Nitrogen Sports is unique in the fact that it’s not only a relatively new entrant to the world on online sports betting, but it’s a bitcoin-only sportsbook.
Whereas we usually get into the ins and outs of depositing and withdrawing, discussing the various methods available on any particular sportsbook, this one is straightforward. Deposit with bitcoin, cash out with bitcoin, nothing more to say.
For anyone that’s never used bitcoin before, we’ll details how it works and the options available to new bitcoin wallet holders. For sports betting, it’s an ideal currency as it provides anonymity and eliminates the need to share private banking information or to go out to a retail location and purchase prepaid cards or vouchers.
If you’ve dabbled with bitcoin to any extent, you’ll know that the use of bitcoin itself has a bit of a gambling element to it. The valuation fluctuates daily, so it’s similar to the rise and fall of stocks. Savvy bitcoin buyers will look for trends and capitalize on the best available pricing.
But, back to the website and the sportsbook itself, as this is a good sportsbook overall. It offers a huge sports menu, reduced juice, betting pools, and fast turnaround on payouts. The service covers the gamut of features that are most important to punters.
Additionally, the bitcoin element and the global sports coverage opens up service to international customers. There’s no worry about currency exchange or different payment methods offered in the various countries. Bitcoin’s decentralized currency is available everywhere.
Bitcoin is still relatively new and is the first cryptocurrency, a true global alternative that’s not attached to any financial institution or region. It originated in 2008 by a programmer identified as Satoshi Nakamoto, most likely a false name but nothing has ever been confirmed. Nakamoto’s premise was a peer to peer financial system that took banks and other intermediary institutions out of the equation.
With bitcoin, all transactions are issued from one user to the other through blockchains which can be considered to be ledger recordings in the most simplistic way. The bitcoin owners keep both their currency and their core list of transactions in a cryptocurrency wallet. Bitcoin has a lot of programming behind it, but the movement of “money” is about as basic as it comes. Bitcoin moves out from the customer’s wallet address and into the recipient’s wallet address.
You could describe the bitcoin process as a digital way of handing over cash from one person to another. No other information is needed. Person A could give a hundred dollar bill to Person B without ever knowing his or her name or anything else about them. It’s the same with bitcoin. Users maintain privacy as there’s no need for a name, address, or any geographical designation.
There are several wallet providers out there, and they cover designated geographical areas by converting currency to bitcoin and holding bitcoin currency in the owner’s wallet for them.
Howtobuybitcoins.info is an excellent resource and provides links to the bitcoin providers, such as Coinbase, which is one of the easiest to use. There are all kinds of information out there regarding bitcoin and bitcoin mining, but customers can purchase it simply by using their debit or credit card, or by providing their bank account information.
Anyone new to bitcoin should start out with just the basics, and a provider like Coinbase will make it easy to get some bitcoin in a wallet and simplify the usage procedure.
The value of bitcoin varies in a similar fashion to the stock market. Its exchange rate is always fluctuating so new bitcoin customers may want to watch the price for a few days or even a few weeks to get comfortable with a good purchase rate.
The price of bitcoin has gone up quite a bit in just a year’s time. At one point, a US dollar transaction could result in one bitcoin for about $500 but, in 2018, it’s been a much higher purchase price.
Wallet providers will usually post the real-time value of bitcoin, or it can easily be pulled up with a simple online search.
Transferring funds with bitcoin are one of the simplest financial transactions around. As we mentioned, it’s basically moving funds from one wallet to another, so there are no forms to fill out asking for a name, address, and other personal information.
In the case of bitcoin being used on Nitrogen Sports for funding the player’s account, Nitrogen provides its wallet address, and the player just requests that a certain amount is transferred from their wallet to Nitrogen’s wallet.
To withdraw from Nitrogen, the player enters their wallet address and then types in the amount they wish to cash out, and that’s everything needed to initiate the transfer. Typically, in just a few minutes, the player’s bitcoin wallet will reflect the updated and increased balance.
Yes. Most wallet providers will transfer both ways, from a bank account to the bitcoin wallet and from the bitcoin wallet back to the bank account. There are also other methods of cashing in bitcoin. Coinatmradar.com is a good source for finding actual bitcoin ATMs across the world.
