DietBet

DietBet is a weight-loss betting website designed to help you shed excess pounds through financial incentives. Depending on the challenge you choose, you will commit to losing a percentage of your body weight within a set timeframe.

If you make your goal, you’ll get your money back and share the rest of the winnings with everyone else who succeeded.

The company claims to have helped almost one million players lose weight and paid out more than $85 million to winners. In this analysis, we take a detailed look at how this service works to help you understand if it is a good option for you.

How Does DietBet Work?

To start using Dietbet, you’ll first choose a game or create your own. These games fall into three categories:

• Kickstarter: Lose 4% of your body weight in four weeks. Winners split the total pot at the end.

• Transformer: Lose 10% of your body weight in six months. Weight loss goals are set for each month, and winning participants split each month’s pot.

• Maintainer: Maintain your bodyweight for 12 months, prize value increases the longer you stay in the game.

Each game will vary by start date, the number of players, and the cost to enter. These variables will affect the final payout for those who meet their goals. Some examples of open game options included the following.

*Averages as reported by DietBet and independent research. The amount DietBot takes per pot depends on the size of the monthly bet:

• $0–$99: 25%
• $100–$249: 20%
• $250–$500:15%
• $500+: 10%

As this chart shows, most games on DietBet seem to give you the average odds of winning between 1.7 and 1.8 times your initial investment.

However, as we’ll dive into later, this doesn’t seem to match the experience for many users. Many ended up earning significantly less or only had their initial investment returned to them.

You will need to join at least one DietBet challenge to start using the site. To begin, you’ll pay the set bet amount and submit your official starting weight. This must be done two days before the official start date.

DietBet lets you try any game risk-free for seven days. If you cancel within this timeframe, you can request a full refund.

To submit your weight, you will need to share two pictures. One will be you standing on a scale in lightweight clothing, and another will show the scale’s readout with your designated weigh-in word written on a piece of paper.

DietBet assigns users these weigh-in words to act as timestamps for the images to ensure you aren’t fudging your current weight.

These pictures remain private, and it’s entirely up to you if you want to share them with the greater DietBet community through your account.

Upon submission, a DietBet referee will approve your photos and officially enter you in the game. At this point, you can use the DietBet app to track your progress, communicate with other users, and get weight loss tips.

You can update your weight in the app as often as you like, but these self-reported weigh-ins are unofficial until the game ends.

After the final day of your game, you will have 48 hours to do your final weigh-out. You only need to submit verification photos (similar to how you entered the challenge) if you met the program’s goal.

Within 24 hours of the final weigh-out period, DietBet will release the official results, and the prize pot (minus DietBet’s fee) will be divided between the winners.

You’ll get an email notification about your winnings and can cash them out through PayPal or put them towards another game.

No Loss-Guarantee

The DietBet no loss guarantee ensures that you won’t lose money on the site, so long as you win your game.

This means that in games where an unusually high percentage of winners cuts down on the profits, the company will forfeit its cut so that everyone who won receives their money back.

Charity games are the exception to this guarantee.

Membership Benefits

Beyond signing up for individual games, you can also choose to enroll in a DietBet membership. This entitles you to more game variety, bonus challenges, weekly accountability weigh-ins with prize opportunities, and other bonuses.

Membership costs $50 per year and is risk-free for seven days. Signing up automatically enrolls you in a reoccurring subscription. You can cancel your subscription or request a refund by contacting support.

Is There Evidence That DietBet Works for Weight Loss?

As with all weight loss programs, DietBet works better for some users than others. Your success will depend on how much you are motivated by gaining or losing money, but the results might be subtle even for those who are successful.

We couldn’t track down any verified research from the company about how effective the program is for the average user beyond a 2013 social media post that shared that 96% of DietBet players lose weight over the course of a four-week game, for an average of six pounds.

This amounts to about 1.5 pounds a week, which matches the Center for Disease Control’s recommendation for longterm weight loss.

Beyond this report, there is anecdotal evidence from DietBet users on personal blogs, Quora, and other review websites that share the program worked to help them shed weight.

Most of the people in these success stories reported that the program worked in part because they felt financially invested and didn’t want to face the embarrassment of losing money by not meeting their goals.

How Does DietBet Prevent Unsafe Weight Loss?

Losing weight for cash prizes may incentivize unhealthy habits for some DietBet users. The company claims to keep users within healthy ranges be preventing anyone from joining with a BMI below 18.5, which is considered underweight.

It also caps the maximum acceptable weight loss for Kickstarter participants at 12% of their initial weight and between 12–30% for Transformer participants. Any player that hits these limits will be disqualified from the game and forfeit any winnings.

Analysis of Customer Reviews

20 Dietbet customers have left reviews on our site, and together they average 2.4 stars. We’ve highlighted some of the most common comments below:

Useful for Losing Weight
Many DietBet users love the service and found it motivating for losing weight. These customers shared that the community aspect was helpful because they shared messages and pictures with other app users.

Some stated that they were entering three or more contests per month and walking away with an extra $40-50 each time. They praised the company for helping them commit to healthier habits when other attempts had failed.

Payouts Aren’t Impressive
By far, the most common complaint from DietBet users concerned low payout rates for winners. Some wrote that they made only a few dollars after focusing on weight loss for months and that the company took too large of a cut of each game.

Some of the reported winnings included the following:

• $35 bet, $48.40 payout
• $35 bet, $38.18 payout
• $100 bet, $100.44 payout
• $35 bet, $50 payout

Those who have the most success recommending joining games that cost between $30–$35, as people are more motivated to win the ones with higher entry fees and the payouts will be smaller.

Company Pulled Customers Out of Competitions
Some DietBet users were upset because the company didn’t honor their weight loss attempts. A few wrote that they procrastinated for weeks in their Transformer challenge but met their goals in the last month, only to have Dietbet disqualify them from the prize money for losing too much weight at once.

Didn’t Get Support from Hosts
Many DietBet customers joined specific games because of who was hosting them, with the expectation that the host would offer advice and motivation throughout the challenge. A few were disappointed by the lack of interaction they had with these hosts, stating that they messaged the whole group once or twice a month at best, or didn’t deliver on the promised giveaways.

Customer Service Concerns
A few DietBet users ran into problems when they tried to cancel their accounts within the 7-day refund window and shared that they never were issued their refund. Others reported that they were upset that they didn’t receive the same amount in winnings as they paid to enter the contest when they entered charity games.

The Bottom Line

Placing bets through DietBet can be a motivating way to lose weight. The company reports that 96% of users end up losing some weight through the platform after they sign up and that an average of 43% of users meets their goals for each challenge.

However, don’t expect to win any meaningful money. Only a few program winners end up doubling their initial fees, and there’s a good chance you might only come out even.

The platform has strict policies for enforcing healthy weight loss rates, so you might hit your final target and still end up disqualified from the prize money.

Beyond the cash incentives, DietBet will give you a community of other people striving to accomplish the same goals as you. If that kind of accountability will keep you on track for weight loss, then DietBet may be worth the investment.