Pinnacle Sportsbook

Pinnacle first launched under the brand Planet Pinnacle in the year 2000 about the same time the first Walmart moved into my area. Walmart was disruptive in many ways. Folks found they had no choice but to shop there. Who can afford to spend a dollar more on almost every item? At the same time, some customers resented Walmart for the fact they no longer had the personal experience they had at Mikey’s Electronics & Bait Shop. Every other store in the city hated Walmart for undercutting them, especially the mom and pop shops that could never do enough volume to lower prices and compete. That was precisely what it was like when Pinnacle first entered the market. Pinnacle charged half the vigorish (-105) of anyone else. If you were on any betting forums in the early 2000s, you knew the consensus was you were a sucker if Pinnacle wasn’t one of your sportsbooks. Yet, those same players sometimes complained that Pinnacle didn’t have a live chat, didn’t list the customer service phone number and you couldn’t phone in your bets. In that way, they were Wal-mart-style bare bones. The mom and pop betting shops felt Pinnacle’s presence the most. Many large and high volume bettors moved to Pinnacle. More volume meant sharper lines, which meant increased betting limits which meant more volume which meant even sharper… You get the idea. Pinnacle was a monster Sam Walton would have been proud of.

Looking back, Pinnacle helped filter out bad sportsbooks and fast-tracked the industry. It made other bookmakers ‘grow up’. Sportsbooks that had “sports news” and “swimsuit” sections on their main menus suddenly looked stupider than Bon Jovi and Poison when Nirvana came out. These days almost all betting sites insist players make their bets through the website and all strive to be as efficient as Pinnacle. About 12 years ago, Pinnacle left the US market but remains one of the very best sportsbooks for Canadians, and also services most of Europe and Asia.

PlanetPinacle.com to PinnacleSports.com To Pinnacle.com

There were a few sportsbooks before Pinnacle to try their hand at reduced juice but up until Pinnacle, it was considered a high-risk bookmaking model and a novelty. Pinnacle was the first sportsbook that showed you can move the line one cent at a time, creating a truly accurate market. At that time bookmakers would try to move the line a half point first and then if need be, move the price in a nice and tidy 5 cent increment. But -106/-104?… that was madness. This hyperreactive way of managing line prices put the entire industry on notice as bookmakers had to pay attention to which way Pinnacle was moving so they weren’t left on the wrong side. This was often called “the Pinny lean.”

Sign-up Bonus – There isn’t one

Pinnacle hasn’t offered a signup bonus since 2006. The Sportsbook does a good job showing players how reduced juice is favorable to a single one-time bonus. To put it in perspective a bettor placing a single $20,000 wager, which is common for a Pinnacle player, would make more money betting that one play at -105 than if Pinnacle wrote him a check for the maximum bonus amount they once offered

eSports – Pinnacle Is At The Top

About four years ago Predictem management was visiting the Pinnacle offices in Curacao. On one of the screens near the wagering floor were a group of people watching a streaming video game feed. Knowing the room was filled with mathematicians and actuaries I thought this was how nerds spend their break. It turned out Pinnacle is the leader in eSports wagering. The linesmen were viewing an event after a bunch of bettors had made six $40,000 wagers on a dota2 team called the Evil Geniuses. Pinnacle still has the biggest market and highest limits for betting eSports games including CS: GO, Dota 2, League of Legends, Starcraft 2 and about ten others.

-105 or Less

Pinnacle advertises “the best odds”. For a lot of events that tagline is true. $30,000 max bet MLB moneylines start at -108, even on the night before. NFL sides can be as low as -104. Live wagering is also at reduced markets, which is extremely rare.

Unique Odds – At 10c lines, one side is always juicy

We mentioned that Pinnacle will routinely move lines one cent at a time. That means lines are ever changing. Sometimes that means a line will steam in one direction after a massive bet is taken and then slowly come back to where it was. This creates opportunities to continually compare the market with the Pinnacle line, especially when the odds just came out and right before kickoff.

eWallets But No Bitcoin

Pinnacle offers seven different eWallets from Instadebit to Qiwi Wallet, some of which will accept bitcoin. However, Pinnacle’s list of eWallets makes it easy for most users to use a processor that caters to their country. eWallets can be as fast as today’s bitcoin wallets.

Pinnacle Cons

The majority of the negative comments relating to Pinnacle are from players who aren’t allowed to bet there due to country restrictions. Pinnacle aims to acquire licenses for the countries that require one which has led them to exit countries like the United States, France and most recently Australia. Pinnacle does answer emails almost immediately and is efficient in handling matters via email. However, players that don’t like the idea of not having a phone number or even live chat support may be disappointed.

Pinnacle Pros

This is an 18-year-old sportsbook that advertises $1 million bets on popular markets like the World Cup. Nearly every league around the world including chess, Volleyball, and Crossfit is offered and at minimal margins. Pinnacle is the premier place to bet eSports with at five-figure bet limit across many games. For players fortunate enough to live in a country that Pinnacle services, adding Pinnacle to your bookmaker roster makes even more sense than using your local bookie.

Pinnacle Sportsbook News

October 2019: New mobile casino offering 1,000 slots and table games and an ultra-realistic live casino experience. Now offering improved eSports Mobile app. Unbeatable odds and high betting limits! Lastly, they’re now offering “Play4fun” as a deposit option. A very popular method for Brazilian gamblers!