The first thing you’ll notice when you pull up nitrogensports.eu is that you can’t take a tour of the site without opening an anonymous account or by logging into a current account. That’s not as invasive as it may sound, as you’re not providing any personal information.
Agreeing to an anonymous account provides you with a user ID, and that’s all. The sportsbook isn’t asking for names or places of residence. What it does ask is for new users to confirm that they’re over 18, that gambling is legal in their jurisdiction, and that they agree to the website’s Terms and Conditions.
The user ID just tracks movement in and out of the website. Additionally, new players can set up a username and password to make things easier but, if you access Nitrogen from the same device, its cookies track you to allow access to your account.
The new account does not mandate that any bitcoin be transferred over as well. It’s just a tool to give new potential players access to the sportsbook to see what’s happening on nitrogensports.eu.
There are a few other settings that may be of interest to brand new players. These specific options can be accessed from the very top right of the homepage. Just click on the down arrow next to the assigned username and then choose “settings.”
The various options for players include:
OK. We’ve got access granted and personalized settings in place. There’s one more thing we want to mention before we get to the actual sports menu. You’ll probably notice some chat messages at the top of the sportsbook. If you were on a social networking site, you might miss them but, on a sportsbook, they stand out.
Nitrogen Sports is creating a community of sports bettors and encourages communication. That’s why the chat setting options are prominently featured within the settings area. Players are talking and rooting themselves and others on with different games in progress or through the various wagers that have been staked. It’s bringing together a global kinship of punters who are all participating in the same activity.
Aside from the settings and the chat that streams across the top of the homepage, the sportsbook keeps its service as streamlined as possible. The left side menu is the main area of activity and a click of a button hides or opens that menu, so players have larger screen coverage to study the all-important lines.
The minimalistic design by no means denotes that the sports options are insignificant, though. Nitrogen offers a lot of sports, and, we do mean a lot.
This is a globally focused sportsbook, so the actual sports (and non-sports as well) need to have international appeal and cover a lot of ground. They do a great job in offering events large and small. That’s not to say that it has great market coverage, though. Markets are limited despite the huge amount of games and matches available.
We’ll get into the sports options in just a bit, but suffice it to say that the lists go on and on.
Nitrogen Sports did an excellent job of creating a globally-focused sports betting operation. Its lines are extensive. Games from all over the world can be found within the nitrogensports.eu menu and each line are clearly noted with a potential maximum bet.
Rather than rely on welcome bonuses and other promotional offers that may or may not come with rollover requirements attached, the powers that be at Nitrogen opted to provide reduced juice betting instead. It may not appear to be as good of a deal as players don’t always see the promotion of bonuses or various promotions, but, overall, better lines equal better payouts. Sharp bettors know what they’re looking for and they compare one book to another, so the sportsbook is wise in offering some of the best lines around since their financial options are so restrictive.
We also give them high marks for the level of service it provides. From the easy to use website to the no-frills presentation of the betting options to the highly praised customer service department, it’s clear that Nitrogen wants to stand out in the bookmaking community as a top contender.
We’ve established that there are a lot of games and matches offered. Nitrogen has massive numbers of games listed for available wagering. What it doesn’t offer is extensive markets coverage. Its markets are your basic moneyline, straight bets, and over/under. You’re not going to find a lot of variety in the different types of betting available toward each game. If bets, reverses, round robins… if you’re a bettor who opts for these kinds of opportunities, you will be disappointed in their markets.
In-play betting is another area that could be improved to provide more options for players. When the website first launched, it did not even have an in-play area at all, so it’s a step in the right direction that there are some live betting options now, but they are still quite limited.
Also, we’re fans of video streaming of the events that are being bet on so an expansion of the in-play area could also include making the games available to players right from within the Nitrogen sportsbook. It would certainly give players more to chat about as well.
We could state, at this point, that they should offer some other financial options and that’s certainly up for debate, but we feel they have a bitcoin-only premise and it seems to work. Adding on financial options would require an entire overhaul of their system, so we don’t feel that it’s a good idea. We just needed to include the affirmation of the one payment method only in this section for discussion purposes.
The only other thing we they could do better with is the initial explanation of how it all works. As we mentioned, you can’t look around the sportsbook without first agreeing to be registered. In the pop-up box, at that point, it would be helpful to know why it’s necessary. Players who are entirely new to the bitcoin operation would appreciate a little bit more background before clicking any button. Some may not even know that it’s bitcoin-only until they get into the site and start looking around, so a quick explanation or video pop-up for not-yet registered players would be helpful.
