PayPal Deposits For 18+ Sports Betting

  • Paypal sportsbook bettingLearn About 18-Friendly PayPal Betting Sites Here
  • Betting With PayPal Can Be Done By Purchasing Sportsbook Voucher Codes

PayPal is the most popular person-to-person (P2P) payment app in the world, so it makes sense that 18+ PayPal sports betting deposits and payouts are picking up steam at the top gambling sites. However, because of various regulations, the best offshore sportsbooks have had to get creative in order to add PayPal to their online betting banking menus. Unsurprisingly, Bovada is the first major vendor to pull it off.

In 2021, Bovada Sportsbook began supporting sports betting vouchers in addition to the third-party MatchPay service. With these options, Bovada members can make PayPal sportsbook deposits and claim PayPal sportsbook payouts indirectly among one another. This is a model we hope all other big brands employ going forward, but for right now, our short 18-and-up PayPal gambling guide explains it all.

Is PayPal Legal For Online 18+ Sports Betting In The US?

Yes! You can legally bet online at the best 18-and-up sportsbook sites, as there are no federal US sports betting laws barring access to these services. However, Bovada is currently the only site that supports 18+ PayPal sports betting options. Thus, even as there are no laws against playing online at Bovada, they do not allow gambling within CO, CT, DE, DC, MD, MI, NJ, NV, NY, OH, and WV as of November 2024.

Best 2024 PayPal Sportsbooks For 18-And-Over Online Gambling

SportsbookBonusUSARatingVisit
Bovada Sportsbook Logo50% Bonus
Up To $1,000		5/5Visit SiteReview

What Is PayPal?

Founded in 1998 as Confinity and publicly traded since 2002, PayPal is an online payment platform that allows for private person-to-person – or P2P – money transfers. The PayPal P2P service allows individuals to send money to and from one another over the Internet, and countless retailers – such as eBay – also support the platform.

However, even though PayPal is international, boasts nearly 400 million users, and handles over $1 trillion in transactions each year, the service is somewhat restricted when it comes to online sports betting.

That is, offshore sportsbooks cannot directly accept PayPal transactions. As such, for 18-plus betting sites to support PayPal, they have to do so indirectly. Luckily, with its sports betting vouchers and third-party MatchPay platform, Bovada has done exactly that.

How Does PayPal Work For Online Sports Betting?

Since PayPal can’t be used to bet online by directly funding your international sportsbook account, workarounds are required. Bovada is the first major operator to offer these workarounds, giving its members two different ways to fund their betting activities with PayPal gambling deposits: Bovada Vouchers and Bovada MatchPay.

Both systems work the same way in principle, allowing US-based Bovada members to buy and sell account balances to and from each other. The specifics of how vouchers and MatchPay work are unique, but they’re essentially the same idea, as you’ll see in the next sections.

How To Use PayPal For Online Betting At 18+ Sportsbooks

Betting on sports online with PayPal requires just two things: a PayPal account and a Bovada account. Signing up for PayPal is easy, and you can visit the PayPal website itself or download PayPal for iPhone sportsbooks or PayPal for Android to get started.

The Bovada signup process is similarly simple: Just follow any link on this page to the 18+ Bovada Sportsbook, enter in your personal details as requested, skip the deposit option, and complete your enrollment.

Once your Bovada account is all setup, you’re ready to make PayPal vouchers and PayPal MatchPay deposits!

PayPal Voucher Deposits And Withdrawals

Those betting online with the Bovada PayPal option generally go for the 18+ sports betting voucher method, as this has been around for a little bit longer than MatchPay. You can both deposit your online betting funds and withdraw your online betting winnings with PayPal vouchers, and both processes are similar.

