the great Fernando Alonso couldn’t win the Indy 500, he had to retire in 2017 when his car suffered engine failure.
Responsible Gambling
When betting on the Indy 500, it is important to always play responsibly. This involves wagering with money you can comfortably afford to lose and setting expectations. You should never expect to win money or think of Indy 500 betting as a way to earn cash.
If a lost bet is causing you emotional stress or to become angry, then you are likely wagering way too much money. To stay in control of your betting, you should always set strict limits and know when to quit.
If you feel like gambling is negatively affecting your life and or the people around you, consider seeking professional help. Here are some free resources that can help you avoid problem gambling:
- National Council on Problem Gambling (NCPG)
- Gamblers Anonymous
- Gam-Anon
- International Center for Responsible Gaming (NCRG)
- Association of Problem Gambling Service Administrators (APGSA)
- GamTalk
- Gambling Therapy