“If you find lower juice offered elsewhere, please let us know by creating a support ticket so that we can remain competitive.”
That quote is taken right from Nitrogen Sports’ posted rules. In fact, it’s listed as rule number seven. We’re making a note of it as it applies to this section and the best sports for players to bet on through nitrogensports.eu. Across the board, punters should find good value. The site has some of the most competitive odds out there and, as their rule basically implies, they’ll take a look at matching others if they’re found to be subpar.
The entire sports menu includes the following categories:
Rather than try to come up with something to say regarding the best sports to bet on, we’re going to take a look at the various sports to provide you with a better feel for what Nitrogen has to offer, starting with the big one, soccer.
Soccer is the sport with a broad-ranging global appeal so you have to figure that it would be covered extensively through a bookmaker like this one, and you’d be correct.
This is a glimpse at the various leagues offered, and it doesn’t even touch the individual games or markets. These are just the overall leagues offered up for betting to the sportsbook’s customers.
A helpful addition to the Nitrogen Sports set-up is the “Starting Soon” feature. There’s an overall starting soon menu item, but then there’s also one provided for each sport. A click of the button pulls up the next few games coming up, so it’s quite handy for players just looking for the next wagering opportunity instead of team betting.
Soccer betting is primarily straight betting, moneylines, and over/under with the draw option in the moneyline area. We’ll get into this more in the next section regarding the betting limits, but every line also features a bitcoin limit. Nitrogen Sports imposes a maximum bet ceiling that’s applied per game or match and not just an overall sports designation.
So, for example, one match may have 1.60 listed in conjunction with the straight bet line and 1.20 listed as a moneyline bet. This means that 1.60 and 1.20, respectively, are the top amounts that can be staked toward this particular event.
Other sports won’t have nearly the global reach that soccer does, but still are extremely well covered.
Basketball is next on the list with leagues from Argentina, Bulgaria, Croatia, France, Itlay, Philippines, Poland, Romania, Turkey, and more. American NBA, WNBA and NBA player props are located at the top of the menu.
Current tennis offerings run the gamut of the ATP Geneva and ATP Lyon to ITF Women Caserta and Goyang, to WTA Nurnberg Doubles and Quarterfinals.
It’s no surprise, but baseball primarily encompasses US games through Major League Baseball and Nitrogen offers quite a few MLB proposition bet options. It also covers the Korea Professional Baseball League, Mexican League, and Nippon Professional Baseball.
Cricket, Aussie Rules Football, Mixed Martial Arts including an upcoming UFC fight, a few boxing matches, some motorsports futures for Formula One, MotoGP, and NASCAR, the PDC Dubai Duty-Free Darts Masters, and Men and Women European Volleyball Championship Qualification are also available.
Of course the sports will be updated seasonally, but other sports currently represented in the Nitrogen Sports main menu include:
Nitrogen does not list Virtual Sports but does offer eSports quite extensively. More than two dozen options were available at the time of this writing with CS: GO, Dota 2, Hearthstone, League of Legends, Starcraft Broodwar, and Street Fighter amongst the options. Betting limits for eSports are slightly smaller than traditional sports with maximum bets of .04 on the low end up to .10 on the opposite side.
Due to its reduced juice on many sports, there isn’t a huge favorite on Nitrogen as the value is there across the board. However, for the biggest action, it looks like basketball takes it with an eight bitcoin betting maximum on regular season games.
We will say, on the flip side, that it’s not a book for in-play betting. It recently added some live betting options but they’re very limited and will not suffice for punters who enjoy the in-play action that’s covered expansively through most other bookmakers.
This section is usually the place where we list out the sports and their corresponding maximum bets or maximum payout limits that each bookmaker applies across the board. In the case of Nitrogen Sports, though, they put forth a much different scenario.
So, first of all, remember that all payouts, deposits, limits, etc. on Nitrogen is going to be represented as bitcoin and not as a traditional currency so it could take a little bit of getting used to for new users. But, then factor in that the maximum limits vary with each and every game, match or non-sporting event, so there isn’t a pat answer to the question “What are the betting limits?.”