We’ll start with PayPal Bovada Voucher deposits:

  1. Head over to the Bovada login and enter your credentials to get access to your account.
  2. Navigate to the Bovada Community page and look for a voucher code for sale. Make sure the Bovada voucher code is in an acceptable deposit amount and that the voucher seller accepts PayPal. (You can find Bovada voucher codes for sale at external forums like the Bovada Reddit page, but we recommend sticking with the official Bovada site when buying online gambling vouchers.)
  3. Contact the voucher seller, finalize the terms of the sale, and send over your PayPal payment.
  4. Once the seller receives your PayPal transfer, they should release their voucher code to you immediately. Bovada has safeguards in place to ensure compliance, but you can contact customer service on the off chance you hit any snags.
  5. With your voucher code in hand, visit the Bovada Cashier page and choose the voucher deposit option from the site’s banking menu.
  6. Enter your voucher code, select an optional sports betting bonus (recommended), and your 18+ Bovada Sportsbook account will be credited immediately. Voucher deposits have no added fees.

Claiming voucher payouts via PayPal works similarly, with the key difference being that you’re now on the other side of the equation as the voucher seller:

  1. Request a voucher payout from the Bovada Cashier. This will be sent to your account-linked email address.
  2. At the Bovada Community page or another online gambling forum, post your Bovada voucher code for sale. Be sure to indicate that you accept PayPal P2P app transfers.
  3. Once a buyer reaches out, finalize the sale and await payment.
  4. Release your voucher code to the buyer as soon as you receive your funds. Bovada’s terms and conditions mandate that you do this ASAP or risk account suspension. Voucher payouts have no added fees.

Because Bovada Vouchers require member coordination and are based on user demand, you won’t always be able to make same-day deposits or claim same-day payouts using the PayPal-Voucher method.

In our experience, we’re able to make deposits and receive payouts with vouchers about 70% of the time when using the PayPal app.

PayPal MatchPay Deposits And Withdrawals

At Bovada, 18+ sports bettors can alternatively use the third-party MatchPay service to make PayPal deposits. MatchPay sports betting works the same way as voucher sports betting, with one big difference: MatchPay is automated.

In other words, depositors don’t have to go looking for voucher codes to buy, and those claiming payouts don’t need to post voucher codes to sell.

In a tradeoff for said automation, however, MatchPay limits are actually much smaller than voucher limits. MatchPay deposits/payouts are capped at $1000, while voucher deposits/payouts are capped at up to $15,000.

Here’s the PayPal MatchPay sportsbook deposit process:

  1. Enter your Bovada login credentials to sign in, and navigate to the deposit menu at the sportsbook cashier.
  2. Choose the MatchPay deposit option. A new window will pop up instructing you to sign up for the free MatchPay service. This takes 3-5 minutes.
  3. Once you’re a confirmed MatchPay Trader, link your PayPal account to your MatchPay account.
  4. Enter the amount of money you want to deposit, choose an optional 18+ online sportsbook bonus (recommended), and submit the ticket.
  5. MatchPay will automatically “match” you with a fellow Bovada MatchPay Trader, at which point your PayPal app will notify you of the pending transaction.
  6. Approve the PayPal transfer of funds, and your account will be credited immediately. MatchPay deposits have no added fees.

To request a payout via the Bovada PayPal MatchPay option, you’ll have to be a MatchPay Trader. If you aren’t already a member, simply sign up right through the Bovada Cashier page as outlined above.

After that, here’s how you get paid:

  1. At the Bovada Cashier page, choose the MatchPay option from the 18+ gambling payouts menu.
  2. Plug in your MatchPay login credentials when prompted, and then enter the amount of money you wish to pull out of your betting balance.
  3. Submit your sports betting payout request.
  4. MatchPay will find another MatchPay Trader looking to make a deposit and “trade” your balance for their PayPal cash.
  5. Approve the transfer, and you’ll instantly receive your gambling payout in your PayPal account as USD. MatchPay payouts have no added fees.

Because MatchPay automatically finds you a deposit or payout partner, the process is usually a bit faster than vouchers. In general, we’ve found using PayPal with MatchPay yields same-day deposits and same-day payouts about 90% of the time.