We do see some trends that apply per sport but, again, nothing is definitive. Also, Nitrogen Sports promotes that its betting limits could be higher closer to game time and they will also specifically increase some caps on a per-player basis through specific requests to customer service. So, all in all, this is a very fuzzy area, but here’s what we see at a quick glance…
Please note that these are the ranges of maximum bets and do not represent any minimum bets. Nitrogen Sports’ minimum bet requirement is 0.001 BTC.
Range of Maximum Bets:
The typical maximum bet for eSports is 0.04 BTC and Specials, that are mainly comprised of US politics, notes a 0.08 BTC limit.
Nitrogen Sports provides a very different experience than most of the more traditional online bookmakers. It even has a different feel with the player chat scrolling across the top.
For most players, it would make a great addition to their current roster of betting accounts and, for others, it’s a great singular alternative. The privacy factor is important to many people and bitcoin makes it about as anonymous as possible to conduct any type of financial transaction.
Sharp bettors should appreciate the great odds provided by Nitrogen. The betting limits are more conservative than some sportsbooks, but for US players they should certainly be sufficient. Bitcoin valuation fluctuates, but even in the $2000 – $2500 range for one bitcoin, an eight coin betting limit on basketball is still over $15,000 which is pretty significant.
Players who enjoy the camaraderie of fellow bettors will also really enjoy using this service. Betting is taken beyond an isolated pastime to a group activity. Users are rooting each other on to solid wins and talking about their favorite sports and current events.
For anyone already familiar with how bitcoin works, it’ll be an incredibly comfortable betting platform. For the newbies, though, there is the learning curve of the bitcoin process plus a new sportsbook but, once they get their feet wet, it should be fun and really simple to get in on the action.
The lack of good in-play wagering and live streaming is a bit of a deterrent. Chatting with players while also watching and staking a bet in real time would enhance the overall experience.
All in all, it’s such a different type of bookmaking service, so we suggest that sports bettors just give it a try and see if it works for them.
Bonuses and promotions may be the wrong terms as Nitrogen Sports currently doesn’t offer any traditional offers per se. It does provide an explanation on how free bets work as they can be earned through poker play, but the only real value adds that Nitrogen is putting forward at this time within the sportsbook are the parlay pools.
First, before we get into the details of the parlay pool, we need to tell you that it’s located in the left side menu by clicking “Nitrogen.” It’s not easy to find and there aren’t ads for these pools placed on the homepage or anywhere else for that matter. You do need to seek them out.
The parlay pool is open to all players with monthly winners awarded in three different categories:
Featherweight – Maximum 0.01 BTC wager – seven winners to share 10% of the awarded jackpot Middleweight – Maximum 0.10 BTC wager – seven winners to share 30% of the awarded jackpot Heavyweight – Unlimited maximum wager – seven winners to share 60% of the awarded jackpot
The winners are determined by the highest parlay payout amounts and parlays that lose by only one leg can still be in the running for the jackpot prize.
Nitrogen Sports builds the jackpots by allocating a small percentage of each parlay wager to the parlay pool. 20% of the current month’s jackpot starts off the next month’s prize.
The other pool that’s seasonally open to Nitrogen’s players is the NFL Survivor Pool. For this pool, players need to click “Join Pool” and then confirm their participation. This pool is also accessed via the “Nitrogen” menu item on the left side of the sportsbook.
This one is a bit different as there is a free entry and then multiple paid levels of entry as well. The different pools break down as follows:
Players decide which level they want to buy into or they select the free pool if they don’t want to pay to play.
Then, during the NFL season, players move to the next round by correctly picking the winner of one professional NFL game each week. There is a twist, though. Players can only pick each team once during the season. Players with correct predictions then move to the next round in the hopes of winning the top prizes.
The fun thing about this pool is that Nitrogen Sports fully discloses how many participants are in each level and crosses off the usernames as they are eliminated. It keeps the excitement going and players know if they’re still in the running as well as how many others are too.
Prize amounts are also posted per pool. Obviously, The Nitrogen Pool will have greater chances to win more money.
That’s a wrap on the bonuses, though. This is not a premium-reliant sportsbook, but the reduced juice as opposed to welcome bonuses and other on-going promotions is preferred by sharp bettors as Nitrogen does provide real value through their competitive odds.