PayPal 18+ Sports Betting Bonuses And Promotions For 2024

One area where P2P voucher and MatchPay deposits lag behind common 18+ crypto betting deposits is in the bonuses department. Just about every major betting site for eighteen-year-old players offers new members and existing members enhanced sportsbook promos that add 2-3X the money to your account compared to standard bonus options.

At Bovada, for example, voucher and MatchPay deposits can net you a typical 50% bonus worth up to 0 in free plays. Meanwhile, if you make a Bitcoin sports betting deposit or altcoin sportsbook deposit (i.e., Ethereum, Litecoin, Cardano, Solana, Dogecoin, etc.), you can get a 75% bonus worth up to 0 with the same exact rollover requirements.

Still, even the basic online sports betting bonuses are good values for the vast majority of 18+ gamblers, so we never hesitate to recommend them for new and established site members alike.

PayPal Fees And Limits

While you won’t incur any fees for making 18+ sportsbook voucher or MatchPay sports betting deposits or withdrawals, there still may be some PayPal fees in play.

However, because you’re going to be using PayPal to make domestic US transfers privately on an individual basis with another sports bettor at your site, as long as you mark these sales as “private” or “personal,” PayPal does not charge an added fee.

If you’ve linked your credit or debit card to your PayPal account and are moving money from there as a component of any online gambling transaction, however, standard card rates and cash advance fees – usually 1-3% – will apply.

Pro-Tip: To avoid any hassles, be sure to abstain from mentioning anything about gambling or betting in the PayPal transaction “notes” panel. Your private lawful money transfers are nobody else’s business.

Benefits Of Online PayPal Gambling At 18+ Sportsbook Sites

So, why should you fund your 18-plus online sportsbook account with PayPal instead of a different P2P app? For us, there are several reasons PayPal makes good sense as a sports betting banking option, depending on your needs:

  • PayPal works with both vouchers and some P2P apps – like those used by Apple Pay or Google Pay – are limited to vouchers only.
  • PayPal has many more US users than Venmo, Cash App, or Zelle. As such, when making voucher or MatchPay PayPal deposits and withdrawals, you’ll have a better chance of quickly matching up with another PayPal user.
  • You probably already use PayPal, which means that you’re pretty much already set up to fund your sportsbook account with the popular P2P instant-pay service.
  • PayPal has no added fees for private transfers. If you bet online with Venmo or bet online with Cash App, private transfers can cost up to 3%.
  • PayPal sports betting payouts are credited to your PayPal wallet (i.e., your PayPal balance) in USD, allowing you to transfer funds to your bank account or cash all the way out at a PayPal ATM immediately. PayPal is the fastest way to turn your online sportsbook winnings into cold, hard cash.

Negatives Of Online PayPal Gambling At 18+ Sportsbook Sites

Whether you use vouchers or MatchPay, PayPal deposits and payouts at the best US sportsbooks online do have some shortcomings to be aware of. You’ll have to decide if the convenience factor of being able to bet online with PayPal outweighs these PayPal cons:

  • You can’t make direct PayPal deposits or claim direct PayPal payouts, which means you’ll need to spend some time coordinating or setting up voucher/MatchPay transfers.
  • PayPal online gambling deposits and payouts are not guaranteed to clear the same day you initiate them.
  • PayPal online sports betting bonuses are standard offers rather than enhanced/boosted offers.
  • Bovada LV is currently the only 18+ sportsbook operator that supports voucher/MatchPay transactions, which makes Bovada the only legitimate online PayPal sportsbook.
  • PayPal MatchPay transfers require you to sign up for one more online account, and many 18+ sports bettors don’t want to keep track of yet another username and password.
  • Unlike the Zelle-to-Bitcoin or Cash App-Bitcoin processes, there’s no easy way to buy Bitcoin with PayPal (as PayPal Bitcoin implementation is limited to on-platform trading only).

** Disclaimer: PayPal is a third-party P2P/eWallet service. While PayPal can be used to legally deposit funds into your 18+ sports betting account, the company is not affiliated with this or any other online betting site. PayPal does not endorse online gambling in any way.

Additional Resources

Help With Problem Gambling National Hotline