Yes. You’re laughing, aren’t you? There’s one and only one. Nitrogen Sports players need to have a bitcoin account to stake any bet.
For players who don’t have a bitcoin wallet, Nitrogen provides a handy link on their sportsbook homepage for howtobuybitcoins.info and from there, several bitcoin provider links are posted from which to select. They can be sorted by the currency that will be used to buy them, but bitcoin pros also know all about bitcoin mining to build up their wallet accounts.
Easy, easy, super easy. Cashing out from Nitrogen Sports to a bitcoin wallet is truly less than ten seconds. Provide your wallet address and the amount for transfer and press a button. The transaction should be completed within a few minutes barring any unforeseen delays.
Bitcoin is a bit more complicated to initially establish, but once wallet holders start using it, the convenience will be apparent.
Nitrogen only has about four years under its belt, so there’s not a long track record of anything compared to most of its rival sportsbooks that have been around for a few decades. However, in its short time, it has earned the reputation of being a player service-oriented bookmaker.
Customer service is primarily conducted via a ticketing method although players can opt to send a direct email. The ticket system is located in the support area. Players fill out a basic form that looks just like an email, and the submission generates a ticket. Customers of Nitrogen report that the tickets are closed very quickly and extremely accurately.
Support agents at Nitrogen are very qualified and knowledgeable, and the level of service provided has been commended by most who use the service.
Nitrogen Sports is primarily an online bookmaker, but it does offer a small casino and poker room for bitcoin users who are looking for more than sports betting.
The casino has Dice, Baccarat, Three Card Poker, and one, two and eight deck Blackjack tables. Blackjack has a minimum .001 BTC wager, Dice’s minimum is 0.00000001, and the other tables vary in minimums and maximum payouts, but everything is clearly posted for players.
The poker room has daily, and weekly freeroll and tournaments and the entire schedule are always provided in the poker room area.
Poker players can also earn “Nitro” by playing poker. Nitro is the currency used in Nitrogen’s loyalty program, and it can be exchanged for bitcoin or free bets. Nitro can be tracked in the player’s account area as well. We previously noted that the sportsbook had some redemption information provided for free bets and this is how they can be earned.
We’ve established that this sports betting site is unlike most traditional sportsbooks, but the one fair comparison we can make is regarding the actual service. Sports betting requires the sporting events that players seek to bet and what those players also consider to be the best odds they can find.
When comparing sports and posted lines to competitors, Nitrogen is going to be one of the better bets all around. Sports are plentiful, and reduced juice provides sharp punters with comparatively top value.
There are some other bitcoin sportsbooks like Cloudbet, mBit Sports, and Betcoin Sports that also have similar services, though. Cloudbet is going to be the closest regarding odds, but Nitrogen still edges all three of them out if you look at the big picture.
Market assessment, though, yields a much different outcome and pretty much every other bookie will have more market offerings aside from Intertops, which is also a conservative bookie in this area.
Welcome bonuses are offered by most online sportsbooks, so Nitrogen does fall behind in this area, but we don’t feel it’s a big issue as the difference in odds provides much higher value when you compare that particular benefit to the various bonuses that could potentially be offered instead.
The entire bitcoin concept does take some getting used to, especially for anyone that’s brand new to using it. However, it’s an ideal way fund a sports betting or an online gambling account due to the ease, the near-guaranteed acceptance, and the privacy that it provides.
We previously equated it to a cash transaction and, it really is like that. You’re not going to find long forms to fill out for registration or cashier requests. Your wallet address and the amount you’d like to move, and you’re good to go.
We’ve looked into some bitcoin casinos before that had a sprinkling of this game and that game, enough to suffice but not enough to satisfy really, but that’s not the case with the Nitrogen sportsbook. It has one of the better sports listings with plenty of events from which to choose.
Nitrogen Sports is still relatively new, but there aren’t any distinct patterns of customers complaining about any consistent issues, especially regarding payments. There was one publicized incident of miscommunication regarding an overall ruling on a bet slip, but they quickly resolved it to the satisfaction of everyone involved.
Basically, it all boils down to whether or not you’re a customer who wants to give bitcoin a try and is not tied to bonus programs. The betting site doesn’t go overboard with obvious perks. Instead, it puts forth a good overall sports betting service and appears to prioritize providing the best all around odds, but you have to be willing to venture into the world of cryptocurrency.
